If we say that the Galaxy S25 FE and the Galaxy S25 Plus look similar, it would be an understatement. From a distance this Fan Edition phone is nearly identical to the S25 Plus when it comes to design.

The overall shape and form are the same, the position of the camera cutouts is also the same, and the LED flash is in the same place on both models. If you try and look really hard, you might notice a slight difference in the design of the camera rings, but you really have to look closely. 

The situation is similar on the front, but there’s a slightly thicker chin on the Galaxy S25 FE compared to the Plus model. All buttons and ports also seem to be in similar places between these two.

In terms of size and weight, both phones share a similar footprint; the Galaxy S25 Plus measures 158.4 x 75.8 x 7.3 mm, while the Galaxy S25 FE comes in at 161.3 x 76.6 x 7.4 mm. When it comes to weight, the Galaxy S25 Plus mimics the weight of the S25 Plus and comes in at the same 190 grams. Both phones feel the same in the hand despite the few millimeters difference in size and the identical weight also contributes to the deja-vu feeling.

As far as materials go, the Galaxy S25 FE uses the same Gorilla Glass and aluminum frame as its predecessor, namely Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+. The Galaxy S25 Plus comes equipped with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2.

The display of the Galaxy S25 FE measures 6.7 inches diagonally, and it’s a Super AMOLED panel with a 1080 x 2340 pixel resolution, resulting in around 385 PPI pixel density. The phone also has two refresh rate modes—60 Hz and 120 Hz. Samsung hasn’t shared any brightness figures, only a cryptic Vision Boost label next to the display specs.

In contrast, the Galaxy S25 Plus‘ display is the same size, but the resolution is better at 1440 x 3120 pixels (513 PPI), and the phone also comes with 1-120 Hz LTPO tech and the same 2600 nits advertised peak brightness.

Samsung just doesn’t give up on its Exynos silicon, does it? The Galaxy S25 FE features the Exynos 2400, a new silicon with an interesting architecture—it features 10 cores. There’s one 3.2 GHz ARM Cortex-X4 core, 2 x 2.9 GHz ARM Cortex-A720 cores, 3 x 2.6 GHz ARM Cortex-A720 cores, and finally 4 x 2.0 GHz ARM Cortex-A520 ones. 

Early performance benchmarks place this chip somewhere between the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and 8 Gen 3. Geekbench 6 scores are around 2000 points in single-core tests and 6500 points in multi-core.

The Galaxy S25 Plus, in comparison, managed 3132 and 9935 in the same test, so it looks like a big advantage. We have some early benchmarks we managed to run during our hands-on time with the S25 FE and you can see the results below.

CPU Performance Benchmarks:

GPU Performance

In terms of RAM, the Galaxy S25 FE comes equipped with the same 8GB of RAM in all storage configurations. This puts it at a slight disadvantage compared to the Galaxy S25 Plus, which has 12GB of RAM. Speaking of storage, the S25 FE starts at 128GB and goes all the way to 512GB, while the S25 Plus starts at 256GB and tops out at the same 512GB as the S25 FE.

Now, in terms of software, there’s no difference between these two. The same software version, seven years of support, and AI magic are found on both phones.

The camera specs of the Galaxy S25 FE are not that interesting – the phone uses the same camera system as its predecessor. The S25 FE features a 50MP main camera that is very similar to the main sensor of the Galaxy S25 Plus. The ultrawide is also similar, but the field of view is slightly different on the S25 FE.Finally, the biggest difference seems to lie in the telephoto camera. The S25 Plus comes with a 10MP telephoto sensor, while the S25 FE mimics the 8MP of its predecessor. Both phones offer the same 3x optical zoom.

Now, of course, as similar as these two camera systems might be, the processing algorithms might be different. We need to snap some photos with the S25 FE and put them side-by-side with samples taken with the S25 Plus to offer you a final verdict.

That being said, the Galaxy S25 Plus managed a very decent score of 147 points in our composite camera rating, while the previous generation FE managed even better, scoring 150 points in the same test. So, we’re optimistic about the Galaxy S25 FE.

The Galaxy S25 Plus has a 4,900 mAh battery inside, which is pretty decent, albeit not on par with Chinese silicon-carbon cells of 6,000+ mAh capacities. Still, the S25 Plus managed 7h 36m in our battery test, ranking 34th for phones tested in the past 2 years.

The Galaxy S25 FE brings an upgrade to the battery capacity of its predecessor, and one that’s exactly 200 mAh worth. This brings the total battery capacity to 4,900 mAh, exactly the same as the one on the Plus model. 

Stay tuned for our battery benchmarks, which will show how these 200 mAh have or have not improved the battery life of the FE.

This shapes up to be a very interesting battle. With all the upgrades Samsung brought to the new Galaxy S25 FE, it seems that the model could cannibalize its much more expensive sibling, the Galaxy S25 Plus.

There are differences, however, although we’re not sure if they’re substantial enough to justify the extra money for the S25 Plus. The latter has a better resolution screen, a faster processor, and a slightly different camera system (we can’t tell if it’s better or worse yet).

Whether or not people will choose to pay $350 more for a faster processor and a slightly better screen, we don’t know yet. Chances are the Galaxy S25 FE will further undermine the already unimpressive sales of the Galaxy S25 Plus.

Stay tuned for tests, benchmarks, and a final verdict once we finish the review of the Galaxy S25 FE.