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

Samsung hasn’t had the most consistent relationship with its Galaxy S Fan Edition lineup. Since the launch of the Galaxy S20FE model in 2020 to much fanfare, the company has only released one other FE phone, the much less well-received Galaxy S21FE. While Samsung originally planned to supplement its flagship Galaxy S series with a new affordable model every year, it handily gave the Galaxy S22 FE a pass. We never even got a reason from Samsung for canceling the S22 FE. However, the company would not have carried out its plans because of the global chip shortage.

Now, new rumors have once again sparked hope for Samsung’s Fan Edition. 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 take the place of what would be the Galaxy A74 to join the current Galaxy S23 lineup. This would have been the most advanced A-series phone to hit the market globally in 2023, following on from last year Galaxy A73introducing 108MP cameras to the range.

Despite numerous rumors about the Galaxy S22FE last year, Samsung finally ditched the phone. Of course, the same fate could befall the S23 FE. Roland Quandt van win future — a journalist with a pretty good track record of divulging information before it is announced — went on Twitter recently to say “it certainly doesn’t look like there will be an S23 FE this year.”

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

So as of now, the existence of the Galaxy S23 FE is still up in the air. We’ll have to wait for Samsung to give us an official confirmation, but that could happen around the phone’s launch. At least, if a Galaxy S23 FE comes out at all.

• Samsung Galaxy S20FE — Sept. 23, 2020
• Samsung Galaxy S21FE — January 11, 2022

As you can see from past launch dates of Samsung’s Fan Edition phones, there’s no set time frame for when the company will release a new FE model. The scattered nature of the previous FE launches tells us nothing about the Galaxy S23 FE release date. There’s the Q4 launch forecast from the Korean release that we mentioned above. Another Korean outlet, Hankook, reported that Samsung may be planning to launch the Galaxy S23 FE as early as August or September. However, the phone’s undecided fate leaves us with little to no hope of predicting a concrete release schedule.

We’ll keep an eye out for Galaxy S23 FE launch rumors and update this article with possible release information.

Design

The Fan edition phones usually take inspiration from the design of the more premium ones 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 a chance the company could do something different, but we doubt the S23 FE would stray far from the design principles of the S23 series.

Without more reliable information out there, it’s hard to say what the Galaxy S23 FE will look like. One thing we’re sure of is that if the phone exists, we’ll definitely see it leak ahead of its official announcement.

One of the series’ main selling points is its affordability, married to the same processor you get on the more premium Samsung flagships. It’s possible that Samsung decided to downgrade the processor on the Galaxy S23 FE to cut costs and ultimately give customers a device that won’t strain their wallets.

We previously mentioned a sketchy report from a Korean publication on the Q4 launch of the S23 FE. Unfortunately, most of the other rumors about the phone come from the same source. The most important piece of information the outlet claims to know is that the phone will feature the older Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor that the S22 series. The chip was mired in power efficiency and persistent performance issues, so this could 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 have a triple-camera setup and a 120Hz OLED display.

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

According to SisaJournal, the price of the Galaxy S23 FE is expected to be about 20 to 30% cheaper than the standard $799 Galaxy S23 model with 256 GB of storage. That would put the price of the S23 FE somewhere between $560-$640.

Again, we recommend that you take this information with a hefty pinch of salt. Nothing can be said for sure about the Galaxy S23 FE until more credible sources come forward to spill the beans on the phone.

A chip that is no older than the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1

There were multiple issues with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip ranging from power consumption to overheating issues. Samsung should avoid the chip and opt for 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 due to TSMC’s superior manufacturing node against chips like the 8 Gen 1 produced by Samsung’s foundry.

Camera upgrades

The Galaxy S23 FE has had a long wait for a camera update. The photography prowess of the S21 FE failed to impress as it had the same core capabilities as the S20 FE. We really hope Samsung moves on from the outdated 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 match the camera setup of the stock Galaxy S23 model or at least the larger pixel size and the improved AI photography skills of devices such as the Galaxy Z Flip 4.

More RAM

The Galaxy S21 FE offered a measly 6GB of RAM on the base model. We hope Samsung bumps that up to at least 8GB so that multitasking and opening heavy apps isn’t a problem on the Galaxy S23 FE.

Do you have any Galaxy S23 FE leaks to share with us? Send us a tipand we’ll be sure to look into it.