Six months later, the Galaxy S20 FE is still so unbelievably good

Samsung has had considerable success making budget phones that offer specs far better than what their price tags would suggest, but in the flagship segment, the company’s only attempt at making such a phone has been the Galaxy S20 FE. The S20 FE made waves when it launched last year, sporting much of the Galaxy S20 series’ flagship features at a crazy good price of just $699 in the US.

The Galaxy S20 FE sold very well, going as far as slowing down the shrinking of Samsung’s global phone sale figures in the last quarter of 2020, at least according to one market report. And while some units suffered touchscreen issues that Samsung is still trying to fix, the overall experience offered by the S20 FE made a solid impression on customers around the world.

But the Galaxy S20 FE came out six months ago, and things have notably changed since then. For example, Samsung launched the Galaxy S21 for just $100 more than the Galaxy S20 FE, and it also brought out the big guns in the mid-range segment with the Galaxy A52, which comes with a slew of flagship-grade features at a fraction of the price.

Does the Galaxy S20 FE still hold up well today, or have the last six months not been kind to Samsung’s ‘flagship killer’?

The Galaxy S20 FE, six months later: What’s good

As the title of this article has already laid out, the Galaxy S20 FE is still an amazing phone. The Galaxy S21, S21+, and Galaxy S21 Ultra may be the latest and greatest flagship offerings from Samsung, but the Galaxy S20 FE manages to do everything almost as well. In fact, most folks won’t find any practical difference in day-to-day use, at least when compared to the Galaxy S21 and S21+, except maybe lesser battery life if they buy the Exynos 990 variant of the S20 FE.

Even with the Exynos 990, the Galaxy S20 FE performs great, and with the Snapdragon 865 variant, efficiency is excellent, as well. The 120Hz display doesn’t have the fancy adaptive refresh rate tech of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and the S21 lineup, but it’s still quite good and hits the sweet spot between size and compactness. The touchscreen issues were no doubt frustrating for affected users, but they seem to have been alleviated with recent software updates.

The cameras also hold up incredibly well today. Except for missing features like 8K recording and Director’s View, the Galaxy S20 FE offers camera quality that’s on par with the Galaxy S21 and S21+. Of course, that’s mostly because the S21 and S21+ don’t really bring any camera upgrades over their predecessors – you need to buy the Galaxy S21 Ultra for an out-of-this-world photography experience, as nothing else in Samsung’s phone lineup compares.

Battery life is, as you would expect, only impressive on the Snapdragon variant of the phone. It manages to last an entire day for us, and that’s with the 120Hz refresh rate enabled (but with 5G turned off). As mentioned earlier, the Exynos variant lags behind its Snapdragon counterpart as far as efficiency is concerned, with many reports of it failing to get through 24 hours off the charger. Still, you can eke out 16-18 hours of use, which isn’t exactly bad for a flagship device.

Also, our opinion on Samsung’s decision to go with a polycarbonate back instead of glass remains unchanged: We think it’s a great idea when you get down to the practicality of it. The Galaxy S20 FE doesn’t require a case as it is nowhere near as slippery as its cousins, and if you drop it, you will only have to worry about glass breakage on one side of the phone (unless you’re really unlucky and the camera’s glass covering takes a hit).

Last but not least, the Galaxy S20 FE comes with stereo speakers and a water and dust resistance rating that’s identical to Samsung’s latest flagships. And it also offers a major advantage over those flagships: full-fledged Samsung Pay support. The S20 FE can make payments over both traditional magnetic card readers and over NFC terminals and is the last high-end phone from the Korean giant to be able to do so.

The Galaxy S20 FE, six months later: What’s not so good

For a phone that’s priced as aggressively as the Galaxy S20 FE, it’s hard to find any major faults. Indeed, this phone has just one, that it was launched in a variant powered by the Exynos 990 even after all the criticism Samsung received over the chip’s quality, both from customers and shareholders. Having the Snapdragon 865 variant in every market would have made the S20 FE a much better deal. That’s something that could still happen, but it’s not going to change the fact that millions of customers had no access to the superior variant when the S20 FE hit retail shelves last year.

