These could be the final US prices of Samsung's Galaxy S20 series
UPDATE: After speaking to a T-Mobile source, Jon Prosser has been able to "confirm" the AT&T and Verizon prices of Samsung's Galaxy S20-series devices as well. Oddly enough, while Big Red is expected to match the "Un-carrier's" tags, Ma Bell might pull off some slightly lower prices. We're talking $899, $1099, and $1299 for the Galaxy S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra respectively instead of a $999 - $1199 - $1399 structure.
And yes, Prosser remains confident all three major carriers will launch an entirely 5G-enabled Galaxy S20 lineup. That makes this rumored gap highly unusual, which is why you should probably continue taking all the inside information with a big grain of salt. Our original story follows below.
Over the weekend, the highly anticipated Galaxy Z Flip followed in the footsteps of all three main S20 variants, showing off its face (and folding display) in a quick hands-on video, and now another massive piece of the early 2020 Samsung flagship puzzle is falling into place thanks to popular YouTuber and self-proclaimed "tech analyst" and "professional asshole" Jon Prosser.
The man behind Front Page Tech, a YouTube channel dedicated to delivering tech news in a fun and humorous way, claims to have obtained Galaxy S20 series pricing information from a "source within T-Mobile." Because we're so close to both the formal announcement and commercial release of Samsung's next big (mainstream) thing, there's a good chance this information is not only credible but also final and pretty much etched in stone for all major US carriers.
At the same time, Max Weinbach, who has proven by far the most prolific and reliable Galaxy S20 leaker, has some new info to share on UK prices, which "seem" mostly accurate, but "can always change."
Galaxy S20 vs Galaxy S10 family prices
It's always essential to put numbers like these in the right context, and when it comes to ultra-high-end mobile devices, that means first and foremost comparing them to their forerunners. Starting from the very top of the food chain, the state-of-the-art Galaxy S20 Ultra is expected to cost a whopping $1,399. That sounds pretty bad in comparison to the $1,000 price tag of an entry-level Galaxy S10+ configuration back in the day, but you'll want to keep in mind that "only" came with 8 gigs of memory and 4G LTE connectivity.
The S20 Ultra, in contrast, is widely rumored to pack a mind-blowing 12GB RAM count and support 5G speeds as standard, not to mention all those other substantial upgrades expected in the camera performance, screen technology, and battery size departments. If you still can't justify a $400 hike, maybe an upgrade from 128 to 512 gigs of internal storage space will do the trick. This is by no means guaranteed, but it's definitely possible.
Meanwhile, we're fairly certain the "regular" Galaxy S20 and S20+ models will start at $999 and $1,199 respectively with only 128GB local digital hoarding room. That would make these significantly costlier than $750 and $900 Galaxy S10e and S10 variants with the same amount of storage, but once again, you should take 5G support and various other major improvements into consideration before deeming the next-gen phones overpriced.
That's right, Prosser's source says even the base S20 will come with 5G connectivity, at least on T-Mobile. By the way, something tells us the aforementioned price points will apply to all carrier-specific S20-series versions, as well as unlocked models. Unless, of course, the 4G LTE-only S20 and S20+ are also headed to one or several major US mobile network operators, which isn't altogether unlikely.
Speaking of 4G models, these are tipped to fetch 75 pounds less than their 5G-capable counterparts on British shores, a difference likely to translate to around 100 bucks in the US. So, if the S20 4G and S20+ 4G are to be released stateside, they should be priced at $899 and $1,099 respectively.
Galaxy S20 vs iPhone 11 series prices
It's equally important to compare the prices of a new high-end smartphone family with those of the competition, but before we do that, you should keep in mind Samsung is looking to revise its strategy, no longer releasing a truly affordable "e" variant to go up against the iPhone XR sequel. So, no, it's not really fair to put the $999 Galaxy S20 on the same level as the $699 iPhone 11.
That being said, it will certainly be difficult for Samsung to keep the $999 iPhone 11 Pro and $1,099 iPhone 11 Pro Max at bay with a Galaxy S20+ fetching $1,199 and an S20 UItra priced at $1,399. Yes, 5G chips are expensive, and at least on paper, these bad boys should offer absolutely insane battery life and top-notch camera performance. But at the same time, the real-life benefits currently provided by 5G networks stateside are simply not meaningful enough to justify those gaps.
Naturally, there's still a possibility these freshly rumored numbers will prove inaccurate, but for the most part, they seem to coincide with predictions made based on European speculation a little while ago, so we wouldn't hold our breath for any last-minute changes or surprises.
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed: