Samsung Galaxy S26 FE Review: Premium economy gets pricier in 2026

I’ve often thought of Samsung’s FE (Fan Edition) series as the smartphone equivalent of flying premium economy. You get some of the trappings of a business class cabin, like extra legroom and a better menu choice, yet it’s still not as luxurious as the front of the cabin. Flight fares are scaling new highs in 2026 thanks to rising fuel costs: economy fares on most days are now higher than what we used to pay on premium economy seats back in 2025. The smartphone industry has run into headwinds of its own, with increased RAM and input costs forcing brands to increase prices across the board.

Cut to 2025, the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE debuted at a launch price of ₹59,999, serving as a bridge between Samsung’s A series smartphones and the flagship S25 series. The S26 FE has just dropped at a launch price of ₹79,999, a significant 33 per cent year-on-year jump. It’s an increase necessitated by the times, and it raises a more important question: who’s the FE series for?

If there’s a moment of truth in the journey of a smartphone, it’s that second when you first hold a smartphone that you’ve seen on your Instagram feed or a commercial. It’s a moment that the S26 FE won in my experience. It felt even better in my hand than I anticipated. It’s a tough win for most smartphone brands, because it combines multiple variables such as tactile finishes, ergonomics and the overall fit and finish. The FE is marginally thicker and heavier than the Galaxy S26+. It felt lighter in my hand than the 193 g heft in the spec sheet.

You won’t miss a Galaxy S series device when it comes to design. The S26 FE is crafted with a durable Armour aluminium frame complemented by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection on the front and the rear of the device. Samsung has opted for a glossy back (the S25 FE featured a matte finish) that plays out well in the pistachio colour variant that we checked out. You might encounter fingerprints and smudges in the darker colourways – Blueberry and Graphite. The ingress protection also puts the S26 FE in a premium band with an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance.

The S26 FE retains the same display that we saw on last year’s S25 FE. You get a gorgeous 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display (1080 x 2340 pixels) with a 120 Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 1900 nits. Colours are vibrant and the display offers good visibility across lighting conditions. I watched an episode of the French show Summer ’36 on Netflix, and the display captured the mood of the French Riviera in the 1930s with excellent colour reproduction. It supports high-definition streaming and HDR content on Netflix. The dual speaker setup is also similar to the S25 FE and offers a well-balanced audio experience.

The rear camera is one area where the gap between the flagship S26 (and S26+) is more obvious. This is particularly true in the case of lowlight images and ultrawide shots. The 50MP primary lens does a great job, particularly in optimal light. The 8MP telephoto lens produced good results up to 3x. The S26 FE also scores on the portrait camera front with clear background separation. I’d recommend switching to night mode when you shoot in low light rather than shooting with the standard mode. The camera also benefits from Samsung’s camera tools like My FanCam and Photo Assist. The S26 FE delivers images and videos that are good enough for your social media feed, but you might need one of Samsung’s flagships if you are looking to go pro mode.

At the heart of the S26 FE is an Exynos 2500 chipset built on a 3 nm process, complemented by 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal storage. It’s one of the key upgrades over the S25 FE that is powered by an Exynos 2400 4nm processor. This new chipset impacts everything from battery life to everyday performance. The device consistently notched up scores above 7400 in our Geekbench (multi-core) benchmark test that puts it in a league below the flagship S series. This is one of the areas where the S26 FE lives up to its branding as a bridge device with a performance that should please most everyday users and also work for gamers.

The device runs on One UI 9 that is built on Android 17. Samsung offers 7 generations of OS updates, which is a great feature at this price and in line with the update policy of its flagship smartphones. Battery life is quite solid too; it should be a one-day battery for most users with extensive screen time. The 4900 mAh battery powers up in quick time with support for 45W wired charging and 15W wireless charging. The device offers the convenience of reverse wireless charging via Samsung’s Wireless Power Share.

Samsung’s FE smartphone for 2026 doesn’t reinvent the wheel. There are a couple of iterative upgrades (like the processor) and some surprising downgrades over the S25 FE, like the USB data transfer (down from USB 3.2 Gen 1 to USB 2.0). The S26 FE hits the right notes on the design and display front with a rear camera that won’t let you down. While there’s a lot to like about this smartphone, the 20,000 price hike over last year’s FE is bound to create conundrums for customers. Should you spend the extra money and buy the Samsung Galaxy S26 for a better camera and performance? Should you look for last year’s S25 or S25 FE that are still quite future-proof? While the S26 FE sticks to the same script as some of Samsung’s recent FE devices, the smartphone industry dynamics in 2026 make it a challenging market for the S26 FE.

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