Which is the better flagship of the two?
The budget flagships are one of the best ones to buy in the market if you want almost all the flagship features in a smartphone at an affordable price, though skipping on some features.
Currently, the Galaxy S20 FE (Review) is a very good budget flagship offering in the market from Samsung as it has almost all the flagship features of the regular Galaxy S20 series at an affordable price.
On the other hand, the OnePlus 8T (Review) has been recently launched and is a very good flagship offering as brings along with it faster charging and the best of both hardware and software.
Can the OnePlus 8T take away the honors of the affordable price tag or will the Galaxy S20 FE be a better buy?
OnePlus 8T vs Samsung Galaxy S20 FE Design:
In terms of design, the OnePlus 8T sports a whole different look from all the OnePlus smartphones in the market with that large rectangular housing for the cameras whereas the Galaxy S20 FE follows the same design pattern as seen on the regular Galaxy S20 series.
The OnePlus 8T has a glass sandwich design with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 both at the front as well as on the back whereas the Galaxy S20 FE has Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on the front and the back here is made up of plastic to keep costs low compared to the regular Galaxy S20 series that has a glass back.
The Galaxy S20 FE has a matte finish on the plastic back which provides a good grip while holding while the OnePlus 8T has a frosted finish especially the Aquamarine Green color shines while tilting in various angles and feels cold while touching it.
Coming to the sides, both have an aluminum frame running around with the power button, volume buttons, a SIM card slot, and the OnePlus 8T gets an additional alert slider to control notifications and messages.
On the top, there is a secondary noise-canceling microphone and at the bottom, you have the USB Type-C port, loudspeaker vent, and a primary microphone on both.
Both the smartphones lack a 3.5mm headphone jack but the Galaxy S20 FE has an IP68 rating i.e. it is dust and water-resistant and has support for wireless and reverse wireless charging which all these are lacking on the OnePlus 8T. However, the OnePlus 8T does come with P2i coating which means it is splash resistant.
On the front, both the OnePlus 8T and the Galaxy S20 FE get punch-hole displays with a different position where the OnePlus 8T gets it on the top right corner, the Galaxy S20 FE has it on the center. At the back, there are three cameras on the Galaxy S20 FE and quad cameras with dual-LED flash on the OnePlus 8T.
Overall, the OnePlus 8T feels the premium one because of the glass back but the matte finish plastic back of the Galaxy S20 FE gives a better grip and has additional features like wireless charging and IP rating making it feel premium.
OnePlus 8T vs Samsung Galaxy S20 FE Display:
The OnePlus 8T houses a slightly larger display at 6.55 inches compared to 6.5 inches display on the Galaxy S20 FE. Both the displays share a lot of similarities as both have AMOLED displays where the OnePlus 8T has a Fluid AMOLED display and the Galaxy S20 FE has an Infinity-O Super AMOLED display and both have Full HD+ (1080x2400 pixels) resolution.
Both the displays support 120Hz refresh rate and 240Hz touch sampling rate which makes them very responsive while watching videos, or scrolling through web pages, multi-tasking, and while playing heavy games. The touch responses feel slightly better on the OnePlus 8T but the difference is very marginal.
Since both have an AMOLED display, the color reproduction is excellent, with good viewing angles, and taking the displays under sunlight or dark will not be a problem as both also get a sunlight mode, reading mode, and a blue light filter.
The display on the Galaxy S20 FE is better than the OnePlus 8T by a hairsbreadth as we know Samsung produces some of the best AMOLED panels from the past. Both the display support HDR content and have Widevine L1 to stream HD content from applications like Netflix, Prime, etc.
Both get an optical in-display fingerprint scanner that is accurate and fast. The face unlock works well on both smartphones, but the one on the OnePlus 8T is slightly faster compared to the one on the Galaxy S20 FE, but the difference is marginal. Both are equally good in terms of display.
