Galaxy S20 FE 5G vs Pixel 5: Which is the Better $699 Smartphone?
You don’t need a thousand dollar phone these days to get the best Android experience especially in this particular economic climate. There are certain option that delivers a lot of value for the phone for less the money so those expensive flagships are not exactly the only choices. That said, since the recently unveiled Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G and Google Pixel 5 were launched with a corresponding $699 price, then comparison is going to be unavoidable. So, how does the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G stack up against Pixel 5? Read on to find out.
Display
Samsung comes with Super AMOLED, Full HD+ display with 1080 x 2400 pixels. It has a 6.5-inch screen real estate with a punch-hole cutout centered in the uppermost part of the display. What the Galaxy S20 FE lacks in super High-Res of Quad HD, it more than makes up for its incredibly high refresh rate of 120Hz, which gives it a buttery smooth scrolling and gameplay experience.
The Pixel 5 is fitted with 6-inch panel with Full HD+ resolution and comes with an OLED display technology. The Pixel 5 also sports a more discreet front camera opening instead of a notch like its predecessor, which Android manufacturers are moving away anyway. You can still experience fast scrolling and transition with reduced 90Hz frame rate.
The Samsung S20 FE 5G has 6.5″ Full HD+ display with 120Hz refresh rate while the Pixel 5 has 6″ Full HD+ display with 90Hz refresh rate
In terms of who has the better display, I’d say Samsung Galaxy 20 FE takes this one since it’s not just bigger but also has more fluid refresh rate. It would be a shame not to come on top for the Korean since best-in-class display is always the characteristic of a top-of-the-line Samsung phone and glad that didn’t entirely skimp even on this less-pricey flagship.
Build Quality
Lately, it seems Samsung is embracing plastic- instead of metal or glass- even for their upper tier Note 20 phones, which gathers some negative reaction of course. Pushback aside, polycarbonate shell has many pros as well in terms of durability. Using polycarbonate for the Galaxy S20 FE shouldn’t be much of an issue as part of cost cutting.
On the other side of the coin, Pixel 5 is outfitted with a metal chassis which is a first for a phone with a wireless charging. The recycled aluminum material used for the rear gives it a semblance of a premium device.
Processor
The Samsung S20 FE 5G variant in the US has a flagship 7nm Snapdragon 865 chipset onboard. Having this caliber of a chipset in this price range is unprecedented since that’s plenty of power under the hood for less the price. However, there is also the risk of Samsung competing against itself here– wherein their mid-ranger Galaxy A71 5G is only slightly cheaper while their recent flagships are way more expensive that buyers may gravitate towards the value-for-money Galaxy S20 FE instead.
Meanwhile, the Pixel 5 is equipped with a Snapdragon 765G processor that supports 5G — not exactly a top tier but no slouch either. It is a different approach this time around for Google– that in order to reduce the cost they decided to utilize a mid-range processor instead of the more pricey flagship Snapdragon chipset.
There’s Snapdragon 865 onboard the Galaxy S20 FE 5G, Snapdragon 765G for the Pixel 5
Definitely, Samsung has the more capable processor in this price than the Pixel. Expect the performance to be flagship-level as well because well, it is and for less.
Camera
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE has the same set of cameras with the vanilla Galaxy S20 with core functionality intact – except for the 8MP telephoto lens. That said, the photography game of the Galaxy S20 FE is quite strong with its triple main lens that include a 12MP ultrawide standard camera with f/1.8 aperture, a 12 MP ultrawide with f/2.2 aperture, and an 8 MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom (up to 30X digital “space zoom”). Meanwhile a 32 MP with f/2.0 lens for the front camera provides detailed selfie shots.
Galaxy S20 FE 5G has triple cameras – standard, ultrawide and 3x optical zoom
The highlight of Pixel phones are the awesome camera achieved using AI smarts. There are dual lenses on the rear which is composed of a 12.2 megapixel main shooter with f/1.7 aperture. There is no secondary telephoto lens like in Pixel 4 as it is replaced by a ultrawide 16 MP camera with f/2.2 aperture. The selfie camera is an 8 megapixel shooter with f/2.0 aperture.
Pixel 5 has dual cameras: standard and ultrawide
You can’t go wrong the Pixel 5 when it comes to photography. However, we are already spoiled by trio or more camera set-ups by different Android phones. If you really want a more versatile camera setup that include main lens, an ultrawide lens and zoom lens, then the Galaxy S20 FE is not that hard to pick.
Battery
The embedded battery for the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE is a stamina powerhouse with a big 4,500mAh capacity. That is something to applaud Samsung because the phone will really need it with energy sapping features such as 120Hz refresh rate and also the high-speed connectivity. Another consumer friendly feature the wireless charging capability and also the reverse wireless charging if you want to share power between compatible devices. The default charging is at 15W but you can also enable fast 25W charging with a separate wireless charger because it is not included.
4,500mAh capacity for Galaxy S20 FE 5G vs 4,080mAh for the Pixel 5
With the Pixel 5, a 4,080mAh battery capacity will keep the power on. This is a vast improvement over the Pixel 4 which has a incredibly awful endurance only 2,800 mAh onboard. The Pixel 5 has a 18W fast charging, yet another option to top-up the phone is through wireless charging and it can also share some juice via reverse wireless charging.
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE or Google Pixel 5: Which is the Better Value Overall?
To conclude, The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G’s better screen, higher capacity battery, versatile camera and a flagship processor, are justifiable reasons to be $699-poorer because there’s lot of phone features you can get for the money. Though the Pixel 5 falls short in many key areas, such as performance, it is not without its charm. In fact, it has an ace up in its sleeve – it is unmatched in computational photography and also has an advantage when it comes to timely software updates.
- Samsung S23 FE Updated with AI Smarts in ONE UI 6.1, but a Feature Is Missing - April 20, 2024
- Best Samsung Galaxy S8 Active Cases in 2024 - April 17, 2024
- Best Samsung Galaxy A53 5G Cases in 2024 - April 17, 2024
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!