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Samsung's budget-conscious almost-flagship for 2026 has arrived, and if you were hoping for big updates, you might be a little disappointed. Aside from the obligatory processor upgrade, some minor aesthetic tweaks and some new colours, the hardware is very, very familiar.
Thankfully, on the software side, there are many new features making their FE-series debut. Most are pulled from either the Z-series foldables or the mainline S26 models, but they've never been available at such a low cost. Let's dive in and figure out exactly what's new.
Design
So, let's start with the things that have changed. The S26 FE uses Samsung's own Exynos 2500 chip, rather than the 2400. It's still one generation behind the base-model S26, but it should be more than powerful enough for most people's needs. It still starts with 128GB of storage; 256GB and 512GB versions are also available, and each comes with 8GB of RAM.
The only other change is with the design. The camera lenses are now on a slightly raised island, matching the other S26-series handsets, but otherwise the phone is just about the same size and weight as its predecessor.
It's available in three new colours, Graphite, Blueberry and Pistachio. Each has a fairly glossy finish, which looks great, but is a bit of a fingerprint magnet. Meanwhile, the side rails have a contrasting brushed aluminium finish. It's a nice-looking phone overall, and I'm particularly keen on the Pistachio option.
Otherwise, everything is carried over from the previous model. You still get an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, a 4900 mAh battery with 45W wired and 15W wireless charging, and a 6.7-inch 120Hz OLED screen with a peak brightness of 1900 nits.
The cameras are unchanged, too. It has a 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultrawide, and an 8MP 3x telephoto on the back. Around front, there's a 12MP punch-hole selfie snapper.
Performance
While the hardware offers very little to get excited about, the software has lots of new features to try.
Starting with the cameras, the S26 FE now has full 360-degree horizontal lock stabilisation, which debuted on the S26 Ultra earlier this year. In addition, zoom quality is said to be improved, as is nighttime video. But as I've only tried it in a controlled-lighting environment so far, it's hard to comment on how much of a difference it makes.
My Fancam, a feature that launched with the Z Fold 8-series last month, has been ported over, too. This lets you take a wide video clip, choose a subject from that video, and it'll automatically crop and follow them around the frame. You can choose from a wide range of aspect ratios, very handy if you need to repurpose landscape videos for a vertical format, for example.
Audio Eraser is also included this time around, and it'll work to remove distracting background sounds on both videos that you have recorded and on apps like YouTube. On a slightly less exciting, but still useful, note, Samsung has also added its new Document Scan mode.
Most of the flagship Galaxy AI features are also present here, including Now Brief, which provides at-a-glance updates to help plan your day. Samsung has upgraded this feature with the ability to add custom cards to your Now Brief. So, for example, if you want more health metrics included, you can add them manually.
Image credit: Luke Baker / Digital Camera World
Image credit: Luke Baker / Digital Camera World
Now Nudge has all the latest updates and should appear automatically in the right situations. For instance, if someone texts you suggesting a meeting time, Now Nudge might pop up and ask if you want to add this event to your calendar.
Of course, Samsung's close collaboration with Google continues here as well. Gemini has more features than ever, and it can take more agentic actions, performing complex tasks across multiple apps. Circle to Search and Gemini Live both have enhanced capabilities, too.
Image credit: Luke Baker / Digital Camera World
Image credit: Luke Baker / Digital Camera World
Early Verdict
Samsung's FE models always have the same problem. They launch a lot later than the main S-series models, so while they are a cheaper option, the main S-series phones have usually already been reduced to narrow the gap.
This year, the problem is even worse. Thanks to the AI-induced component shortage, the S26 FE is more expensive than usual. The 128GB base model is $699/£699 and the 256GB is $799/£799. Compared to last year, that's a $50 price hike on the 128GB model, and a $100 increase for the 256GB.
The base model S26 (256GB) currently sells for £779 brand-new here in the UK on Samsung's official website. So (assuming you want 256GB), it's actually cheaper to get the real flagship. It's a smaller phone, with a smaller battery, but otherwise, it's better in just about every way.
Of course, that only applies if you're buying outright; I'm sure there will be plenty of contract offers to sweeten the pot. I'll reserve my judgement until I've spent more time with it, but on first impressions, last year's model seems like a smarter buy.
