The Fan Edition phones are seldom Samsung’s astir breathtaking launches of the year, but the caller Galaxy S26 FE feels particularly familiar. Hardware-wise, small has changed since the S25 FE launched 12 months ago, and the upgrades person mostly travel successful the shape of package tricks which themselves were already seen connected this year’s erstwhile Samsung flagships.
At its core, this is the aforesaid telephone arsenic past year’s. The 6.7-inch OLED display, 4,900mAh battery, and triple rear camera are each identical. The changes are few: The chipset has been fixed its yearly upgrade to the Exynos 2500, and the 12-megapixel selfie camera is simply a small wider, pinch an 85-degree section of view, up from 80.
The creation has been tweaked too, pinch glossier finishes and a raised camera land to lucifer the different S26 phones. A fewer colour changes complete the hardware update: a grey called graphite, a bluish dubbed blueberry, and the aforesaid ray greenish pistachio that’s already proven celebrated connected this year’s Galaxy Z Fold 8. This isn’t rather arsenic half-hearted a refresh arsenic Sony’s phoned-in Xperia 10 VIII, but it’s not acold off.
The caller pistachio greenish is the aforesaid 1 seen connected the Z Fold 8.
While the caller blueberry is mostly a glossier rotation connected past year’s navy.
There’s a graphite grey action too.
A humble update for illustration this mightiness play amended if it weren’t for RAMageddon, which intends the S26 FE also comes pinch a value hike. At $699.99 for a exemplary pinch 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, this is $50 much costly than the S25 FE, rising to $799.99 for 256GB of storage.
The FE looks almost identical to the S26 Plus, which costs $1,099.99 astatine motorboat but tin currently beryllium had for $899.99 pinch 256GB retention — only $100 much than the FE. Both phones are the aforesaid size and weight, though while the FE’s surface is nary smaller, it does person a little resolution. The artillery and charging lucifer too, isolated from very somewhat slower 15W wireless speeds. It’s the underlying capacity that really pulls the phones apart, pinch much RAM and a faster spot successful the mainline S26 phones, amended build quality, and superior telephoto and ultrawide cameras.
Audio Eraser now useful successful third-party content, not conscionable your ain video recordings.
And Now Brief supports civilization cards.
The bigger updates are to the phone’s software, though these are besides acquainted from those foldables, aliases the S26 phones earlier this year. There’s My FanCam, a video editing instrumentality that uses AI to harvest footage truthful that it tracks a circumstantial taxable throughout. Audio Eraser now supports third-party contented apps, reducing inheritance sound successful videos connected YouTube aliases Netflix to make it easier to attraction connected dialogue. Most useful mightiness beryllium the ace dependable Horizontal Lock video signaling action successful the camera app.
The regular Now Brief roundup has been updated to let the creation of AI-enabled civilization cards that you tin usage to way aspects of the weather, your health, aliases your favourite online content. The updated Now Nudge from the Z Flip 8 and Fold 8 appears too. It suggests contextual actions for illustration adding events to your almanac aliases redeeming locations connected Google Maps based connected the contented of your conversations pinch contacts. Unfortunately, Now Nudge requires you usage Samsung Keyboard, and successful my testing of Samsung’s caller foldables, I recovered it seldom triggered moreover erstwhile I did.
Photography by Dominic Preston / The Verge
Update, August 27th: Added US pricing and the chipset name.
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