Verizon inadvertently confirms it will soon carry four Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G models
Samsung's next big (inexpensive) thing is technically not official yet, but mere days after the company itself slipped up and revealed the somewhat familiar design of the 5G-enabled Galaxy S20 FE, one of its most prized retail partners followed suit over the weekend, undoubtedly making a number of 360-degree views of the handset public by mistake.
Just like the premature product listing on the Samsung Philippines website, these mini video clips have disappeared from the official Verizon portal shortly after being discovered by none other than prolific leaker Roland Quandt, but of course, the cat is now decidedly out of the bag. And while we've known about the existence of a Galaxy S20 Fan Edition expected to carry on the legacy of the S10 Lite for a pretty long time, this is the first we're seeing concrete evidence of impending US availability.
While it's definitely hard to put a price on Samsung's iconic S Pen, something tells us plenty of people will have no problem snubbing the productivity-improving stylus in favor of a smooth 120Hz screen.
Four colors, three rear cameras, one flat screen
Although the name doesn't make it crystal clear, the Galaxy S20 FE 5G is almost certainly set to be the spiritual successor of the 4G LTE-only S10 Lite released earlier this year. But while that 6.7-inch Snapdragon 855 powerhouse arrived exclusively in an unlocked variant stateside a little late and a little overpriced, its 6.5-inch or so sequel of sorts is essentially guaranteed to hit the nation's largest mobile network operator in the very near future.
Verizon seems to have high hopes for the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition, preparing to carry not one, not two, and not three but a grand total of four color options of the affordable Snapdragon 865 flagship. In case you're wondering, the special Galaxy S20 5G UW variant is currently available from Big Red in three hues, while Galaxy S20+ and S20 Ultra buyers can choose from three and two different paint jobs respectively.
Believe it or not, Cloud Navy, Cloud Mint, Cloud Lavender, and Cloud Red are not the only S20 FE flavors in the pipeline either, but apparently, Verizon might be skipping the white and gold versions, at least for starters.
Not that there was any need for further confirmation, but it's even more clear than before that the Galaxy S20 FE 5G will sport a non-curved display and three relatively large imaging sensors on its back alongside an LED flash. Unfortunately, Big Red is not ready to reveal anything about the handset's specs and features, but fortunately, we know pretty much everything there is to know from other sources.
A better phone than the Galaxy Note 20?
That's right, the Galaxy S20 FE is expected to match the display refresh rate of the rest of the GS20 family while settling for a resolution of around 2400 x 1080 pixels. Like the Note 20, this thing is purportedly made from a combination of premium metal and lower-quality plastic aimed at saving production costs and thus keeping the retail price at a reasonable level.
But while the 6.7-inch Note 20 5G starts at an arguably excessive $1,000 in the US, the 6.5-inch Galaxy S20 FE is tipped to fetch 699 "Euromoneys" in a 4G LTE-only model on the old continent. That's obviously not a fair comparison, but at worst, we think the 5G-capable Galaxy S20 Fan Edition could go for 800 bucks or so on Verizon, and hopefully, other US carriers.
Incredibly enough, the smaller S20 FE 5G is likely to pack a bigger 4,500mAh battery than the larger Note 20 5G as well, although Samsung will need to cut a few corners too. Namely, the Galaxy S20 FE 5G could pair the aforementioned Snapdragon 865 SoC with 6 gigs of RAM and 128 gigs of storage space instead of 8 and 256 respectively.
Last but certainly not least, the triple rear-facing camera system is widely rumored to be composed of a 12MP primary shooter, an 8-megapixel telephoto lens, and a 12MP ultra-wide-angle sensor, which sounds like a slightly less impressive imaging setup than the 12 + 64 + 12MP arrangement on the back of the Note 20 and the "regular" Galaxy S20 5G.
Things that are NOT allowed: