Samsung says it’s launching the Galaxy S20 FE (Fan Edition), the latest entry of its S series smartphones, next month.
The tech giant announced Sept. 23 during a webcast that the Galaxy S20 FE will be available on Oct. 2, starting at CA$950. With the Galaxy S20 FE, Samsung has slightly dialled back on the flagship features and lower entry cost to its premium S20 series. It retains the performance, display, and battery life of a flagship phone at the expense of a downgraded camera array.
The Galaxy S20 FE features a plastic rear with aluminum bezels. It’s still IP68-certified, though, so it should have no issue in the rain.
Instead of a curved display like the rest of the S20 series, the S20 FE features a flat front glass. Its 6.5-inch SuperAMOLED display is 0.2 inches larger than the regular S20 and retains the 120Hz refresh rate. The front 32MP punch-hole camera has been shrunk to 3.34mm, which Samsung touts is the smallest it has ever created.
To bring down the Galaxy S20 FE’s price, Samsung traded the 64MP main camera that comes standard in the other S20 phones for a 12MP one. That’s not all bad news, though. Samsung touts that it will have a big dual-pixel sensor to capture gorgeous night scenes. The 12MP main camera is abetted by a 12MP ultra-wide camera and an 8MP zoom camera with up to 30 times digital zoom. The phone is also betting on the software features to enhance shooting experience with features like Super Stead and Single Take.
The Galaxy S20 FE sports the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 system-on-chip (SoC), a 5G modem, up to 256GB of storage, and 6GB of RAM. The storage is expandable via a microSD card slot. Both the memory and maximum storage capacity is a cut below the S20, but users get 5G at an even more affordable price.
To keep it humming all day, Samsung gave the Galaxy S20 FE a 4,500mAh battery. The phone supports 25W quick charge, wireless charging, and reverse wireless charging.
Appealing to personal expression, the Galaxy FE features six “Cloud” colours: Navy, Red, Lavender, Mint, White, Orange, along with the haze finish that’s less likely to attract fingerprints.
Its MSRP is a full $400 cheaper than the Galaxy S20. Pre-order starts today at Samsung’s online store. In Canada, pre-order for the phone will start on Oct. 1 and ship on Oct. 16, according to MobileSyrup.