If you own a Galaxy S24 FE or something older, the $699.99 Galaxy S26 FE is a real step up. If you bought the S25 FE last year, keep it. Hadlee Simons used the new phone for two weeks for Android Authority and came away liking the speed and disliking nearly everything Samsung left alone.
The speed comes from the Exynos 2500, which ends two generations of FE phones on the Exynos 2400 series. It's about 15% faster than the S25 FE on the CPU in Android Authority's testing. The regular Galaxy S26 still pulls well ahead, by about 48% in single-core and 37% in multi-core. In daily use the FE ran smoothly, and War Thunder Mobile held 60fps on the high preset. It did get very warm, though not hot, during GRID Legends.
The 6.7-inch OLED screen got bright enough for direct sun, but it's an LTPS panel, so it only drops to 30Hz rather than the 1Hz on Samsung's main flagships.
The base model has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which is thin for a phone at this price. Samsung also swapped the separate camera cutouts for a camera island, and Simons says it's clearly cheap plastic that may be covered in scratches within a year. The 6.7-inch OLED screen got bright enough for direct sun, but it's an LTPS panel, so it only drops to 30Hz rather than the 1Hz on Samsung's main flagships.
The 4,900mAh cell lasted noticeably less than the Galaxy S26 Ultra's similar-sized battery in Android Authority's benchmark, and the Pixel 10a beat the FE in every part of the test. Real use came out on par with the S25 FE: two days with light use, or a charge every other day with WhatsApp, Instagram, browsing and some YouTube. Charging holds up better. It went from 2% to 100% in 63 minutes on 45W wired, holding close to 42W for about eight minutes.
Samsung hasn't changed the rear cameras since the S23 FE. You still get a 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultrawide and an 8MP 3x telephoto. The main camera keeps pleasant detail in daylight, and it doesn't over-sharpen. The telephoto is the weak spot, with color fringing and bright areas blowing out too often, and 10x shots mostly aren't worth taking.
S24 FE owners and anyone older get a faster phone with a long update pledge and solid charging. Before you pay $700, though, compare it with the Pixel 10a on battery, and skip the FE if zoom photos matter to you.