Which glass does the S20 FE use?

[binba2]

I think nobody actually knows.

Google will tell you it's Corning Gorilla Glass 3, e.g. this Android Authority review. But I suspect it was a rumor or pre-release leak that caught on.
CNET says it's gg5. But if you actually go to the official sources... zilch. Nothing at Samsung about the screen's glass, Corning or not; and Corning's official list doesn't even list the S20 FE!

I'd be happy to hear credible info, but I see no evidence whether the S20 FE uses gg5, gg3, gg at all, or non-Corning glass.

At first I was horrified that such a high-end new phone (may) use the same glass as the 2014 Galaxy S5. But the more I read about phone glass, the more unsure I am if it even matters. Those who are knowledgable point out that there's nothing so special about Corning's process, that glass is glass, that gg3 might've been better than gg5, that one trades off scratch resistance for shatter resistance, that flatter screens are more durable anyway, etc. etc...

 

[mustang7757]

This article mentions GG5

https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/05/cnn-underscored/samsung-galaxy-s20-fan-edition-review/index.html

 

[mustang7757]

Xda mentions GG 3

https://www.xda-developers.com/samsung-galaxy-s20-fe-review/



Edit:

Wikipedia states GG3

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_S20_FE

So I'm going with GG3

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Since Samsung isn't saying, maybe they use whatever the factory gets cheapest on a given day/order. Or maybe they aren't saying as part of a test to see if keeping some things in the dark effects sales.

 

[ironass]

I think nobody actually knows.

Google will tell you it's Corning Gorilla Glass 3, e.g. this Android Authority review. But I suspect it was a rumor or pre-release leak that caught on.
CNET says it's gg5. But if you actually go to the official sources... zilch. Nothing at Samsung about the screen's glass, Corning or not; and Corning's official list doesn't even list the S20 FE!

I'd be happy to hear credible info, but I see no evidence whether the S20 FE uses gg5, gg3, gg at all, or non-Corning glass.

At first I was horrified that such a high-end new phone (may) use the same glass as the 2014 Galaxy S5. But the more I read about phone glass, the more unsure I am if it even matters. Those who are knowledgable point out that there's nothing so special about Corning's process, that glass is glass, that gg3 might've been better than gg5, that one trades off scratch resistance for shatter resistance, that flatter screens are more durable anyway, etc. etc...

I am afraid that you may never receive a definitive answer to your question as I found out 6 years ago when quite by accident, I discovered that not all the Samsung Galaxy S4 devices had Corning's Gorilla Glass 3.

Indeed, some had no Gorilla Glass at all and others sported the cheaper Gorilla Glass 1. I was stonewalled by Corning's who would not deny or confirm the presence of Gorilla Glass on particular models of the Galaxy S4. It was only by trawling through Samsung's own spec's worldwide and those of the various minority variants that I was able to build up a picture of which handsets had what.

I then again contacted Samsung's Customer Support with the evidence that I had garnered that they chose to reply with a partial list of Samsung Galaxy S4 devices and acknowledged that not all of them had Gorilla Glass 3 or even Gorilla Glass at all.

It turned out that Samsung at the behest of some carriers, actually manufactured non Gorilla Glass handsets to keep the price down and make a few extra bucks for those carriers.

You can read the thread at...

Gorilla Glass 3 not on all Galaxy S4's!!!

As I found out during that investigation... unless Samsung quote Gorilla Glass and version in their own spec's or an actual carrier does so on their site, you cannot believe 3rd party websites or re-sellers.

 

[binba2]

@ironass damn... But yeah, I just wanted to make the point that "what a Google result tells you" isn't always trusted information. Not just in politics. Considering all the energy spent on smartphone news reporting, this could be a good topic for a journalist with proper industry connections to dig into.

 

[Adam Frix]

There's zero payback on such an investigation, which is why it won't happen.

And this is why Wikipedia generally sucks. It's full of stuff from people who "choose to believe", which is code word for "made it up to make myself happy".

And anyone who is surprised by Samsung's business practices as described above, needs to grow up.

If they specify something like glass brand, that's because they see a business advantage in doing so. If they don't specify it, that's because...they see a business advantage in doing THAT.

Offering a physically different product to multiple vendors is very common. "We will build it to whatever specifications you want." They don't call it the same model number, so there's no problem with that.

