Fan Editions, or what Samsung shortens to FE, have always occupied an interesting place in Samsung’s yearly lineups: they have better specifications than the non-S series phones (and at a higher price point), but not quite in the mix with the actual S range devices; they’ve always been in a no-man’s land, of sorts, when it comes to the Galaxy hierarchy. Usually, they are quite a smart, price-conscious purchase: they’re not at the $1000 mark that the S range phones are priced at, but they offer damn near everything that the yearly S range offers, albeit with slightly dated and/or less powerful hardware. The Galaxy S25 FE is no exception, especially so given the Snapdragon chipsets the S25 range were graced with. But being the first Samsung device to launch with One UI 8, the Galaxy S25 FE launches with some bragging rights of its own.
The Galaxy S25 FE takes a page from the S25+ in its physical design: the anodized aluminium frame surrounds a sleek, icy blue back in a matte texture, with aluminium rings surrounding the three camera lens. It’s a straightforward design that has aligned with the rest of the Galaxy range in its aesthetics – no unnecessary bumps or protrusions here. Since the S23 lineup, Samsung have nailed their design brief of the S range, and have maintained a similar design for the FE – some people may not like the uniform design, and prefer to have something different each year, but I personally prefer the consistency. Plus, if the design is perfected in Samsung’s eyes, why throw a wrench in the works?
Internally, the S25 FE is effectively a more powerful S24 FE in disguise: the S25 FE utilises a Exynos 2400, which is probably a 1:1 comparison to its predecessor, the Exynos 2400e on the S24 FE. It also has a slightly larger battery capacity, giving the S25 FE an edge on the battery life. Unfortunately, the S25 F. does not hold a candle to the Snapdragon 8 Elite processors on the S25 range, and performs well under its eight-month-older siblings.
Furthermore, I had noticed something that was concerning after using it for merely an hour or two: the phone runs hot. So hot that I whipped out my infrared thermometer and downloaded an app to check the battery temperature during usage. What I found was that the device was at 38 to 39 degrees, sometimes even hitting 40 degrees Celsius. By comparison, my five year old phone ran at a maximum of 35 degrees. At 38 to 40 degrees, you really feel the heat dissipating on the back of the phone. To a point where, out of safety, I stopped testing it and turned it off in order to give it time to chill the eff out.
While there have been no other heat issues reported elsewhere, this is the first time I’ve experienced heat issues in a Samsung straight out of the box. I’m hoping this is an extraneous circumstance, but this has been my biggest takeaway from the whole experience.
If you’re happen to avoid this occurring to you, then you’re in luck, because this is otherwise a very good entry into the Galaxy FE series, more so given the software support: the Galaxy S25 FE is the first Galaxy device to come packed with One UI 8 (The S25 range all came with One UI 7), meaning it unboxes with the latest Samsung software platform. What’s even more positive is that it will also get seven years of OS support, meaning it pips the S25 range in terms of software updates.
The Galaxy S25 FE houses three main cameras, a 50 megapixel wide lens, an 8 MP telephoto lens, and a 12 MP ultrawide, as well as a 12 MP selfie camera. The trio of main cameras are fairly decent, albeit a slight downgrade to the cameras used in the S25 series and beyond, especially compared to the Fold7 I reviewed, but the S25 FE provides decent pictures and video with these. Surprisingly, the selfie camera seems to produce clearer images, while utilising a slightly down-specced lens compared to the rest of the S25 range. Samsung has been heavily promoting the Galaxy AI, especially in photo editing, and this is where the S25 FE thrives amongst its competition in the sub-flagships; the Galaxy AI is been the easiest AI to utilise, compared to mainstream AIs such as Google Gemini and ChatGPT, on the photo editing front. Granted, Gemini and ChatGPT do not have the same interface that Galaxy AI has to offer (making use of text prompts, rather than Galaxy AI’s visual interfacing), but the ability to edit out components of an image by circling around it was intuitive and easy to edit. Like most AIs, it’s still not perfect, but editing photos using Galaxy AI is currently heads and shoulders above other non-Photoshop AIs.
While marketed as the cheapest entry into the Galaxy S range, at $999 for the 128GB version, it is still quite a pricey phone. Couple that with the downgrade over the S25 range on the chipset front – the S25 FE has the (shudders) Exynos chipset, compared to the S25’s Snapdragon gen 8 chipset, the S25 FE is at a crossroads with where it sits in the Galaxy hierarchy. If the $1000 mark is the threshold that you won’t cross when purchasing phones, then the S25 FE is a solid buy. But for an extra $500, the Galaxy S25, with its superior Snapdragon Gen 8 chipset that is faster and better performing, is a no-brainer. It’s unfortunate that the S25 FE has a harder comparison to its bigger siblings this generation, mainly due to the Snapdragon chipsets in the rest of the S25 range, but on a level Exynos playing field, the S25 FE holds up as a decent performing device. As long as it doesn’t heat up like the one I had.
Verdict
While the S25 FE reverts back to the Exynos chipset, the sub $1000 price point makes it a solid performing device in the Galaxy lineup. Its performance over previous FE range is markedly better, the only downside being that the rest of the S25 siblings happened to get a growth spurt this year by housing Snapdragon chipsets. But for a “budget” S-range phone, it is a solid performing device that’s worth considering.
FE sharpens FE
