[dragonfire]

Originally Posted by splitsecond

If Oxygen OS , OneUi are just skins on top of android but miui, color os ,IQ's operating systems are reworked android at the core. They differ how sms , calls etc are handled.

That's a tall claim, and I hope you have the sources to substantiate that claim. AFAIK Google won't certify the OS if you have tinkered with it and without certification, Google Play Services would not work on the device.

[sagarpadaki]

I am looking for a short,50cm Micro USB cable. Type A to Micro USB. All the brands I see offer long cables but no one offers shorter ones. I want to use this in the car and I do not want long winding cables inside the car.

[rnkgrg]

Originally Posted by dragonfire

Okay, I am probably going to receive some flak for this, but I haven't really understood the allure for the S20 FE and the 21 FE. Other than the fact that it has a part of its name shared with the Samsung flagships, it is just another midrange phone with yesteryear's chipset, ain't it?

Doesn't the MI 11X or iQOO 7 or Realme GT series offer more for a lot less money? Or do people think that Samsung's OneUI provides enough value to justify difference in price?

At the given launch prices, the Samsung FE phones might not be such a good deal, but after the price drops and accounting for various offers/bank discounts, they become decent VFM.

The biggest factor setting Samsung apart right now is their update policy. No other OEM (not even Google) is providing four major android updates for their phones. This relatively extends the life of their phones in comparison to the competition.

Given the stark price difference some people might think of this as an apples to oranges comparison but the S21 FE is available in the market for ~₹48,000 while the OnePlus 9RT is available for ~₹43,000. S21 FE comes with Android 12 out of the box, and is poised to receive till Android 16 while 9RT comes with A11 out of the box and will only receive till A14.

Now while the android updates thing might feel tiny, most people don't realize how important it is in the day to day experience. If you open the OnePlus forum on Reddit, you will see how their new A12 update on the OP9 is riddled with bugs. One bug that I personally experience was in my dad's OP Nord (1) was that after the phone started ringing, the call notification or the Caller ID would turn up after a good 2-3 seconds. While this might sound nothing on paper, it gets super annoying on a day to day basis. And OP took a good 6-8 months to fix such a simple bug.

And make no mistake, nothing about the S21 FE is mid-range. It comes with top notch cameras, excellent displays. The only con is the plastic body.

Additionally, a phone being flagship or not is not just about the specs. It's about the company's outlook towards the phones and its consumers. Samsung offers S21 FE with the same tricks as any of the other flagships ranges. One of the flagship features of Samsung, the Dex, is available not only the S series, but the FE series too.

In fact, Samsung has finished their A12 roll out for even three year old flagships (and even some budget phones) months ago, while OnePlus is still struggling to complete its beta testing for A12 for its last year flagship (OP8).

And as far as the chipset is concerned, I do not understand this trend of pushing new speeds at the cost of battery efficiency and heat management. Moreover, for an average user who is not gaming heavily (BGMI, COD-M, Genshin Impact) a last year flagship processor should be way-way-way more than enough for their daily needs.

Most of the Chinese companies are focusing their efforts on maxing out performance of their device that they forget that a phone has a lot of other use cases apart from that. Cameras, display, sound, in all of these aspects, Samsung beats the competition by a decent margin.

Another factor that I consider while buying into the brand is the after sales support. Barring the major cities, finding support from some of the Chinese brands can be a little difficult. Samsung has a vast network developed over all these years.

Hence all these factors couples with a little premium for their brand, they are kind of over-charging the customers.

But any consumer wanting a hassle free experience would definitely buy into this.

[joslicx]

Anybody considering S21FE could as well pick up the S21 plus from Croma. Some of the days it can be bought for around 52k which makes it an excellent buy. This phone is a massively underrated phone.

[LOL_FWD]

I bought the Samsung S20FE in October 2021 when my iPhone X conked off. Last time I used an android was 2009 and was with Apple since then, so this was somewhat of an unorthodox upgrade. I wasn't into the full apple eco-system and have a mix and match of Google/Amazon/Apple tech which gave me the flexibility to switch. I also bought this as an Amazon Renewed item as it was a cracker of a deal for approx 32k and for some reason, Samsung activated the full warranty and also extended it by a year as a compliment when I registered the device. Even though the box was opened, the phone and the accessories were scratchless and good as new.

