Samsung Galaxy 20 FE announced; brings flagship experiences to even more consumers in time of COVID-19

Samsung just pulled a OnePlus, or something remarkably close. The South Korean major announced the Galaxy S20 FE on Wednesday sort of like a tribute to “fans” around the world who have apparently been asking for Galaxy S20-like innovations but at an even more accessible price point. Samsung is not even shy about it. The FE does indeed stand for “Fan Edition.” OnePlus did something similar earlier in the year with the OnePlus Nord.

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The Galaxy S20 FE or Fan Edition joins the Galaxy S20 trio of phones, the Galaxy S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra, and tries to bring some of their key features to a more mainstream or mass-market segment. Some of these high-end features include a 120Hz high refresh rate display, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 (there is also an Exynos 990-based version of the phone for select markets in case you’re wondering), 5G connectivity, dual stereo speakers, IP68 water and dust resistance, and wireless charging.

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The biggest difference comes in the form of design. The Galaxy S20 FE has a polycarbonate body with a matte finish like the vanilla Galaxy Note 20. There are six colours to choose from including red, orange, lavender, mint, navy and white. The display is also toned down to 1080p+ and flattened out though it is still Super AMOLED and boasts of Samsung’s Infinity-O punch hole cut-out (this houses a 32MP camera).
The camera alignment on the back is also very Galaxy Note 20-like. There are three cameras, a 12MP main, a 12MP ultra-wide angle and another 8MP telephoto for 3x optical zoom and up to 30x software-induced “space” zoom. There is no 8K video recording on this phone.

Also Read Samsung Galaxy S20+ long-term review: You can’t go wrong with this

Rest of the specs include a 6.5-inch screen with optical in-display fingerprint scanner, up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage (expandable), Android 10-based One UI software, and a 4,500mAh battery.

Samsung says it was the pandemic that pushed the company to build a phone like the Galaxy S20 FE so innovative technologies and flagship experiences could reach even more consumers. To that effect, the Galaxy S20 FE will start at $699 with 5G and will be available in the US from October 2 in the US. India pricing, variants, and availability are yet to be announced.