With the Galaxy S22 FE not showing up last year, many assumed Samsung’s experiment with cheaper, feature-packed “Fan Edition” phones was over.
Not so, he says SamMobile (Opens in a new tab). The site reports that the Galaxy S23 Fan Edition will arrive in the fourth quarter of 2023 — likely just months before Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S24 in 2024 — and will ship without a Qualcomm chip for the first time in the series’ short history, regardless of region.
Yes, the site says that rather than matching the S23’s Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 — or even using last year’s Gen 1 Plus as we’ve heard previously — the phone will instead be packing Samsung’s own Exynos 2200 chipset found in certain European phones. This will reportedly be the case even in America, where Samsung usually sticks with Qualcomm on its ‘S’ phones.
Perhaps this was once considered cause for celebration. Before the launch, all kinds of rumors were saying that the Exynos 2200 could actually outperform the Qualcomm chip in terms of performance thanks to a collaboration with chip maker AMD. There has even been talk of the possibility of smartphone ray tracing.
But the reality fell somewhat short of that, and the comparative benchmarks proved disappointing in the graphics department. American readers can rest easy: There was no need to import the European version for the most powerful incarnation of the Samsung Galaxy S22, though tech enthusiasts on the other side of the Atlantic might feel a bit of a change.
Now, the Exynos 2200 isn’t a bad chip per se, and it could be perfect for the S23 FE, especially if it helps bring the price down a bit.
However, such a move is not without its risks. One of the main selling points of the FE line is that it provides parity with today’s chipset. The S20 FE and S20 both used the Snapdragon 865, while the S21 FE and S21 contained the Snapdragon 888 chipset. Not only would this be a generation-old chipset, it would be a weaker version of an older chipset at the time.
Combine that with the fact that the S23 FE isn’t expected until the fourth quarter, when the price of the regular S23 will likely drop significantly, and you could have a phone that’s a very tough sell. Especially with the Galaxy S24 which may only be months away at that point.
Then there are other budget phones from Samsung like the Galaxy A54, which packs a lower-end Snapdragon 1380 chip but packs a lot of high-end features. This includes a 50MP main camera, a 6.4-inch 120Hz display, and a 5,000mAh battery. We’ll have to see how the S23 FE stands out.
But wait, there’s more (confusion)
Not all news is bad. Diary (Opens in a new tab) Reports from a few sources indicate that the Galaxy S23 FE will use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip. A separate source claims that one variant will be based on Exynos 2200.
However, this version of the chip will apparently be manufactured using Samsung’s “improved” 4nm process. So even though it is an older processor, it will presumably be faster than the chip in the Galaxy S22 series.
There seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding this affordable flagship right now, so stay tuned to the Galaxy S23 FE hub for more rumors and leaks.