Samsung Galaxy S20 FE review: the 120Hz screen stands out in a $699 device, with a respectable camera array, but the experience is muddled by Samsung's One UI
All the essentials for $699 — The new Samsung Galaxy S20 FE is the fourth phone in the S line this year.
Context & Ripple Effects
The Galaxy S20 FE lands as Samsung's fourth S-line phone of 2020, announced two weeks ago with a 6.5-inch 120Hz panel and a $699 starting price. Earlier this year, reviewers found the same refresh-rate trick worked better on the flagship Galaxy S20 Ultra than its first-gen camera did — the FE now pushes that display down to a midrange price point.
The 'FE' suffix is doing real work here: it positions a trimmed flagship against Samsung's own premium lineup rather than against other brands, and the review's verdict — great screen, respectable cameras, muddled by One UI — sets the template the line would repeat in later years with the S21 FE and the S23 FE.
First-order effects
- Buyers at $699 get the 120Hz screen that was the standout feature of Samsung's $1,000-plus flagships months earlier, making the FE the value pick inside Samsung's own 2020 S-lineup of four phones.
Second-order effects
- Pricing the FE near last year's flagship territory pressures Samsung's own premium S20 models on value, while rivals are pushed to match spec-per-dollar at the $699 tier rather than compete only above $1,000.
Third-order effects
- The FE's survival across three generations (S20, S21, S23) shows the midrange-flagship tier becoming a permanent Samsung product line — and as hardware specs like 120Hz displays commoditize downmarket, software experience (the review's One UI complaint) becomes the remaining differentiator.
The trend: Samsung is institutionalizing the Fan Edition as an annual midrange flagship tier, trickling headline display specs downmarket faster than it polishes the software layered on top.