Last year, Samsung introduced an affordable flagship model to its lineup in the form of the Galaxy S20 FE (Fan Edition). The Galaxy S20 FE came in two models: a 4G model that used Samsung’s home-brewed Exynos 990 chip and a 5G model with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 SoC. While we’re still months away from the next Galaxy S21 FE model, Samsung is refreshing the existing lineup with a new model.

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE XDA Forums

As per a report from WinFuture, Samsung is looking to replace the existing Exynos 990-powered 4G model with a Snapdragon 865 one. That means moving forward both the 5G and 4G models of the Galaxy S20 FE could be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset. Samsung’s website for Scandinavian countries is already listing the Snapdragon 4G variant with model number SM-G780G.

Apart from the processor change, nothing changes in terms of overall hardware. Several dealer listings viewed by WinFuture confirm the Snapdragon Galaxy S20 FE 4G model offers the same specification as before. That means you still get a 6.5-inch AMOLED FHD+ display, triple 12MP rear cameras, a 4,500mAh battery up to 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, and IP68 dust and water protection.

It’s interesting to see Samsung ditching its own Exynos variant and replacing it with a Snapdragon model. Notably, Exynos 990 has received flak from all around for heating issues and not being able to sustain its peak performance for too long. While Samsung never explicitly acknowledged technical deficiencies of the Exynos 990 chip, this move clearly signals Samsung admitting its chip being not as good as its Snapdragon rival.

We don’t know if Samsung plans to withdraw the Exynos 990 model of Galaxy S20 FE from all markets or if this change will be happening in limited regions.

Samsung is already working on the Galaxy S21 FE which will succeed the current FE model. As per a leaked Samsung product roadmap slide, the South Korean giant is planning to unveil the Galaxy S21 FE in August 2o21.