Galaxy S23 FE vs S20 FE: This is the upgrade you’re looking for

Samsung has announced its new Fan Edition smartphone today, and we can say right off the bat that it’s already shaping up to become a good upgrade proposition for Galaxy S20 FE users. The Galaxy S23 FE seems to tick all the right boxes, and a lot has changed for the better since the S20 FE was originally released three years ago.

One of the most striking upgrades consists of the Galaxy S23 FE’s design. The new Fan Edition model has a Gorilla Glass 5 back panel and an aluminum frame, which makes it heavier and sturdier than the 2020 model. It’s also rocking the 2023 design language with flat panels and three circular cutouts for the rear-facing cameras. And don’t worry; the IP68 rating is still present.

Another significant upgrade for the Galaxy S23 FE is the newer chipset(s). The phone sports the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 in some markets and the Exynos 2200 SoC in others. But no matter which version we look at, it offers way better performance than the Galaxy S20 FE’s Exynos 990 or Snapdragon 865 5G chips.

The Exynos 990 SoC was rather problematic, and even if the newer Exynos 2200 doesn’t have a great reputation, it seems to be working brilliantly on our test S23 FE unit so far. Samsung ironed out the kinks in its Exynos 2200 SoC, and the Galaxy S23 FE is bound to offer a significant performance boost over the S20 FE.

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New software features, better cameras, and more

Naturally, the Galaxy S23 FE ships with Android 13 and One UI 5.1, and will benefit from four OS upgrades. Meanwhile, Android 13 is the last upgrade for the Galaxy S20 FE. But there’s more to it than that. The Galaxy S23 FE also benefits from more advanced features such as Samsung DeX and Vision Booster.

The Galaxy S23 FE also comes with an upgraded camera system featuring a 50MP primary shooter, a 12MP ultra-wide sensor, and an 8MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom. The 2023 model is capable of 8K video recording and has many camera bells and whistles you’d find on a modern flagship, like 2x portrait crop and the full version of Director’s View.

Samsung has priced the new Galaxy S23 FE at $599, and the phone is set to hit the shelves on October 5. Is it a worthy upgrade for Galaxy S20 FE users? We’d say so. You can check out our spec comparison sheet below for additional hardware details.