New leaked information on the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition reveals how Samsung intends to compete with the cheaper iPhone 12 model that will be released later this year.

These details were shared with the world by Ice Universe, a prominent leaker who often has juicy information about Samsung devices.

The Galaxy S20 Fan Edition is said to be powered by a Snapdragon 865 processor. This is not a surprise, but a bit disappointing; the Galaxy Note 20 series will likely have the faster Snapdragon 865 Plus, so it would not have been impossible for Samsung to add it to the S20 Fan Edition. But perhaps this was a way to keep costs down.

The Galaxy S20 Fan Edition display appears to be nearly identical to the original S20; the 120 Hz refresh rate was available on all S20 devices, but the resolution was set to FHD instead of the maximum QHD. If Samsung could change one thing about the S20 FE display, it would be to offer the option to enable both maximum resolution and refresh rate at once, even if it would drain the battery faster.

The punch hole in the display is 3.3 mm, which certainly looks small. The official size of the punch hole on the original S20 from Samsung is not known, but the IU's mention of it could probably be interpreted as a size difference between the two.

The only other tidbit is that this phone will be IP68 rated against water and dust ingress. This is the same as the entire S20 series, but it is good to know that the phone will not become unusable if accidentally dropped into the ocean or onto a sandy beach.

Ice Universe's only comment on the S20 FE's price is that it is nice. The original S20 retails for $999, so the FE is expected to be cheaper than that.

Samsung needs some cheaper flagship options based on what we've heard about the iPhone 12 series. iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, quad rear camera array, 120Hz refresh rate, 5G support will likely cost over $1,000, but the regular iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Max models are expected to be the cheapest flagship iPhones in years, with one leak putting the cheapest model at $649.

With the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition, Samsung will have a chance to reorganize its pricing structure, even if it does not upgrade its hardware significantly; even offering the S20 for under $800 will make the top-end hardware too expensive to justify the purchase Even offering the S20 under $800 would help it compete with Apple against a growing number of customers who consider top-end hardware too expensive to justify the purchase.

A Q4 launch means that the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition will not be released at the same time as the Galaxy Note 20, which will be available on August 5. so the FE could still make an appearance on stage.