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Review: Samsung Galaxy S25 FE - Really affordable top mobile

In this phone, I recognise many features from the spring S25 launch.

Published 9 December 2025 - 16:37

A lot in common with its more expensive sister models, but still a bit cheaper. (Or right now much cheaper as we have reported.) Yes, let's put the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE in context. The phone is roughly the same size as Samsung's S25 Ultra, but has a slightly smaller screen, the same size as the S25 Plus. The explanation for this is that the edges around the actual screen on the FE are slightly thicker. If we then look more closely at, for example, the screen, cameras, and performance, there are several areas where Samsung has trimmed the specifications compared to the more expensive sister models. The performance when we compare directly is often significantly lower, but not necessarily noticeable in daily use.

The idea from Samsung's side with the FE series is that it should provide the essentials and make some of the features from more expensive phones available to more people at a lower price.

Samsung, like many other manufacturers, has a clear focus on AI. There, the S25 FE is not less prioritised than other phones. I notice, for example, that this phone has the same improved photo editing as I get in the S25 Ultra, so that the phone, for example, understands that I want to remove even the shadow if I edit out an object in the picture. The same thing when I remove reflections in glass I have photographed, there it is the same upgraded tool as in the S25 Ultra even if the performance in several areas is more in line with last year's or the year before's flagship phones. I can also state that the S25 FE has the call recording that the Galaxy S25 family has been promised for a long time, but which appeared only in connection with the release of One UI 8, around the same time as the S25 FE was released.

Real flagship at a lower price

Generally, the phone behaves like a flagship. However, what constitutes a flagship today is a bit difficult to define exactly. We have different categories where there are phones that cost around 20,000 kronor, and then we have these phones, the ones that meet the basic requirements of what a flagship should be able to do. Good performance, versatile cameras, sharp and bright screen with fast refresh, good build quality, reasonably fast wired charging, and support for wireless charging. Similar examples from other manufacturers are, for example, Xiaomi's 15T series, which, like Samsung's FE phones, are mobiles launched about half a year after the more expensive sibling models.

The legacy from the S25 series also includes Now Brief and Now Bar, which were introduced earlier this year. Unlike much else in the phone, these features are a clear disappointment, and even though a lot of time has passed since they were introduced, they have not improved. The idea is that they should be AI-driven and provide smart summaries of relevant information, but during the months that have passed since the beginning of the year, these regularly show almost only a weather forecast. Now Bar can be displayed directly on the lock screen and thus draws attention to itself, but when it gives contentless messages like “The day goes on” and then does not provide any information that adds anything when I do click in, it becomes almost only provocative or at least just annoying. If, for example, you have music playing or navigation running with Google Maps, that can also be displayed in short form in Now Bar on the lock screen. You can then swipe up/down on that button to switch between the different modules. This replaces the usual notifications on the lock screen that music and navigation can have, and it is a deterioration because the overview suffers and the format is much smaller. In certain stages, the information instead jumps up in an even smaller format at the top of the screen, which is even worse.

Thoughtful changes

The rest of Samsung's One UI and Android customisations are fortunately more thoughtful and definitely a strength. Samsung continuously releases news in One UI version by version, such as call recording, and you can therefore look forward to the phone getting better and better year by year. Samsung also has one of the industry's most generous update promises, a full seven years just like Google themselves.

The clearest area where we often notice that manufacturers have cut back when it comes to a slightly cheaper phone is the cameras. There it is simply difficult to mask a low ambition without it being obvious in the pictures. On paper, the S25 FE has what we can expect, wide-angle, main camera with good resolution and telephoto with three times optical zoom. In fact, the specifications for the cameras are exactly the same as last year's S24 FE. This means that the pictures are good in daylight and the colour reproduction is good, but the telephoto camera is more limited. This is because the telephoto camera with its three times optical zoom is a paltry 8 megapixels, and has a small sensor. At just three times magnification, it is sufficient, but if I go up to 10x magnification, it quickly loses detail. There, Samsung lags behind competitors in the same price range, such as the Xiaomi 15T that I am testing at the same time.

Good build quality with well-balanced compromises

The cameras are arranged in a row on the back, just as we recognise the design language from the rest of the S25 series. In fact, they are even the same cameras as in the S24 FE, and only the selfie camera is new and upgraded. Comparing details, Samsung has made small savings in material choices as well. The S25 FE, for example, has an older generation of protective glass and a weaker aluminium alloy in the frame compared to the more expensive S25 siblings, but the impression of the build quality is very good. This is all an example of good prioritisation, with many savings that most of us probably won't notice much.

Questions and answers

How have the cameras been upgraded?

Not at all, in fact, they are the same cameras on the back, only the selfie camera is new and slightly better compared to the S24 FE and S23 FE.

How are the performance shortcomings experienced?

When we run performance tests, the phone sometimes scores on par with phones from two years ago, but since performance increases in new generations of system chips are generally modest, the performance is still sufficient, and in everyday use, we find the phone to be fast.

Is this a true flagship?

Yes, you can definitely say that, considering everything from cameras to screen, performance, and extra features, it is.

An alternative

Looking at slightly cheaper flagships, we can highlight Xiaomi's 15T series.

Camera example

Good colour reproduction and details, slightly worse in darkness and when zooming beyond the 3x optical zoom. A downside is the low-resolution sensor for the telephoto camera which limits it.

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