Samsung sometimes releases the FE (Fan Edition) of its S lineup flagship for people who do not have enough cash for the latest and greatest the series has to offer, but still want to enjoy the perks presented by the same. The company launched the loved S20 FE back in the day that was then followed by the S21 FE, which we massively loved. However, the S22 FE was skipped for whatever reason (well, the argument is that chip shortage forced the South Korean phone maker to skip it).
Now, rumour has it that the Fan Edition line is set to make a comeback in 2023, with the release of the Galaxy S23 FE slated for sometime in August or September.
As said, in 2020, the Galaxy S20 FE from the Fan Edition series became quite popular and achieved over 10 million shipments in that year alone. However, following up on such a successful device was no easy feat, and the Galaxy S21 FE did not perform as well. This caused Samsung to reconsider its plans for future releases in the FE lineup.
Reportedly, Samsung may have decided to forego the release of the Galaxy A74 and prioritize expanding the availability of the S23 FE in various markets.
The smartphone maker is looking to revamp its Galaxy A-series portfolio and might discontinue the A7-series.
The upcoming FE model will be equipped with either the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy or the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, which was released in 2022.
Locally, Samsung has since launched the S23 lineup, which is already on preorder until the end of the month. The devices received a notable price jump, with the Galaxy S23 base model starting from KES 135000. The S23 Ultra starts at KES 210K.
OPINION: Samsung Galaxy S23 Shouldn’t Be More Expensive Than the S22 Ultra
This also means that customers can purchase last year’s S22 Ultra for KES 120K or less, which is a better value than the base S23. However, it should be remembered that all S23 phones, including those that will be available in Kenya, are now powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, which is incredibly powerful and efficient. Previously, Qualcomm-powered Galaxy S phones were only available in the Western market and China, while the rest of the world received phones with the inferior Exynos chip.
