Samsung Galaxy S20 FE review: A solid budget buy

The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE is the lite edition of the Samsung Galaxy S20 series. It targets those who know the value of a dollar. With a solid spec sheet and an appealing price point that’s been dropped by $100 since launch, is the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE the right phone for you? Find out in the Android Authority Samsung Galaxy S20 FE review.

Update, November 2023: We’ve updated this Galaxy S20 FE review with a few new alternatives.

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE review: Who is it for?

Many of today’s flagship smartphones are overpriced. The high-end version of the Galaxy S23 Ultra, for example, will set you back $1,600. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 5 is even more expensive, currently retailing at $1,800.

The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE, which was originally launched in September 2020, is for people who want solid performance at a reasonable price point. The S20 FE offers very good processing power but comes in at hundreds of dollars less than flagship phones. It delivers much of the flagship experience at an attractive mid-range price and is still worth a look despite already being on the market for almost three years. Samsung has since followed up its premium mid-ranger with the Galaxy S21 FE and now the Galaxy S23 FE.

Design and display

The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE carries over the basic design elements of the S20 range, but it is obviously and decidedly less premium than its pricier brethren. It offers the same squared-off corners, the same camera bump, and the same buttons and ports arrangement. The big departure as far as the design is concerned is the rear panel, which switches from glass to plastic.

There’s no mistaking the “Glasstic” (as Samsung calls it) for anything other than what it is: a cheaper substitute for glass. That’s not to say it’s terrible. The plastic rear panel has a frosted coat of paint that gives the FE a premium appearance. From a distance, you’d never know it’s plastic.

The one thing that really bugs me is the fit and finish. Upon close inspection, you’ll note a fine ledge along the metal frame where it meets the plastic. It’s enough that you can feel it. The glass of the pricier S20 line has a finer finish and a more flush joint with the aluminum frame. Samsung had to save money somewhere, however, and the rear panel helped it meet its cost goals. On the plus side, the FE is far more durable than its glass-clad peers. Moreover, it’s offered in six different appealing colors, and you can always slap a case on top for some extra protection.

The metal chassis comes across as rigid and strong. There are no functional elements built into the left edge of the phone; everything is focused on the right side. That’s where you’ll find the screen lock/power button and volume toggle. The buttons are a bit thin and plasticky in feel but offer good travel and feedback. You’ll find the combined SIM/memory card tray tucked into the top edge, while the USB-C port and speaker are on the bottom. There’s no headphone jack.

I found the size to be quite manageable. It’s thin, light, and easy to carry around and use. The phone is smaller than both the S20 Plus and S20 Ultra, thanks to its 6.5-inch display.

Speaking of the display, Samsung opted for a flat piece of Gorilla Glass 3. Gone is the curved, high-end glass of the main S20 line. Some people prefer flat display glass, but I’m not one of them. The Infinity-O panel means the selfie camera is a small punch hole centered near the top. It’s small enough that it’s not overly noticeable. This design allowed Samsung to keep the bezels in check, though they are not the thinnest we’ve seen.

The screen is totally fine. I found it to be bright and usable under direct sunlight. Colors are pushed a little, as per the norm for Samsung, but the display is sharp and clean-looking. Additionally, the screen carries over the best feature from its peers: the 120Hz refresh rate. It’s a variable refresh rate, which means it changes depending on the task at hand. Most of the time it simply looks luscious and smooth. I don’t have any complaints about the FE’s screen. It’s a winner.

For those comparing the Galax S20 FE to the newer model, it’s true that Samsung made a handful of hardware improvements with the Galaxy S21 FE. The newer phone has a slightly better design that falls in line with the S21 range. Samsung improved the display to Gorilla Glass Victus and gave it a 240Hz touch sampling rate (in gaming mode.). The S21 FE loses support for microSD cards but adds support for a second SIM card. The fit and finish is a little bit better than the S20 FE’s overall.

Performance

Processor

If there’s one important spec that the FE carries over from the S20 series, it’s the Snapdragon 865 processor. The 865, along with the Adreno 650 GPU and 6GB of RAM, allows the FE to deliver outstanding performance. The phone blasts through tasks with ease. It never slowed down, lagged, or otherwise felt mucky during my time with it. The FE offered stellar gaming, social networking, and media consumption power. Though we believe 6GB is the least amount of RAM modern Android phones should have, you’d never know it’s not the 8GB or 12GB that are available to the S20.

