Samsung Galaxy S26 FE Review: A Better Fan Edition Phone?

The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE is priced in India at ₹79,999 for the 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant. This phone is available in Pistachio, Blueberry, and Graphite colours.

You can buy it from Samsung’s online and offline stores, Amazon, Flipkart, and other e-commerce platforms.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE packs the following items inside the box:

• Phone
• Type C cable
• SIM ejector tool
• Documentation

Before we talk in detail about the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE, let’s see what the on-paper specs look like:

• Display: 6.7 inches Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen
• Chipset: Exynos 2500 (3 nm)
• RAM & ROM: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 512GB 8GB RAM
• Software: Android 17, up to 7 major OS updates, One UI 9
• Rear camera: 50MP, 8MP, 12MP
• Selfie camera: 12MP
• Battery: 4900mAh
• Weight: 193 grams
• Dimensions: 161.6 x 76.9 x 7.4 mm

The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE features a design similar to the Samsung Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Plus. Its front and back are made of Gorilla Glass Victus+, which is rated for greater durability. Due to the glass finish, it picks up fingerprints on the back, but I would suggest using it with a cover for better protection.

Last year, I used the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE, which was quite similar in design, and there are no major structural changes this year. This phone has body dimensions of 161.6 x 76.9 x 7.4 mm and weighs 193 grams, with an aluminium frame.

Samsung has also added an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, which allows the phone to be submerged in up to 1.5 metres of water for 30 minutes.

During my Samsung Galaxy S26 FE review, I mostly used it without a cover. Sometimes it felt slippery in my hand because of the glossy finish, but it was still comfortable to use without too much worry.

Moving on to the ports and buttons, the right side has the power and volume buttons, while the top has a secondary speaker. The left side has nothing. At the bottom, you will find a Type-C port, speaker grille, SIM tray, and microphone.

Overall, I loved using the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE, and I have no major complaints about it.

I just loved the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE camera, which comes with a 50MP wide, 8MP telephoto, and 12MP ultrawide sensor.

Specs-wise, you will see no change from the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE. However, I noticed an improvement in the camera performance of the Galaxy S26 FE. Although both phones feature the same camera sensors, the newer model seems to deliver better results in my experience.

The images appear to have more refined details and sharpening due to improvements in image processing rather than camera hardware. The newer Exynos 2500 chipset and Samsung’s updated image-processing pipeline help contribute to these results.

I clicked a lot of images in portrait mode, and this phone delivers better portrait results with fine edge detection and better dynamic range. You will notice a bit of fairness processing, making the photos ready to post on social media.

I also clicked a few flower images, where you can see the true colours of the subject without any unwanted changes. Samsung has added 3x optical zoom, while you can zoom up to 100x digitally.

You can also see a few ultrawide shots where the sky colour looks stunning. There are no issues to point out here. Considering last year’s Samsung Galaxy S25 FE results, the S26 FE performs much better when I compare the results of both phones.

The S26 FE’s processing retains finer textures, controls sharpening more effectively, and reduces noise in challenging lighting conditions.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE comes with a 12MP front camera, offering amazing selfies in both indoor and outdoor scenarios. However, you might not find the results as impressive in low-light conditions.

Talking about video recording, you can record 8K videos at 30fps and shoot portrait videos as well. Samsung has also added Horizontal Lock mode and stabilisation to improve video quality. I recorded two-minute videos in each quality and mode. You can check out my video samples by clicking on our YouTube link.

Also Read: Samsung Galaxy S25 FE Review: A Well-Balanced Phone That Nails the Essentials

The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE comes with a 4,900mAh Li-Ion battery. It delivers almost 15 hours of screen-on time, during which I scrolled through Reels, watched YouTube videos, and played a few games as well. Honestly, I noticed an amazing improvement over the Galaxy S25 FE, which delivered around 12 hours of screen-on time during normal use. Note that during heavy usage, SOT can drop drastically, especially while gaming.

This phone supports 45W charging. During my Samsung Galaxy S26 FE review, I used my Apple 20W charger. It charged the phone to roughly 50% in about 45 minutes, while a full charge took around 1 hour and 30 minutes. You might see better charging speeds with a compatible charger.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE comes with a 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with FHD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate.

Honestly, I loved using this display to watch YouTube videos, scroll through Reels, and play games. The colours look vibrant, and the content appears sharp enough for everyday use.

It has HDR10+ support, and I watched multiple movies on Amazon Prime in high quality; the deep blacks are amazing. The 120Hz refresh rate also makes scrolling and navigating through apps feel smooth.

During my Samsung Galaxy S26 FE review, I found the display quite enjoyable for watching videos and browsing social media. Samsung has also improved the brightness, with a peak brightness of up to 1,900 nits, which helps with outdoor visibility. Overall, I have no major complaints about the display, and it delivers a good viewing experience for everyday use.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE comes with an Exynos 2500 (3nm) chipset. Honestly, I loved this phone’s performance, and it’s an amazing choice for gamers as well. Its latest chipset boosts the phone’s performance for gaming, browsing, and watching movies. It also comes with 8GB of RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage.

During my review, I never experienced any lag or slowness throughout the testing period. I even played a lot of BGMI and never experienced any frame drops. Usually, phones face frame drops when landing in hot-drop locations in BGMI, and I’m constantly facing this issue with the newly launched Vivo V80. It feels like the game gets stuck for a few seconds, and the screen starts freezing. Once I return to the lobby or move to a safer location in the game, everything starts functioning properly again.

However, during my Samsung Galaxy S26 FE review, I never faced these kinds of issues. And yes, the phone does have a bit of a heating issue after playing multiple games back-to-back, but it returns to normal after some time.

I also ran several Benchmark tests on the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE to assess its performance across different aspects. Its Geekbench scores are 2012 in single-core and 7439 in multi-core. The maximum in the CPU throttling test is 70 per cent. Moreover, its Antutu score is 2612859. The 3D Mark Wildlife Extreme Stress Test for stability has an overall score of 52.8%.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE offers one of the best UI experiences with One UI 9, based on Android 17.

Samsung has also promised long-term software support, with up to six years of OS updates and seven years of security updates. I have mentioned this a lot in my write-ups, but I’ll say it again: I like Samsung’s UI the most among all phone brands.

App opening and closing animations look amazing, while app widgets and scrolling feel smooth. You can also customise your icons and home screen to your liking.

One of the best things is that there is very little bloatware on this phone, apart from a few pre-installed Google and Samsung apps. The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE also comes with Galaxy AI features that help with taking photos, getting things done, and finding information.

One of the most useful features is Circle to Search with Google, which lets you search for anything on your screen simply by drawing a circle around it.

Another feature is Object Eraser, which helps you remove unwanted elements from your photos, such as extra objects, shadows, or reflections, making the picture look more natural. This is my favourite feature.

There’s also Best Face, which picks the best facial expressions from different photos of a group to create one perfect picture. The Edit Suggestions feature analyses your photos and offers ideas for improving them, such as adding background blur or enhancing image quality.

Voice Transcription helps you record audio, convert speech into text, and even translate between supported languages directly on your device. Call Caption provides live text during phone calls, allowing you to read what is being said.

Lastly, AI Select suggests actions based on what’s displayed on your screen, such as creating GIFs or saving images. You can access these options through the Edge Panel.

Overall, the One UI experience remains one of my favourite things about Samsung phones. The smooth animations, customisation options, and useful AI features make the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE enjoyable to use in everyday life.