Samsung Galaxy S26 FE vs. Galaxy S25 FE

The Fan Edition of the latest Galaxy S bid is out, but earlier you propulsion the trigger connected the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE, wherefore not see the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE instead. It gets you a batch of the mode determination astatine a much tenable starting price, which is precisely the FE bid spirit. After all, the representation spot prices forced Samsung to motorboat the S26 FE astatine a higher terms constituent and without changing astir thing successful presumption of hardware too.

The newer Galaxy S26 FE is beauteous adjacent to past year's Galaxy S25 FE, but for the chipset, of course. And 1 would wonder, what are you getting for the other €50/$100? Let's find out!

Table of Contents:

For starters, you tin compare the implicit specs sheets oregon straight proceed with our editor's appraisal successful the pursuing text.

Size comparison

The newer Galaxy S26 FE is virtually identical to the Galaxy S25 FE erstwhile it comes to dimensions, value and design. The newer Galaxy is negligibly wider and taller, and adds 3 grams to the wide weight. Not the benignant of quality you volition consciousness successful the existent world.

There's besides nary alteration successful the physique materials - some devices person Gorilla Glass Victus+ solid sheets connected the beforehand and back, portion the broadside framework is "Enhanced Armor Aluminum," which is Samsung's ain aluminum alloy utilized for its flagship phones.

What's caller present is the colors. The caller S26 FE comes successful 3 colors - Blueberry, Graphite and Pistachio. The older Galaxy had 4 colour options - Icyblue, Jetblack, Navy and White. We uncertainty that colors volition beryllium the deciding factor, but it's possibly inactive important to note.

Display comparison

The 2 Galaxy Fan Editions stock the aforesaid 6.7-inch OLED show with the aforesaid diagnostic set. Our brightness tests corroborate our suspicion that Samsung has ported the older surface straight to the caller S26 FE.

Not that there's thing incorrect with that, arsenic the sheet checks each the boxes for a flagship-level display.

Battery life

Here's wherever it gets interesting, though. Despite the deficiency of upgrades successful the artillery department, the newer Galaxy S26 FE turns retired to beryllium much businesslike than its predecessor. Since the show and artillery stay unchanged, the leap successful endurance indispensable beryllium owed to the newer Exynos 2500 SoC.

The Galaxy S26 FE's higher Active Use Score is solely acknowledgment to the beardown uptick successful web browsing and video streaming.

Charging speed

The 2 handsets enactment up to 45W accelerated wired charging implicit Power Delivery with the close PPS illustration charger, but Samsung promises a marginal update successful the charging curve, allowing somewhat faster charging than before. Our tests corroborate those claims, to immoderate extent.

The Galaxy S26 FE is 4 percent points faster to the 15 infinitesimal checkpoint and 6 percent points faster astatine the 30-minute mark, but lone 2 minutes faster to the decorativeness enactment astatine 100% charge. In different words - nary meaningful alteration successful the charging speed.

Speaker test

Unsurprisingly, Samsung didn't swap retired the speakers for newer ones. The Galaxy S26 FE seemingly uses the aforesaid stereo loudspeaker setup arsenic its predecessor with near-identical tuning, too. The lone marginal quality is loudness, arsenic the older exemplary is simply a tad louder.

Performance

The Galaxy S26 FE runs connected Samsung's past year's flagship Exynos 2500 chipset, portion the Galaxy S25 FE gets the Exynos 2400 from the twelvemonth 2024. The newer SoC is touted arsenic much almighty and much vigor efficient, which our endurance and show tests confirm.

No alteration successful the offered representation configurations, though, arsenic some travel with 8 GB RAM and 128 GB interior retention arsenic standard. But you tin besides get them with 256 GB and 512 GB interior storage.

Benchmark performance

In the modular benchmark tests, the Exynos 2500 wrong the S26 FE outperforms the Exynos 2400-powered S25 FE by astir 16% successful the CPU runs and by astir 25% successful the GPU-focused 3DMark Wild Life test. The S26 FE besides showed amended sustained show successful our regular CPU and GPU accent tests.

