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Why There Probably Won’t Be a ‘Fan Edition’ of the Samsung Galaxy S22

Technologies

Why There Probably Won’t Be a ‘Fan Edition’ of the Samsung Galaxy S22

Commentary: Samsung’s Galaxy S21 FE struggled to stand out from the Galaxy S22 lineup, and a Galaxy S22 FE would likely have the same problem.

What’s happening

Samsung launched cheaper «Fan Edition» versions of its flagship phones for the Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S21. But a rumor suggests the Galaxy S22 FE may have been canceled.

Why it matters

Samsung’s smartphone lineup already has plenty of options, making the Galaxy S21 FE seem lost in the shuffle. It should focus on its flagship Galaxy S and midtier Galaxy A phones instead.

What’s next

Samsung is expected to introduce the Galaxy S23 lineup in early 2023.

Samsung offers a wide variety of Galaxy phones, and the company’s selection is expected to grow on Feb. 1 at the next Samsung Unpacked event. From the gigantic Galaxy S22 Ultra to the pocketable Galaxy Z Flip 4, there’s already a lot of options to consider if one is looking for a new Samsung phone. But there’s one way Samsung could simplify things: Skip the Galaxy S22 FE.

Don’t get me wrong; the Galaxy S21 FE (short for «fan edition») has plenty going for it. When I reviewed the phone last year, I was impressed with its decent battery life and solid camera for its $700 price. However, it risked getting lost in Samsung’s lineup once the Galaxy S22 launched. And I was right. If Samsung does have a successor to the Galaxy S21 FE in the works, rebranding it as a more premium Galaxy A phone would be a wiser move.

Samsung previously launched its FE phones in the fall or January. However, with Samsung weeks away from its presumed Galaxy S23 event, we’ve yet to hear an official word from Samsung on whether there will be a successor to the Galaxy S21 FE. A rumor from the blog SamMobile published this summer suggests Samsung may have canceled the Galaxy S22 FE, and I can understand why. Between the $800 Galaxy S22 and $450 Galaxy A53 5G, it was too hard for the Galaxy S21 FE to stand out. With the Galaxy S23 lineup potentially right around the corner, a Galaxy S22 FE could face the same fate.

The Galaxy S21 FE lacks what made the Galaxy S20 FE so special

The 2020 Galaxy S20 FE had a major advantage that the Galaxy S21 FE lacks: a sizable gap in price compared to Samsung’s Galaxy S phone. The Galaxy S20 launched at $1,000, making the $700 Galaxy S20 FE feel like a significant bargain. It earned a CNET Editors’ Choice in 2020, with Andy Lanxon writing that its «great balance of performance and value» makes it a better value proposition than the S20 Ultra and Note 20 Ultra.

There are a couple of reasons why the Galaxy S21 FE didn’t strike the same chord. Samsung’s lineup and the broader smartphone landscape were different in 2020. While 5G support, multiple camera lenses and screens with higher refresh rates were starting to trickle down to cheaper devices, these features were considered premium just one year earlier in 2019. Remember the Galaxy S10 5G? Samsung’s first 5G-ready phone commanded a high price of $1,300 when it launched through Verizon in spring 2019.

Things changed the following year in 2020. Every device in the Galaxy S20 lineup supported 5G, but that also meant a higher starting price of $1,000. With that in mind the 5G-equipped S20 FE, which also has a triple-lens camera and speedy processor, was a great alternative for cost-conscious shoppers that didn’t want to make big sacrifices on quality.

In other words, the Galaxy S20 FE came at just the right time and the right price. I can’t say the same for the Galaxy S21 FE. It launched roughly one month before Samsung introduced the Galaxy S22, which offers superior camera quality, a more refined design and a newer processor. The Galaxy S20, on the other hand, debuted in September 2020, which meant it had a longer runway before the Galaxy S21’s arrival in January 2021. Samsung also now faces increased competition from Google, which has been pricing its Pixel phones aggressively compared to Samsung. Google’s main flagship phone, the Pixel 7, launched at just $600 in October.

At the same time, the Galaxy S21 FE does have advantages over the S22, particularly for people who prefer larger phones. But the differences aren’t drastic enough to prevent it from being overshadowed by the S22 and phones from competitors like Google.

Pricing is another important factor. It’s great that Samsung dropped the price of the S21 compared to the S20, but the problem is that it didn’t lower the Galaxy S21 FE’s price to match. The Galaxy S20 FE was $300 cheaper than the Galaxy S20, while the S21 FE costs only $100 less than the Galaxy S21 did at launch.

The Galaxy S21 FE feels more like an A-series phone

The Galaxy S21 FE would feel right at home in Samsung’s lineup of midrange and budget devices, aka the Galaxy A series. These phones are usually significantly cheaper than those in the Galaxy S line and inherit certain features like large displays, multiple cameras and 5G, while compromising elsewhere.

It’s an approach that’s seemingly paid off so far. Samsung’s $180 Galaxy A12 was one of the world’s top-selling phones in 2021, according to Counterpoint Research. No phones from the Galaxy S series made the list. Separate data from Counterpoint Research provided to CNET also suggests A-series phones accounted for 58% of Samsung’s smartphone sales last year.

If the Galaxy S21 FE launched at a slightly cheaper price — perhaps priced around $600 — it would have made a great upper-tier Galaxy A phone. Both the Galaxy S21 FE and A53 5G have big screens, very similar designs, regular and ultrawide camera lenses and high resolution front cameras, making them feel like they’re aimed at a similar audience.

