CES typically isn’t a major show for smartphones, but this year could be different now that a Korean newspaper is reporting that Samsung will announce two new phones at CES 2020.
According to the Korea Herald, the two phones in question are the Galaxy S10 Lite and the Galaxy Note 10 Lite, which are essentially streamlined and more affordable versions of Samsung’s current flagships: the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Note 10. The Korea Herald says both phones will initially go on sale in India, but outside of that, it’s currently unclear if these phones will ever make their way to the U.S.
Unfortunately, while that’s all the info the Korea Herald had on Samsung’s new phones, a couple of recent reports from Winfuture.de have shed a lot more light on what we can expect from the S10 Lite and Note 10 Lite.
For the S10 Lite, Winfuture says it will start at around 680 euros (approx. $750), and it will feature a 6.7-inch AMOLED screen with a centrally-located punch-hole selfie cam instead of the corner-mounted cam you get on a standard S10. However, what really differentiates the S10 Lite from being more than a big version of the $750 Galaxy S10e is that the S10 Lite will come with three rear cameras instead of just two: a 48-MP main camera, a 12-MP ultra-wide camera, and a brand new 5-MP macro camera.
On top of that, Winfuture says the S10 Lite will have a new tilting optical image stabilization system (or tOIS), that may allow the phone to correct photos based on pitch and yaw in addition to standard X and Y-axis stabilization.
And unlike a lot of previous international Galaxy S phones, it seems S 10 Lite will come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chip instead of an Exynos-based chip that Samsung typically features in phones sold in Europe and Asia. This is a small but potentially important change because the Qualcomm variant of the Galaxy S10 is generally regarded as the superior model thanks to slightly better performance and battery life.
Finally, the S10 Lite’s specs include a sizable 4,500 mAh battery, speedy 45-watt fast-charging, and a USB C port. (No word yet on if that means headphone jack from the original S10 is present or not.)
As for the Note 10 Lite, Winfuture says it will actually cost less than the S10 Lite with a starting price of 610 euros (about $675 U.S. dollars). The Note 10 Lite’s screen size is also the same as the S10 Lite’s at 6.7-inches. However, in a move the seems intended to help the Note 10 Lite hit that lower price. instead of a Qualcomm processor, the Note 10 Lite is expected to ship with an Exynos 9810, which is actually the same chip used in international models of the almost two-year-old Galaxy S9.
Similar to the standard N0te 10, the Note 10 Lite features a triple rear camera module consisting of a 12-MP main cam, a 12-MP 2x telephoto cam, and a 12-MP ultra-wide-angle camera, in addition to a built-in stylus for sketching and taking notes.
The Note 10 Lite will also come with a 4,500 mAh battery (which is slightly larger than even the 4,300 mAh battery in the Note 10+), though strangely, it seems the Note 10 Lite won’t have support for wireless charging. That said, as a small bonus, the Note 10 Lite will reportedly come with a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is a pleasant surprise since neither the standard Note 10 or Note+ has one.
Winfuture’s mention of euros suggests that both phones will at least be available somewhere in Europe, which gives a little hope that these new Lite phones may be available over here as well. Either way, with CES 2020 slated to start on January January 6th, it shouldn’t be too long until we know for sure.