Did you tell Samsung the Galaxy S20 was too expensive, that the battery wasn’t large enough, and that the range of colors was too subdued? If so, the company has listened, and the result is the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition, also known as the Galaxy S20 FE, which launches today. In addition to addressing the issues raised above, there are some more interesting tweaks when you delve deeper in to the S20 FE’s spec sheet that make it more than a simple refresh.
The big story here is the price drop. You’ll pay $699 U.S., or 699 British pounds, for the Galaxy S20 FE 5G version. If you live in the U.K. and have no wish to have a 5G phone and are happy with 4G, you can buy a 4G-only Galaxy S20 FE for 599 pounds (this version will not come to the U.S.). The Galaxy S20 cost $999 when it was announced in March, and even with regular discounts, it typically hung around in the high $800s range. The new entry-level S20 price means it will take on the OnePlus 8, LG Velvet, and Nokia 8.3 5G, in addition to the forthcoming Google Pixel 5.
There are six colors to choose from: Navy, red, lavender, mint, white, and a lovely orange. None of these colors will be held back as network exclusives (at least in the U.K.), and will all be available anywhere the Galaxy S20 FE is sold, so it should be relatively easy to secure the hue of your choice. The larger 4,500mAh battery, up from 4,000mAh in the Galaxy S20, should also see it last a little longer before needing a recharge too.
What else? The design has changed a little to bring the camera module inline with the Galaxy Note 20’s design, and it looks better for it. It houses a 12-megapixel f/1.8 aperture camera with optical image stabilization, a 12MP ultra-wide camera, and an 8MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom and a 30x hybrid zoom. This is a different camera array than the Galaxy S20, but not necessarily a worse one. The selfie camera is different too, and now has 32MP to work with.
The screen is covered in Gorilla Glass 5, the chassis is metal, and the back is Samsung’s so-called “glasstic” material, which is plastic with a glass-like feel. That’s the same back that drew ire from fans on the Note 20, but perhaps it’s more palatable at this price point. The screen is a little larger at 6.5-inches compared to the 6.2-inch on the Galaxy S20, but with a lower resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels. It does retain the 120Hz refresh rate and the Infinity-O hole-punch screen design.
A Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor powers the 5G phone, and this applies if you buy one in the U.K. too, where all Galaxy S20 phones used the Exynos 990 before. Oddly, if you buy the 4G S20 FE in the U.K., it will have the Exynos 990 chip instead. It’s joined by 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, plus a MicroSD card slot. There’s fast charging on board to take the battery to 50% in 30 minutes, plus 15W wireless charging, an IP68 water resistance rating, and an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor. The software is Android 10 with Samsung’s OneUI 2.5 — and it’ll be included in Samsung’s new promise of providing three platform updates, starting with Android 11.
Ready to buy the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE? It’s up for pre-order through Samsung’s own online store, and it’ll get its full release on October 2.
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