Here's when the Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite and Note 10 Lite may debut

A January announcement is expected for both phones

According to an “industry source” familiar with the matter, the South Korean company is now preparing to unveil the Lite-branded smartphones at an event in mid-January. India should be first to receive the phones before availability is expanded to include global markets.

To refresh your memory a little, the Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite will actually be released as a rebranded version of the Galaxy A91. The latter should be available in markets such as India where Samsung’s mid-range smartphones are most popular, and the likes of Europe and the United States will probably know the phone as a cheaper flagship offering.

It’s expected to feature a massive 6.7-inch Infinity-O display that’s characterized by a central punch hole. The latter is reportedly home to a 32-megapixel selfie camera and is paired with thin side bezels and a slightly thicker chin. As for the smartphone’s rear, leaked renders point towards a rectangular camera module in the corner which incorporates a 48-megapixel primary camera, a 12-megapixel 5x optical zoom shooter, and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle alternative. Samsung may also include a 5-megapixel depth sensor but this is yet to be confirmed.

Regarding the Galaxy Note 10 Lite, it’s expected to be released in certain markets as the Galaxy A81. From the front, the phone looks set to be virtually identical to the Galaxy S10 Lite but over on the rear it sports a square camera module instead. It’s unclear what sensors are being prepared but rumors indicate there’ll be a total of three. The other differentiating external factors include the presence of a 3.5mm headphone jack and support for Samsung’s useful S Pen stylus.

Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite & Note 10 Lite specs

The internal side of things is where the differences between the Galaxy S10 Lite and Galaxy Note 10 Lite become even more obvious. That’s because the former will be powered by the very fast Snapdragon 855 featured inside the Galaxy S10 while the latter is reportedly going to settle for the slightly slower and older Exynos 9810 that Samsung previously used inside the Galaxy Note 9.

Both smartphones are expected to benefit from 128GB of internal storage but only 6GB of RAM will make it into the Note-branded model. The Galaxy S10 Lite, on the other hand, should feature 8GB of RAM as standard. MicroSD card support is to be expected on the two products.

Samsung’s new Lite-branded devices are expected to ship with Android 10 and One UI 2.0 straight out of the box. It’ll be backed up by a 4,500mAh battery and 45W fast charging on the Galaxy S10 Lite and a slightly smaller cell, likely in the region of 4,300mAh, with 25W fast charging on the Galaxy Note 10 Lite.

For those of you interested in pricing, the Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite will probably be priced in the region of €650 across Europe, placing it €100 below the 5G-ready Galaxy A90 which boasts many of the same specifications and replacing the not-so-popular Galaxy A80. As for the Galaxy Note 10 Lite, a price point of around €500-550 seems highly likely at this stage. If Samsung chooses to sell the Galaxy S10 Lite and Note 10 Lite in the US, respectively price tags of $600-650 and $450-500 could be on the cards.