Benchmark apps showed the phone at its best. We saw top numbers from 3DMark and Geekbench, though in AnTuTu, the phone bested only 82% of competing phones from 2020. The bottom line is that the Galaxy S20 FE performs like a flagship should and has the numbers to back it up.

In certain regions, the non-5G-enabled Galaxy S20 FE is instead powered by the Exynos 990 SoC. While this can’t match Qualcomm’s best, our own Dhruv Bhutani has extensively tested the 4G-only Exynos model and found it to be more than capable as an everyday performer.

We will point out that the Galaxy S21 series runs the Snapdragon 888, which is a generation newer than the S20 FE’s 865. That means you get blistering performance that’s noticeably quicker than what’s available in the 865-equipped FE. Likewise, the S21 FE runs the Snapdragon 888 in the US, UK, and Europe, but other global variants ship with an Exynos 2100 SoC.

The Snapdragon 888 isn’t Qualcomm’s latest high-end chipset, though. That title goes to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which powers the latest Galaxy S23 series. Samsung has also moved away from its own Exynos processors in the new flagships, offering one chipset experience for the entire world.

Battery

Samsung aimed for the middle of the pack as far as the battery is concerned. Where the S20 had a 4,000mAh battery, the S20 Plus and S20 Ultra have 4,500mAh and 5,000mAh power cells, respectively. Therefore, the S20 FE’s 4,500mAh capacity splits the difference and covers its bases.

In our testing, we found the phone to last a full day and then some. Even after watching YouTube for hours, social networking, shooting pictures, and checking email, the phone still often had 25% of a charge left in the tank at the end of the day. It easily goes from 8 AM one day to 8 AM the next day with enough of a charge to get you to the office or to school. Screen-on time hovered around seven hours.

It’s nice that the phone supports 25W wired charging, but it would be nicer if a 25W brick shipped with the phone. Instead, you’re stuck with a 15W charger. It doesn’t power up the phone very quickly, so you may want to supply your own charger instead. The Galaxy S20 FE reached just 30% after 30 minutes, 55% after 60 minutes, and 88% after 90 minutes. It took just over two hours to charge fully.

Wireless charging is a nice feature to have at any price point, and we’re pleased with the 15W speed here, which matches that of the wired charger. Toss in Wireless Power Share to top up your accessories and you have a well-rounded phone when it comes to battery features.

Software

• Android 13
• Samsung One UI 5

The S20 FE originally shipped with Android 10 and One UI 2.5. It was later updated to Android 11 and One UI 3 and has since been updated to Android 13 and One UI 5. This is the same software that ships on the Galaxy S23 series, meaning that you’re getting the latest and greatest that Samsung has to offer — at least for now.

The screenshots here show the phone running One UI 2.5. The main tweaks in One UI 3.0 impact the notifications bar, widgets, and the lock screen. There are also new feature additions such as message bubbles. The main tweaks on One UI 4 tackle the refreshed design elements of Android 12, which include color-matched palettes, brand-new widget designs, and improved privacy controls. One UI 5 didn’t necessarily reinvent the wheel, but it added an additional coat of polish to some of the Material You customizations of One UI 4.

Samsung allows for plenty of customization. Not only can you alter how many apps appear on the main screens and app drawer, but you can also change themes, fonts, and other aspects of the design to make it your own.

Since the S20 FE first launched, Samsung has upgraded its device support policies. Samsung is now offering four years of OS upgrades and five years of security updates to the bulk of its flagships and premium mid-range devices. That bump extended the Galaxy S20 FE to Android 13, which it has since received, and we’ll wait to see when the security patches run out.

Camera

A triple-camera system is expected on today’s top phones, and the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE was sure to include one. With standard, ultrawide, and telephoto lenses on offer, users have plenty of flexibility to grab the shot they want on this budget-friendly camera phone.

Let’s start with the camera app. The app is a direct carryover from the S20/Note 20 series. That means it has Samsung’s signature feature, Single Take. This mode allows you to capture up to nine different types of photos/videos with a single press of the button. Beyond Single Take, you’ve got pro mode, panorama, food, night, live focus, live focus video, pro video, super slow-mo, slow-mo, and hyperlapse. That covers the basics and then some. A zoom picker makes it simple to jump between the three lenses. Tools that float along the left edge of the viewfinder allow you to quickly adjust resolution, the flash, aspect ratio, and more. It’s a fine app.

The S20 FE takes solid shots with the main camera. I thought color, which is pushed just a hair, looked good overall. White balance was accurate and the phone didn’t have the yellowing issue we saw with the S20. The focus was sharp, producing clean shots with little or no noise in daylight. Shots taken in low light had more noise and sharpening but were still good enough for sharing.