Even though the show quality is measurable, it whitethorn spell unnoticed if you are not truly into gaming.

Both phones vessel with 7 years of large OS upgrades, but since the Galaxy S25 FE launched past year, its enactment volition extremity a twelvemonth earlier. Also, Samsung removed the wired DeX enactment connected the newer exemplary and nary longer has DisplayPort output. This is rather the bummer for radical utilized to wired DeX. Wireless DeX is present to stay, astatine least.

Camera comparison

The Galaxy S26 FE comes with the aforesaid camera strategy arsenic past year's exemplary - not conscionable successful presumption of sensors and resolutions, but the nonstop aforesaid hardware (which was hardly an upgrade implicit the S24 FE earlier it).

The main camera uses the in-house GN3 sensor that has a 50MP solution and a 1/1.56" optical format. The telephoto is based connected a comparatively tiny 1/4.4" sensor with conscionable 8MP resolution, though it volition get you 12MP images. The ultrawide uses a fixed-focus lens, arsenic does the selfie camera, and some diagnostic 12MP sensors.

The camera samples (both photograph and video) person been taken connected abstracted occasions with the 2 phones.

Image quality

Daylight

Both phones seizure beauteous large photos with their main cameras astatine 1x - not rather top-tier results, but not fractional atrocious either. The caller exemplary conscionable mightiness beryllium a small spot much restrained with the sharpening and tin perchance render the item a small finer, but it's not a immense difference. Both person lively colour output and nary problems with dynamic range.

Daylight comparison, main camera (1x): Galaxy S26 FE • Galaxy S25 FE

The 2x zoom results from some phones are solid. The S26 FE does look to beryllium somewhat much noticeably up here, though the aged exemplary is inactive not atrocious for the class.

Daylight comparison, main camera (2x): Galaxy S26 FE • Galaxy S25 FE

The telephotos are astir connected par arsenic good - it's possibly the 1 examination truthful acold that makes it the hardest to spot a difference. Maybe the S26 FE does a small amended with sound reduction, though the S25 FE is lone a small spot grainier. In immoderate case, the photos are amended than you'd expect from an 8MP to 12MP upscale job.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (3x): Galaxy S26 FE • Galaxy S25 FE

We could besides effort and person ourselves the S26 FE's ultrawide is simply a spot of an betterment implicit the S25 FE's, but immoderate advantages we tin find are neither important enough, nor truly each that consistent. It's fundamentally a toss-up.

Daylight comparison, ultrawide camera (0.6x): Galaxy S26 FE • Galaxy S25 FE

Low light

A batch whitethorn person changed successful the lighting of immoderate of our low-light scenes, but small has changed successful the mode the Galaxy FE behaves successful the acheronian - the S26 FE and the S25 FE seizure akin levels of detail, thin to permission rather a spot of atom the images, and are not peculiarly keen connected utilizing Night mode if near to their ain devices. The S25 FE does thin to beryllium a spot much contrasty successful its output, adjacent to a beauteous washed retired S26 FE, truthful successful a mode the aged exemplary tin beryllium seen arsenic a small better.

Low-light comparison, main camera (1x): Galaxy S26 FE • Galaxy S25 FE

Night mode cleans up the sound and dials up the sharpening connected some phones, and the quality is much pronounced connected the S26 FE. We wouldn't accidental it makes the caller exemplary instrumentality the pb though. It's astir apt a semi-curious reflection that we weren't capable to get the telephone to use nighttime mode processing connected the 4th country - that's consistency for you close there.

Low-light comparison, main camera (1x), Night mode: Galaxy S26 FE • Galaxy S25 FE

Both phones crook precise noisy and tin beryllium rather brushed successful areas with low-contrast detail. The S26 FE whitethorn beryllium a small sharper successful general, but it's hard to telephone it a victor with results similar these.

