Between the rumored telephoto zoom camera, 120Hz display, and 5G connectivity, the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra seem like they could be Samsung's most expensive smartphones ever when they launch on August 5. However, according to one report from Korea, the Note 20 series may actually be slightly more affordable than its predecessors.

Naver (via Android Central) claims that the Note 20 will launch for 50,000 won less than the Note 10 in Korea; given that the Note 10 was priced at 1.25 million won (about $1,040), the Note 20 will start at the equivalent of $1,000 Note 20 will start at the equivalent of $1,000. In the U.S., the Note 10 and Note 10 Plus, which were released last year, cost $949 and $1,099, respectively.

Now, as anyone who follows smartphone leaks knows, product prices are not simply converted between regions. So even if the Note 20 is cheaper than the Note 10 in Korea, that may not be the case in other parts of the world.

However, from Naver's report, it is certainly possible that the Note 20 will be cheaper in various markets than it would have been otherwise, as Samsung appears to be lowering its price in anticipation of a slump in demand due to the global pandemic.

This comes almost a week after one of the leakers, Twitter's Ricciolo, announced that the Note 20 would be "the most expensive Note ever." Around the same time, a Greek site called Techmaniacs reported that the Note 20 could start at $1,400, and that would be the regular model; the Note 20 Ultra is said to add $150 more to that. [The Galaxy S20 Ultra starts at $1,399, but a version with 512GB of storage space and 16GB of RAM would go up to $1,599. While it is surprising that Samsung would release a notebook product cheaper than the most expensive S20, the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic turmoil has forced the entire industry to change its strategy on the fly.

With all these conflicting reports flying around about the Note 20's price, we probably won't have a clear answer until Samsung officially unveils these devices at the Unpacked 2020 event on August 5. Price is often the hardest thing to predict before a new product announcement, and Samsung has the rationale to go higher or lower here. We shall be watching closely to see how it all plays out.