Samsung’s new Galaxy S23 FE has launched this week, but the company is charging a higher price for its new “Fan Edition” device than it previously said.
The Galaxy S23 FE is a bit of an odd release, as it packs an outdated Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor and relatively unimpressive specs otherwise. The only thing the phone really has going for it is its price, and Samsung hit a good target when the phone was first announced. $599 put the Galaxy S23 FE in the company of the Google Pixel 7 (since replaced by Pixel 8), and Samsung was certainly offering a pretty competitive package with that phone.
But, for whatever reason, the price has since gone up.
As spotted by Digital Trends, the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE in the US has now launched at a price of $629, up $30 from the price Samsung previously said it was. That’s not really a big increase, but it’s absolutely bizarre to see the retail price of a phone change between its announcement and its actual release, especially when those are only a few weeks apart. Today’s launch has also revealed pricing for the 256GB model at $690, a price Samsung previously hadn’t mentioned.
In an email, Samsung tells 9to5Google that the price difference is due to carrier vs. unlocked models, but not in the way that you’d think. Carrier models are $599, but the unlocked price is $629. That change does indeed apply on Samsung’s website, but it’s the first time we’ve seen the company charge more for an unlocked version of a device.
Making the situation all the more confusing is that, at Amazon and Best Buy, the $599 price is still in place for models that are marketed as unlocked. It’s only on Samsung.com that the price has moved to $629.
Again, we don’t know why this is the case, as the only difference between the Galaxy S23 FE on Samsung.com and at other retailers is that Samsung offers two exclusive colors on its store, but the price is the same across all colors. We’ve reached out to Samsung for further clarification on the retail versions.
Frankly, buying at Amazon or Best Buy is the best deal for this phone anyway, as both retailers will give you a $100 gift card with the purchase of your $599 Galaxy S23 FE.
This is a weird one folks.
More on Samsung:
- Hands-on: Samsung’s new ‘Fan Edition’ tablets are more exciting than the phone
- Galaxy SmartTag 2 launches next week for $30, still only works with Samsung devices
- Samsung’s Android 14 update should be rolling out any day now
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