Samsung Galaxy S25 FE announced: Specs, price and all the new features

There's more than one way to get your hands on Galaxy AI. While Samsung's suite of AI tools are a critical feature on the company's Galaxy S and Galaxy Z premium devices, those same features are also available through the FE version of Samsung's flagship phone. And the newly unveiled Galaxy S25 FE takes many of the top features of the best Samsung phones and puts them in a more affordable package.

There are some trade-offs to be made for that lower cost phone, of course. But if you found the Galaxy AI features debuting on this year's Galaxy S25 models to be compelling, the Galaxy S25 FE lets you experience those same capabilities without taking as big a bite out of your wallet.

And that's all according to plan, Samsung says, as the company looks to "democratize mobile AI." Last year, Samsung said that Galaxy AI was available on 200 million devices, and it's looking to double that by the end of 2025. The Galaxy S25 FE should play a big part in helping Samsung extend its AI reach — if consumers don't mind sacrificing some of the more premium aspects of Galaxy flagships.

Here's what you need to know about the Galaxy S25 FE and how it compares to its pricier siblings in Samsung's flagship lineup.

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE: Price and availability

Like last year's Galaxy S24 FE, the Galaxy S25 FE arrives with a $649 / £649 starting price. That gets you a device with 8GB of memory and 128GB of storage. There's also a model with 256GB of storage; we'll update this report with the price on that model once we have it.

That price means you can buy a Galaxy S25 FE and get many of the same features found on the Galaxy S25 while spending $150 less on your new phone. The recently released Pixel 10 also starts at $799, making Samsung's latest phones competitively priced compared to other Android flagships.

The same can't be said, though, when you consider the Galaxy S25 FE's cost compared to midrange phones like the $599 iPhone 16e and $499 Pixel 9a. Like Samsung's new device, the iPhone offers the same AI capabilities as its flagship siblings in a lower-cost package, while the Pixel 9a features most, though not all, of the AI features found on Google's Pixel 9 phones.

You can buy the Galaxy S25 FE starting today (September 4). The phone is available in White, Navy, Jetblack and Icyblue.

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE: Specs

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE: Design and display

Looking at the Galaxy S25 FE, you might not notice any difference from the design of the Galaxy S25. In fact, the FE features the same Armor Aluminum materials found on the standard S25. Samsung has turned to Gorilla Glass Victus+ to protect the FE from scratches and scuffs, and that's not as durable as the Victus 2 glass featured on the S25. But that's a trade-off few people would notice.

Like the Galaxy S25, the Galaxy S25 FE offers IP68 water and dust resistance, so you can drop the phone in up to 1.5 meters of water for up to 30 minutes without causing damage.

Samsung has slimmed down the Galaxy S25 FE from last year's model. The new phone also weighs less than the S24 FE.

Where the Galaxy S25 FE departs from the standard S25 is screen size — you get a 6.7-inch AMOLED panel, which matches the screen on last year's Galaxy S24 FE, right down to the FHD+ resolution. The Galaxy S25 FE's refresh rate can alternate between 60Hz and 120Hz. That's not as fluid as the adaptive refresh rate on the S25, but it still means smoother scrolling when you enable the feature on the FE.

The S25's display features a peak brightness of 1,900 nits, matching the specs of the Galaxy S24 FE. If you want a brighter display, you'll want to turn to the standard Galaxy S25, as that boasts a peak brightness of 2,600 nits.

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE: AI features

Galaxy AI figures to be the S25 FE's calling card. Combine AI capabilities with the device's lower price, and the appeal of this phone lies in the fact that it promises the same AI experience as the rest of the Galaxy S25 lineup.

That includes features like Now Brief, which gives you a summary of the day ahead and tailors its updates to your preferences and interests over time. The Now Bar — Samsung's take on Live Activities — appears on the Galaxy S25 FE as well.

