Samsung Galaxy S25 FE SM-S731UZKAXAA Review

The Galaxy S25 FE gives you 95% of a flagship Samsung experience for about 75% of the price. It's the mid-range phone that refuses to feel mid-range.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 FE is the phone you buy when you want flagship-level everything without the flagship price tag. It's that simple. Samsung took the core formula of their high-end S-series—the brilliant display, the killer cameras, the long battery life—and put it in a more affordable package. The one thing to know? This isn't a 'budget' phone that makes painful compromises. It's a premium phone that just happens to cost a lot less.

We were genuinely surprised by how well the Exynos 2400 chip holds up. In our database, its performance lands in the 98th percentile, which means it's faster than almost everything out there. Apps open instantly, and scrolling is buttery smooth thanks to that 120Hz display. The real win is the thermal management; multiple users in reviews mention it doesn't overheat, which is a common pitfall for phones trying to pack this much power. It just works, all day, without breaking a sweat.

Absolutely worth it. For around $600, you're getting features and performance that rival phones costing $300 more. It demolishes the value category in our scoring with a perfect 100/100. This is the definition of getting more than you paid for.

Your main decision is between this, the Google Pixel 10, and the OnePlus 15. The Pixel 10 will have better computational photography and cleaner software updates, but its battery and raw performance often trail. The OnePlus 15 might beat it on pure charging speed and possibly raw horsepower, but its camera system and display quality typically aren't as balanced or polished as Samsung's. The S25 FE sits in the sweet spot: it doesn't have a single weak point. It's the all-rounder champion in this price bracket.

If you're a mobile photographer who lives and dies by Google's computational magic and that distinct Pixel photo look, this isn't it. Go get a Pixel 10 instead. Also, if you need massive internal storage for a huge offline media library, the base 128GB here might feel cramped on day one.

Buy it. Unless you're a hardcore Pixel software fanatic or need the absolute fastest charging on the planet, the Galaxy S25 FE is the best overall phone you can get for under $650. It makes the most sense for the most people. The combination of a no-compromise screen, a versatile camera, all-day battery, and a durable build is just unbeatable right now.