Last updated: September 23rd, 2020 at 17:08 UTC+01:00

Galaxy S20 FE isn’t as affordable once you add the price of accessories

Despite Samsung calling it a ‘flagship’ throughout its recent Unpacked unveiling, the brand-new Galaxy S20 FE (Fan Edition) is hitting the shelves at non-flagship prices. This is unusual for Samsung, and at first glance the Galaxy S20 FE is looking like a great value proposition. It may very well be, but it’s worth noting that the smartphone’s launch price isn’t as low as it first seems once you take into account the contents of the retail box.

Samsung had to make some sacrifices to achieve the relatively-low price of the Galaxy S20 FE. The phone has a plastic back panel, a flat screen, and it doesn’t have the latest Snapdragon 865+ chipset. But more importantly, the relatively-low price of $699 (5G) / €632 (4G) / €730 (5G) was in no small part obtained by the lack of accessories.

The Galaxy S20 FE ships with a 15W charger, skips the earbuds

The Galaxy S20 FE has a 4,500mAh battery capable of 25W fast charging. There have been rumors that the device will be limited to 15W charging, but that’s not true, or at least not entirely. The phone is indeed capable of 25W fast charging but it ships with a 15W charger in the box. Customers who’ll want to take advantage of the battery’s fast charging capabilities will need to buy the 25W charger separately.

In addition, the Galaxy S20 FE doesn’t ship with a standard pair of Type-C earbuds. If you have a pair lying around then this probably won’t affect you, but if you need the earbuds then you’ll have to pay Samsung extra.

As of this writing, the 25W fast charger costs $34.99 when purchased separately from Samsung’s online shop, whereas the regular Samsung Type-C headphones cost $29.99. In other words, if you want to experience the complete Galaxy S20 FE package with these basic accessories included, you’ll have to pay an additional $65 on top of the phone’s $699 price tag, i.e., a total of $764. It’s still not a bad deal, but it’s not as affordable as it first seems if you need these accessories along with your brand-new ‘flagship’ phone.