Minor drawbacks of the Galaxy S20 FE include a fingerprint scanner that’s not as good as that of the competition (or the one on the Galaxy S21 series) and that it comes with a 15W charger in the box instead of a 25W brick. None of these are deal-breakers, though.

Should you buy the Galaxy S20 FE today?

The answer to that question depends on a number of factors. If you’re looking for a new phone today and have $699 to spare, you can stop reading and get the Galaxy S20 FE right away. We would recommend the Snapdragon variant if you can get your hands on it, but the Exynos variant will serve you just as well unless you’re a discerning customer who needs the best of the best.

If you’re not in the market for a phone right now, you might want to wait and see what the Galaxy S21 FE brings to the table. The sequel to the S20 FE is expected to launch in the second half of the year, but we should have a pretty solid idea of its spec sheet through rumors and leaks in the coming months. Given how even the new Galaxy S21 and S21+ are so similar to the Galaxy S20 FE, we don’t expect the Galaxy S21 FE to be too spectacular, but nothing can be said for certain at this time.

Finally, if you aren’t interested in a flagship phone, then you might want to look at the Galaxy A52 (read our review here). It’s got features such as a 90Hz display, stereo speakers, water resistance, 4,500 mAh battery with 25W charging, and the latest software and a guarantee of three major OS updates. There’s also the A52 5G, which comes with a 120Hz display, a faster processor, and 5G support. The Galaxy A72 is an option as well (our review), especially if you want everything you get with the Galaxy A52 but also want a bigger screen and a zoom camera.

Galaxy S20 FE (5G) review

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New Galaxy Jump moniker gets approved but it looks like another rebrand

A new Bluetooth application that was published earlier today suggests that Samsung might be working on a new phone called the Galaxy Jump, but on closer inspection, it turns out that this might be a rebranded Galaxy A32 5G destined for select markets, or rather, select carriers.

The international Galaxy A32 5G is identified by model number SM-A326B, and the so-called Galaxy Jump has a nearly-identical SM-A326K model number. It suggests that the Galaxy Jump should be planned for release in South Korea, specifically via the country’s largest telecommunications company, KT Corporation.

The Bluetooth listing hasn’t revealed any hardware details aside from Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity. Nevertheless, the Galaxy A32 5G is already official in many markets, so assuming that the Galaxy Jump won’t get any special treatment — it might — then the device should feature a 6.5-inch TFT display with a standard 60Hz refresh rate, a MediaTek Dimensity 720 5G chipset, 4GB of RAM and 32GB of built-in storage at minimum, and a quad-camera setup paired with a 13MP selfie sensor.

The Galaxy A32 5G is Samsung’s most affordable 5G-enabled phone and we expect no less from the so-called Galaxy Jump. Now, whether or not the Galaxy A32 5G will be rebranded as the Galaxy Jump in other markets remains to be seen. Likewise, only time will tell if the Galaxy Jump is indeed identical to the Galaxy A32 5G of if Samsung and KT Corporation gave it any unique features.

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New leaked renders paint the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite in a different color

The unannounced Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is back in the headlines after a new leak has revealed a second color option for the device. Up until now, the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite was seen only in gray, but a silver variant with white screen bezels should also be coming.

Regardless of its paint job, the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is expected to feature an 8.4-inch FHD display, a MediaTek Helio P22T octa-core chipset, 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of expandable storage. The tablet should be powered by a 5,100mAh battery with 15W charging, and all the components are supposedly wrapped in an aluminum body.

The Galaxy Tab A7 Lite has already been approved by a few regulatory agencies including Bluetooth SIG, and although there’s no official launch date to go by, Samsung’s Russian portal confirmed earlier this month that the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite will be launching in June — at least in Russia.

Pricing details are unknown but make no mistake; the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is a budget-oriented device and it will hit the shelves for a price lower than the Galaxy Tab S flagship series. Speaking of which, the company is also working on a Galaxy Tab S7 Lite with better hardware.

