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Samsung's Galaxy S20 FE 5G beats the rest of the S20 family to the One UI 3.1 punch

By Adrian Diaconescu

Published: Feb 10, 2021, 4:03 AM

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Samsung's Galaxy S20 FE 5G beats the rest of the S20 family to the One UI 3.1 punch

In spite of its nagging touchscreen issues that simply refused to go away for many users after not one and not two but three different bug-fixing updates, the 5G-enabled Galaxy S20 FE reportedly sold like hotcakes during the final three months of last year both stateside and worldwide.

As such, it probably shouldn't come as a big surprise that Samsung continues to take very good care of its affordable high-end handset from a software support standpoint. After following in the footsteps of the rest of the S20 family with an early Android 11 promotion of its own just before Christmas, the 6.5-inch flat-screened device is impressively beating its cousins to the One UI 3.1 punch as we speak.

That's right, the newest version of the company's proprietary Android skin is apparently rolling out over-the-air to the Galaxy S20 FE in markets like Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, United Kingdom, as well as the entire Baltic and Nordic regions, while the S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra are still stuck with One UI 3.0 around the world.

Naturally, the S20 Fan Edition is not the very first Samsung device to run Android 11 with One UI 3.1 on top, closely following the Galaxy S21 lineup, which was commercially released with that setup, as well as the Galaxy Tab S7 and Tab S7+, which unexpectedly received that update in lieu of One UI 3.0.

It's also perhaps needless to point out that this is a fairly minor UI revision, at least compared to the absolutely massive jump from Android 10-based One UI 2.5 to 3.0. Still, it's definitely remarkable to see a phone normally priced at $700 and regularly discounted to $600 or even $550 receive this type of treatment, which is usually reserved for $1,000+ flagships like the other three S20 family members.

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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.