If you’ve had your eye on a Samsung Galaxy S23 but can’t stomach the price, you may well be in luck. Rumour has it that a cheaper S23 will launch later today with the same look and many of the same features as the pricier Samsung phones. The Galaxy S23 costs from £849 and the bells-and-whistles Galaxy S23 Ultra will set you back at least £1,249, but Samsung is said to soon be announcing the Galaxy S23 FE (which stands for ‘Fan Edition’) which, according to the latest whispers from MySmartPrice, may cost as little as $599 in the US.
Samsung India posted a teaser on its X (formerly Twitter) page this week teasing the launch of the rumoured phone, with three camera lenses next to ‘The New Epic’, and the promise it’s ‘Launching on October 4’ – the same day Google is set to launch its Pixel 8 phones.
It’s still unclear if this means the alleged S23 FE is only launching in India, or at least launching there first.
Samsung coulds be trying to steal a bit of the limelight from Google’s phone. It might well succeed if Samsung can hit a £599 price point for the S23 FE in the UK, which will make this more affordable S23 sorely tempting. And don’t think for one minute budget price means bargain basement features.
Leaked images reportedly accidentally posted by Samsung Argentina (below) show the phone sporting a very similar design to the pricier S23, with triple rear cameras, rounded edges, but a glossy back instead of matt.
It might mean the back of the S23 FE is plastic. That’s not as premium as glass but could mean you wouldn’t mind rocking the phone without a case as it won’t be quite so fragile., A glass finish remains on the front of the rumoured phone with a big 6.4in screen with snappy 120Hz refresh rate.
A leak on Twitter allegedly shows an upcoming promo video that shows the new phone in action:
Its main camera is said to be a 50Mp snapper, but we will have to wait and see if it’s the same one found in the regular S23.
Diehard Samsung fans are worried though, as the S23 FE is rumoured to have a Samsung-made Exynos 2200 chip instead of one made by Qualcomm. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips are inside every model of the regular S23 lineup, and we found they performed excellently.
The Exynos 2200 was in UK versions of 2022’s Galaxy S22, a phone with disappointing battery life. There has to be some downgrades in the Galaxy FE phones to hit a lower price, and the chipset and plastic back could be the main two things.
Weirdly, there was no Galaxy S22 FE despite the existence of the Galaxy S20 FE in 2020 and Galaxy S21 FE in 2021. The S20 FE was a hit, with a £599 asking price that undercut the regular S20 by hundreds. But the S21 FE cost £699, only £70 less than the regular S21. It didn’t make sense.
Hopefully, the rumoured S23 FE can hit £599 and undercut the normal S23 by £250. Leaks also show there could be a cheaper Galaxy Tab S9 FE and even Galaxy Buds FE earbuds if you want to stock up on the latest Samsung gadgets for less. Keep your eyes peeled to see if the new tech lands tomorrow.
