Galaxy S26 FE arrives with upgraded chip and camera features from more expensive Galaxies

It also gets One UI 9 before the rest of the Galaxy S26 series. Galaxy S26 FE arrives with upgraded chip and camera features from more expensive Galaxies. Galaxy S26 FE is a modest upgrade, but Samsung added some flagship features.

The biggest upgrades involve new camera features, such as Horizon Lock and My FanCam, borrowed from more expensive devices. The phone also comes with One UI 9 preinstalled and will get seven years of updates. The Galaxy S25 FE was one of the most fascinating Samsung devices to launch last year.

It wasn’t a true flagship, and it didn’t have the best screen, cameras, or chipset; a comparison with the more capable Galaxy S25 — or the newer Galaxy S26 — series phones would easily dwarf it in a tabular comparison. Yet its allure holds up because of the strong value it offers, especially with its battery and charging advantages over the base S series models. Now, Samsung is announcing a follow-up in the form of the new Galaxy S26 FE, which comes with subtle design changes, a new processor, and a host of software upgrades.

The Galaxy S26 FE is basically a more affordable version of the S26+ with slightly reduced specs. The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE looks like a perfectly cromulent budget flagship.

News Mobile Smartphones The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE looks like a perfectly cromulent budget flagship It’s basically a more affordable version of the S26+ with slightly reduced specs. 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 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).