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It’s basically a more affordable version of the S26+ with slightly reduced specs.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
Samsung's FE series phones have always straddled the line between midrange and flagship, slotting in above the company's more affordable A-series phones but below full-fledged members of the Galaxy S family. And from what I can tell, starting at $700, the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE continues that tradition with a handset similar in size to an S26+ with specs closer to an A57.
Just like the S26+, the S26 FE features a 6.7-inch OLED 120Hz display with slightly lower max brightness that peaks at 1,900 nits (compared to 2,600 for its more expensive sibling). Around back, you still get three rear shooters including a 12-megapixel main camera, a 50MP ultra-wide and an 8MP telephoto with a 3x optical zoom. Meanwhile, on the inside, instead of a Snapdragon chip, the FE comes with one of Samsung's Exynos 2500 processors, 8GB of RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of storage. The phone also comes with a 4,900mAh battery with 45-watt wired charging and 15-watt wireless charging, along with seven years of software support, just like we got on the previous model.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
Admittedly, the FE's 8GB of RAM feels a bit light considering every other member of the S26 family comes with 12GB. But at least Samsung didn't go any lower, so there isn't a drop in memory year-over-year, though its price has increased by $50 from the S25 FE (most likely due to the ongoing global RAM shortage). As for its design, the FE retains much of the S26 line's good looks, as it sports a streamlined chassis with an aluminum frame and a relatively small camera bump. The one departure is that it feels like the phone's rear panel is made out of polycarbonate (aka plastic) instead of glass. But if you don't examine it in detail, it's hard to tell.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
Samsung has also ported over a lot of the software features we first saw on the core S26 family back in February. This includes things like Super Steady Video with horizontal lock, the my FanCam tool for automatically tracking and centering subjects in already recorded clips, AI-powered Photo Assist and Now Nudge, the latter of which can now surface important info across a handful of third-party apps and notifications.
During my brief hands-on session with the S26 FE, I was impressed by how similar it feels to its more expensive family members despite its reduced price. Indoors, I couldn't really tell that it wasn't quite as bright and in general use, it felt every bit as responsive too. That said, I didn't have a chance to really put its Exynos 2500 chip through its paces, so I'm still curious how the phone will fare while gaming compared to the more powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chips used in other S26 devices.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
The one major hurdle with the S26 FE is that while it offers significant savings compared to a new S26+, which starts at $900, you can already get used models for around $700. So if you're in the market for a big-screen Android phone and don't want to deal with possible complications due to buying a pre-owned device, the FE offers a nice value proposition. But if you aren't quite as picky, a used S26+ remains a better deal thanks to its superior specs.
The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE will be available in three colors (pistachio, blueberry, and graphite) starting on September 3.
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