Credit: Robert Triggs / Android Authority
- Samsung is reportedly developing a new Galaxy S20 series phone.
- The device is said to be codenamed Galaxy S20 Fan Edition.
- It could launch in both 5G and 4G variants.
Samsung might have one last phone to push out in the Galaxy S20 series. SamMobile claims that Samsung is developing two versions of a phone internally named the “Galaxy S20 Fan Edition.”
Although this isn’t the confirmed name, the phone seems to be a watered-down version of the Samsung Galaxy S20. Think Galaxy S10 Lite.
Sources tell SamMobile that the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition is currently under development with model numbers SM-G780 (Global version) and SM-G781 (US version). Interestingly, the Galaxy S10 Lite released with model number SM-G770, so all signs currently point towards another affordable S series flagship.
The Samsung Galaxy S20 Fan Edition is expected to have three different models. SM-G780 will reportedly release globally with and without 5G. Meanwhile, SM-G781 will only be available with 5G. All models are expected to feature Samsung’s upcoming One UI 2.5 skin layered over Android 10.
Not much else is known about the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition, but SamMobile reports that it’ll have at least 128GB of storage.
If the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition is indeed a Galaxy S20 Lite in disguise, then it might just be what Samsung needs to revive sales of its S series flagships. The S20 phones have suffered quite a blow because of the coronavirus pandemic and the general change in smartphone buying behavior. A cheaper S20 series phone with a powerful chipset could offset those problems for Samsung.
It could also spell good news for countries like India that only get the Exynos variants of Samsung’s flagships. The Galaxy S10 Lite featured the Snapdragon 855 processor and was the first S-series phone in India to get a Qualcomm processor.
The rumored 5G capabilities of the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition and the fact that its model number closely resembles that of the S10 Lite, suggests that it could get the Snapdragon 865 chipset. However, let’s not count our chickens before they hatch because the report suggests that there’s also a non-5G version of the phone. They could use the Snapdragon 865 and simply not enable 5G, but it’s not a very common practice, with the Iqoo 3 being one of a few to take this route.
Even the 5G variants could be powered by some other Qualcomm chip such as the Snapdragon 765 or Samsung’s newly released Exynos 880.
Nevertheless, it’s always exciting when a new Samsung S-series phone launches. There are no details for when this one will release, but we’ll keep a keen eye out and let you know once we have more information about it.
