SE, FE and NE – Editions and what they mean in mobile phones

Shorter version about editions

FE – Fan Edition
NE – New Edition
SE – Special Edition
CE – Core Edition

These terms are ways to get the attention of the audience. They mean that you now have the trimmed down budget version except in case of NE which can be an updated version.

FE or Fan Edition

In 2021, Samsung released yet another edition of the famous Samsung Galaxy S series, the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE where FE stands for fan edition. Here while trimming the budget, Samsung has tried to keep those features which will be most desired by youth. It has wide range of colours, reduced resolution, lower camera and all that. But with the reduced price we got flagship processor, wireless charging and triple rear camera. Fans enjoy flagship experience without the gimmicks.

There is also a tablet version called Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE.

SE or Special Edition

Trust the folks at Apple to make an event out of anything ordinary and to mess up with editions. They never revealed the meaning of SE initially. First launched in 2016, the first generation of Apple iPhone SE was launched along with iPhone 6. It had the A9 chip with lot of features which were picked up from their mainstream model. After mixed success, the product was discontinued in 2018.

The second generation of iPhone SE was launched in 2020 along with iPhone 11. In appearance it matches iPhone 8, but carries the A13 chip with single camera lens and all the AI paired along with the mainstream models.

CE or Core Edition

OnePlus released Nord as a mid range phone which met with success. To further bring the phone within the reach of more users, OnePlus introduced another version as stripped down variation, CE or core edition. What OnePlus did is that it isolated the core features of their NORD model and then designed a new handset around it. So CE gets a plastic back instead of glass, slower processor, single front camera and no front Gorilla glass protection.

NE or New Edition

With just upgrading the processor from Snapdragon 732G to 778G, Mi has successfully managed to convince us that the newer version or NE is a better buy that the older one. 732G was launched in Aug 2020 but does not support 5G. With 778G we get a newer processor, launched in May 2021. It is not just 5G but whole lot of performance improvements and upgrades. So Mi was perhaps right in changing just the processor and leave everything else untouched.

Few other catchy abbreviations for editions

Poco F3 GT is a gaming mobile where GT stands for Grand Tourer racing cars. There is also a Realme GT 5G Master Edition.

All these suffixes have a nice ring to it. Plus it gives a chance to mobile phone companies to bring in life into existing models and more sales. For example, Xiaomi 11 Lite NE 5G is currently the rage with 4.2 out of 5 stars on amazon and 5000 reviews till the end of 2021. It gets the top of the line processor and nothing else changed.

For other manufacturers like Apple or Samsung it is a chance to expand their Fan Base. The fancy two letters grab the young audience because of the affordability factor. Plus this gives an opportunity for people to have the flagship experience without putting a hole in the pocket. In case of Apple, it is a chance for users to have powerful camera and cinematography features previously not within the affordable range of many. Creators today are working hard today to create good content, especially videos. iPhone SE is perhaps the best affordable phone for such creators today.