The phone supports plenty of zoom options. You’ve got 0.5x with the wide-angle lens, 1x with the main lens, 3x optical zoom with the telephoto lens, and blended hybrid zoom up to 30x. The results up to 3x were excellent, while hybrid zoom past 10x began to suffer from noise and pixelization. The wide-angle lens does produce some optical distortion too.

The selfie camera can take regular and wide-angle shots, as well as normal selfies and bokeh’d portraits. The selfies I captured looked decent but didn’t bowl me over. Focus, color, and white balance were mostly good, but I saw little pop in the pictures. The portrait mode managed to offer up clean edge detection.

Video is limited to 4K at 60fps, but the results look really good. The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE is more than adequate for your everyday video needs.

Full-resolution samples of the photos are available here.

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE specs

Value and competition

• Samsung Galaxy S20 FE (6GB/128GB): $599 / £599 / €599

Initially priced at $699 at launch, the S20 FE is now permanently priced at $599, although Amazon is offering even better deals on select color options of the device. Samsung also regularly puts the phone on sale through official channels, while you might be able to find the phone for even less if you shop the sales.

The phone may have a plastic rear panel, but you’re getting a 120Hz display and the Snapdragon 865 for excellent performance. Samsung chose the FE’s features with care. It covers just the right selection of must-haves. The screen still looks great, and there’s no questioning how fast the phone is. Toss in the decent cameras, solid software, and extras such as wireless charging and 5G, and you have a compelling value in hand. Sure, it’s showing a little bit of age in 2023, but it makes up for it with solid value.

The Galaxy S23 FE ($599.99 at Amazon) is a significantly better device overall. The design is much more modern, the screen is better protected and offers faster touch sampling, and the processor is updated to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Moreover, the newer Galaxy S23 FE is just starting its life cycle, meaning that it has four years of Android versions in the pipeline. It costs just $599, making it a better value than Samsung’s Galaxy S21 FE ($699.99 at Amazon) — a phone that we thought launched too late and offered too little on paper.

That said, there is so much competition in the sub-$600 space. Perhaps consider the affordable Galaxy A54 5G ($449.99 at Samsung) if you’re seeking something affordable, or the vanilla Samsung Galaxy S23 ($799 at Amazon) if you can stretch your budget slightly.The latest Galaxy series takes a major leap in the materials department, upgrading to Gorilla Glass Victus 2. It also slims down the rear camera design while offering an even more impressive OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate.

Of course, the Galaxy S23 won’t offer as much screen real estate as its Galaxy S23 Plus or Galaxy S23 Ultra siblings, but then you have to weigh out the cost. You’ll crash through the $1,000 barrier for either of Samsung’s top flagships, which might rule them out. That said, the Galaxy S23 Ultra ($1199.99 at Samsung) now offers a crisp 200MP primary camera, good for all of your high-res photography needs.

Beyond Samsung’s offerings, the Google Pixel 8 ($699 at Amazon) is an extremely compelling alternative for Android enthusiasts who want the Pixel software experience, a great camera, and all the flagship bells and whistles from Google. Then there’s the OnePlus 11 ($1296 at Amazon) to consider if you’re looking for something a little bit different.

Of course, there’s also the latest iPhone 15 ($829.99 at Amazon). If you can stomach iOS, it’s a great phone with a blazing-fast processor and sublime cameras.

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE review: The verdict

The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE is a fine phone. The design and materials are a bit less refined than I was hoping, but the Glasstic rear is more durable than even Gorilla Glass would be. The flat display glass may turn off some, but the 120Hz refresh rate turned me on. I really liked the overall size and usability of the phone, and the six different colors mean you’ll likely find a version to suit your personal style. Other pros include solid performance, excellent battery life, and straightforward software.

However, we have to consider the fact that the phone is around three years old at this point. We’ve since checked back in on the phone to see how it’s aged in our review revisit. And while it is $100 cheaper than at launch, there are newer and better options available at around $600, with the Pixel 8 being the main one and the Galaxy S23 FE the natural successor.

In reality, we think the great price and excellent specs sheet point you towards the Galaxy S23 FE, especially if you’re paying full price for both phones. If you don’t want to spend more than $600 on a Samsung phone, find it for much cheaper, or don’t care as much about software updates, the Galaxy S20 FE is still a great option for you.

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE top questions and answers