Galaxy S23 FE to be powered by Snapdragon chip in the U.S.

A week ago we told you that the Galaxy S23 FE would be powered by the Exynos 2200 SoC after the details of a Geekbench test showed specs and configurations for the CPU that matched that specific chipset. But most Samsung fans would prefer to see the phone powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC. According to SamMobile, another Geekbench benchmark test reveals that the U.S. version of the phone might be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1; that's the same chipset that was used on the Galaxy S22 line.

By the time the Galaxy S23 FE hits the marketplace, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 will be close to two years old making it as old as the Exynos 2200. Despite being the same age, many have considered the high-end silicon designed and manufactured by Samsung to be inferior to Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipsets although Samsung is looking to change this opinion with the upcoming deca-core Exynos 2400.

The use of the Exynos 2200 and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipsets will be a departure for the FE line. Both the Galaxy S20 FE and Galaxy S21 FE were powered by the same new cutting-edge chips used with the non-FE Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S21 models.  Right now the game plan seems to be for Samsung to release the Exynos 2200-driven Galaxy S23 FE in all markets except the States which is where the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1-powered Galaxy S23 FE will be found.

Now if you're planning to buy the U.S. version of the Galaxy S23 FE solely to get the version of the phone equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, there is something important that you should know. That chip, like the Exynos 2200, was manufactured by Samsung Foundry, not TSMC. It wasn't until the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 was released that Qualcomm shifted production of its flagship application processor back to TSMC.

The Galaxy S23 FE is expected to sport a 6.4-inch display along with 6GB/8GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB/256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. The camera array could consist of a 50MP primary camera backed by Samsung's ISOCELL GN3 sensor, an ultra-wide angle camera driven by a 12MP Sony IMX258 sensor, and an 8MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom. The front-facing camera will weigh in at 12MP. A 4500mAh battery will keep the lights on and support 25W fast charging speeds.

We don't expect the Galaxy S23 FE to appear on stage during the upcoming July 26th Unpacked event. No, that will be reserved for the Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy Z Flip 5, the Galaxy Watch 6, Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, and the Galaxy Tab S9 tablet line. We could see the Galaxy S23 FE introduced during the fourth quarter of this year possibly at the same event that unveils the next iteration of the Galaxy Buds.