Galaxy S21 FE vs Galaxy S20 FE: which one to buy?

If you have around R$2,500 and want to buy a new cell phone, you will end up facing the Galaxy S21 FE, a 2021 model that is basically a treat from Samsung for its fans who are looking for a top of the line, but cannot afford to pay so much. But if you search further, you will also see the Galaxy S20 FE, from 2020 and still very dear to the crowd. PASMEN: both are at the same price! So which one is more worth it? Let’s find out!

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Talking first about what the two have in common, we can highlight the construction in plastic with IP68 certification against water and dust, technology NFC for approximation payments, support for Wi-Fi 6 and an almost identical set of cameras on both devices, with the exception of the secondary lens aperture.

Galaxy S20 FE

Both have three rear cameras: 12MP main with optical image stabilization + a 12 MP ultrawide + 8 MP telephoto with autofocus support and 3x optical zoom. Since they are the same, both can record videos in up to 4K at 60 fps. For selfies, the two also have the same lens 32 MP.

Everything remains the same also on the battery. They are 4.500 mAh in both cases with support for charging 25 watts using the USB-C cable and 15 watts wirelessly. Samsung also offers virtually the same memory options on both devices, they are 6 GB of RAM e 128 GB of storage.

Galaxy S21 FE vs Galaxy S20 FE: what’s different?

Among the differences, we can start talking about the screen. The Galaxy S20 FE comes with a screen Super AMOLED 6.5-inch display with Full HD+ resolution, support for HDR 10 Plus and protection Gorilla Glass 3. The S21 FE has a better screen, consisting of a panel Dynamic AMOLED 2X which measures 6.4 inches, but without any protection on the glass. please note that both have 120 Hz refresh rate.

The screen of the Galaxy S20 is of good quality, but the one of the S21 FE is even better, since it has a 2X Dynamic AMOLED display, with much more sharpness and more vibrant colors

The brains of the two models are also different. In the case of the S20 FE we have a processor Snapdragon 865while in the 2021 model Samsung has chosen to use the Exynos 2100which although more recent, has its problems.

For those who need more storage, the S20 FE is the only one of the two that has a microSD card slot.

Being from different years, the native operating system is also not the same. O Galaxy S21 FE already comes with Android 12has already updated to Android 13 and will happily receive Android 14. S20 FE which comes from the factory with Android 10, also had an update to Android 13 and should probably stop there. There are still rumors saying that it reaches 14, but I see few possibilities.

Galaxy S21 FE vs Galaxy S20 FE: negative points

Let’s talk about the problems of the two devices. the galaxy S20 FE it is the darling of many people, even after the launch of other generations of smartphones. But nowadays, we can say that the main problem is the shutdown of system updates. Now with Android 13, whoever buys this guy now won’t see any new Android notifications coming.

A battery his is not the best either. To give you an idea, in a test we did with it against the old S10 Lite, the S20 FE took a beating. Those who use their cell phones in frantic mode, with games, social networks and videos all day long, will need to recharge their battery before the end of the day.

O S21 FE, in turn, it could be better in performance, especially since its processor is more recent than that of the S20 FE, but this does not happen. In our gaming test, this guy performed reasonably well in most games, and in some of them he was even more disappointing.

A battery of the S21 FE also cannot be praised. When he passed our stressful battery test, he broke down and went to the tarp before the evaluation was over. With this disappointing result, the device now occupies the 31st place in our ranking of best batteries. And speaking of drums, it’s good to remember that the S21 FE does not come with a charger in the box.

Galaxy S21 FE vs Galaxy S20 FE: what makes it worth it

Both have the same photographic set, with three lenses on the back, the main one being 12 MP.

What can be praised in both cases is the set of cameras. It is no longer today that Samsung has been very careful with the cameras of its premium devices, offering excellent sharpness, shadows at the right level and many extra features, such as photos in low light environments and so on.

As the two devices have practically the same configuration, then their photos will not disappoint you. See some examples:

Galaxy S21 FE vs Galaxy S20 FE: which one to buy?

Forget it, it's time to buy the Galaxy S20 FE — Forget it, it’s time to buy the Galaxy S20 FE

After analyzing what each one offers, it’s time to see the price of each one here. As we write this article, the Galaxy S20 FE was costing BRL 2,600 and the S21 FE reached BRL 2,549. That’s exactly what you read, the S20 FE is more expensive than the S21 FE, which makes no sense.

For a long time, the S20 FE was on the radar of those looking for a good and cheap cell phone, at the time when we could find offers for it in the range of R$ 1,600. But due to the high demand, it seems that traders started to value the device and took the price up there.

So forget it! We can say that it is no longer worth buying the S20 FEa cell phone that will no longer receive any support from Samsung and still cost more than a newer model. Therefore, if you have BRL 2,600 and you really want a Galaxy Fan Edition, go for the S21 FE.