Samsung Galaxy S26 FE Review

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S26 FE on August 27, 2026. It keeps the S25 FE's 6.7 inch FHD+ AMOLED at 120Hz, its 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide and 8MP 3x telephoto cameras, and its 4,900mAh battery with 45W charging, and changes the chip to the 3nm Exynos 2500, with 8GB of memory and 128GB to 512GB of storage. It ships with Android 17 and One UI 9 and a promise of seven major Android upgrades, with Gorilla Glass Victus+ front and back, IP68, and 15W wireless charging that works with Qi2. It costs $699.99 for 128GB in the US, $50 more than the S25 FE did at launch.

GSMArena found very few real faults. It praised the build, the screen, the software and the update promise, and measured a real speed jump from the Exynos 2500 with better heat control and longer battery life from the same size cell. But the screen and cameras barely moved, and some things went backwards: USB is down to 2.0, wired DisplayPort output and wired DeX are gone, and the speakers are quieter.

The verdicts turn on the price. TechRadar, at 70 percent, called it a false economy, Engadget gave it 6.7 out of 10, and Android Authority thought it sat awkwardly between the cheaper A series and the Galaxy S26, while Tom's Guide, at four stars, was more forgiving now that the standard S26 costs $999.

The build earns reliability an A, and the screen, cameras, battery, software and speed are all B. The lack of change holds innovation at C, and it is a B.