To my surprise, the S20 FE has been a brilliant performer and an absolute VFM phone even when compared to the iPhone 11 or even 12 which were my other options back then which cost almost double the price. I love the no-nonsense Samsung UI when compared to Mi, RealMe, OP etc. It's clean yet aesthetic. Brilliant Camera, Good battery life, Fast charging, 5G, Dual sim and a ton of other multitasking features. Does all the work I need it to do and doesn't break a sweat (Until now at least). I also manage to work mostly out of my phone due to the bigger screen instead of whipping out my laptop

Having said that, I haven't looked into the latest phones in the new Samsung FE series, but taking my experience into consideration I feel that they will have a lot to offer for the money, especially when sold during massive discounts on online stores.

[Oxy]

Originally Posted by rnkgrg

Now while the android updates thing might feel tiny, most people don't realize how important it is in the day to day experience. If you open the OnePlus forum on Reddit, you will see how their new A12 update on the OP9 is riddled with bugs.

Well the recent Android 12 update rolled out by Samsung has many bugs as well. But what is impressive is that Samsung has promised Android 16 even on their upcoming midrangers A33 and A53. The Exynos 1280 on these come with only two performance A78 cores compared to four on the SD778 that the A52s came with seven months ago, but somehow Samsung has been unable to optimize the battery on their Snapdragon powered phones from my experience.

The 5nm Exynos 1280 midrange chipset with a focus on efficiency along with a bigger sized battery on the recent A series midrangers compared to the previous gen should be ideal for non gamers like me. However, I am not sure if the hardware will be capable enough to handle all those future upgrades, in which case the older S20/21 FE makes better sense.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by LOL_FWD

To my surprise, the S20 FE has been a brilliant performer and an absolute VFM phone even when compared to the iPhone 11 or even 12 which were my other options back then which cost almost double the price. I love the no-nonsense Samsung UI when compared to Mi, RealMe, OP etc. It's clean yet aesthetic. Brilliant Camera, Good battery life, Fast charging, 5G, Dual sim and a ton of other multitasking features. Does all the work I need it to do and doesn't break a sweat (Until now at least). I also manage to work mostly out of my phone due to the bigger screen instead of whipping out my laptop

Even I got the Samsung S20 FE around Oct 2021. Till now its been a satisfactory experience. The camera - both front and rear is simply brilliant, makes video calls satisfactory. Battery according to me is less and could have been better. I hardly get a day's charge esp when I download/watch Netflix. The charging takes almost 2.5 to 2 hrs when using the Samsung fast charger. The amoled display is fantastic. Bixby is irritating coz it chimes at odd times. Happy with the buy.

[2000rpm]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

I am looking for a short,50cm Micro USB cable. Type A to Micro USB. All the brands I see offer long cables but no one offers shorter ones. I want to use this in the car and I do not want long winding cables inside the car.

Buy a powerbank, the cable you need will come with that. Use the powerbank, as a added bonus

Originally Posted by LOL_FWD

To my surprise, the S20 FE has been a brilliant performer and an absolute VFM phone even when compared to the iPhone 11 or even 12 which were my other options back then which cost almost double the price. I love the no-nonsense Samsung UI when compared to Mi, RealMe, OP etc. It's clean yet aesthetic.

Agree, but the charging speeds are frustratingly slow.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by 2000rpm

Buy a powerbank, the cable you need will come with that. Use the powerbank, as a added bonus

Already tried. But those cables are too short. Wont reach from the 12v socket to the windshield phone mount. I am looking for a cable around 50cm length

[dazdandconfuzd]

Fellow S20 FE user here!
Just like you, I'd never really considered upgrading to a Samsung as my previous phone was a Galaxy Note 8 which had terrible battery life and OneUI was nothing like the OneUI we know today. But I managed with Nova Launcher by making my own pseudo stock Android experience. I'd been using the phone for 4 straight years and when it refused to turn on one day, I knew it was due for an upgrade.
I'd already made up my mind to never pick a Samsung again and ordered a Pixel 4A (Stock Android was very important to me!) off Flipkart for around 26K. That evening my friend called to tell me the S20 FE was going on sale on Amazon and on paper, it seemed like the better deal, so I decided to cancel the Pixel and ordered the S20 FE.
My experience with it has been great so far, especially battery life because I'd run out of battery on the Note 8 BEFORE LUNCH, so this seemed like a massive upgrade!

