Samsung Galaxy S25 FE hands-on: A promising flagship-grade phone for less

The arrival of the Galaxy S25 FE today (September 4) makes me question now more than ever if Samsung should finally let go of its Plus-sized flagship phone. I got to spend some brief hands-on time with the Galaxy S25 FE, and just like last year’s FE, this new version packs nearly everything that Samsung offers in one of its full-fledged flagships — but at a much lower, more agreeable cost.

You can buy the Galaxy S25 FE right now for $649, which makes it way more attractive than the $999 cost attached to the current Galaxy S25 Plus. In my Galaxy S25 FE hands-on review, I’ll tell you why they’re so similar and why I’m inclined to say that the S25 FE is the far better choice at this point.

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE hands-on review: Specifications

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE hands-on review: Price and availability

Like I said, I really like the $649 cost of Galaxy S25 FE because it undercuts the Galaxy S25 Plus in the process. At the same time, though, it’s competing against other midrange phones like the Pixel 9a and iPhone 16e — priced at $499 and $599, respectively.

You’re paying more for the Galaxy S25 FE than you would for those two models, but I think it’s warranted given the FE's camera setup, larger battery, and faster charging speeds. While the S25 FE base model comes with 128GB of storage, upgrading to 256GB would fetch a premium of $709. You also have four colors to choose from: Icyblue, Jetblack, Navy, and White.

There’s no wait to get the Galaxy S25 FE; as soon as it was announced, Samsung made it available for purchase in the U.S.

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE hands-on review: Design

The Galaxy S25 FE’s design is very similar to the Galaxy S25 Plus. In fact, I’m hard pressed to tell the two apart side-by-side because of how closely they look. That proves true when I feel how solidly constructed the Galaxy S25 FE is with its Armor Aluminium frame and Gorilla Glass Victus+ cover.

There’s nothing original about the design, as the edges of the Galaxy S25 FE are still flat with rounded corners. I do like how it keeps a clean look with its matte-like finish, which does a good job of mitigating smudges and fingerprints.

Even though the Galaxy S25 Plus has a more durable Gorilla Glass Victus 2 cover, I don’t mind the trade-off here because the S25 FE still feels solid and achieves the same IP68 rating for water and dust resistance.

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE hands-on review: Display

Gone are the days of washed-out screens with the FE series. Just like last year’s phone, the Galaxy S25 FE has a dazzling looking 6.7-inch AMOLED display that offers exceptional viewing angles and rich colors. I loaded a 4K HDR video on YouTube and my eyes were locked into the piercing colors it produces.

Considering how the Galaxy S24 FE achieved a peak brightness of 1,516 nits when I tested it out a year ago, I'm confident that the Galaxy S25 FE will fare well in testing, too. It's also worth noting that the Galaxy S25 Plus only reached 1,350 nits when we reviewed that phone, so based on my quick assessment here, I think the Galaxy S25 FE will turn out to be brighter.

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE hands-on review: Cameras

Most midrange phones offer dual camera setups, but triple cameras are increasingly becoming common — and the Galaxy S25 FE is one of the phones to offer that kind of setup.

Samsung's latest model packs a 50MP main camera, 12MP ultrawide shooter and 8MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. While the main and ultrawide cameras are identical to those on the Galaxy S25 Plus, the telephoto is different, as the Plus has a 10MP sensor with 3x optical zoom.

I don’t think there’s going to be a huge difference in its telephoto performance, especially since the Galaxy S25 FE gains the latest image processing algorithms from Samsung's ProVisual Engine.

There’s also a 12MP selfie camera on the front of the SE, which is again identical to the Galaxy S25 Plus.

Another thing I like about the Galaxy S25 FE is that it gets the same shooting and manual modes that I’ve come to appreciate with Samsung’s flagships. In addition, it also has the ability to record videos in up to 8K — along with 240 fps slow motion capture. There’s also all the other Galaxy AI features, like Instant Slow-Mo and Audio Eraser, which only makes it a versatile camera.

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE hands-on review: Performance

One of the biggest differences between the S25 FE and S25 Plus is the chip that powers each phone. Following last year’s lead, Samsung again leans on its own Exynos 2400 chip for the Galaxy S25 FE — which should yield a better performance over the Exynos 2400e inside the S24 FE.

I don’t expect the S25 FE to surpass the benchmark scores put up by the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy in the S25 Plus, but at least it doesn’t immediately seem to affect basic tasks. At the very least, I do like the responsiveness of the Galaxy S25 FE when running different apps and navigating across the interface.

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE hands-on review: Battery Life and Charging

I’m equally as confident about the Galaxy S25 FE’s battery life because Samsung has upgraded the phone's power pack to a 4,900 mAh battery cell, which is an increase over the 4,700 mAh battery in the S24 FE. However, I really don’t think that it’ll come anywhere close to reaching the endurance of the Galaxy S25 Plus. That phone reached almost 17 hours on our battery benchmark test, whereas the Galaxy S24 FE lasted 11 hours and 25 minutes when we had it surf the web continuously until it ran out of power.

Samsung also upgrades the charging speeds of the Galaxy S25 FE to 45W with a wired connection, which is a boost over the 25W speed of the S24 FE. This should result in a faster charging time, but it’s also swell that it offers Qi2 wireless charging support. Unlike the new Pixel 10, the S25 FE doesn’t have embedded magnets to make it compatible to work with MagSafe and other Qi2 chargers; you'll need a separate case for that.

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE hands-on review: Software and AI

Right from the get-go, the Galaxy S25 FE runs the latest One UI 8 software on top of Android 16. That means it gets many of the same features that debuted with the Galaxy S25 Plus — like Now Brief and the Now Bar.

These are further supplemented by the multimodal AI experience of Gemini Live, Generative Edit to intelligently remove and replace subjects in photos, Portrait Studio, and more. I also like how the S25 FE continues to offer the rich multitasking capabilities found in Samsung’s other, more premium phones — along with Samsung DeX for that desktop-like experience when it’s connected to a monitor.

It’s hard to overlook the expansive software here, but it’s made better knowing that Samsung continues to pledge seven years of major and security updates for this midrange model.

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE hands-on review: Outlook

If you’ve missed out on buying any of the new Galaxy S25 phones from earlier this year, you should really think about getting the Galaxy S25 FE. You’re getting nearly everything that the Galaxy S25 Plus offers, but at a much lower price.

At this point, I really don’t know how Samsung can justify keeping the ‘Plus’ in future roll outs because the FE proves Samsung's big-screen option can easily be replaced without missing a beat.

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