What are the differences between the two and is the $50 price hike all about RAM?
Samsung just introduced the Galaxy S26 FE at its Unpacked August 2026 launch event. The company’s latest Fan Edition smartphone is a follow up to the Galaxy S25 FE that was introduced in September 2025. One thing you might notice is the higher price. The Samsung Galaxy S25 FE started at $649 while the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE starts at $699, which is $50 more.
There are a few possible reasons for this increase, including a slight bump in specs. It likely also has something to do with the RAM supply crisis, which has resulted in rising prices for tech across the board. When looking at how these two phones compare and what you get with the Galaxy S26 FE that you don’t with the Galaxy S25 FE, however, there isn’t a huge difference. That might give you pause when deciding which one to get or if it’s worth the upgrade.
The performance and spec upgrades
Both phones have identical screens with the same specs, including a 6.7-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x display with up to 120Hz refresh rate. But the new Samsung Galaxy S26 FE runs on a slightly boosted Exynos 2500 (3nm) processor compared to the Exynos 2400 (4nm) processor in the Galaxy S25 FE. While we haven’t yet tested them against one another, head to head benchmarks for these two processors suggest that you’ll get better gaming performance with the Exynos 2500 along with slightly improved battery efficiency.
The Galaxy S26 FE comes with Android 17 and One UI 9 out of the box. Being a year old, the Galaxy S25 FE comes with Android 16 and One UI 8, but you can update it to the new OS.
Both storage options available in the US (128GB and 256GB) tap out at 8GB of RAM, like the S25 FE. The 2025 and 2026 phones both have 4,900mAh batteries and support the same 45W wired charging speeds as well (along with fast wireless). However, a 30-minute charge will get you to 69 percent battery levels with the Galaxy S26 FE versus 65 percent with the Galaxy S25 FE. That might not sound like a lot, but when you’re in the red, every bit of power counts!
Cameras, AI and more
Surprisingly, there’s no bump to the camera specs, which would have at least helped justify the price hike as well as the existence of the S26 FE altogether. Both have a 12MP ultrawide camera, 50MP main camera, 8MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom and 12MP front camera.
While Samsung touts the Galaxy camera and AI experiences of the Galaxy S26 FE, you can access most of those with the Galaxy S25 FE as well. There are new features like My FanCam that come natively with the Galaxy S26 FE, as well as the new Galaxy Z Fold 8 line announced in July. With this feature, you can select a specific subject from a video and change framing to follow them, much like you can track with a gimbal camera. This reduces the amount of manual editing needed for a video. The feature is part of One UI 9, but it requires advanced neural processing, so you won’t be able to access it on the Galaxy S25 FE.
There’s also Horizontal Lock, introduced with the Galaxy S26 series phones, an upgrade to Super Steady mode that captures video in a consistent orientation, even if you physically rotate the device. While it’s possible this feature could come to the Galaxy S25 series, it’s not confirmed.
The new phone also brings forward features like New Brief, Now Nudge and Circle to Search. But there are enhancements. With Now Brief, you get customizable briefing cards for things like weather and wellness, and can even create your own. Now Nudge now includes support for third-party apps and notifications. And with Circle to Search, you can look up multiple items in a photo at the same time. But again, all these features come with an OS update that should carry over to the Galaxy S25 FE as well.
Why the Galaxy S26 FE costs more
So, when you break it down, the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE’s main updates are its boosted processor, presumed slightly better battery efficiency and charging speed (dependent on real-world testing), potentially exclusive camera and AI features like My FanCam, the latest OS version out of the box and one extra year of support. It’s possible those all added up to cost you $50 more. More than likely, however, the biggest reason for the upgrade in price is the RAM supply crisis, which sadly shows no signs of slowing down.
The similar specs between these phones confirms that the Galaxy S26 FE is nothing more than an iterative update. That’s disappointing considering that our Galaxy S25 FE reviewer pointed out that this last-gen phone was also an iterative update from the Galaxy S24 FE before it. So, there’s no reason to upgrade, and if you’re buying new, you may even find more value in saving that $50 and going for the Galaxy S25 FE instead.
Conversely, you may want to consider spending the extra $100 to get the base Samsung Galaxy S26, which is on sale at the time of this writing for $799.99. With it, you get double the starting storage at 256GB, a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor and more RAM at 12GB. Though it does have a smaller battery, it is also a more compact device with a 6.3-inch display. But you might find you get more value out of that model.