Originally Posted by ram.iyer95

2. Vibrant Super-AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate. I can't even think of going back to a 60Hz LCD display anymore.

I can relate to this because I used to make fun of my friends for saying they'd never upgrade to a phone without 120Hz no matter how good the specs were. I always considered it a gimmick until I started using one. Now every other non-120hz phone feels like a lag fest!

Originally Posted by ram.iyer95

1. Random UI stutters after the Android 12 update. The notification shade stutters nastily almost everytime I pull down to expand it. Not a pretty sight to see on a premium midrange phone costing upwards of 30k.

The stutter when pulling down the notification shade as you've mentioned and it stands out like a sore thumb on an otherwise polished phone!
One more thing I've noticed is Samsung have locked the Google Feed page on the homescreen to their highest end devices. Felt like that was a miss!
Also, you can't use the Android 12 navigation gestures (at least not smoothly) if you're on a third party launcher! I really don't understand the reasoning behind that decision.

Originally Posted by ram.iyer95

2. Crappy fingerprint scanner. This one is utter CRAP, and I literally mean it! This is by far the worst scanner that I have come across. You need to keep your finger on it for a full second for it to even read. The success rate has also been pretty average in my case. Even a slight amount of moisture or dust on your fingertip will cause it to fail.

Since I was coming from the reliable capacitive fingerprint scanner of the Note 8, this felt like a significant downgrade. That was, until I tried the one on the new Pixel 6 series which felt even worse!

Originally Posted by ram.iyer95

3. Lacks a proper, dedicated proximity sensor. Yes, you heard that right. This premium midrange phone misses something that we take for granted nowadays.

It's even worse if you're in a place with complex lighting. It does the same thing when you listen to voice messages on WhatsApp. One minute I'm listening on the loudspeaker, next thing I know, it's switched to the earpiece for no reason! (and vice versa!).

Originally Posted by ram.iyer95

I have not bothered to invest on Samsung's "super-fast" 25W charger (which costs a whopping 2k INR to buy separately, by the way), since the time benefit gained isn't huge to justify the absurd price.

I have upgraded to the "Super Fast" 25W charger from Samsung as I got it for a discount and I must say it does make a big difference in charging speed. While the 0-100 time may not be much different, the 0-50 time is significantly faster! It has saved me many times when I was in a hurry!

[NiInJa]

Originally Posted by ram.iyer95

Long Term Review - Samsung S20FE 5G

Hi folks, I've been using the S20FE 5G for the past 6 months, and thought of sharing my long-term experience here for everyone's benefit.


Positives:
1. Perfectly sized. Neither too big, nor too small. Not too heavy either.
2. Vibrant Super-AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate. I can't even think of going back to a 60Hz LCD display anymore.
3. Practical, useable set of cameras. All three cameras on the rear (main, ultrawide and telephoto) are great and have their own use-cases. No gimmicky depth sensor or macro sensor here. Will definitely satisfy most of the casual photography requirements.


Do I regret the purchase?
Not quite. Regret is definitely not the right word, and I still like the phone for Who should buy this then?
You can definitely consider this if brand value and brand perception matters to you. It is a good "Samsung phone". The Knox security suite, pan-India service centers, 3 years of guaranteed security updates, no annoying/spammy ads, are all additional redeeming qualities. However, if you are open to all brands, there are better options.

Also, for Android enthusiasts/purists looking for a clean Android experience, there is no option available right now on a modest budget, apart from the Motorola Edge series. OxygenOS is gone, Android One is gone, and the next generation Pixel 'A' devices are nowhere in sight here.

Nice and crisp review. My wife uses the S20 FE 4g one, and I agree with all the points mentioned. However, There are a few quirks on the S20FE 4g though as far as battery consumption is concerned and personally I would have regretted buying it. There is something about Exynos processors, out of 10 things, it gets 8 things right, but 2 things horribly wrong.

1. Although standby time is very good, the battery is abysmal when using two SIMs, need to be conscious about power consumption every time. She has to put phone on power saving mode more often. Things get worse in poor network coverage areas.

2. Using camera heats up the phone like crazy, causes battery drain too.

3. Unexpected signal dropping. It just goes blank without any reason and comes up again, sometimes in middle of calls.

What I really like about that phone:

1. Excellent camera system for 35k, the photos are printable and have lot of details. Even low light photography is good for the price. Wide angle photos too are detailed as opposed to other phones whose ultra wide shots are noisy towards the edges.

