- Samsung is reportedly developing a Galaxy S20 Fan Edition that will be the successor to 2019’s Galaxy S10 Lite, which retailed for much less than the Galaxy S10.
- The Galaxy S20 Fan Edition is expected to have 128GB of storage and a Snapdragon 865 CPU.
- Samsung is rumored to launch the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Fold 2 on August 5th.
Three months after the launch of the Galaxy S20 series, we’re still scratching our heads over Samsung’s decision not to release a single budget-friendly model of its flagship 2020 phone. The 128GB Galaxy S20 model was the cheapest on the market at $999, while the Galaxy S20 Ultra started at an eye-popping $1,399.
The Galaxy S20 is a great phone, and received positive reviews across the board, but the optics were never going to be in Samsung’s favor when Apple had just launched its $699 iPhone 11 a few months prior. Even if you are a devout Android buyer, and switching to Apple isn’t an option, knowing that you will have to spend a minimum of $300 more to get the “entry-level” version of Samsung’s latest flagship can’t feel great. That’s why a report from SamMobile about a new upcoming model of the Galaxy S20 could be a bigger deal than it initially sounds.
According to SamMobile’s sources, a new Galaxy S20 is currently in the works, with model number SM-G780 for the global version and SM-G781 for the US version. The phone is being called the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition internally, and there will be three versions overall: A 4G version of the SM-G780, a 5G version of the SM-G780, and a 5G version of the SM-G781. Specs for the S20 Fan Edition are unknown, but the affordable variant is expected to ship with at least 128GB of internal storage and run on Android 10 with Samsung’s One UI 2.5.
The expectation is that the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition will fill the same gap that the Galaxy S10 Lite did last spring. As SamMobile notes, the Galaxy S10 Lite shipped around the world with the Snapdragon 855 processor, even in regions where the Galaxy S10 featured an Exynos chip, which means it’s likely the S20 Fan Edition will come equipped with a Snapdragon 865. As much trouble as the Galaxy S20 faced at launch, between software issues and a viral pandemic that significantly depressed sales, the Fan Edition could serve as a reset for this generation.
The real question now is when the device will arrive. Multiple reports have led us to believe that Samsung will hold a digital Unpacked event to announce the Galaxy Note 20, Galaxy Fold 2, and Galaxy Z Flip 5G on August 5th, but it’s hard to imagine a cheap Galaxy S20 variant would be worthy of any stage time. That said, with schedules all out of wack due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, there’s no telling when we’ll see the Fan Edition.