OnePlus 8T vs Samsung Galaxy S20 FE Performance:
In terms of performance, both have the respective flagship chipsets where the OnePlus 8T has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, the Galaxy S20 FE gets the Exynos 990 chipset. Comparing the two chipsets side by side, both have a tri-cluster setup and are based on the 7nm process.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 has 1x2.84GHz Kryo 585 Prime core + 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 585 Gold cores (both based on the ARM Cortex A77) and another 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 585 Silver cores (based on ARM Cortex A55) coupled with an Adreno 650 GPU and similarly, the Exynos 990 has 2x2.73 GHz Mongoose M5 cores + 2x2.50 GHz Cortex A76 cores and 4x2.0 GHz Cortex A55 cores coupled with a Mali G77 GPU.
Playing heavy games like Asphalt 9, Call of Duty ran smoothly on both the smartphones at the highest graphics settings. The OnePlus 8T has a slightly better gaming performance as the Snapdragon 865 is a slightly better chipset compared to the Exynos 990. The Galaxy S20 FE did feel a bit warm compared to the OnePlus 8T.
The OnePlus 8T ships with two storage options that include 8/12GB LPDDR4X RAM and 128/256GB storage options whereas the Galaxy S20 FE comes with 8GB LPDDR4X RAM and has 128/256GB storage options. Here the storage speeds on both are UFS 3.1.
In benchmarks like Geekbench 5.1, the OnePlus 8T scores 881 in single-core and 3090 in multi-core tests which is slightly better than the 426 and 2529 in single-core and multi-core tests on the Galaxy S20 FE.
Whether it is gaming or benchmarks, the OnePlus 8T is better than the Galaxy S20 FE, so the performance round goes to the OnePlus 8T.
OnePlus 8T vs Samsung Galaxy S20 FE Software:
Both the OnePlus 8T and the Galaxy S20 FE come with different custom skins as OnePlus has its OxygenOS and the Samsung has OneUI, so with the OnePlus 8T, you are getting the latest OxygenOS 11.0.2 and the Galaxy S20 FE comes with the newer OneUI 2.5.
The OnePlus 8T runs on the latest Android 11 compared to the Android 10 running on the Galaxy S20 FE. Both get a system-wide dark mode, Android 10 navigation gestures, Always-On display, etc. OxygenOS 11 looks almost like the OneUI.
Both the custom skins provide a variety of customizations in terms of home screen layout, icons color, and size and OxygenOS has less bloatware compared to OneUI as with Galaxy S20 FE there are a couple of third-party applications pre-installed and Samsung specific applications.
Both the Galaxy S20 FE and the OnePlus 8T get an Always-On display and with the OnePlus 8T, you are getting an extra feature where you can see how many times the phone has been unlocked and the device usage.
In terms of software updates, both will receive another three Android upgrades and here, the OnePlus 8T will get faster software and security updates. So in terms of software, both are neck in neck and if you want slightly faster software updates and a more clean software experience, go with the OnePlus 8T.
OnePlus 8T vs Samsung Galaxy S20 FE Cameras:
The OnePlus 8T and the Galaxy S20 FE sport a different camera setup where the OnePlus 8T gets a 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor for the main camera, a 16MP ultrawide camera, a 5MP macro camera, and a 2MP monochrome sensor. On the front, it has a 16MP camera for selfies and portraits.
The Galaxy S20 FE has three cameras at the rear that includes a 12MP main camera, a 12MP ultrawide camera, and an 8MP telephoto camera. It does not get a macro or a depth camera, rather it uses the main camera for those capabilities. On the front, it gets a larger 32MP camera.
Moving to the main camera, both take images with excellent detail and the color reproduction is good. The colors look more vibrant on the OnePlus 8T, but when zooming into the images, the Galaxy S20 FE has better details and dynamic range. The noise is also lower on the images taken from the Galaxy S20 FE.
Shot on the OnePlus 8T
Shot on the Galaxy S20 FE
Turning on HDR, the images have a natural color on the OnePlus 8T and the details become slightly better, and the contrast improves. In daylight, the Galaxy S20 FE does slightly better than the OnePlus 8T.
At night, both take images with good details and the colors look punchier in the images. The dynamic range is slightly better on the OnePlus 8T but the noise is lower and the highlights in the shadows are better on the Galaxy S20 FE.
