[ad_1]
Samsung is actively experimenting with its flagship smartphone line this year, launching, in addition to the standard versions, models with the Ultra prefix. This had a positive effect on the functionality of the devices, but it did not reflect very well on their cost. Therefore, the manufacturer decided to try a slightly different approach to create a device with several flagship features, but at a more affordable price. Such a model was the Galaxy S20 FE or Fan Edition, created according to Samsung, taking into account the requests of fans of the brand, from which the prefix of the name resulted. The official cost of the smartphone starts at UAH 19,999, so it should compete with last year’s flagships and other models in this price segment. Here’s what the Galaxy S20 FE has to offer in this first look.
Design and materials
From the front panel, the smartphone stands out against the background of other Samsung flagships this year, perhaps with slightly larger bezels around the display. Otherwise, the design of the front panel is already familiar, it is almost completely taken up by a screen covered with protective glass, on top of which there is a cutout for the front camera.
The frame of the case is made of aluminum, but the back is made of plastic, or more precisely, reinforced polycarbonate. The lid case is matte and very pleasant to the touch, it is difficult to say how resistant it will be to scratches, but a smartphone with it will be comfortable to carry without a case, it is not slippery.
The dimensions of the Galaxy S20 FE are 159.8×74.5×8.4 mm, in this sense the device is closer to the Galaxy S10 + with a height of 157.6 mm and a width of 74.1 mm. But the weight of the new item is even slightly higher than that of the Galaxy S20 + and reaches 193 grams, mostly due to the use of a larger capacity battery.
And despite the formal status of the “junior” flagship, the smartphone has protection against water and dust according to the IP68 standard.
The Galaxy S20 FE will go on sale in a wide range of pastel colors, including dark blue, lavender, light orange, milky white, red and mint.
Monitor
The smartphone is equipped with a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED 2X touchscreen with a resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels and a refresh rate of 120 Hz. And the latter is implemented in the same way as in the Note20 Ultra, that is, the frequency of the screen is adjusted to the image, for example, when watching a video, it decreases, when displaying interface animations, it increases. This saves battery life while providing a smooth image when you need it.
The screen itself received two display modes, one corresponds to the sRGB color profile, the second is more colorful and covers the DCI-P3 color space. In general, the image on the screen seems to match the current Samsung flagships.
Platform
At the heart of the Galaxy S20 FE is the flagship Exynos 990 processor, clocked from 2 to 2.73 GHz, which complements the Mali-G77 MP11 graphics core. Therefore, the performance of the model is on par with other high-end Samsung devices.
The only thing is that the amount of RAM in the S20 FE starts at 6 GB, but there will also be a version with 8 GB. In both cases, it is fast LPDDR5 memory. But the built-in data storage is only in one version – 128GB, but it can be expanded thanks to microSD cards.
Other features of the smartphone platform include Wi-Fi 802.11ax MIMO, Bluetooth 5.0 and NFC wireless connectivity, as well as A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS and GALILEO positioning modules.
Cameras
Galaxy S20 FE comes with three main camera modules:
- 12 megapixel wide angle with 1 / 1.76 “sensor, 1.8 micron pixel size, f / 1.8 aperture, OIS and phase detection autofocus;
- 12 megapixel ultra wide angle with 1 / 3.06 “sensor, 1.12 micron pixels, f / 2.2 aperture and electronic stabilization;
- 8 megapixel telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, 1 / 4.4 ”sensor, 1 µm pixels, f / 2.4 aperture and OIS.
Based on the characteristics, the wide-angle module here is the same as on the Galaxy S20 and S20 +, but the “super wide” and “telephoto” turned out to be simpler, which is logical given the positioning of the Galaxy S20 FE. But at first glance they shoot well, I hope they can test them in more detail in the near future.
Audio
The smartphone is equipped with stereo speakers, one of them is combined with the spoken one, and the second is located on the lower edge of the case. They sound quite loud and bulky, at least I didn’t notice much of a difference from the Galaxy S20.
And as it should be for a flagship, albeit “popular,” the S20 FE does not have a 3.5mm headphone jack. To connect them, you can use the Type-C port, directly or via an adapter, as well as a Bluetooth module for wireless models.
Battery
The built-in battery of the Galaxy S20 FE has a capacity of 4500 mAh, which is on par with the Galaxy S20 + and 500 mAh more than the S20. Since the screen refresh rate on the new model changes depending on the image, and on Samsung’s flagships earlier this year it is constant, then I expect more autonomy. But this can be said unambiguously only after a full review.
Interestingly, the positioning of the S20 FE did not affect its charging capabilities either, the device supports wireless charging of up to 15W and fast wired charging of up to 25W (but the package will include a 15W power supply). Plus, it has reverse wireless charging, so you can recharge compatible devices, like watches and headphones, simply by placing them on the back of the case.
Finally
In the Galaxy S20 FE, Samsung has defined the key features of the “flagship” well and has not sacrificed them for other models or even further price cuts. Therefore, the smartphone will definitely compete not only with the Galaxy S10 + coming out of the market, but also with the S20 +. Users who want to get a high-end feature set in a smartphone from a well-known brand, but are not willing to pay $ 1000 or more, will definitely pay attention to the Galaxy S20 FE. But whether the device will be able to justify the hopes pinned on it, we can only say after a full test.
