A new entry-level addition to Samsung’s S26 range of premium smartphones has arrived – meet the S26 FE.
The new model sports a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels and a 120Hz refresh rate. That’s slightly bigger than the 6.3in screen used in its more expensive sibling, the Samsung Galaxy S26.
In terms of peak brightness, the S26 FE can go up to 1900 nits, and when we had a chance to get up close with pre-production models during Samsung’s launch event, its display seemed colourful yet balanced while watching test footage under bright lighting.
This is most likely helped by the Samsung Vision Booster, a technology that improves screen visibility and colour reproduction.
We'll have to see the phone under natural outdoor lighting to see how it truly performs, but we are hoping its well-sized screen and solid specs could make it a promising contender for movie lovers on the go.
Its camera setup includes a 50MP primary camera, a 12MP ultrawide camera, and an 8MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom on the back of the phone. At the front, you will spot a 12MP selfie camera at the top.
The S26 FE also offers 45W charging, which the brand claims can get your phone to 70 per cent in half an hour. You can get up to 28 hours of video playback from a single charge, which is only two hours less than the S26.
The processor has been given a boost, offering Exynos 2500. That’s still not on par with the more premium Exynos 2600 found in the standard S26, but it is an upgrade from the previous FE iteration. On top of that, the new model also runs on Android 17 and offers seven generations of updates.
The phone weighs in at 193g and, based on our first impression, it seems impressively lightweight and well-built.
The S26 FE will set you back £699 for the 128GB model, £799 for 256GB of storage and £949 for the top 512GB handset. This is slightly higher than the previous S25 FE, which started at £649 for the cheapest model, but that could be down to the RAM crisis, which has hiked up smartphone prices across the board.
There are three colours to choose from: Pistachio, Graphite and Blueberry.
When we reviewed the top-of-the-range Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, we were dazzled by its feature-packed software experience and contrast-rich picture. If the S26 FE can offer a chunk of that five-star performance for a fraction of the price, then it could be a great contender for film fans on the move.
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