Samsung brings back Fan Edition devices
Price-friendly variants of its flagship phone, tablet and earbuds
After skipping a year, Samsung’s Fan Edition (FE) devices are back! The price-friendly, downscaled versions of Samsung’s flagship products, the new FE devices are the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE, the Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ and Tab S9 FE tablets, and the Galaxy Buds FE wireless earbuds.
The Galaxy S23 FE sports a 6.4-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. It uses a similar 50MP main camera with optical image stabilisation as the standard S23, though its telephoto and ultra-wide cameras are not as good. The processor is also the older Exynos 2200 used in the S22 series. But you do get some flagship-like features, such as wireless charging, and IP68 water and dust resistance. Its rounded aluminium frame feels good in the hand, though the phone has some heft at 209g. The 256GB model is priced at S$988, while the 128GB version is S$888.
As for the Tab S9 FE tablets, the 12.4-inch FE+ (from S$869) and the 10.9-inch FE (from S$669) mirror the screen sizes of their higher-end counterparts. Besides being slightly thicker and heavier, these FE models have lower-end specs, such as the mid-range Exynos 1380 chip — found in the Galaxy A54 — instead of the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. But there are similarities with Samsung’s top tablets, from the design to the IP68 rating. The S Pen is included, too.
Bundled with the FE tablets at launch (from Oct 20 to Nov 10) are the new Buds FE (S$158). These true wireless earbuds come with a single driver, three mics, and are only IPX2-rated, unlike the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro (IPX7). Samsung says the Buds FE has the longest battery life among its earbuds at 6 hours with active noise cancellation. There’s no wireless charging, though.
Generally, these new FE devices offer some features from Samsung’s premium range, but you can expect performance to be in the upper mid-range territory. They will be available in Singapore at all retailers from Oct 20. However, the S23 FE phone will go on sale earlier — online only — on Oct 10. We’ll be testing these devices soon, so stay tuned for the full reviews on canbuyornot.com.
Meanwhile, our latest reviews include a potential S23 FE rival in the Xiaomi 13T Pro, while those with richer tastes can check out the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max review. And if you’re looking for a premium portable speaker for your next gathering, the Sonos Move 2 is quite the upgrade over its predecessor.
The Xiaomi 13T Pro is a more affordable version of the smartphone maker’s flagship models. You still get Leica-branded cameras, and a flagship processor, but from MediaTek instead of Qualcomm. Nice bright display, a grippy design, and it’s even rated IP68 for water and dust resistance. Overall, it’s pretty good value for its S$949 starting price.
The new, lighter titanium frame is what you’ll notice first about the latest iPhone 15 Pro Max. But there are plenty of changes under the hood, including a longer zoom with the telephoto camera, and a new customisable Action button that replaces the slider. But the base model now starts at 256GB storage, which means the starting price is S$200 more at S$1,999.
With a hefty boost to battery life — while maintaining the same 3kg weight as the previous version — the new Sonos Move 2 is a significant upgrade. It also gets the recent improvements made to newer Sonos speakers, from a touch-capacitive volume slider to USB-C support. You also get better stereo sound from the dual-angled tweeters compared with the single one on the original.