Samsung Galaxy S23 FE: Everything we know so far and what we want to see

Samsung hasn’t had the most consistent relationship with its Galaxy S Fan Edition lineup. Since launching the Galaxy S20 FE model in 2020 to much fanfare, the company has only released one other FE phone, namely the far-less-well-received Galaxy S21 FE. While Samsung originally planned to supplement its flagship Galaxy S series with a new affordable model every year, it conveniently gave the Galaxy S22 FE a pass. We never even got a reason from Samsung for canceling the S22 FE. However, the company reportedly failed to execute its plans due to the global chip shortage.

Now, fresh rumors have once again stirred up 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 resurrect 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 lineup. This would have been the most high-end A series phone to launch globally in 2023, following last year’s Galaxy A73, which introduced 108MP cameras to the range.

Despite plenty of rumors surrounding the Galaxy S22 FE last year, Samsung ultimately ditched the phone. Of course, the same fate could befall the S23 FE. Roland Quandt from Winfuture — a journalist with a pretty good track record of revealing information before it’s announced — went on Twitter recently to say, “it sure doesn’t look like there’ll be an S23 FE this year.”

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

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 some official confirmation, but that might just come right around the time of the phone’s launch. That is if a Galaxy S23 FE is coming 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’s no set timeframe 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 fourth quarter launch prediction by the Korean publication we mentioned above. Another Korean outlet, Hankooki, reported that Samsung might plan to launch the Galaxy S23 FE as early as August or September. However, the phone’s undecided fate gives us little to no hope of predicting a concrete release schedule.

We’ll keep an eye out for more rumors regarding the launch of the Galaxy S23 FE and update this article with any potential release information.

Design

The Fan edition phones usually take inspiration from the design of the more premium Galaxy S series. While there are no leaked renders or images of the Galaxy S23 FE just yet, we would expect it to closely resemble the Galaxy S23 phones, especially the vanilla model. Of course, there’s always a chance that the company could do something different, but we doubt the S23 FE would stray very far from the design principles of the S23 series.

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

One of the main selling points of the series has been its affordability, married with the same processor you get on the more premium Samsung flagships. It’s possible Samsung decided to downgrade the processor on the Galaxy S23 FE to cut costs and eventually give customers a device that doesn’t pinch their pockets.

We previously mentioned a sketchy report from a Korean publication about the fourth-quarter launch of the S23 FE. Unfortunately, most other rumors about the phone come from the same source. The most significant piece of information the outlet claims to know is that the phone will feature the older Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor that powered the S22 series. The chip was mired by power efficiency and sustained 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 feature 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 Galaxy S23 FE price is expected to be around 20-to-30% cheaper than the basic $799 Galaxy S23 model with 256GB storage. That would make the S23 FE’s price somewhere around $560 – $640.

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

A chip not 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 problems. 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’s much more efficient than the Gen 1 thanks to TSMC’s superior manufacturing node against chips like the 8 Gen 1 produced by Samsung’s foundry.

Camera upgrades

The Galaxy S23 FE is long overdue for a camera update. The S21 FE’s photography skills failed to impress because it featured the same core capabilities as the S20 FE. We sure hope Samsung moves on from the aged 12MP main + ultrawide shooters and the pointless 8MP telephoto sensor it presented on the previous Fan Edition phone. It would be great if the company could match the camera setup of the standard Galaxy S23 model or at least keep the larger pixel size and the improved AI photography skills of devices like the Galaxy Z Flip 4.

More RAM

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

Have any Galaxy S23 FE leaks to share with us? Send us a tip, and we’ll be sure to check it out.