Upgrade from Pixel 3XL to Pixel 5

[sulla1965]

So, being in desperate need to replace my Pixel 3 XL due to the battery being essentially dead and not wanting to invest $100 into replacing the battery of a phone that would, in accordance with Murphy's law, have some other failure immediately thereafter since it is out of warranty.....

I was very much torn between the S20 FE and the Pixel 5.

I considered that the FE has a faster processor (though the 5 would be comparable to my current - and completely fine - experience), a better (120 vs 90 Hz) and larger display, expandable memory (though 128GB onboard on either should be sufficient), faster storage, DEX (seems interesting), and a few other things. Also reports that the bloat is far, far less than it used to be, and Samsung is providing for OS updates for the full term that I would realistically own the phone.

I considered that the Pixel 5 would likely still offer better 'everyday' photos, faster updates, slightly more ram (8GB vs 6GB), smaller form factor while still offering similar display size to my current device, no learning curve for features, and a simple it-just-works interface.

In the end I went with the S20 FE for the deciding factor that I was effectively able to get it for free after trade-in, where the Pixel 5 would have cost me about $500.

That being said, here are my thoughts after a few days with the S20 FE:

• Display is drop-dead gorgeous and extremely bright. At 6.5" it's noticeably larger than the 3 XL, which I like, though I wouldn't have minded the more comparably sized display in the much more pocketable body of the Pixel 5
• Battery life is staggeringly good - 8 hours screen time. Of course, my impression is partly influenced by how bad my 3 XL battery had grown - the Pixel 5 might easily compare to the S20 FE given the lesser demand of a 90Hz panel and greater efficiency of the 765G
• Bloat isn't that bad on the Samsung, but the UI will take some time getting used to.
• No support for multiple user accounts. This is something I enjoyed on the Pixels - setting a separate personal and work profile (Pixels support up to 5). Samsung blocks this Android feature, though does have a "Secure" folder that can accommodate separate app profiles (only 1 though)
• Under-display FPS. It's quick, and works ok most of the time, but not nearly to the degree the rear FPS did on the Pixel 3 XL (and to which it would presumably work on the Pixel 5) which also accommodated more images. I had the 3 XL set up for thumb, fore- and middle-finger on either hand. Can't do that on the S20 FE.
• Samsung Pay - haven't run into a scenario where I could use the MST since virtually every terminal these days requires a chip, so while that might be nice, it seems to be obsolescent. As far as NFC goes, it's slower than Google Pay.
• Camera. S20 FE camera is very good. Had I not been coming from the Pixel 3 XL, I'd say great. I don't know that I'd complain about the quality (other than night shots, which are markedly inferior), but generally speaking they are a qualitative step down.
• 5G. I'm guessing this will be comparable with the Pixel 5, but in comparison to the 3 XL... LTE speed is similar, but connecting to the low-band 5G in Charleston, SC (we don't have midband yet, nor of course mm-wave) is an eye-opener. Many places it is of similar speed, while others it is dramatically faster (top 5G I've clocked is 152Mbps, vs my historical best of about 50Mbps on LTE). Bigger difference is in coverage, though. There are areas where I'm getting usable 5G coverage with 20-40Mbps in locations where the Pixel 3 XL might show the LTE symbol but would time out trying to load even a simple page. Naturally towers near my home haven't yet been fitted with 5G, but looking forward to that in (hopefully) the near future.
• Gorilla Glass 3 should be fine, While the Pixel 5 sports Gorilla Glass 6, the GG3 on the S20 FE should be fine.
• 3-button navigation... After finally getting used to gesture navigation, it's back to this. Not a big deal as it works just fine, but felt a bit funny. At least it shouldn't take too long to adapt.

So do I now pile on hate on the Pixel 5, being converted by the spec majesty of Samsung? Do I mourn my decision to betray the purity of the Pixel? I feel like I'm supposed to do one of these, but the truth is that I find there's a lot of nice things about the Samsung that the Pixel might not afford, but at the expense of the simplicity of using the Pixels.

