Samsung’s "Fan Edition" of phones is back with the Galaxy S23 FE, a lower-priced flagship that costs US$600 (around CA$815), compared to the original CA$$1,099.99 Galaxy S23. The phone retains many high-end features, such as a telephoto lens, reverse wireless charging, and a 120Hz display. However, it also has some trade-offs, such as using an older processor, a less glossy frame, and a lower-resolution zoom camera.
The S23 FE follows the Galaxy S21 FE, which was released in early 2022. In case you're wondering, there was no Galaxy S22 FE. These FE phones aim to offer a flagship experience for less money, sometimes with improvements like a larger battery and screen. Samsung also has cheaper phones in the Galaxy A series, but the FE phones focus on the most noticeable features from the higher-end line.
The Galaxy S23 FE uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor from last year, which is still powerful enough for most tasks but is a step down from what powers the S23 series. The phone’s appearance is also different from the standard Galaxy S23, which has a more glossy aluminum frame.
The Galaxy S23 FE has a similar camera setup to the Galaxy S23, with a 50-megapixel wide camera and a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera. However, its telephoto camera is only 8 megapixels, while the regular S23 has a 10-megapixel zoom camera. The front-facing camera is also lower resolution, at 10 megapixels versus 12 megapixels.
It also has a slightly bigger battery than the original S23: 4,500mAh versus 3,900mAh. The phone is also slightly larger with a 6.4-inch display. That is still a bit smaller than the 6.6-inch display on the S23 Plus. The display can run at a 120Hz refresh rate. But it can only adjust to 60Hz to save battery.
The phone shares many other features with the Galaxy S23, such as Android 13, wired and wireless charging, reverse wireless charging, an in-display fingerprint sensor, and 128GB or 256GB storage options. However, unlike the CA$589.99 Galaxy A54 5G, the S23 FE does not have expandable storage via microSD.
You can get the Galaxy S23 FE in six colours at launch: mint, purple, cream, graphite, indigo, and tangerine. The last two colours will be exclusive to Samsung’s website. It launches alongside the Galaxy Buds FE and the Galaxy Tab S9 FE series.