The Samsung Galaxy S20 Fan Edition or S20 is Samsung’s attempt at taking on the affordable flagship segment. With smartphone prices shooting up with every successive generation, the category dominated by OnePlus and Xiaomi has become increasingly important. best samsung phone deals

The Galaxy S20 FE makes some trade-offs in pursuit of its lower price, like a plastic body and half the memory of the regular S20, but overall it’s shaping up to be one of the best unlocked phones.

The button layout remains more or less the same, and unfortunately, so does the lack of a headphone jack across the two phones.

Switching over to the display, things get a bit more interesting. The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE is directly aimed at the affordable flagship market, where larger screen sizes are the norm. Compared to the 6.20-inch panel on the Galaxy S20, the Galaxy S20 FE has a larger 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display, but there’s a catch.

To cut costs, the Galaxy S20 FE uses a Full HD+ panel compared to the QHD screen on the S20. Additionally, you’ll find Gorilla Glass 3 for protection instead of Gorilla Glass 6 on the S20.

Galaxy S20 FE use of a 120Hz display which should ensure a slick user experience. The phone is IP68 rated, include stereo speakers, and sport in-display fingerprint scanners.

In fact, buyers might prefer the generally quicker and more reliable optical fingerprint scanner in the Galaxy S20 FE over the ultrasonic fingerprint reader in the regular Galaxy S20.

You’ll find three cameras on the back of the Galaxy S20 FE, comprising two 12-megapixel wide and ultrawide shooters with ƒ/1.8 and ƒ/2.2 optics and one 8MP telephoto with an ƒ/2.4 aperture and 3x optical zoom. On the front is a 32MP, ƒ/2.2 camera — a wealth of pixels to be sure, though this lens lacks phase-detection autofocus.

Packed with a massive 4,500-mAh battery, the Galaxy S20 FE should have no problem lasting through the day on a charge (well, at least on its less power-hungry 60 Hz mode). That’s the same size as the batteries in the Galaxy S20 Plus and Note 20 Ultra.

Despite its lower price, the Galaxy S20 FE can still charge wirelessly at a maximum of 15 watts, and even reverse charge Qi-compatible accessories with its Wireless PowerShare feature.

One of the Galaxy S20 FE’s most distinctive characteristics is the sheer number of colors in which its offered. There are six in total — mint, navy, lavender, red, orange and white — some of which are reminiscent of classic Galaxy shades, while others are all new.

Samsung says it’s targeting younger, more design-conscious customers with this device, so the focus on providing a multitude of hues certainly appears to play to that ambition.

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The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE will cost $699 and begins shipping Oct. 2, with preorders live now. It comes in just one configuration, with 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM, though owners can expand storage by up to 1TB with a microSD card.

Those who preorder a Galaxy S20 FE will also get $70 in credit at Samsung’s store, which is enough to take a decent chunk of change off a pair of Galaxy Buds Live or a Galaxy Watch 3.

According to Samsung’s associate principal of global strategy, Clare Hunter, more Fan Edition takes of Samsung phones could be incoming. So the S20 FE could just be the start.

“As a tribute to our Galaxy fans, we’re setting a new standard of making uncompromising flagship innovations accessible to as many people as possible,” said Hunter. “And we’ll continue to launch Fan Editions of our flagship devices in the years to come.” best samsung phone deals