8 reviews for Samsung S20 FE (5G) 128GB G781U Smartphone Cloud Navy (T-Mobile Locked) – Renewed

1. 

   Heather – November 25, 2024

   It Came in excellent condition
   I was replacing my S10 and I still wanted a memory card. I am very pleased with this phone there are a few new features that I’m still trying to figure out but all in all the phone was in great condition great battery life and am very happy that it connected immediately to my network with no issues thank you very much!

2. 

   Christopher Garza – November 25, 2024

   Great phone in great condition.
   I bought a “good” refurbished S20 FE instead of an “excellent” refurbished and it was almost in perfect condition. It even came with a tempered glass screen protector on it. Idk if that was just my luck but as soon as I got it I out it in its case and set it up, got service on it and it was really that simple. Exactly what I paid for.

3. 

   J.E.S. – November 25, 2024

   AT&T branded…but works with T-Mobile.Decent Price, Okay Condition, Some Bloatware, It’s a phone
   BOTTOM LINE/LONG STORY SHORTThe phone is fairly priced, in good enough condition, works on T-Mobile, and has the features I wanted for my next phone. Buying refurbished products comes with some compromises (older devices, a little wear), but has saved me money, and is less bad for the environment.*********************************************************************************************************************Review after 1 week of use.Coming from a 5 year old LG G6.PACKAGING/FIRST IMPRESSIONSFirst off, the phone boots up with an AT&T logo, and has AT&T software on the phone. That said, the device recognized my T-Mobile sim card and works with phone/messaging/mobile data.*The phone arrived very fast, with a generic non-Samsung power brick and cable; I generally avoid using cheap included power accessories.CONDITIONThe device had some light scuff marks on the sides, and a few surface scratches on the screen, but these don’t show up when the screen is turned on, and the scuffs will be covered up by a case. Most importantly the back camera glass is free from scratches. I’d say it’s closer to good condition than excellent, but good enough considering it’s a previously owned 3 year old device.FEATURESThe main reasons for buying a new phone for me were:1. Better battery life: really good, probably lasting a little over 2 days** (50-ish hours) with fairly heavy use (YouTube several hours/day, +25 tabs open, taking +10 photos a day, using sticky notes for ideas, etc.). I will update this estimate if it is noticeably worse or better after a couple weeks of use.2. Newer OS: my old phone uses Android 9.0, while this phone gets Android 13 (and maybe 14). The improvements around privacy/restricting background apps, battery life optimization, newer/better security, and ability to use newer apps are all things I can appreciate if not always notice.3. Better hardware: This phone has a larger sensor main camera and a 3x zoom lens, a larger hard drive (128gb vs 32gb), a brighter/larger/higher contrast OLED screen vs an LCD, a 35% bigger battery, top and bottom speakers for stereo listening, a faster CPU/GPU and more ram, and newer Bluetooth, WiFi, and 5g included. So yeah, quite a few improvements over 5 years!OVERALL IMPRESSIONSThe Samsung S20 FE 5G delivers all the features I wanted in my next phone. It does this despite being a 3 year old model, with newer phones not really adding anything I needed. This coupled with choosing the renewed option means this phone at this price is a bargain. For me the few scuffs and having to uninstall bloatware weren’t a deal breaker, but my expectations weren’t high and these tradeoffs are worth considering before buying.NOTES* My guess is the refurbishing company buys used phones locked to various carriers, then unlocks them as part of the renew/refurbishing process before selling them. Long story short, the phone works, which is all that matters.All of the AT&T software is bloatware/not needed, and some won’t even work with T-Mobile. I removed all of it, as well as some Google and Samsung bloatware, with Android Debug Bridge (ADB), which requires a little work and an hour or so of your time. Since I tend to use phones for 5ish years, it’s worth it but this may not be for everyone. To be fair, a T-mobile device would likely also include T-mobile, along with the standard Google, and Samsung bloatware, so I don’t count this as a negative.**I spent a couple hours really optimizing the phone for maximum battery life. I uninstalled all the bloatware, restricted background data, have background apps go to sleep, disabled automatic app updates, turn off NFC/GPS location/Bluetooth/mobile data when not in use, disabled wireless and fast charging, and have power saving and adaptive battery settings turned on.The Device Care app is pretty good, and the newer versions of Android allow more control over how much apps can run in the background and consumer power. For me the effort it was worth it, but I don’t know to what extent these changes improved battery life.

4. 

   Doug Conte – November 25, 2024

   Can not be trusted to work properly.
   I purchased this phone refurbished in an attempt to save money over the price of a new one. When I received the phone, there was an AT&T label on the back of the phone, and it was advertised as a (T-Mobile) I understand that this does not affect the phone. It appeared to look almost new. I spent all of the time necessary for configuring the phone with my contacts, apps and passwords etc… It worked initially however within the first day, I noticed that the signal was terrible in several areas that my last S10 worked perfectly. I reset the phone along with checking the health and everything checked out, to include going to the Samsung troubleshooting website and following the recommendations there. The phone constantly had poor reception and the battery would not last more than a few hours at a time after a full charge. Unfortunately, the phone could not be returned due to me getting frustrated and tossing it onto the countertop, cracking the screen. Good luck if you believe the “Certified Renewed” claim. Waste of money and time.

5. 

   LM – November 25, 2024

   Had to replace dropped phone.
   It was T-Mobile locked. We took to store and they unlocked and transferred Sim. Worked perfectly.

6. 

   Drmomde – November 25, 2024

   I wanted to like this phone
   This phone seemed like a great value for a good price. I needed a “new to me” phone but could not afford to drop over 1K for the latest and greatest model. The phone worked well until Thanksgiving day when the screen started flashing and then went completely black. Phone was still functional in that I received incoming calls which I could answer through my blue tooth headset or my smartwatch, but without a functional screen, I could not unlock the phone or do anything else. Repair places told me that this usually happens with hardware damage such as a dropped phone or cracked screen, but the phone was in a hard case and the screen was intact with no visually detected damaged at all. On the contrary my old S10 phone was dropped on concrete, was not in a protective case, and was still functional for almost a year with a cracked screen. And of course, this latest phone issue happened just outside the 90-day warranty window and I did not purchase an extended protection plan, so the cost to repair the phone is going to be more than I paid for the phone. So, Yeah, I wanted to like this phone but then this happened after just 4 months and very careful handling on my part.

7. 

   Terry D. – November 25, 2024

   Awesome!
   Phone was in excellent condition. Works flawlessly.

8. 

   R. Toro – November 25, 2024

   Good PHone – No Issues
   I purchased this refurbished phone, and it included a charging cord (not the original) and functions as well as expected from a new one. The battery life is good and the phone appears to be in perfect condition. I am happy with this phone, as it works well for a non-power user function. Basic apps and web browsing work great and the price was right compared to a new one!