Samsung’s FE series focuses on trimming some things from their baseline flagship to decrease prices. For example, the S21 FE got a plastic build and weaker camera hardware. But it was priced lower than the S21 and S22. Samsung didn’t launch an S22 FE, probably because there were too many overlapping phones in the same price tier.
The upcoming S23 FE will follow the same path as the previous two FE models. Samsung slightly changed its lineup in this competitive premium midrange/ value flagship category of phones. They no longer make the A7X series of phones, and the FE aims to take over the price tier.
Recently, Samsung launched the Snapdragon version of the S21 FE in some regions. The S23 FE launch will follow the Nothing Phone (2) and OnePlus 11. According to the leaks, this offers a compelling overall package for anyone looking for a Samsung phone between 600 and 700$.
Judging from leaks, the display doesn’t appear all too different from the previous models. It’s the same 1080P 120Hz panel with decent brightness levels and no support for LTPO. However, some renders point to slightly thicker bezels on the S23 FE.
Nearly all Samsung phones in 2023 have the same rear design. Almost all have a triple camera array at the left, with three individual camera rings. The company uses this design everywhere to make their cheaper phones look like their flagships. It also massively helps reduce costs to the supply chain, and they don’t have to pay designers much anymore.
We already have confirmation from Samsung that the S23 FE exists, and new rumors point to a new selfie camera. The existing 12MP camera is pretty average, but there’s allegedly a new 10MP selfie camera for the S23 FE. It could be the same 10MP flagship selfie camera that was on the S22 Ultra and other older flagship phones. This should massively improve the image quality.
Other expected specs are below:
Display: 1080P 120Hz AMOLED.
SOC: Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 or Exynos 2200.
Cameras: 12MP Main, 12MP ultra-wide, 10MP selfie, and an 8MP 3X telephoto zoom/ portrait lens.
Battery: 4500 mAh and 25W charging.
The phone is expected to ship out of the box with One UI 5.1 (Android 13). We don’t know about storage configurations yet. The base storage could get a boost to 256GB. There’s also some confusion on the SOC. Some regions are expected to get the 8+ Gen 1 (4nm TSMC), and some are expected to get the Exynos 2200 SOC (4nm Samsung).
