4 Reasons Why Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G is Better than OnePlus 9 and 4 Reasons Why it is Not

The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G is a strong contender in the sub-flagship premium smartphone market, squaring off against the new OnePlus 9.

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The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G has just been launched in India at the end of the last month. More than anything else, what makes this launch very interesting is that with the Galaxy S20 FE 5G, Samsung has introduced a smartphone with new bearings, but one that retains the essential features of the company’s flagship grade devices from last year. The company had already launched the 4G edition of the Galaxy S20 FE at Rs 44,999 in India, and now, the 5G version comes with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage at Rs 55,999 (with introductory pricing of Rs 47,999). At this pricing, the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G squares off against the OnePlus 9, which is selling at Rs 49,990 in India. With this in sight, what are the reasons for which you should buy the Galaxy S20 FE 5G, and what are the reasons why you shouldn’t? We take a look at the pros and cons, to help you decide.

Reasons why the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G is better

IP Rating

The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G features an IP68 durability rating, which means that it can be submerged under 5 feet of water for up to 30 minutes. The IP68 rating would apply for general dust resistance as well, making it a durable premium smartphone. It trumps the OnePlus 9 in this department, which surprisingly features no durability classification.

Wireless charging

Yet another feature that is amiss from the OnePlus 9 is wireless charging, which is retained by the Galaxy S20 FE 5G. The latter supports fast wireless charging at up to 15W, and also supports 4.5W reverse wireless charging, making it stand out against the OnePlus 9 in this department.

Lower price

At its introductory price of Rs 47,999, the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G essentially offers a very similar flagship-grade smartphone experience as the OnePlus 9. This makes it a more price efficient premium smartphone as the OnePlus 9, therefore helping users save some money while buying phones at the Rs 50,000 price bracket.

Telephoto camera

The Galaxy S20 FE 5G features an 8MP telephoto camera that can produce 3x optical zoom, and also features phase detection autofocus for fast focusing in low light, and also optical stabilisation for better zoom shots in any lighting conditions. The OnePlus 9 misses out on a telephoto camera altogether, which means that if you want a telephoto camera in a OnePlus smartphone, you’ll have to shell out the added bucks for the OnePlus 9 Pro.

Reasons why it isn’t better than the OnePlus 9

Slower charging speed

Both the Galaxy S20 FE 5G and the OnePlus 9 feature 4,500mAh batteries, but the latter advertises a total charging time of only 29 minutes to juice up the battery from nil to full. This is thanks to the OnePlus 65W Warp Charge technology. In answer to this, Samsung only offers 25W fast charging, which means that the S20 FE 5G will take more than twice as long to charge to full.

Inferior processor

The OnePlus 9 features the latest generation Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC, which features a number of standout improvements such as better generational performance upgrades over its predecessors. In comparison, the Galaxy S20 FE 5G features the Snapdragon 865 SoC, which is a generation older flagship-grade SoC from Qualcomm, therefore offering a shade slower performance.

Lower peak brightness

The peak brightness rating of the Galaxy S20 FE 5G’s AMOLED panel is pegged at around 800 nits, which is considerably dimmer than the 1100 nits peak brightness on offer by the Fluid AMOLED display panel of the OnePlus 9. This means that the latter will offer better visibility quality under direct sunlight, than Samsung’s counterpart.

Weaker ultra-wide angle camera

The 12MP ultra-wide angle camera of the S20 FE 5G is weaker than the 50MP ultra-wide unit on the OnePlus 9, which offers better clarity and finer resolution in ultra-wide angle photos. It also combines this with Hasselblad powered colour calibration algorithms, which also stands out against what Samsung offers here.