Galaxy S20 FE vs. other S20 phones: How is the new Fan Edition so much cheaper?

Samsung has officially added a new member to its premium Galaxy S20 family in the form of the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition. The device, unveiled Wednesday, costs $700 (£599, AU$999), handily stealing the crown from the $1,000 Galaxy S20 and making it the most affordable phone in Samsung’s premium S20 line. That raises an obvious question: What compromises were made to drive down the cost, and therefore the starting price, of the S20 FE? 

On paper at least, there don’t seem to be many core differences between the phones. The 6.5-inch S20 FE retains many of the top-shelf features found in its flashier siblings. Along with a sharp AMOLED display coupled with ultra-fast refresh rates, it has a large battery, an IP68 rating (for water and dust resistance) and multiple cameras on its rear, including a telephoto lens. 

Where Samsung does make compromises is in its choice of material. The S20 FE, unlike its fancier siblings, has a back made of plastic instead of glass. It has less RAM and storage than its family members, and there are some concessions on its rear camera setup, but you might not even miss them. 8K video recording and 100x space zoom are absent, but 30x zoom is available (like what’s featured in the S20 and S20 Plus) and so is 3x optical zoom. 

The S20 FE is available for international preorders starting today, with in-store sales in the US starting Oct. 2 (and it’s already $100 off at Best Buy). Keep in mind that the $700 price is for the low-band 5G variant, while the Verizon model with superfast millimeter-wave 5G starts at $750 (currently discounted to $700). To learn more about the differences and similarities of Samsung’s S20 flagship line, take a look at our specs chart below.