Galaxy Note 20 FE incoming? Samsung says more Fan Editions on the way

Samsung Galaxy Note 20
The Samsung Galaxy Note 20. (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Samsung is saying that the Galaxy S20 FE is only the first in a line of Fan Edition smartphones, which is great news for users wanting a Samsung smartphone for less.

The news came during the Galaxy Unpacked livestream yesterday. The main news from this was the release of Samsung's new cheaper Galaxy S20 version, but there is a brief look toward the future towards the end of the presentation.

The following quote comes from Samsung's associate principal of global strategy, Clare Hunter. You can skip to 2:24:36 in the recording of the livestream below instead if you want to hear it aloud:

"As a tribute to our Galaxy fans, we’re setting a new standard of making uncompromising flagship innovations accessible to as many people as possible. And we’ll continue to launch Fan Editions of our flagship devices in the years to come.”

After revealing the Galaxy S10 Lite and Galaxy Note 10 Lite at CES 2020 in January, it wasn't a stretch to believe that Samsung had further intentions to release cheaper versions of its most popular flagships. But here we have a non-specific but clear promise that this remains the company's plan even after the release of its cheaper Galaxy S20.

(Image credit: Samsung)

The only question we have is why it would pick FE (Fan Edition) as the title. Sure, it is more unique than the 'Lite' or 'SE' suffix used by other manufacturers, but since the most famous Fan Edition before the S20 was the re-release of the all-too-flammable Galaxy Note 7, you might expect Samsung to choose a title with less baggage.

Speaking of Galaxy Note-series phones, this hint from Samsung suggests we should expect a Galaxy Note 20 FE soon. We've yet to hear any rumors about the existence of such a phone, so perhaps it will emerge at some point early next year.

All we know about Samsung's 2021 smartphone plans so far are a few details about the Galaxy S21. This new flagship promises to offer a new Snapdragon 875 chipset, an even larger 180MP main camera sensor, two telephoto cameras for more versatile zoom photography, and Samsung's first under-display selfie camera for a true full-screen display.

Richard Priday
Assistant Phones Editor

Richard is based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, tablets, gaming, and whatever else people need advice on. Following on from his MA in Magazine Journalism at the University of Sheffield, he's also written for WIRED U.K., The Register and Creative Bloq. When not at work, he's likely thinking about how to brew the perfect cup of specialty coffee.