You can also expect the enhanced multimodal capabilities and context-aware AI typical of other Samsung flagships. Point your Galaxy S25 FE camera at something, for example, and the on-board Gemini assistant will be able to see what you're seeing and offer information and recommendations based on that view. That's handy for everything from getting ideas on what to whip up from the ingredients in your fridge to identifying particular parts on how-to projects.

Speaking of the camera, Galaxy AI tools include a host of editing features like converting videos you've captured to slow-motion clips or using generative editing tools to move or resize objects. Samsung says it's improved the ability to detect shadows and analyze backgrounds when you edit photos for more realistic-looking results. Audio eraser, a tool for removing distracting background noise from video clips, is available, too, and you can use it in apps ranging from Gallery to Recorder.

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE: Cameras

The enhanced AI editing features on the Galaxy S25 FE are important since Samsung has done very little to change the rear camera hardware from the Galaxy S24 FE. Like that phone, the S25 FE features a 50MP main lens accompanied by 12MP ultrawide and 8MP telephoto shooters. That latter lens supports a 3x optical zoom.

I don't want to downplay the presence of a dedicated telephoto camera on the Galaxy S25 FE, as that's a feature usually limited to more expensive camera phones. Other than the Nothing Phone 3a and 3a Pro, the Galaxy S25 FE is one of the least expensive ways to get your hands on a phone with its own zoom lens.

And it would be unfair to say Samsung hasn't made any changes to the camera setup on this year's FE. The Galaxy S25 FE offers a 12MP selfie cam, which Samsung says boosts the resolution by 20% from the front camera on the S24 FE. What's more, the Galaxy S25 FE also benefits from an upgraded Pro Visual Engine to process images captured by the phone. That should translate to better portraits with more accurate skin tones and textures, plus less noise in low-light shots.

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE: Performance and battery life

Easily, the biggest compromise you'll make with the Galaxy S25 FE involves the chipset that powers the phone. Samsung has turned to one of its own chips, the Exynos 2400. That's an older system-on-chip that's since been surpassed by the Exynos 2500 featured in the Galaxy Z Flip 7 released this summer.

In other words, you're unlikely to see comparable performance between the Galaxy S25 FE and the Snapdragon 8 Elite-powered Galaxy S25. Samsung's new phone should also lag behind the iPhone 16e, which features an A18 chipset similar to the one in Apple's flagship phones.

That said, the Galaxy S25 FE should be a step up from the S24 FE and its Exynos 2400e system-on-chip, which offers a lower peak CPU speed compared to the Exynos 2400.

Battery size increases to 4,900 mAh in the Galaxy S25 FE, up from 4,700 mAh in its predecessor. That's good since the Galaxy S24 FE's 11-hour and 24-minute time on our battery test falls well short of what Samsung's flagship phones can do. The Galaxy S25, with a smaller battery but a more power-efficient chip, held out for nearly 4.5 hours longer than the S24 FE. We'll see if the S25 FE can close that gap.

The Galaxy S25 FE supports 45W wired charging, which Samsung says will deliver a 65% charge after half-an-hour. Wireless charging comes at 15W, and while the S25 FE is compatible with Qi2 wireless charging, it lacks the magnets that allow for a more secure fit on wireless charging pads. That's a limitation handed down from the rest of the S25 lineup.

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE: Software and support

Given the Galaxy S25 FE's support for the latest Galaxy AI features, it's no surprise that the phone ships with Samsung's One UI 8 interface based on Android 16. Like its predecessor — and like the other S25 models — the Galaxy S25 FE gets seven years of software and security updates.

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE: Outlook

When my colleague John Velasco reviewed the Galaxy S24 FE a year ago, he made the argument that Samsung's stripped-back phone was a more compelling option than the standard Galaxy S24, given the lower price and extensive AI support. The Galaxy S25 FE hopes to make a similar argument by keeping up with latest in Galaxy AI.

We'll find out how the new phone fares once we get a chance to test and review the Galaxy S25 FE.

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