Samsung Galaxy S20 Fan Edition: Lite version of flagship tipped to borrow big S20 feature

Following on from Samsung’s previous “Lite” phones, it looks like the company is shaking things up slightly for the Galaxy S20 take on this trend. The Galaxy S20 Fan Edition looks to be on the horizon and we’ve got all the latest news, rumours and speculation on the upcoming device.

The Galaxy S20 impressed us with its excellent camera and great performance when it launched back in February, and we’ve been waiting for its cheaper counterpart to be announced ever since. The addition of a Galaxy S20 Lite (or S20 Fan Edition) would give fans of Samsung’s flagship range the option to upgrade to the latest tech for a lower price in a world in which smartphones seem to be getting more and more expensive as each year passes.

After all, this wouldn’t be the first time Samsung had released a Lite edition of its S-series. Earlier this year, we saw the Galaxy S10 Lite and the Galaxy Note 10 Lite officially join the company’s flagship lines. The S10 Lite took some of the S10’s best features and squeezed them into a more budget-friendly mid-range handset and we’d love to Samsung do this again with the S20.

While many details about the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition remain scarce, we are here to wade through the rumours to bring you the trusted information. Read on for all you need to know on the upcoming phone’s price, specs, release date and design.

Related: Samsung Galaxy Note 20 leaks

Samsung Galaxy S20 Lite ‘Fan Edition’ release date

Twitter leaker, Ice Universe, suggests the phone is set to land in Q4 of 2020. That falls in line with our expectations and Samsung are likely to want the handset on the market in time for the retail-heavy Christmas holiday period.

Samsung Galaxy S20 Lite ‘Fan Edition’ name and price information

The Galaxy S10 Lite hit the market at £579 and the Galaxy S20 cost £799 on release. We’re expecting the base Galaxy S20 Lite to come in around the same price as the S10 Lite – around £550-£600. Twitter leaker, Ice Universe, cryptically teased fans in his latest post, saying: “Price nice.”

According to Sammobile – a site usually very reliable when it comes to news about the Korean brand – there is a Galaxy S20 Lite on the horizon and it’s being developed under the internal name ‘Samsung Galaxy S20 Fan Edition’. This name also crops up in the below tweet from Ice Universe.

Related: Best cheap phones – 10 low-cost options

Samsung Galaxy S20 Lite ‘Fan Edition’ design

We recently got our best look yet about the upcoming Galaxy S20 Fan Edition phone. Prolific leaker Evan Blass posted an extensive series of images on Twitter (Tweets are protected). Here’s the key one:

Credit: Evan Blass

As you can see, the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition is shaping up pretty much as expected. In a similar vein to the Galaxy S10 Lite, the Fan Edition looks almost identical to the phone it is reimagining – the Galaxy S20 in this case.

Apart from the similarities, the looks seem to diff in terms of colour – offering a wider range than the original S20 – as well as the style of the camera module. The camera module looks closer to the recently revealed Galaxy Note 20, rather than the latest S series phones.

Samsung Galaxy S20 Lite ‘Fan Edition’ camera

Rumours regarding the camera that’ll sit on the back of the Fan Edition version of the S20 are a little sparse. However, Ice Universe has speculated that it won’t use the new Samsung ISOCELL GN1 sensor. Instead, it’ll pack the same IMX555 12-megapixel sensor as the regular  Galaxy S20.

This is far from a bad thing and we’re big fans of the camera on the S20, so bringing it to an expected cheaper device seems like a winner to us.

Samsung Galaxy S20 Lite ‘Fan Edition’ specs and features

The Sammobile report goes on to say that the phone should come with at least 128GB storage and boast One UI 2.5. This will be the version of Samsung’s Android skin that gets announced alongside the upcoming Note 20 series. We expect that phone, along with a more powerful Ultra version, to be unveiled and released at an announced August 5 event.

A post from Twitter-leaker Ice Universe suggests that the phone will come with a Snapdragon 865 chip, which is pretty much what we expected. However, this rumour has since been challenged by a leaked Geekbench score (via Abhishek Yadav) which supposedly shows the Fan Edition sporting an Exynos 990 SoC. The benchmark data also suggests that the handset will include 8GB RAM, rather than the previously spotted 6GB.

The above Ice Universe tweet also suggests a 120Hz display – this would be first for a ‘cheaper’ Samsung phone – and an IP68 rating for water resistance. The 120Hz prediction has since also been shared by display industry analyst Ross Young.

Max is one the longest-serving members of the Trusted Reviews team. He was features editor but his expertise on mobile phones and tablets meant he transitioned to the role of mobile, wearables and tab…

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