Samsung's Galaxy S20 FE is becoming a rather impressive mid-range to semi-flagship phone, taking the Galaxy S20's 120Hz display, three rear-facing cameras, and powerful chip, and making some compromises, for $699 in the US and 699 in the UK Priced at £299

Samsung markets this phone as a phone that takes the elements that Samsung fans want and packs them into a more affordable package. However, I'm not sure who the Galaxy S20 FE is for.

Let's start with the fact that FE stands for "Fan Edition." If you are a Samsung fan, you must want to get a true flagship Galaxy phone, whether it's the Galaxy S20 or you want to plunk down the big bucks for a Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.

Flagship phones are not cheap, but still, $699 is not a lot of money. And fans of something tend to pay a little more than those who aren't. So the name Galaxy S20 FE is a bit off to begin with. If it's called the Galaxy S20 Lite, as we thought it would be, that's understandable.

But why would we want a Lite version of a flagship phone that was just released in March when the Galaxy S20 is available for the same price or less?

You can get a regular Galaxy S20 for $659 in the U.S. right now, and you can often find them on sale for $699 or less. [Some of these models only support 4G, but the 4G S20 FE is £599, so still not cheap.

Don't get me wrong: the S20 FE is not unfairly priced. But the S20 has also been on the market for six months.

If I had to choose between an older but more premium phone and a newer plastic phone at a similar price, I would choose the former every time. Samsung makes great premium phones that are definitely worth paying more for. But if you can get a phone that promises strong performance for at least two years at a cheaper price six months from now, you're looking at a bargain. And that, I feel, could render the S20 FE pointless.

The good news is that Samsung's new phone already has some early bird discounts, with some Galaxy S20 FE pre-order deals coming in at $599, but I would argue that is still too steep.

Aside from the threat the Galaxy S20 FE faces from its older siblings, we are still looking at a mid-range phone with an enviable spec list. As mentioned above, the S20 FE is an attractive prospect, with a high refresh rate display and a camera setup that looks likely to ape or even surpass the photography of the S20 and S20 Plus.

Samsung said the S20 FE was designed to bridge the gap between the flagship S series and the mid- to low-end A series. That's a fair thought, given that not everyone can afford to spend $1,000 on a flagship phone or sign an expensive cell phone contract. [But given the compromises of the S20 FE, we feel that $699 is the wrong price: the Snapdragon 865 is great, but if you compare, say, a phone with the latest Snapdragon 865 with the $349/£349 Google Pixel 4a's I doubt many people will really notice the difference in performance between, say, a phone with the latest Snapdragon 865 and the Snapdragon 720 in the $349/£349 Google Pixel 4a.

I use both the Oppo Find X2 Pro (a £1,099 device) and the Pixel 4a with the Snapdragon 865. The Find X2 Pro seems a bit snappier in daily use, but I have never felt that the Pixel 4a has slowed me down. Also, the additional performance of the Find X2 Pro is not worth the £750 price difference.

The same can be said for smartphone photos. I now have to zoom in on an external display to look for subtle differences in the photos. Some phones under $500 offer very impressive performance, like the $399 iPhone SE 2020, as well as the ability to take photos for social media.

If Samsung had priced the Galaxy S20 FE at around $500, I would be very interested in the S20 FE; the S20 FE would go up against Samsung's Galaxy A71, which launched at $599. However, the price of the Galaxy A71 has already dropped, so there is definitely room for Samsung to launch a $500 phone.

And the S20 FE could certainly drop to that price. When a sales event like Black Friday comes around, Samsung phones and carrier contracts can be snapped up at bargain prices. If that happens, I would recommend the S20 FE to anyone looking for a phone with strong performance, photos, and features at an affordable price.

As it stands, I am a bit confused and perplexed by the Galaxy S20 FE.