 

[evan_2k]

Xda mentions GG 3

https://www.xda-developers.com/samsung-galaxy-s20-fe-review/



Edit:

Wikipedia states GG3

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_S20_FE

So I'm going with GG3

Some say 5, others say 3, how bout we just split it and put it at 4.

 

[mustang7757]

Some say 5, others say 3, how bout we just split it and put it at 4.

Haha ok

 

[Adam Frix]

Some say 5, others say 3, how bout we just split it and put it at 4.

A heavy 4, call it 4 and a quarter.

Or, just admit--"we don't know and Samsung isn't telling." How hard is that? Why can't a blog or a web site simply say that? Are they afraid to?

 

[bkdodger2]

GG 3 no matter what they tell you...

 

[Adam Frix]

GG 3 no matter what they tell you...

They don't say. Ergo, YOU can't say. You don't know. You aren't on the engineering or assembly team, you don't buy parts for Samsung, and you never took one apart and did a thorough analysis of the glass compared to a known sample.

You may WANT it to be something specific, but you don't know what it is. Why is that so hard for people to deal with? Why do people find it so necessary to make things up and move forward on the basis of "facts" that don't exist?

 

[mustang7757]

They don't say. Ergo, YOU can't say. You don't know. You aren't on the engineering or assembly team, you don't buy parts for Samsung, and you never took one apart and did a thorough analysis of the glass compared to a known sample.

You may WANT it to be something specific, but you don't know what it is. Why is that so hard for people to deal with? Why do people find it so necessary to make things up and move forward on the basis of "facts" that don't exist?

[It's not ok to scold 2 members in this thread or in the forums, if you find this to be a touchy topic for you then best to find another.]

 

[Adam Frix]

Unlike with the rest of the S20 family, with the FE Samsung very deliberately avoids ANY mention of what glass they're using. That's a stone cold fact. Can anyone show otherwise?

If not, the answer is...no one knows what glass they're using. For all anyone knows, it's something all new. Or in-house. Or none of the above. Or all of the above.

 

[mustang7757]

All we can do is speculate or collect information on internet about it, but what about these links that mentioned what Gorilla glass its using, I'm sure they not shuffling numbers 3 to 5 in a hat and picking , they have their source and can be from Samsung direct . Yes Samsung keeping very quiet on their website about this .

 

[Rukbat]

According to Corning, it's Gorilla Glass (unspecified, 5 or 6, put on your telepathy helmet and pick one).

 

[ironass]

Checked the Samsung site, here in the U.K. and no mention of Corning Gorilla Glass and the same with 3 of the 4 big U.K. carriers.

However, one carrier, Vodafone, do state in their Full Specifications for the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 4G and the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G, that their devices both have Corning Gorilla Glass 3. See, screenshot...

 

[Adam Frix]

All that says is, Sammy made a carrier-specific version using GG3. That doesn't mean that the non-Vodafone units use GG3.


Just like they make a Verizon-specific version of the S20 without an SD card slot, and that doesn't mean that non-VZW units lack an SD card slot.

 

[mustang7757]

Checked the Samsung site, here in the U.K. and no mention of Corning Gorilla Glass and the same with 3 of the 4 big U.K. carriers.

However, one carrier, Vodafone, do state in their Full Specifications for the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 4G and the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G, that their devices both have Corning Gorilla Glass 3. See, screenshot...

https://i.imgur.com/A9zGPhOh.png

Looks like few reputable sites are saying GG3

 

[ironass]

All that says is, Sammy made a carrier-specific version using GG3. That doesn't mean that the non-Vodafone units use GG3.


Just like they make a Verizon-specific version of the S20 without an SD card slot, and that doesn't mean that non-VZW units lack an SD card slot.

The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE models that carry the Vodafone U.K. firmware are the global models...

Galaxy S20 FE (SM-G780F)

Galaxy S20 FE 5G (SM-G781B)

So, not carrier models. Just carrier firmware. AFAIK, those are the only 2 models of Samsung Galaxy S20 FE's.

Looks like few reputable sites are saying GG3

Like yourself @mustang7757, I have now discovered some more sites worldwide that quote Corning's Gorilla Glass 3 for those 2 models.