The Galaxy S25 FE might be Samsung’s best-kept secret

The Samsung Galaxy S26 series is widely tipped to launch at the end of the month, but leaks suggest that the cheapest model will get mostly iterative upgrades. That’s bad news for those who want a flagship Galaxy without spending Ultra money.

The cheaper Galaxy A56 5G isn’t a better option, either, as it gains a larger battery but loses out on performance, flexible cameras, wireless charging, and more. However, colleague Andrew Grush recently got his daughter a Galaxy S25 FE and subsequently wondered why he bothered with flagships. Between this article and my own time with the phone last year, I realized that the Galaxy S25 FE is actually Samsung’s best-kept secret today.

I reviewed the Galaxy S25 FE back in October, giving it a respectable four out of five stars. And with the Galaxy S26 series on the horizon, I still think you should consider the FE model over the standard Galaxy S26.

At a recommended launch price of $649, the Galaxy S25 FE was notably cheaper than the base Galaxy S25 and will likely be cheaper than the vanilla S26. Time has only been kinder to the device, and it’s currently listed at a starting price of $589 on Amazon.

There’s more to the Galaxy S25 FE than a cheaper price tag, though. I always appreciated the amount of bang for buck you got from the phone. This included a 4,900mAh battery, which isn’t amazing compared to Chinese phones but represents a major leap over the base Galaxy S model. The FE phone also brings 45W wired charging for the first time in the FE series. In fact, I saved roughly 15 minutes of charging time compared to the Galaxy S24 FE. I also grew to appreciate the slimmer and lighter design over time. It also doesn’t hurt that the phone has an IP68 rating and wireless charging. So you’re not losing out in this regard compared to the standard S25.

Then there’s the software experience. I’m not the biggest fan of One UI, but even I can’t doubt the sheer number of features. Throw in a smattering of Galaxy AI features and seven years of updates, and I never felt like I was missing out on the software front compared to mainline Galaxy S phones.

Andrew also praised a variety of Galaxy S25 FE features in his article. For one, he found he got eight to nine hours of screen-on time “without issue,” compared to his Galaxy S24, which struggled to top six or seven hours. He also felt that real-world performance was almost always on par with his S24. Ultimately, he noted that it didn’t feel like anything was “missing” from the S25 FE.

That’s not to say the Galaxy S25 FE is a flawless device, though. The rear cameras, in particular, are versatile but have very dated hardware. Andrew felt these cameras weren’t on par with Samsung’s mainline flagships but were close enough. I’m a camera phone lover, though, and I thought the S25 FE was mostly disappointing owing to flat, soft photos and disappointing camera zoom. I agree that it’s not bad compared to the Galaxy S25, but that’s a very low bar. Rival brands clearly out-punch Samsung’s cheaper flagships on the camera front.

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t point out that the S25 FE lags behind the other Galaxy S25 phones in performance benchmarks. But I concurred with Andrew that real-world performance was great. Plus, I found it didn’t get hot while playing demanding mobile games.

So with all of this in mind, I’d definitely recommend that you consider the Galaxy S25 FE before pulling the trigger on the Galaxy S25 or S25 Plus. In fact, I’m also willing to bet that the S25 FE will be a more compelling offering than the Galaxy S26.