(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
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The Galaxy S25 FE (Fan Edition) aims to bring the best of Samsung's Galaxy S25 line to a more affordable package. Announced today and starting at $649.99, the S25 FE shares a common design language and many features with the Galaxy S25 ($799.99) and S25+ ($999.99). We spent some time with Samsung's latest Android phone ahead of today's announcement. Here's everything you need to know, as well as our first impression.
An Aluminum and Glass Rectangle With a Big Screen
(Credit: Eric Zeman)The new FE is smaller and more than 10% lighter than last year's Galaxy S24 FE. It measures 6.35 by 3.02 by 0.29 inches (HWD) and weighs 6.70 ounces, compared with the S24 FE's 6.38 by 3.04 by 0.31 inches and 7.51 ounces.
(Credit: Eric Zeman)Samsung uses Armor Aluminum for the frame with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protecting both the front and back. In my time with pre-production models, there was a slight lip where the matte back panel meets the frame that I didn't care for.
(Credit: Eric Zeman)Three cameras are lined up near the top of the phone's rear panel, while the front-facing camera is centered at the top of the screen. The front glass hides an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor on the screen. A volume rocker and power button are on the right side; both have good travel. The FE's down-firing speaker, USB-C port, and SIM tray are on the bottom. Like the rest of the Galaxy S25 line, the S25 FE is IP68-rated and protected from dust and water.
(Credit: Eric Zeman)In hand, the Galaxy S25 FE felt light for its size and well-constructed overall. If you look closely at the screen's bezels, you'll see that the bottom bezel is thicker than the rest. The color options are Icyblue, Jetblack, Navy, and White.
(Credit: Eric Zeman)The phone has a 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2x screen, with a resolution of 2,340 by 1,080 pixels, a variable refresh rate of 60Hz to 120Hz, and a peak brightness of 1,900 nits. These are the same specs as the Galaxy S24 FE. In my limited time with the device, the screen was easy to see indoors, but it got washed out in direct sunlight.
Specs and Inner Things
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)Since the S25 FE is meant to be an affordable device, Samsung dialed back the specs from the flagship S25 line. Like the last two generations of Galaxy S FE, it has just 8GB of RAM. If you want more RAM, you'll have to step up to the standard Galaxy S25 with its 12GB of RAM. The S25 FE is available with either 128GB ($649.99) or 256GB ($709.99) of storage.
Samsung's Exynos 2400 powers the FE, which is the same chip in international versions of the 2024-era Galaxy S24 and S24+. Traditionally, Exynos chips have been outperformed by Qualcomm's latest, so we don't expect the S25 FE to keep up with the S25 series, which has Qualcomm's top Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. However, we will benchmark the device once we get it in for review to be sure.
According to Samsung, the FE 25 contains a 4,900mAh battery capable of reaching a 65% charge in 30 minutes with a 45W adapter. The phone supports wireless and reverse wireless charging. For comparison, last year's model packed a smaller 4,700mAh battery capable of up to 25W wired charging, with wireless and reverse wireless charging also on board.
For connectivity, the phone supports 5G (sub-6GHz only, but not C-band or mmWave), Bluetooth 5.4, and Wi-Fi 6E. The limited 5G support could mean slower wireless speeds than the other S25 models and the S24 FE, which support all three 5G varieties. The S25 FE incorporates one physical SIM card and one eSIM.
(Credit: Eric Zeman)The Galaxy S25 FE's rear cameras are unchanged from the S24 FE. That's a 50MP main camera with an f/1.8 aperture, a 12MP ultra-wide camera at f/2.2, and an 8MP telephoto camera with an f/2.4 aperture and 3x optical zoom. The S24 FE's picture quality is the device's weak spot, so if the S25 FE is to improve images, it will have to do it through image processing.
(Credit: Eric Zeman)Samsung upgraded the front-facing camera, though. The S25 FE gets a 12MP selfie camera at an aperture of f/2.2, an upgrade over the S24 FE's 10MP selfie cam. Video capture tops out at 4K60.
Software and Availability: Galaxy AI Is Ready to Go
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)The Galaxy S25 FE ships with Android 16 and will receive seven years of OS updates and security fixes, which is a long time for a semi-budget device. The S25 FE also brings along Galaxy AI, Samsung's suite of AI tools, which includes Call Assist (for real-time translations of voice calls) and Writing Assist.
We plan to fully assess how the new FE handles these tasks and more with less RAM and a different processor than the rest of the lineup. The Galaxy S25 FE series is available starting today, Sept. 4. We plan to publish a full review in the weeks ahead, so check back soon.