Budget 20-25K Is the Samsung S20fe 5G worth buying in 2023?

[ch@ts]

I'm looking for a phone that doesn't serve me ads, has a good camera.

The reviews from 2020/21 praised the S20FE's camera's. How does it's camera hold up today?
I know it'll probably not get an Android 14 update, but besides that, how does it compare to other phones available at close to Rs.25,000 today?

 

[ch@ts]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I appreciate all your advice.
I ordered the S21FE 5G, as without an SBI or regular ICICI card, there wasn't much of an additional discount on the S20FE. Also, the S21 has Gorilla glass Victius, will get updated to at least Android 15, has a better selfie cam, and more camera modes. My wife only plays Candy Crush, so I don't think she'll face a throttling issue, and the battery life will be similar to our current Mi A2's.

You can remove Edge 30 & Nord CE3 Lite from consideration, even Nord 3 maybe as I doubt she will benefit from the extra performance.

So comes down to NP1 & Edge 40 IMO. My top pick will be Edge 40 as its a bit compact & lighter. Check some reviews online.

She didn't like the NP1, and according to a few reviews, the Edge 40 screen scratches easily, and since it's curved, tempered glasses don't fit well.

 

[OMEGA44-XT]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I appreciate all your advice.
I ordered the S21FE 5G, as without an SBI or regular ICICI card, there wasn't much of an additional discount on the S20FE. Also, the S21 has Gorilla glass Victius, will get updated to at least Android 15, has a better selfie cam, and more camera modes. My wife only plays Candy Crush, so I don't think she'll face a throttling issue, and the battery life will be similar to our current Mi A2's.

She didn't like the NP1, and according to a few reviews, the Edge 40 screen scratches easily, and since it's curved, tempered glasses don't fit well.

I mean if you are comparing battery life with something like Mi A2, can't say much. But S21FE has inferior battery life to S20FE 5G & other phones at that price. A friend of mine has it & is using it at 60Hz so as to make it last a full day.

My S20FE 5G used to last 24hrs with 5hr SOT when it was new (I do play some Clash of Clans), now SOT is closer to 4hrs after 1.5 years & somedays I need to charge it at night as well.

 

[t3chg33k]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I appreciate all your advice.
I ordered the S21FE 5G, as without an SBI or regular ICICI card, there wasn't much of an additional discount on the S20FE. Also, the S21 has Gorilla glass Victius, will get updated to at least Android 15, has a better selfie cam, and more camera modes. My wife only plays Candy Crush, so I don't think she'll face a throttling issue, and the battery life will be similar to our current Mi A2's.

She didn't like the NP1, and according to a few reviews, the Edge 40 screen scratches easily, and since it's curved, tempered glasses don't fit well.

Ironically, Samsung is now selling the SD 888 based S21 FE on their website for 49k. Not sure why they think the SD variant deserves such a premium, but that is an option going forward.

 

[kuduku]

If people are thinking to but, buying and discussing phone launched in Oct 20 then why cant S21FE be launched for 49k . Even old exynos S21FE only once came down below 34k after cashbacks etc
I would buy this for 24k eyes closed only if they upgrade to A14 last
Issue is this banking Apps which require OS uprades
Its a very good device infront of all shit at 25k , no comparison

 

[t3chg33k]

If people are thinking to but, buying and discussing phone launched in Oct 20 then why cant S21FE be launched for 49k . Even old exynos S21FE only once came down below 34k after cashbacks etc
I would buy this for 24k eyes closed only if they upgrade to A14 last
Issue is this banking Apps which require OS uprades
Its a very good device infront of all shit at 25k , no comparison

Unfortunately, most will base recommendations only on the SoC, completely ignoring hardware build or software features or camera or long-term support. If a Samsung phone meets your daily need for less powerful hardware, then it is an automatic recommendation over the Chinese manufacturers.

 

[Nevermore]

If you want OS upgrades and monthly security updates, you can also look into getting Oneplus 8T which has excellent custom ROM support. You'd need to flash Magisk to hide your unlocked bootloader from some apps, though (Paytm etc work without Magisk right now). If not, then S20FE is a really good phone.

 

[ch@ts]

I mean if you are comparing battery life with something like Mi A2, can't say much. But S21FE has inferior battery life to S20FE 5G & other phones at that price. A friend of mine has it & is using it at 60Hz so as to make it last a full day.

My S20FE 5G used to last 24hrs with 5hr SOT when it was new (I do play some Clash of Clans), now SOT is closer to 4hrs after 1.5 years & somedays I need to charge it at night as well.

We've enabled the battery saver option, so the phone only charges to 85%. She's getting about 4.5 hrs screen on time (candy crush for about 2.5-3hrs), with the screen set to a 120hz refresh rate, and about 60% brightness. The cameras are really nice, and we love all the modes. At night the battery drain is about 1%, which is pretty amazing.
We've never spent more than 15k on a phone before, and honestly, when I compare it to my 3.5 yr old Mi A2, the upgrade wouldn't make sense for my usage patterns. The Android experience is smooth on both, and sure, the Samsung has better cameras, and holds more apps in it's memory, but my phone stills feels fast enough for me. In fact, I have an older Honor 6x, with Lineage OS 14 installed, and that feels pretty snappy too.
I wish manufacturers would keep updating phones, so that we could use our phones for longer.

 

[OMEGA44-XT]

We've enabled the battery saver option, so the phone only charges to 85%. She's getting about 4.5 hrs screen on time (candy crush for about 2.5-3hrs), with the screen set to a 120hz refresh rate, and about 60% brightness. The cameras are really nice, and we love all the modes. At night the battery drain is about 1%, which is pretty amazing.
We've never spent more than 15k on a phone before, and honestly, when I compare it to my 3.5 yr old Mi A2, the upgrade wouldn't make sense for my usage patterns. The Android experience is smooth on both, and sure, the Samsung has better cameras, and holds more apps in it's memory, but my phone stills feels fast enough for me. In fact, I have an older Honor 6x, with Lineage OS 14 installed, and that feels pretty snappy too.
I wish manufacturers would keep updating phones, so that we could use our phones for longer.

If the battery is satisfactory to you, then great. Honestly, battery life & heating issues are the main complaints for most people (complaints of most exynos devices actually). I really hope other companies like OP, Moto & Nothing continue to release great phones to affect Samsung sales.

Samsung literally had downgraded many phones for a similar price in the last 2 years. Like A52s 5G for 28k is literally better than A34 5G except for software support, heck A54 is very similar to A52s. Similarly, my cousin was looking to upgrade to a 20k phone from M51 & M34 looks worse & has a similar performance SoC after ~3 years, primary rear camera & software support are better for sure.