When the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE was released, I was so sure I was going to prefer it over the Pixel 5. I even liked its photos better in all the camera compariso

When the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE was released, I was so sure I was going to prefer it over the Pixel 5. I even liked its photos better in all the camera comparisons-- all except for excessive blue-ing of the sky and the softening of features in selfies that doesn't go away even if you turn off the beautifying feature. It's just so much better on paper. Faster charging (with separate charger), expandable storage, zoom lens, wider wide-angle lens, 120 Hz refresh, MUCH faster processor. All for the same price as the Pixel 5. I'd already preordered the Pixel so I figured I'd just let it come and return it after testing both together. Well, I did test them both together, and I'm returning the Samsung. (Remains to be seen if I'll keep the Pixel 5 or stick with my Pixel 2.) I really wanted to like the Samsung; I had really high hopes when people said OneUI had gotten better. But it somehow just feels so sluggish. The face unlock doesn't recognize my face a lot of the time, and the on-screen fingerprint sensor (which only lets me register 3 fingers apparently?) doesn't recognize my finger like 60% of the time. So instead of just being able to pick it up and use it instantly like I can with my Pixels, it usually takes 5-10 seconds for me to get into my phone, as I fiddle around to get either the fingerprint sensor or face unlock to recognize me before sometimes having to just swipe my pattern. The refresh rate is 120 Hz yet for some reason it feels like there's a delay whenever I try to swipe through the UI. The camera is good but it bothers me even more than I expected, how much it tries to smooth my face. Anyway, the point of this comment isn't to be a review of the Samsung phone, but just to highlight how jarring it was to experience all of that after having a Pixel phone that just worked. Even at my P2's 60Hz it feels more snappy than this brand new phone with a 120Hz display and top-of-the-line processor. Granted, I haven't tried many other phones than a Pixel in a while so maybe they're better, but I would just remind everyone that specs aren't everything. The Pixel 5 runs smooth and does everything I want it to well (although it does take longer than I'd like to process photos). My only problem is that my Pixel 2 also ran smoothly and did everything I wanted it to. The only reason I'm considering the Pixel 5 is the bigger screen and wide-angle camera. So we'll see how I feel in a few days.