Shot on the OnePlus 8T
Shot on the Galaxy S20 FE
Turning on the Night Mode, the Galaxy S20 FE shines over the OnePlus 8T as the exposure in the surroundings is well maintained and the saturation of colors is well done.
The ultrawide cameras on both smartphones perform really well. Both have good details with punchier colors and a good dynamic range. The OnePlus 8T has a slightly wider aperture especially the 16MP compared to 12MP on the Galaxy S20 FE. The details look slightly better on the OnePlus 8T and it captures more subjects into the frame.
Shot on the OnePlus 8T
Shot on the Galaxy S20 FE
The Galaxy S20 FE is not far behind as it has better contrast and the noise is quite lower too. At night, things turn up for the Galaxy S20 FE as it has lower noise and the colors look punchier and natural compared to the ones on the OnePlus 8T.
Shot on the OnePlus 8T
Shot on the Galaxy S20 FE
The third camera is different on both the smartphones where the Galaxy S20 FE has gone for an 8MP telephoto camera, the OnePlus 8T does miss out on a telephoto camera which we had expected, instead, it has a macro camera for those close up images.
10x zoom on OnePlus 8T
In terms of zoomed images, here the Galaxy S20 FE is a clear winner as it can zoom from 3x to 30x optical zoom, and these images have excellent details and the colors look better compared to the zoomed images taken from the OnePlus 8T.
Since the OnePlus 8T misses out on a telephoto camera, it uses the main camera for that zooming. It can go only up to 10x at which the dynamic range takes a hit, colors look washed out but the contrast is well maintained. However, it cannot match the level of details and the 30x zoom capabilities of the Galaxy S20 FE.
30x zoom on the Galaxy S20 FE
The OnePlus 8T gets a dedicated macro camera for those close-up images. The Galaxy S20 FE instead uses the main camera for the close-up images and here also the Galaxy S20 FE has a clear edge as it captures slightly better details with more vibrant colors whereas the OnePlus 8T tends to over-saturate the colors.
Shot on the OnePlus 8T
Shot on the Galaxy S20 FE
Coming to portraits, both the smartphones do an excellent job as both have good edge detection and dynamic range. The OnePlus 8T has good details upon zooming as the 48MP camera and a 2MP monochrome sensor together work to bring out good portrait images.
The Galaxy S20 FE takes good portraits, but the details are not so good. Turning on the Live Focus Mode, things improve by a large margin as the background blur is well maintained, dynamic range improves and the autofocus improves.
On the front, the Galaxy S20 FE has the advantage over the OnePlus 8T in terms of numbers as it gets a larger 32MP camera compared to the 16MP camera on the OnePlus 8T. The selfies from the OnePlus 8T come out really good with sharper details compared to the Galaxy S20 FE.
But the selfies on the Galaxy S20 FE have good contrast and capture in more detail since it has a wider field of view. Though it is very difficult to differentiate between the two in terms of selfies, here with the wider field of view and punchier colors, the Galaxy S20 FE edges over the OnePlus 8T.
The portraits from the front camera come out better on the Galaxy S20 FE with good background blur and the details captured are more compared to the 16MP front camera on the OnePlus 8T. The edge detection is better on the Galaxy S20 FE.
In terms of videos, both the smartphones can go up to 4K videos @ 60fps. There is no support for 8K video recording on both of them, though the hardware on both supports it. The video footage on both of them was good but the colors look more natural on the Galaxy S20 FE and the dynamic range is better compared to the OnePlus 8T.
Both have Ultra Steady Mode and Ultra-Stable Mode for the videos taken from the ultrawide camera and here the noise is lower on the OnePlus 8T and it has better stabilization compared to the Galaxy S20 FE. The Galaxy S20 FE has a better dynamic range overall.
Switching to 1080p, both are equally good and here also the Galaxy S20 FE edges slightly with better details and less noise. The OnePlus 8T is also good but the colors look over-sharpened and the contrast is not as good as on the Galaxy S20 FE.
From the front camera, the Galaxy S20 FE can record 4K videos at 60fps, whereas on the OnePlus 8T, you can only record videos at 1080p at 30fps. The selfie videos from the front camera are better on the Galaxy S20 FE have better dynamic range and the stabilization is good also.
