What you need to know
- A new rumor claims that Samsung plans to launch an FE edition of the Galaxy S23 later this year.
- The upcoming budget model will reportedly make its debut in the fourth quarter of 2023.
- Samsung is tipped to go all-in on Exynos chips for the Galaxy S23 FE, unlike its flagship siblings.
The expected arrival of the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE was recently met with conflicting rumors claiming that Samsung will instead ditch an FE model of the Galaxy S23 in favor of a double-folding smartphone. A new report, on the other hand, claims that Samsung's Fan Edition line will make a comeback later this year with the Galaxy S23 FE.
According to SamMobile, the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE will break cover in the fourth quarter of 2023, but its arrival could come as a bit of a surprise for many Galaxy FE fans. That's because the latest intelligence suggests the upcoming budget version of the latest and greatest Samsung phones will be exclusively powered by Exynos chips globally.
If accurate, this will be in stark contrast to Samsung's approach to the Galaxy S23 series. In the past, the South Korean tech giant shared CPU duties with Qualcomm. Recent Galaxy S models were mostly powered by flagship Qualcomm processors, while a small portion—specifically those sold in Europe—shipped with Exynos chipsets.
With the launch of the Galaxy S23 series earlier this year, things took a turn for the better, with Samsung going all-in on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC across the board internationally.
However, we might not see a Snapdragon processor in their FE edition, if the latest rumor is any indication. SamMobile's source claims that Samsung will opt for its in-house Exynos 2200 CPU for the upcoming device. Aside from the chipset, we've learned that the phone will have a 50MP main shooter on the back, similar to the standard Galaxy S23 model. According to rumors, the device will have the same 4,500mAh battery as the Galaxy S21 FE.
You may recall that the Exynos 2200 was also found inside the European version of the Galaxy S22 series. The mobile platform received mixed reactions on the Old Continent, though, as Exynos 2200-powered models exhibited overheating and power efficiency issues.
Hopefully, Samsung irons out several kinks in the one-year-old processor so the Galaxy S23 FE won't suffer the same fate, if the rumor is true.
Samsung's latest flagship smartphone retains its small size while gaining significantly more power with the new Snapdragon chip and a larger battery for longer playtime. If you can look past the unappealing colors, this could be your next small Android phone.
