Release date, rumours, specs, everything we want to see

Samsung hasn’t had the most enduring relationship with its Galaxy S Fan Edition lineup. Since launching the Galaxy S20 FE model in 2020 with much fanfare, the company has only released one other FE phone and that is the far less well-received Galaxy S21 FE. While Samsung originally planned to add a new affordable model to its flagship Galaxy S series every year, it conveniently gave the Galaxy S22 FE a pass. We didn’t even get a reason from Samsung for canceling the S22 FE. However, the company was reportedly unable to implement its plans due to the global chip shortage.

Now new rumors have fueled hope for Samsung’s Fan Edition again. The Galaxy S23 FE is reportedly in the works to replace one of Samsung’s A-series devices. Will the company revive the glory of the Galaxy S20 FE? Or will it skip the 2023 FE phone altogether? Here’s everything we know about the Galaxy S23 FE.

If rumors are to be believed, the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE will replace what would be the Galaxy A74 to join the current Galaxy S23 range. This would have been the high-end A-series phone launched globally in 2023, following last year’s Galaxy A73 which introduced 108-megapixel cameras to the range.

Despite many rumors surrounding the Galaxy S22 FE over the last year, Samsung ultimately dropped the phone. Of course, the same fate could also befall the S23 FE. Roland Quandt out Winfuture — a journalist with a pretty good track record of disclosing information before it’s made public — recently took to Twitter to say, “It sure doesn’t look like there’s going to be an S23 FE this year.”

Meanwhile, a not-so-well-known Korean publication called SisaJournal announced that Samsung is indeed planning to launch the Galaxy S23 FE in the fourth quarter of this year. That would give it a launch period somewhere between October and December 2023. However, we wouldn’t put too much faith in that as we can’t vouch for the credibility of the news outlet.

So the existence of the Galaxy S23 FE is still in the stars. We’ll have to wait for Samsung to give us an official confirmation, but that could come right around the time the phone launches. That is, if a Galaxy S23 FE comes out at all.

• Samsung Galaxy S20 FE – September 23, 2020
• Samsung Galaxy S21 FE – January 11, 2022

As you can see from previous launch dates of Samsung’s Fan Edition phones, there is no set timeframe for the company to release a new FE model. The scattered nature of the previous FE launches doesn’t tell us anything about the Galaxy S23 FE release date. There is the fourth quarter launch forecast of the Korean publication mentioned above. Another Korean outlet, hankooki, reported that Samsung may plan to launch the Galaxy S23 FE as early as August or September. However, the undecided fate of the phone gives us little to no hope of predicting a concrete release timeline.

We’ll be on the lookout for more Galaxy S23 FE launch rumors and will update this article with any possible release information.

design

The fan edition phones usually take design inspiration from the premium Galaxy S series. While there are no leaked renders or images of the Galaxy S23 FE yet, we would expect it to be very similar to the Galaxy S23 phones, especially the vanilla model. Of course, there’s always the possibility that the company could do something different, but we doubt the S23 FE would deviate very far from the design principles of the S23 series.

Without more trustworthy information out there, it’s hard to say what the Galaxy S23 FE will be like. We’re sure that if the phone exists, we’ll surely see it leaked before its official announcement.

One of the main selling points of the series was its affordability, coupled with the same processor you get on Samsung’s higher-end flagships. It’s possible that Samsung decided to downgrade the Galaxy S23 FE’s processor to cut costs and finally give customers a device that won’t pinch their pockets.

We’ve already mentioned a sketchy report from a Korean publication on the launch of the S23 FE in Q4. Unfortunately, most of the other rumors about the phone come from the same source. The key piece of information the outlet claims to know is that the phone will feature the older Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor powering the S22 series. The chip has been marred by energy efficiency and ongoing performance issues, so this might be a bummer for those hoping the S23 FE will be a powerful flagship alternative to the S23 series.

Elsewhere, the aforementioned publication also claims that the Galaxy S23 FE would feature a triple camera setup and a 120Hz OLED display.

Watch this space for more information as leaks reveal new things about the Galaxy S23 FE.

Accordingly SisaJournal, the price of the Galaxy S23 FE is expected to be around 20% to 30% cheaper than the $799 base Galaxy S23 with 256GB of storage. That would put the S23 FE’s price somewhere between $560 and $640.

Again, we advise you to take this information with a generous dose of salt. Nothing can be said for certain about the Galaxy S23 FE before more credible sources come forward to spill the beans on the phone.

A chip no older than the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1

There were several issues with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, ranging from power consumption to overheating issues. Samsung should do without the chip and rely on a newer SoC. We wouldn’t mind the slightly older Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 at all. It is much more efficient than the Gen 1 thanks to TSMC’s superior manufacturing node compared to chips like the 8th Gen 1 made by the Samsung foundry.

camera upgrades

A camera update for the Galaxy S23 FE is long overdue. The S21 FE’s photographic capabilities failed to impress as it shared the same core features as the S20 FE. We really hope Samsung moves away from the old 12MP main + ultrawide shooters and pointless 8MP telephoto sensor it showcased on the previous Fan Edition phone. It would be great if the company could adapt the camera setup from the standard Galaxy S23 model, or at least keep the larger pixel size and enhanced AI photography capabilities of devices like the Galaxy Z Flip 4.

More memory

The Galaxy S21 FE offered a meager 6 GB of RAM in the base model. We’re hoping Samsung bumps this up to at least 8GB so multitasking and opening heavy apps on the Galaxy S23 FE won’t be an issue.

Do you have any Galaxy S23 FE leaks that you want to share with us? Send us a tip and we’ll definitely check it out.