With my preconception of what using the Pixel 5 would be like and initial experience using the S20 FE, I'm happy with the S20 FE given the pricing advantage it gave me. If there were no cost difference, I would definitely prefer the Pixel for familiarity, and in fact would probably have spent an additional $100 towards it it it were an option, but attribute that to saving myself the trouble of adapting to a new system. In any event, the pricing of both are very, very reasonable imo, with neither being inherently better or worse values until viewed through the lens of what features one personally values more.

Edit - On the bright side, based on past experience... in 2 years when I look to upgrade again, Google will probably offer me a much higher trade-in value on a Samsung product than on one of their own.

Interesting reading. I decided to get the s20+ $660 mint on swappa instead of the FE. I'll most likely get the Pixel 5 if/when the price drops to a more acceptable number.

 

[Jeremy8000]

No import the Google Camera APP software, and see if that give you best of both worlds. The gap might negligible this year with the Pixel 5 not including the Nueral Core chip.

Great tip - I'd known that this had been out there for other Android phones, but having been on a Pixel since that product's introduction, it hadn't been front-of-mind. Looks like there's a lot of different variations; do you know which (if any) would be best optimized for the S20 FE?

Separately, while searching for the camera app, found this old article and am definitely going to have to try a few of its tips - I miss the gesture navigation, as well as the vertically scrolled app list!

Turn Your Galaxy S20 into a Google Pixel in 11 Steps

Edit - found the GCAM. Still doubt it will perform like the Pixel, but hopefully will bridge the (somewhat sizeable) gap.
https://www.cyanogenmods.org/google-camera-galaxy-s20-fe-5g/

 

[SupraLB]

I'm, not sure which one specifically but I'm sure XDA forums can point you in the right direction. In my experience, the Google Camera APk is practically identical to the stock Pixel. I've installed them on numerous devices with much improved quality from stock. The tricky part is ensuring telephoto and widescreen is handled properly. Regardless, the Google Carmera APk typically blows the stock camera away for typical shots,especially using Google HDR algorithms for low light situations.

 

[GPuba]

Looks on small side the phone , maybe pixel 3a size ?

It's actually about the same size as the Nexus 5x.

 

[mustang7757]

It's actually about the same size as the Nexus 5x.

That's not too bad

 

[jskinvest]

A smaller screen than my Pixel 3 XL and based on recent YouTube videos very poor speaker quality in the under display speaker on top. This is definitely giving me pause

 

[mookiekillsit]

Much small phone for not much less screen. Good price point, upgraded specs, excellent battery, yeah, my laggy 3XL's days are numbered. Looking forward to this one!......... unless the reviews totally bomb.

 

[anthonium]

Thanks for the visual!

The big notch on the 3XL makes so much screen unusable, they really should only count the usable area below the notch for screen size. Both the left and right side of the notch go dark in full screen or camera mode.

Useable area doesn't appear significantly different, but the form factor is much smaller on the 5. I'll be happy to finally have a smaller phone for easier typing/holding.

I have the Pixel 3A XL and have been contemplating the 5. In my case there would be no sacrifice to screen size as both have 6inches or usable display. I'm all about same size display on a smaller pocket friendly body. The only thing is, my 3A XL is all the phone I need so getting the 5 would be mostly to spoil myself. I loved the metal feel of the original Pixel. Wouldn't mind that again!

 

[Kizzy Catwoman]

Since no one else mentioned it, gesture navigation is available on the S20 FE. Look in settings.

 

[J Dubbs]

I have the Pixel 3A XL and have been contemplating the 5. In my case there would be no sacrifice to screen size as both have 6inches or usable display. I'm all about same size display on a smaller pocket friendly body. The only thing is, my 3A XL is all the phone I need so getting the 5 would be mostly to spoil myself. I loved the metal feel of the original Pixel. Wouldn't mind that again!

Yep I like metal phones as well...I much prefer them over glass or plastic. They're tougher, are very light when aluminum, and still feel like a premium device in your hands ;-)