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A cheaper Galaxy S23 is coming, and this is our first look at it

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Samsung Galaxy S23 Fan Edition leaked render.
Smartprix / @OnLeaks

Samsung is apparently ready to launch a watered-down Galaxy S23 later this year, despite previous rumors it doesn’t exist. Smartprix has shared alleged renders of the Galaxy S23 Fan Edition (aka the Galaxy S23 FE), which is reportedly coming out later this year.

Notably, Samsung skipped a Fan Edition treatment for the Galaxy S22 after launching an S21 FE variant. Instead, the company lowered the asking price of Galaxy S22 following the launch of Galaxy S23 last year, keeping the former on the shelf as an entry point to the Galaxy flagship experience.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Fan Edition front and back view.
Smartprix / @OnLeaks

It seems Samsung will keep the design identical to the Galaxy S23, down to the floating camera lens design, a centrally-aligned selfie camera, and slightly bulging sides. The renders show the device in white and black, but given the past history of Fan Edition devices, more colors can be expected.

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It’s great to see that Samsung isn’t diluting the flagship aesthetics for its next budget flagship. Now, this is the first time we’re hearing about the Galaxy S23 FE from a credible source, so details about its internal hardware are a tad slim at the moment, and there are some conflicting rumors, too.

What we do know are the dimensions and, with it, a rough idea of the size. As per the leak, the Galaxy S23 FE measures 158 by 76.3 by 8.2mm, while the official dimensions of the Galaxy S23 are 146.3 by 70.9 bt 7.6 mm. So, the Galaxy S23 FE will be wider, taller, as well as thicker.

Sizing up Galaxy S23 against Galaxy S23 FE
Nadeem Sarwar / DigitalTrends

That’s somewhat of a disappointment, as the vanilla Galaxy S23 is a joy to use. The Fan Edition leak is not good news for fans of compact phones, but hopefully, the added dimensions will help the Galaxy S23 Fan Edition with better heat dissipation at demanding tasks.

Samsung could very well go with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip to save costs on the silicon, while the mainline Galaxy S23 series relies on a slightly binned version of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Fan Edition from both sides.
Smartprix / @OnLeaks

But we are also hearing some chatter about Samsung using the in-house Exynos 2200 chip for the Galaxy S23 Fan Edition. Now that Samsung has signed a multi-year agreement with Qualcomm for powering its flagship phones, there is definitely a cache of high-end Exynos chips in the inventory, and the Fan Edition offers just the right opportunity to deploy it.

We could also get an upgraded 50-megapixel main camera on the Galaxy S23 Fan Edition, alongside a 4,500 mAh battery and a 120Hz OLED display. The S23 FE will likely be priced in the $600 to $700 bracket to compete against the likes of Google Pixel 7 and might hit the shelves in the coming months.

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Nadeem Sarwar
Nadeem Sarwar
Contributor
Nadeem is a tech journalist who started reading about cool smartphone tech out of curiosity and soon started writing…
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