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Samsung should be making experimental phones to push crazy new ideas

Despite it being the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, Samsung has remained rather conservative when it comes to its designs. A new camera housing is being introduced every year, but for the most part, the company is seemingly following the old ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it‘ adage.

Given Samsung’s incredibly rich resource pool, it’s somewhat curious to see that the company isn’t pursuing unique smartphone designs more often — baring the foldable series, of course. On one hand, this is the natural thing to do when your existing recipe is leading you to success every year, but on the other, we believe that there might be a way for Samsung to explore new creative ideas without the risk of hurting the reputation of the Galaxy brand.

Samsung needs an experimental smartphone offshoot

It’s curious to see smaller smartphone OEMs coming up with unique and experimental ideas more often than Samsung does. Lenovo, for example, is far from being the largest smartphone OEM, yet the company didn’t shy away from unveiling the uniquely-shaped Legion 2 Pro earlier this month. Other OEMs have experimented with unique pop-up camera designs before Samsung did, and even so, the company might have abandoned the pop-up camera concept already, given that the Galaxy A82 doesn’t have one.

Now, while it would be easy to blame Samsung for lacking ingenuity, we don’t believe that the company is missing this trait. If it did, the Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip series wouldn’t exist. But the reality of the situation is that smaller companies have less to lose and they have to try and think outside the box if they wish to challenge the bigger players. Meanwhile, Samsung has a very strong reputation already, and because every experimental device has a higher chance of failure, the company may want to avoid losing face.

What the company needs, in our opinion, is an experimental smartphone offshoot similar to C-Labs, except focused on encouraging employees to come up with unique smartphone concepts and designs. Samsung could then pick a winner every one or two years and push said unique concept into production under a different brand to avoid any confusion between its experimental offshoot and the Galaxy brand. These phones don’t necessarily have to be manufactured in large quantities either, as they could go on sale as limited-edition products for the truest of fans.

These experimental phones would act as launchpads for new ideas and technologies that have yet to be proven, all the while showing that Samsung can think outside the box without hurting the Galaxy line. Besides, since the offshoot brand wouldn’t represent the company’s main revenue source, Samsung wouldn’t feel pressured to follow a strict launch schedule for these non-Galaxy branded devices.

Creating and sustaining this experimental division could be a costly endeavor so it might not be possible, but the benefits could pay off in the long run, and if someone can afford it, it’s probably Samsung. An experimental smartphone offshoot would encourage more unique ideas to be developed in-house, and some of those technologies could trickle down to the more conventional Galaxy smartphone lineup over time.

Do you think Samsung could benefit from an experimental smartphone offshoot, or would this be a waste of resources in your eyes? Join us in the comment section below.

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Samsung India has new cashback deals on Galaxy S21 and mid-rangers

Samsung India has just announced a ton of exciting deals on select Galaxy products as part of its latest Samsung Days Sale event, with cashback offers on the latest Galaxy S21 series as well as numerous other devices from the Galaxy A, Galaxy M, and Galaxy F family of devices.

The cashback offers are valid for HDFC Bank credit or debit card users and include INR 5,000 ($67), INR 7,000 ($94), and INR 10,000 ($134) cashback on the Galaxy S21, the Galaxy S21+, and the Galaxy S21 Ultra, respectively.

Customers who might be looking to buy one of Samsung’s more affordable devices can benefit from a 10% or up to INR 1,000 ($13) cashback on mid-range models, once again as long as they purchase the device using an HDFC Bank credit or debit card.

There are tons of mid-range options from which to  choose

The list of mid-range models that are eligible for the latest Samsung Days Sale cashback offer includes the: Galaxy M01, Galaxy M02, Galaxy M02s, Galaxy M11, Galaxy M12, Galaxy M31, Galaxy M31s, and Galaxy M51. A few A-series devices are also included in the cashback offer, such as the Galaxy A12, Galaxy A21s, Galaxy A31, Galaxy A51, and Galaxy A71. And of course, the F-branded Galaxy F02s and Galaxy F41 are also eligible.