Overall, in terms of optics, the Galaxy S20 FE holds a clear edge over the OnePlus 8T.
OnePlus 8T vs Samsung Galaxy S20 FE Battery Life:
Both the OnePlus 8T and the Galaxy S20 FE sport a 4500mAh battery with support for fast charging on both of them. The average screen on time was hovering between both the smartphones was around 5-6 hours with the display set to 120Hz.
The OnePlus 8T with the OxygenOS has a slightly better battery backup over the Galaxy S20 FE but the difference is marginal. Both can last for one and a half days with normal to heavy usage and both have their respective power-saving modes also.
In terms of charging, the OnePlus 8T clearly beats the Galaxy S20 FE as it supports 65W Warp Charging over the regular 15W fast charging on the Galaxy S20 FE. The Galaxy S20 FE supports 25W fast charging, but Samsung has only included a 15W fast charger inside the box.
Coming to charging speeds, the OnePlus 8T can go from 0 to 50 percent in 15 minutes whereas 0 to 50 percent comes up in 52 minutes on the Galaxy S20 FE. Charging from 0 to 100 percent on the OnePlus 8T takes just 39 minutes which is much faster than 1hour 25 minutes on the Galaxy S20 FE.
However, with the 25W fast charger, you charge the Galaxy S20 FE from 0 to 100 percent in 72 minutes which is pretty good.
The one feature where the Galaxy S20 FE holds the edge over the OnePlus 8T is support for wireless and reverse wireless charging using which you can charge a device like Galaxy Earbuds wirelessly when kept on the back of the Galaxy S20 FE.
If you want that 65W fast charging, the OnePlus 8T is better and if wireless charging and reverse wireless charging are necessities, the Galaxy S20 FE is the perfect one. Overall, in terms of battery life and charging, the OnePlus 8T has the edge.
OnePlus 8T vs Samsung Galaxy S20 FE Audio Quality:
Both the smartphones have a stereo speaker setup where the earpiece and the loudspeaker together act to give a stereo sound effect. The sound on the Galaxy S20 FE is slightly louder and clearer compared to the OnePlus 8T.
Both of them lack a 3.5mm headphone jack and you can use wireless earphones and the sound output through the USB Type-C port is more clearer on the Galaxy S20 FE. In terms of audio, the Galaxy S20 FE has slightly better quality than the OnePlus 8T.
Verdict:
The OnePlus 8T and the Galaxy S20 FE have a close call and considering any one of them will not be a problem. Both have a lot of similarities that include a 120Hz display, flagship chipsets i.e. Snapdragon 865, and the Exynos 990, and both have a 4500mAh battery with faster charging.
The OnePlus 8T has a better build and design, faster charging at 65W, better ultrawide and selfie camera, and most important of all is the presence of OxygenOS which provides a cleaner software experience. The Galaxy S20 FE may not have a premium build and design as it has a plastic back and there is only a 15W fast charger bundled inside the box.
But in terms of necessary features on a flagship like IP68 rating, support for wireless and reverse wireless charging are all present on the Galaxy S20 FE which are not there on the OnePlus 8T. The main camera, macro camera, and since it has a telephoto camera, the zoomed images have better details.
The Galaxy S20 FE has a slightly better sound output and since you have got the OneUI running, the software experience is good. It may not be as good as the OxygenOS, but you would not notice a difference when using both smartphones.
In terms of performance, gaming, and benchmarks, clearly, the OnePlus 8T holds an edge as it has the powerful Snapdragon 865 over the Exynos 990 on the Galaxy S20 FE (as it is an Indian variant).
To conclude, if you want a premium build and design, faster performance, faster charging, and better ultrawide camera performance, then go with the OnePlus 8T or if you want the better optics, and if wireless and reverse wireless charging, IP68 rating, and the brand value from Samsung, the Galaxy S20 FE is the one to go for.
The OnePlus 8T is cheaper compared to the Galaxy S20 FE which makes it the more affordable one to buy. But overall here, considering the design, features, cameras, battery, and software, the Galaxy S20 FE wins over the OnePlus 8T by a slight margin.
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