It seems that Samsung is in love with the Galaxy S20 FE. It launched a 4G variant of the phone in India last year running on the Exynos 990 chip and earlier this week introduced the 5G variant at a higher price. If the latest leaks are to be believed, Samsung is planning another Galaxy S20 FE that appears to rely on the Snapdragon 865 chip but ditch the 5G connectivity. A prototype device with this setup has just visited the benchmarks.
A recent Geekbench listing suggests a Galaxy S20 FE flexing its muscles on the benchmarking platform. The Snapdragon 865 is confirmed in the listing along with 6GB RAM of RAM available on this variant. The NBTC has certified this variant for 4G operations only, suggesting that Samsung is ditching 5G modem probably to keep prices accessible.
Samsung planning another Galaxy S20 FE model
The arrival of this device is likely to confuse Samsung fans/potential Galaxy S20 FE buyers in the future. The S20 FE is currently available in the 4G variant at a starting price of Rs 40,999 whereas the Galaxy S20 FE 5G variant starts at Rs 47,999.
If the 4G variant of the Galaxy S20 FE comes with Snapdragon 865, it is likely to replace the aging Exynos variant. It could also attain a lower starting price of Rs 40,000, thereby rivaling the OnePlus 9R. With its 120Hz AMOLED display, a versatile triple rear camera setup, and a large battery capacity, the S20 FE 4G with the Snapdragon 865 could make for a tempting choice for premium smartphone buyers.
Having the Galaxy S20 FE 4G with the Snapdragon 865 could help Samsung tackle the competition from Chinese brands. All the phones running on the newer Snapdragon 870 chipset are likely to offer more-or-less the same performance levels as those on the Snapdragon 865. The Snapdragon 870 is technically a Snapdragon 865 with an overclocked performance core.
Hence, the Galaxy S20 FE 4G Snapdragon edition could come in as a solid alternative to the OnePlus 9R, Vivo X60 Pro, and the upcoming Redmi K40/Xiaomi Mi 11X. The 5G variant could stay in the market as a more premium variant for those who want to future-proof their phone.
The Snapdragon 865-based 4G Galaxy S20 FE could also help Samsung phase out the aging Galaxy S10 Lite and Galaxy Note 10 Lite.