The latest cashback offers are available for Galaxy devices purchased from Samsung’s online store as well as Amazon, Flipkart, and other leading retail outlets. The Samsung Days Sale event is scheduled to end on April 19, so make sure you visit the official website and check the deals before it’s too late.

And if you’re in the market for a new tablet rather than a smartphone, keep in mind that Samsung India also launched a new Back to School campaign earlier this week, with discounts on various tablet models.

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Galaxy Note 9 now receiving April 2021 Android security update

It took a while, but the Galaxy Note 9 is now finally climbing to this month’s security patch level. The April 2021 firmware began reaching select variants of the device just yesterday, sporting release designation N9600ZHS7FUD1. This initial deployment wave was mostly targeted at South America, with the sole exception being China. Though the latter is always on its own software release schedule, but overall, it stands to reason the rollout will reach more countries any time now.

As per usual, the easiest way to attempt shortening this month’s wait is to proceed to your smartphone’s Settings app, tap the Software update menu item near the bottom, and then go with the prominently featured Download and install option on the final screen. Keep in mind that this nifty trick won’t kickstart any national software rollout, but it might initiate a download that’s already been waiting for you.

How many more security updates does the Galaxy Note 9 have in the tank?

The April 1st, 2021 security update is the only novelty bundled with this particular firmware version. That’s hardly a surprise, seeing how the Galaxy Note 9 will be turning four later this year. And yet it still has quite a bit to give, especially compared to today’s entry-level devices. And so does Samsung, as a matter of fact; while the Galaxy Note 9 won’t have a place in line for the official Android 12 upgrade, Samsung already promised to keep its 2018 flagship updated for at least another 16 months.

That’s four more monthly updates and just as many quarterly patches. So, by the time the Galaxy Note 9 loses software support, its entire family will probably be discontinued. Well, save for the regular security revisions, that is.

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Here’s when Galaxy M42 5G will launch in India

Earlier this week, Samsung started teasing the launch of the Galaxy M42 5G in India. It is the company’s first 5G smartphone in the Galaxy M series and is a rebranded version of the Galaxy A42 5G. Samsung has now announced that it will launch the smartphone in India on April 28 at 12 PM, and it could be exclusive to Amazon.in.

An earlier report had claimed that the Galaxy M42 5G could be priced anywhere between INR 20,000 (around $270) and INR 25,000 (around $330) in India. The Galaxy A42 5G was originally unveiled six months ago, and it was launched in limited markets, including Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the Netherlands, and the UK. Recently, the phone made it to the US with a price tag of $399.

Galaxy M42 5G rumored specs

The Galaxy M42 5G is expected to feature a 6.6-inch Super AMOLED Infinity-U display with HD+ resolution, an in-display fingerprint reader, a 20MP selfie camera, a 48MP+8MP+5MP+5MP quad-camera setup at the rear, and a 5,000mAh battery. As mentioned in the teaser image, the smartphone uses a Snapdragon 750G processor. It could have 6GB/8GB RAM, 128GB internal storage, and a microSD card slot.

The phone could launch with Android 11 (with One UI 3.1) out of the box. Other features could include GPS, a dual-SIM card slot with 5G, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C port, a headphone jack, and 15W fast charging. Samsung has also teased features like Alt Z Life (content suggestions, Secure Folder, and Quick Switch) and Samsung Pay.

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Rumor: Samsung to enter foldable tablet space with Galaxy Z Fold Tab

As if foldable smartphones haven’t been catching on quickly enough, Samsung’s now said to be planning to enter the foldable tablet space. And this isn’t some distant, largely unspecified future we’re talking about; according to a new report out of the Far East, such a device – tentatively dubbed the Galaxy Z Fold Tab – might already hit the market in early 2022.

Samsung is still considering the possibility of teasing this state-of-the-art gadget at its Galaxy Unpacked event planned for late summer, as per the same source.

This is a developing story…

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