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.
Do you prefer the Galaxy S25 or Galaxy S25 FE? 2 votes I'm on Team Galaxy S25 0 % I prefer the Galaxy S25 FE 50 % I'm waiting for the S26 0 % I prefer a different brand altogether 50 %
An affordable pseudo-flagship
C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
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.
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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.
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