Samsung hasn't released a 'lite' variant of its Galaxy S or Note series for quite some time. So it was a surprise when leaks about its release surfaced.
In this post, we will take a look at everything we know about the Galaxy S10 Lite and Galaxy Note 10 Lite.
Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite
The latest 'lite' variant of Samsung of a smartphone of the Galaxy S series was the Galaxy S3 Mini. Interestingly, Samsung already has a 'lite' version of the Galaxy S10 in the form of Galaxy S10e. So what is the difference between the Galaxy S10 Lite and the S10e?
The main design features of the Galaxy S10 Lite corroborated by a new rumor.
Design, camera and battery
Based on a leak that surfaced some time ago, the Galaxy S10 Lite will look more like the Galaxy Note 10, rather than the Galaxy S10e, as visible from the front and rear camera arrangement.
Another report claimed that the Galaxy S10 Lite will use an AMOLED screen and will come in white, black, and blue color options.
As you can see from the image above, the Galaxy S10e will come with a triple-camera setup that will employ a 48MP primary sensor assisted by a 12MP ultra-wide lens and a 5MP macro lens. The probability of a ToF sensor reaching the camera array is low. The selfie camera can get a significantly more powerful 32MP sensor.
Other filters like Slashleaks they publish a listing that puts the battery capacity of the Galaxy S10 Lite at 4370 mAh. Another report states that the phone can support 45W fast charging like the Galaxy Note 10+.
Here's another look at the alleged Galaxy S10 Lite via another source. Some rumors speculate that this could be the Galaxy A91 as well. We'd better take them with a pinch of salt, as it won't be long before Samsung introduces them.
Samsung official website accidentally leaked the names of Galaxy S10 – Galaxy S10 Lite, the name of the cheapest device.
Specifications
The Galaxy S10 Lite, unlike the Galaxy S10, will come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC in all variants. The base variant is expected to ship with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of expandable storage and run One UI 2.0 based on Android 10 out of the box.
The image below was sourced from an FCC listing for the Galaxy S10 Lite.
Here is another leak showing an alleged Geekbench Score.
Price and release date
Samsung is unlikely to cloud the launch of the Galaxy S11 (or Galaxy S20, depending on who you ask) with an update on last year's flagships. Most likely, we will see it drop sometime in late January or early February. We could see it presented alongside the Galaxy Note 10 Lite at CES 2020.
Two different reports peg the price of the Galaxy S10 Lite at €669 ($741). We could also see some higher memory configurations priced to match. Considering that the device has an FCC listing, it will also be available in the United States.
Galaxy Note 10 Lite
We saw the first hints of the Galaxy Note 10 Lite a couple of weeks ago when references to a mysterious Galaxy Note device surfaced.
Like the Galaxy S line, Samsung hasn't released a 'lite' version of a Galaxy Note device since the Galaxy Note 3 Neo in 2014. Let's take a look at what the Galaxy Note 10 Lite has in store for us.
Design
The Galaxy Note 10 Lite has a very different camera module layout compared to the Galaxy S10 Lite, and even the Galaxy Note 10 series, for that matter. Samsung may opt for a glass plus plastic sandwich for the phone instead of all glass.
It will come in three color variants. It will feature a 6,7-inch 1080p AMOLED panel with an in-display fingerprint scanner. As it is a Galaxy Note device, it will come with a Bluetooth 5.1 S Pen with tracking capabilities. And it will also have a headphone jack.
Specifications
Unlike the Galaxy S10 Lite, we're 'lite' on the details of which chip will power the device. Looking at the Note 10 Lite alleged Geekbench score, it does not appear to be a Snapdragon 855. Rumors indicate that it could be the Exynos 9810 chipset that powered the series. Galaxy S9 and Note 9.
The Galaxy Note 10 Lite will also ship with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage out of the box. Surprisingly, the battery capacity will be larger than the Note 10+ at 4.500mAh. It will also support 45W fast wired charging.
Release date and price
The Galaxy Note 10 Lite is expected to launch alongside the Galaxy S10 Lite. One leak talks about its price at €609 ($675) while another estimates it to be €630 ($698).
It's not much different from the Galaxy S10 Lite and it will be interesting to see both devices finally make their debut as a lower cost alternative to the prohibitively priced Galaxy S10 and Note 10 smartphones.