Samsung’s flagship S series smartphones have gotten more and more expensive over the years. And Samsung is known to milk out every single end of the market, and here is another proof — The Galaxy S20 FE (Fan Edition). Is the S20 FE at all necessary? Let’s find out.
Why the Fan Edition?
Samsung’s top bomb, S20 is in no way inadequate. But what it isn’t is a value for money proposition — at Rs. 70,500 for the base variant, it isn’t really cheap and for the top-end S20 Ultra, you’re looking at a bill of Rs. 97,999!
Also Read: Watch Out OnePlus: Samsung’s Coming at you with the Galaxy S20 FE (Fan Edition)
So, how do you give a Samsung loyalist a bang for their buck on a 2020 flagship? You cut out some features and drop the price, voila!
What do you get for your money?
- Design: To start off, the S20 FE looks undistinguishably similar to the S20 (and that is a good thing!) and comes in 5 vibrant colour options — Cloud Navy, Cloud Lavender, Cloud Mint, Cloud Red and Cloud White. The glass back gives way for a polycarbonate one to keep prices in check, though it retains wireless charging support.
- Display: The screen is now up to a 6.5-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED 120Hz high refresh rate and goes by a 20:9 aspect ratio. Underneath this display sits the fingerprint reader.
- Performance: Samsung has dropped the Snapdragon 865 used on the global model, and has settled for an Exynos 990 Octa-core SoC in India. Again. The Galaxy S20 FE comes in one storage variant – 8GB RAM coupled with 128GB of UFS 3.1 onboard storage. The storage is expandable through the hybrid SIM tray.
Also Read: Dear Samsung, Qualcomm: It’s Time to Focus on Your Smartphone Processors [A14 vs Snapdragon 865]
- Camera: The Galaxy S20 FE comes fitted with a triple camera set up — a 12MP f/1.8 main camera (with OIS), a 12 MP 123 degree f/2.2 wide-angle camera and an 8MP telephoto shooter with 30x Space Zoom. The selfie camera is a bump up from the standard S20 and is now a 32MP unit sitting in smaller hole punch cut out.
- Battery: A welcome upgrade from the standard S20 is the 500mAh increase in battery capacity to a healthy 4500mAh. Samsung has also decided to retain 15W fast wireless and reverse-wireless charging and has plunked a 25W fast charger inside the box.
The Galaxy S20 FE foregoes the 3.5mm headphone jack but makes up for it by retaining the IP68 certification, NFC and Samsung Pay (if you at all use it).
Should you get one?
The S20 FE looks like a promising alternative to its pricier brothers. Does dropping Snapdragon 865 justify the price you’re paying for it? Only time will tell.
Samsung’s Galaxy S20 FE 8GB+128GB will be available on Amazon and other leading offline stores from October 16th at a price of Rs. 49,999.