Low-light comparison, main camera (2x): Galaxy S26 FE • Galaxy S25 FE

The S25 FE's Night mode results astatine 2x are really much to our liking than the S26 FE's - the sharpening is much subtle connected the older model.

Low-light comparison, main camera (2x), Night mode: Galaxy S26 FE • Galaxy S25 FE

The telephoto shots successful afloat car are beauteous hard to look astatine from either phone, though the operation of softness and sound is simply a small little atrocious connected the S25 FE. Again, not truly precocious praise this.

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (3x): Galaxy S26 FE • Galaxy S25 FE

Night mode astir does wonders connected some telephotos and it's intelligibly the mode to spell aft dark. That said, the S25 FE is again a small amended here, we reckon - the S26 FE conjures up these weird mesh patterns that tin beryllium irksome.

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (3x), Night mode: Galaxy S26 FE • Galaxy S25 FE

There's a glimmer of anticipation for the S26 FE successful the ultrawide shots which bash thin to beryllium sharper than the S25 FE successful afloat car mode - consistently so. Not that they're peculiarly large successful isolation, though.

Low-light comparison, ultrawide camera (0.6x): Galaxy S26 FE • Galaxy S25 FE

Things bash get person to a necktie if you take to sprout successful Night mode, which you astir apt should connected some phones, and successful that lawsuit the S26 FE's vantage fades.

Low-light comparison, ultrawide camera (0.6x), Night mode: Galaxy S26 FE • Galaxy S25 FE

Selfies

When it comes to selfies, some phones are much oregon little connected the aforesaid level, and you'd beryllium getting beauteous large images nary substance which 1 you chose.

Selfies comparison: Galaxy S26 FE • Galaxy S25 FE

Video quality

Below we person a fewer framegrabs from the videos taken by the 2 phones astatine each focal magnitude truthful it's easier to comparison to 1 another.

The video signaling capabilities of the 2 phones are much oregon little identical arsenic well, with the main cameras maxing retired astatine 4K60 (or 8K30, if you're into that), the ultrawide and the telephoto capped astatine 4K30, and the selfie camera besides reaching 4K60.

Video prime is astir akin betwixt the 2 phones successful agleam daylight, though the S26 FE does person a spot of an vantage successful sharpness astatine beauteous overmuch each zoom levels - it's astir noticeable astatine 2x (where the S26 FE is amazingly good) and 3x, but it's besides got amended explanation astatine 1x and connected the ultrawide arsenic well. Is it important capable to really beryllium a selling point? We're not wholly sure.

Daylight video screengrabs, Galaxy S26 FE: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3x

Daylight video screengrabs, Galaxy S25 FE: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3x

At night, the S25 FE's much contrasty instrumentality is much to our liking, and it besides manages to look sharper astatine 1x. Neither ultrawide and neither telephoto are peculiarly large astatine night, but they each nutrient broadly usable results, though we conscionable mightiness inactive similar the aged model's much contrasty instrumentality connected reality.

Low-light video screengrabs, Galaxy S26 FE: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3x

Low-light video screengrabs, Galaxy S25 FE: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3x

Verdict

As you tin see, the updates connected the Galaxy S26 FE are acold and fewer between, but the chipset does marque a difference. Not lone is it faster, it besides delivers an upgrade is the artillery endurance, arsenic the S26 FE has a peculiarly beardown showing successful our web browsing and video playback tests.

But the remainder remains mostly unchanged. And the exclusion of wired DeX and DisplayPort video retired enactment don't assistance physique a stronger lawsuit for the S26 FE.

So is the newer exemplary worthy it? Well, the reply successful Europe is astir most apt "yes" due to the fact that the terms spread isn't large to statesman with. For astir €50 more, you get the newer model, unless the missing wired DeX enactment is simply a deal-breaker to you. On the different hand, the $100 spread successful the US arguably makes the S25 FE the amended deal.