I’ve been using the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE for some time now, and the more I used it, the more questions I had about some of Samsung’s decisions here. There are things I genuinely like about this phone, but there are also a few areas where I feel Samsung could have done better. And then there are some decisions that I simply don’t understand.
So, let’s break this review into three simple parts: the things I really liked, the things that could have been better, and the things that left me genuinely confused.
Design
The first thing I really like about the Galaxy S26 FE is its design.
I know some people are going to say, “This looks almost exactly like the Galaxy S26.” And honestly, that’s the whole point. The Fan Edition lineup exists to bring the flagship S-series experience to a lower price point, and the S26 FE follows that philosophy really well.
The biggest visual change is the camera design. Instead of having three individual camera circles sitting separately on the back, Samsung has gone for a more integrated camera island, making the phone look much closer to the Galaxy S26 and S26+.
The Statue colour I’ve been using is absolutely gorgeous. The glass back and glossy finish look fantastic, especially when light hits it. The downside is that fingerprints and smudges can become quite visible under certain lighting. In normal use, though, the phone still looks extremely premium.
Then there’s the metal frame, which adds to that premium feel. Despite being a fairly large phone, the S26 FE weighs just 193 grams, and that’s something I genuinely appreciate. It doesn’t feel unnecessarily heavy in the hand.
There’s also IP68 protection, which adds some peace of mind around accidental exposure to water. But as I always say, water resistance isn’t an invitation to start taking your phone swimming. Salt water and other contaminants can still cause damage, and that’s definitely not something you want to test with an expensive smartphone.
Display & Speakers
Samsung making a bad display on one of its premium smartphones would be pretty surprising, and thankfully, that’s not what happened here. The S26 FE gets a 120Hz AMOLED display, and it looks excellent. Visuals are crisp, colours are vibrant, saturation is well controlled, and the high refresh rate makes everything feel smooth.
I’ve watched plenty of movies, web series and videos on this phone, and the overall viewing experience has been excellent.
The speakers complement the display nicely for general media consumption. However, gaming is where I noticed a slight weakness.
The tuning feels a little heavier on the lower frequencies. That’s great when you’re watching content because voices and other sounds have a slightly deeper, fuller character, but during gaming, I would have preferred sharper audio for things like gunshots and directional cues.
It’s not a major problem, but it’s noticeable.
Software
One UI remains one of the highlights of the Galaxy S26 FE.
In my opinion, it’s one of the best Android skins available right now. You get plenty of customisation, and more importantly, the FE branding doesn’t mean Samsung has stripped away the flagship experience.
You still get features like Circle to Search, Photo Assist, Audio Eraser and Smart Calendar integration. There’s also the Multi-Fan Camera, which is a genuinely interesting feature. If there are multiple people in a video, the phone can track a specific person and let you create a separate video focused on them.
Samsung is offering seven years of Android updates and seven years of security updates. That’s a seriously long software commitment, and it means this is a phone that should remain relevant for a long time. Will someone actually use it for seven years? Probably not. But having that kind of support is still reassuring.
Things That Could Have Been Better
There are a few things that I think Samsung could have improved.
First is the in-display fingerprint scanner. It works reliably, but its position feels quite low on the screen. It’s not difficult to reach, but I think it would feel more natural if it were placed slightly higher.
It’s also a little slower than some of the competition.Then there are the bezels.
I understand that this is an FE phone and some compromises are expected. But we’re also talking about a phone that costs around Rs 80,000. At that price, the bezels feel quite large, particularly the bottom one. For comparison, my Vivo X300 FE has a noticeably smaller bottom bezel. It’s a small detail, but these things become much easier to notice when you’re paying flagship money.
Performance & Gaming
The S26 FE uses the Exynos 2500, and to be clear, I don’t think it’s a slow or bad processor.
There is a genuine improvement over the previous generation, and that improvement is also visible in benchmark scores. More importantly, my real-world experience has been very good.
I’ve done plenty of gaming and multitasking on this phone, and I haven’t run into any major performance problems. BGMI and COD Mobile were available with 120fps settings from day one, which is a nice touch. Heating though is something that Samsung needs to fix. After 1 hour of gaming the phone was a little warm to touch, nothing uncomfortable but still hotter than it should have been considering the fact that I was in an air conditioned room.
So why am I still slightly disappointed by the processor?
Honestly, it’s more about preference. At this price, I would personally have preferred a Snapdragon chipset. The Exynos 2500 is perfectly capable, but a Snapdragon option would have made the package feel a little more reassuring.
Storage
Samsung also starts the Galaxy S26 FE with 128GB of storage, and this feels a little restrictive at this price. A lot of competitors are moving towards higher base storage, so 128GB doesn’t feel particularly generous for a phone costing around Rs 80,000.
And there’s an interesting contradiction here.
Samsung gives you 8K video recording, but if you’re buying the 128GB variant, those large video files can eat into your available storage very quickly.
So yes, the feature is there, but the storage configuration makes you question how practical it is for regular use.
Camera
Photography is actually one of the stronger parts of the Galaxy S26 FE.
The photos I’ve captured look very good, and I don’t think there’s any major issue with the still-image experience. This is easily one of the areas where the phone can deliver a flagship-like experience.
The phone supports 8K recording, but the footage isn’t particularly impressive to me. Stabilisation could also be better, and low-light video performance is especially underwhelming. At this price, I expected more, particularly when the phone itself is promoting 8K recording.
The Things I Simply Don’t Understand
And now we get to the decisions that genuinely confused me.
The first is the USB port. Compared with the Galaxy S25 FE, Samsung has moved from USB 3.2 to USB 2.0.
I genuinely don’t understand why a newer phone would take such a step backwards in connectivity. Yes, it still works perfectly fine for charging and basic data transfers, but this feels like an unnecessary downgrade.
Then there’s the battery.
The Galaxy S26 FE has a 4,900mAh battery, 45W wired charging and 15W wireless charging. Battery life itself is decent. With lighter usage, I can get around a day and a half. With heavier usage, you’re looking at roughly a day, which means you may find yourself looking for a charger by evening. And when you do, charging isn’t particularly fast.
By 2026 standards, 45W wired charging and 15W wireless charging feel conservative, especially when competitors are offering larger batteries and significantly faster charging.
And yes, one more thing.
There’s no charger in the box. So you’re getting a relatively modest battery, relatively slow charging and no charger included. At this price, that’s a combination that’s difficult to ignore.
The Final Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE is a strange phone because the overall experience is actually very good.
The design feels premium, the display is excellent, One UI is one of the best Android experiences you can get, gaming performance is capable, heating isn’t a major concern, and the software support is outstanding.
The cameras are also good for still photography, while features like Multi-Fan Camera and Samsung’s AI tools add some genuinely useful extras. But then you look at the details and start wondering why Samsung made some of these decisions.
128GB storage. USB 2.0. A 4,900mAh battery. 45W charging. 15W wireless charging. No charger in the box. None of these compromises individually makes the phone bad. Together, however, they make the Galaxy S26 FE feel like a phone where Samsung left a few too many things on the table.
So, should you buy it?
If you want a premium Samsung design, an excellent display, polished software, long-term updates and good everyday performance, the Galaxy S26 FE delivers.
But if you’re spending around Rs80,000, you should also be comfortable with the compromises that come with it.
The Galaxy S26 FE gets the flagship experience right in many of the places that matter. It’s just the little things that make you wonder why Samsung had to make life slightly more complicated.