The Galaxy S21 FE has an edge in performance and camera quality, making it a solid choice for those who need more than the Galaxy A53 has to offer at a lower price than the S22. Dropping the price to $600 would also put the phone right between the $450 Galaxy A53 5G and $800 Galaxy S22. If it were branded as an A-series phone, the Galaxy S21 FE could be a worthwhile alternative to the Galaxy A73 in markets where that device isn’t available. The Galaxy A73 5G is the Galaxy A series’ top-tier phone with a 108-megapixel camera, but it’s only available in select regions such as Australia and India.

Samsung hasn’t shared details about its future smartphone plans, so it’s unclear whether it will continue the FE line. But dropping the FE’s price and possibly moving it over to its Galaxy A series could go a long way in boosting its appeal. It wouldn’t be the first time Samsung has merged two of its phone brands recently. The Galaxy S22 Ultra, for example, has essentially replaced the company’s previous Galaxy Note phones, which stood out for their giant screens and included stylus.

Otherwise, the Galaxy S22 FE could end up like Samsung’s current «fan edition» phone and struggle to find its place.

Technologies

Samsung S26 Ultra’s Privacy Display Makes Shoulder Surfing a Thing of the Past

You can scroll on the subway in peace.

Picture this: You’re wedged into the middle seat while cruising at 38,000 feet, half watching the clouds and half scrolling through messages you probably should have answered already. The cabin lights are dimmed. The stranger rubbing shoulders next to you adjusts in their seat. Out of the corner of your eye, you notice their gaze flicker toward your screen.

That is a moment when the new Samsung S26 Ultra’s Privacy Display, announced during the company’s Galaxy Unpacked 2026, can quietly step in.

Unlike old-fashioned screen protectors that darken your display permanently, the new feature is built directly into the Galaxy S26 Ultra (starting at $1,300) panel. It is not a film you stick on top; it’s a part of the hardware itself, working seamlessly with the software.

During the Unpacked event, Samsung brought out Miles Franklin from MilesAboveTech to demo the feature: to Miles, looking straight at the screen, everything remained crisp, bright and color-accurate. To anyone trying to peek from the side, like those of us watching the demo, the content fades into shadow. From this perspective, the screen might as well be off.

«It’s seriously one of the coolest features I’ve seen on a phone in years,» Franklin said while onstage at Unpacked.

How Privacy Display works

Under the hood, the technology relies on a combination of directional backlighting and an adaptive pixel layer that controls how light is emitted across angles. Traditional displays spread light broadly so multiple people can see the screen at once. The S26 Ultra does the opposite when privacy mode is active. It funnels light forward in a tighter beam, limiting lateral visibility without sacrificing clarity for the primary user.

Sensors play a role, too. Using the front-facing camera and ambient awareness algorithms, the device can recognize when additional faces appear within viewing range. If it senses someone hovering nearby or glancing from the side, it can automatically trigger enhanced privacy mode. You can also have the process automate when certain notifications pop up or when opening specific apps, like those for banking or social media.

Back on the plane, you can now continue typing. The stranger next to you adjusts again — perhaps curious, perhaps bored. It doesn’t matter. Your screen remains yours.

Technologies

This One Killer Feature Sets the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Apart From All Other Phones

Commentary: Samsung needed to give us a reason to be excited about its latest flagship. It delivered.

There are so many reasons not to buy a new phone in 2026. For starters, our existing phones last longer than ever if we take care of them. Plus, most new phones are way too similar, not only to each other, but to last year’s batch. Finally, most of us won’t have our heads easily turned by yet another AI sales pitch.

But on Wednesday, at Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event in San Francisco, the company gave us a genuinely compelling reason to consider upgrading to its new top-end flagship, the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Its killer feature has nothing to do with AI (although Samsung is still beating that drum as loudly as every phone-maker out there).

In fact, it has nothing to do with software at all. Instead, it’s an innovation in hardware: Privacy Display, which offers pixel-level privacy that prevents anyone beside you from seeing what’s on your screen.

Privacy Display works in both portrait and landscape, with the pixels dispersing light in a way that will darken parts of the screen if you’re not looking at it straight on. You can choose whether to apply it to specific apps, to notifications or for when you’re inputting PINs or passwords. Access from Quick Settings makes it easy to turn on and off on the go, like when you suspect someone on the bus is reading over your shoulder, for example.

The reason the Privacy Display is such a compelling feature is that it’s simple to demonstrate, and it offers benefits that are easy to understand, said Ben Wood, CMO and chief analyst at CCS Insight. «Unlike a secondary-market privacy screen protector affixed to the phone’s display, it is not an ‘all or nothing’ solution,» he added.

On the surface, privacy doesn’t feel especially sexy as tech features go. But it is important to people. You only need to observe how central Apple has made privacy to its entire brand to see that people place significant value in technology they feel they can trust.

For Samsung, placing privacy front and center may be a winning strategy, giving its latest flagship a genuine edge over competitors that they can’t match simply by pushing out a software update. Privacy Display also elevates the Ultra even within Samsung’s own wide stable of phones, and it goes some way (although perhaps not all the way) toward justifying that $1,300 price tag.

«At face value, the Galaxy S26 Series devices differ little from [Samsung’s] predecessors launched just over a year ago,» Wood said. «Without this capability, the Galaxy S26 Ultra would have been an extremely tough sell.»

But Samsung may want to capitalize on this competitive advantage while it can. «I also expect this to become a benchmark feature over the next few years on all premium smartphones and other products, such as laptops,» Wood said.

That’s something to look forward to if you plan to upgrade in 2027 or beyond, but for now this is an Ultra exclusive, so you’ll need to be feeling flush if you plan to be a Privacy Display early adopter.