I spent time with the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE and it absolutely crushes the iPhone 16e in every way that matters

Date:
Thu, 04 Sep 2025 20:40:46 +0000

Description:
More everything for the Galaxy fans

FULL STORY ======================================================================Samsung Galaxy S25 FE hands-on: Price and availability (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

To understand the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE, you need to know two things. First, its a phone for Samsung fans, even if Samsung no longer says FE stands for
Fan Edition . Second, it costs only $50 / 50 (AU $TBD) more than the Apple iPhone 16e, but it gives you so much more that it might be a much better value. There are still questions to be answered (Exynos, really?), but the Galaxy S25 FE makes a lot of sense.

I spent an afternoon with the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE and the new Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra and Tab S11 tablets and got a feel for what Samsung is cooking
with this new bargain model. Actually, its only a bargain if you were wishing for a Galaxy S25. It still costs $649 / 649 (Australia price TBD), and Samsung also sells less expensive Galaxy A-series models like the Galaxy A56. Samsung Galaxy S25 FE hands-on: Galaxy S features (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Why pine over a Galaxy S25 when the Galaxy A56 is within reach? First of all, the Galaxy S phones have more advanced software. They will usually get OneUI and Android updates first, and they pack more features, especially Samsung DeX, one of my favorite tricks that Samsung phones can pull.

Enter the Galaxy S25 FE! Like the Galaxy S25, it runs the latest software,
and it will even be the debut device for Samsungs new OneUI 8 version of Android 16. If youre a Samsung fan, you can check out the latest interface design first on the S25 FE. Image 1 of 5 (Image credit: Philip Berne /
Future) Image 2 of 5 (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future) Image 3 of 5
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future) Image 4 of 5 (Image credit: Philip
Berne / Future) Image 5 of 5 (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Like the Galaxy S24 FE, the S25 FE can also run DeX. That means you can connect the phone to a USB-C hub with a monitor, keyboard and mouse attached and it will turn into a sort of desktop environment, with multiple windows
and a real taskbar like youd expect from a Google Chromebook.

Of course, I didnt have a monitor and keyboard on hand during my time with
the new phones; I mostly got to check out the latest OneUI 8 and the overall design. The Galaxy S25 FE is really more like a Galaxy S25 Plus. The screen
is the same size, and this year so is the battery within: a 4,900 mAh cell that should provide excellent longevity. Ill know more once Ive reviewed the phone and Future Labs has tested it. Samsung Galaxy S25 FE hands-on: Design (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

The Galaxy S25 FE and S25 Plus arent exactly the same. The FE is slightly chunkier in every direction, but not so much bigger that its cumbersome. Its only a tenth of a millimeter thicker, according to Samsung. My calipers arent so precise.

The colors are boring. Very, very boring. There is blue, black, blue, and white. Seriously, there are two blue colors: Icyblue and Navy blue. I
remember when the FE phones used to be more colorful, but this years Galaxy Z Fold 7 FE is glossy black and white, and the flat S25 FE only adds dark and light shades of blue. Sigh. Image 1 of 4 (Image credit: Philip Berne /
Future) Image 2 of 4 (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future) Image 3 of 4
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future) Image 4 of 4 (Image credit: Philip
Berne / Future)

The Galaxy S25 FE is a nice step down for folks who want to save money on a real Galaxy S device, and its also an incredible competitor stacked up
against Apples latest bargain model, the iPhone 16e. If the iPhone 16e seemed a bit dowdy before, the Galaxy S25 FE puts to rest any question that the iPhone isnt a serious device.

For just a bit more money, the Galaxy S25 FE gives you a much bigger display 6.7-inches versus 6.1-inches. The Galaxy display has a higher peak
brightness, and it can refresh up to 120Hz. Of course, theres also a much larger battery inside. Samsung Galaxy S25 FE hands-on: Cameras and specs (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

The Galaxy S25 FE gives you three cameras instead of the questionable single-camera setup on the iPhone 16e, and that includes a real telephoto
zoom lens with 3X optical zoom. More importantly, the main 50MP camera uses a sensor that is much larger than the paltry sensor on the iPhone 16es 48MP camera.

The Galaxy S25 FE charges as fast as the Galaxy S25 Plus up to 45W wired if you have the right charger. Thats much faster than the iPhone 16e. Usually,
an iPhone has an advantage with magnetic wireless charging, but Apple oddly omitted the magnets from the bargain iPhone, so it doesnt have the MagSafe
leg up on Android phones.

The biggest letdown on the Galaxy S25 FE is the processor. It uses a Samsung Exynos 2400 chipset, which isnt even the latest Exynos processor. I asked Samsung reps why it doesnt use the Exynos 2500, but they didnt have a substantive answer.

Theres a big difference between the Exynos 2400 in the Galaxy S25 FE and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset in the Galaxy S25. Even the newer Exynos 2500 doesnt come close to measuring up. The Snapdragon 8 Elite
is more than 50% faster than the Exynos 2400, based on single core test results in Future Labs benchmark testing. Samsung Galaxy S25 FE: The Exynos question (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

In battery testing, a phone like the Galaxy S25 Edge with the Snapdragon inside lasted much longer than a phone like the Galaxy Z Flip 7 with an
Exynos 2500 inside, even though the S25 Edge has a smaller battery.

The difference between the Apple A18 chipset in the iPhone 16e and the Exynos 2400 in the Galaxy S25 FE is even more stark. In our benchmark tests, the iPhone completely blows away the Exynos in every test including single- and multi-core processing, graphics, and real-world tasks.

Does that mean the iPhone 16e will be better for gaming and other processor-intensive tasks than the Galaxy S25 FE? Maybe, but Ill need to
spend more time with the phone to compare it against the iPhones performance head-to-head. Im sure Samsungs phone will be able to run the latest games,
but I may need to dial down graphics settings to achieve the highest frame rate and take advantage of the 120Hz display.

Ill know more soon once Ive had more time with this phone, but it still feels like Samsung is making the Galaxy S25 FE for its biggest fans. The phone gets the latest OneUI interface and all of Samsungs best software features. It has a big display and more cameras than the competition. Its even more colorful though thats not a big win when the competition is literally black and white. (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future) You might also like... Samsung Galaxy S25 review: a fast small phone, but with camera compromises You may be
waiting until November to buy the Samsung tri-fold and even then finding one could be tricky I tried the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11, and its a productivity powerhouse that takes the fight to iPadOS 26



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/phones/samsung-phones/samsung-galaxy-s25-fe-review


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