2. Speaker set-up and Display: Watching movies and shows without headphones is enjoyable. Color re-production is excellent.

3. Samsung's after service: Excellent, the service quality and timeliness is very good. Her device's display was replaced in two days and there has been no issue with the newer one, compare that to Mi, my brother got the same replaced but the touch around extreme corners was gone, had to replace it again.

4. One UI: Samsung's UI has become more and more coherent over the years and switching from one Samsung device to another is not a big deal. There are no complaints as far as ease of use is concerned. I would say it is almost at par with apple's UI.

5. Premium Feel: Not like flagship level, but just like iPhones, this one feels good to hold too. Of course, this feel ends when you put a thick spigen cover on it.

Personally, I would have sold the phone off as I spend a lot of time on phone, be it taking office Team's meetings or chatting with colleagues, or consuming media. The battery is just not enough. My wife thankfully does not use her phone much and relies on her laptop for media consumption and office meetings. I have come to the opinion that Exynos processors may be a hit or a miss on Samsung devices and I am relieved the newest flagships are getting Snapdragon processors which are reliable comparatively, although they too have been mired with heating issues recently.

The S20FE 5G, I read had a lot of issues resolved and I get an affirmative vibe by reading the review. The S21FE on the other hand has been bashed for poor performance by some reviewers.

[fiat_tarun]

Originally Posted by NiInJa

...

3. Unexpected signal dropping. It just goes blank without any reason and comes up again, sometimes in middle of calls.

...

Did this issue start after the Android 12 / One UI 4 update ? The same thing is happening on my Note 10 Lite (another Exynos phone) and it is driving me crazy. I was hoping for a fix by now but have decided to move back to Android 11 this weekend manually via Odin.

[TheHelix0202]

Originally Posted by ram.iyer95

Long Term Review - Samsung S20FE 5G

Hi folks, I've been using the S20FE 5G for the past 6 months, and thought of sharing my long-term experience here for everyone's benefit.

Excellent mobile review!

Having owned a Moto G (2013) and Redmi Note 3 myself - just as you have, I can safely agree with you. Also, my backup phone is a Moto One Fusion+ right now.

Yeah, Samsung phones tend to do that stuttering crap; it’s never changed in all their years of manufacturing mid-range smartphones. Shame.

[coolmel]

The new Samsung A series phones seem to be rather good mid-rangers. One thing I really liked was them offering the IP67 rating and more than that...solid colour schemes. Thank God no more flashy, gimmicky back panels we are so used to seeing nowadays. Love these pastel, muted tones, thank you Samsung for this! The only thing missing is 65w charging. I have a M31s and charging it to a 100% takes 2 hours! Also, Samsungs with SD processors make sense. I would avoid an Exynos any day.

[Turbo_Lawyer]

Originally Posted by dragonfire

Okay, I am probably going to receive some flak for this, but I haven't really understood the allure for the S20 FE and the 21 FE. Other than the fact that it has a part of its name shared with the Samsung flagships, it is just another midrange phone with yesteryear's chipset, ain't it?

The allure for the FE series comes basically from the fact that you get an "almost" flagship experience for much cheaper. The S20 FE won a lot of plaudits when it launched and was also MKBHD's phone of the year for 2020.

I recently switched from my trusted One Plus 6T to the S21 FE. Yes, it is again last year's chip and that too an Exynos version. But I think that's the only major compromise. It's got an amazing camera(something which the 6T did not have), it's got IP68 rating, an amazing AMOLED screen and One UI has surprisingly improved so much. The only downside is the 25 W "fast charging", but hey, my old phone had 20W charging, so in a way, that's an upgrade too.

I used to be a big One Plus fan. Being a Chinese brand themselves, they still were very very different from the likes of MI and Redmi. Had the 3T before the 6T and they were so good as I was a sucker for a clean UI experience. With the Oppo merger now, things are not quite the same with the imposition of Color OS and slow removal of Oxygen OS.

So I would rather pay a lil premium for a phone with good UI (Samsung does have a little bloatware, but no ads absolutely unlike the Chinese phones). Also, I get 4 years of guaranteed Software updates on the S21 FE. That's amazing for someone like me who changes a phone once in 3-4 years