Samsung has updated its Fan Edition smartphone series with the introduction of 2023 devices namely: the Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy Tab S9 FE and Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ and the Galaxy Buds FE.
“Known for their iconic and durable designs, advanced performance, cutting-edge camera and audio capabilities, and so much more these are the most epic FE devices yet,” Samsung says in a statement.
According to Samsung, as at last week when they made the announcement, pricing starts at Kshs 100,000 for the Galaxy S23 FE series, offering options to those looking at a premium Samsung smartphone experience but without going overboard while at it. Comparably, the Galaxy S23 series that Samsung debuted in the Kenyan market earlier in the year started at Kshs 136,000 for the base model Galaxy S23 and went all the way up to over Kshs 200,000 for the maxed out Galaxy S23 Ultra.
“For those who want to experience Galaxy flagship devices for the first time, the new FE devices are the perfect entry point,” says Samsung.
The Galaxy S23 FE, the first S-series FE device we are seeing since the Galaxy S21 FE we got last year, keeps the inspiration of the S-series lineup from Samsung over the last 2 years, bringing with it the design features of the last two members of the series (S22 and S23) while still remaining inferior to them as far as some of the internal components go. This is so that it is able to retain its most attractive feature: its reduced pricing.
That allows those who eventually get the device to get a high-quality 6.4-inch Dynamic AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate that is a little bigger than the 6.1-inch panel of a similar quality and resolution on the Galaxy S23, the same chipset that was there in the Galaxy S22 last year (Snapdragon 8 Gen 1) and a slightly bigger 4,500mAh battery (by comparison, the Galaxy S23 has a 3,900mAh unit). That battery will juice up halfway in half an hour if you use your own 25W adapter since you don’t get any in the box.
Like the Galaxy S23, it has a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera and a 50-megapixel main (wide) camera with optical image stabilization (OIS). It even keeps the telephoto lens and its 3x optical zoom though without the OIS that the S23 unit has and at a stepped-down 8 megapixels (compared to the 10MP on the S23’s). On the front, users will appreciate the 10-megapixel selfie camera that’s in place of the 12-megapixel unit on the standard Galaxy S23.
On the software front, the new Samsung devices will enjoy some of that long-term software support the Korean company is becoming very well known for. “The new Galaxy S23 FE and Galaxy Tab S9 FE series are designed to last with four generations of OS upgrades and five years of security updates,” the company says.
The Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy Tab S9 FE series and Buds FE are available through authorized dealerships across the country online and offline from October 27th. As usual, we recommend checking with some of our recommended merchants if you’re looking to purchase the device.
