Samsung Galaxy S25 FE first look – What’s new with their latest budget flagship phone
After its global reveal alongside the Galaxy Tab S11 series tablets, the new Galaxy S25 FE is the final missing link for the Galaxy S25 series, aiming to offer as much bang for the buck as possible for what you pay for. After getting first crack at one of their latest units fresh off the production line, here’s our Samsung Galaxy S25 FE first look where we share our initial impressions on their latest budget flagship phone.
Samsung Galaxy S25 FE first look – What’s in the box
In keeping with Samsung’s minimalist approach, the box comes with little more than the phone itself wrapped in a protective plastic wrapper as well as a SIM eject pin, USB-C cable and some warranty guide paperwork. Unboxing it is as straightforward as it gets and the colour of the phone itself is indicated by markings on the side for easier referral.
@hitechcentury We unbox the new Samsung Galaxy S25 FE in a stunning Icyblue colourway. #asmr #galaxyS25FE #samsungmalaysia #hitechcentury @samsungmalaysia ♬ original sound – Hitech Century
Out of the box, the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE looks rather similar to its predecessor in its design language and aesthetics albeit with a new array of colourways with our sample coming in a shade they’ve referred to as Icyblue which works out to a pleasant shade closer to robin’s egg blue with a semi-matte finish that repels fingerprints nicely.
Samsung Galaxy S25 FE first look – What’s different from the Galaxy S24 FE
When viewed side by side with the older Galaxy S24 FE, the new Galaxy S25 FE is 8% thinner than its predecessor and 11% lighter at 7.4mm thin and 190g when put on the weighing scales.
In addition to a lighter and slimmer chassis, the new Galaxy S25 FE retains a similarly robust IP68 dust and water resistance rating as its predecessor but integrates the use of improved armor Aluminium alloy for better resistance to drops and scratches on the chassis itself.
The display has the same dimensions and size as the older Galaxy S24 FE model but has thinner bezels and retains the use of tough Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+. In essence, you get a slightly lighter, slimmer design with a tougher frame and a slew of additional upgrades under the hood.
The Galaxy S24 FE(left) has a glossier finish and a thicker chassis as sopposed to the new Galaxy S25 FE which has a matte finish and a slimmer design
On closer inspection, the Galaxy S25 FE has a similarly sized 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with an identical 120Hz screen refresh rate and 1080 x 2,340 pixels resolution and 1,900 nits peak brightness as the older model. One improvement here is that the front selfie camera has been upgraded to a 12MP model; the older design only had a 10MP sensor. A tiny slit up top hides the earpiece and second speaker.
The Galaxy S24 FE (left) has a thicker chassis versus the new Galaxy S25 FE which is notieably slimmer (right)
In terms of layout, you get similar button placement as the older model with a power button and volume rocker on the right, a USB-C port for charging and a grille for the speaker at the bottom of the phone along with a nano SIM card tray.
The backplate hosts a triple camera array with a 50MP main camera with OIS, a secondary 12MP ultra wide angle camera and an 8MP telephoto camera with 3X optical zoom and OIS. This setup is similar to the older Galaxy S24 FE which was a solid affair outpaced by the more powerful and pricier Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25+ and Galaxy S25 Ultra.
The biggest upgrades for the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE are its chipset and battery. Powering the new Galaxy S25 FE is the Exynos 2400 processor; the older model used the slightly slower Exynos 2400e which was clocked slower than the 2400 but otherwise had a similar architecture.
What is different here though is that the Galaxy S25 FE runs the latest Android 16 and One UI 8, making it the first Galaxy S25 series phone to do so ahead of its more premium siblings. Samsung also guarantees that the phone will have 7 years of OS and security updates.
This is paired with 8GB RAM augmented by up to 8GB of virtual RAMPlus off either 256GB or 512GB storage. The 256GB version is priced at RM3,099 while the 512GB version is priced at RM3,699.
Beyond the modest chipset upgrade, the Galaxy S25 FE improves on what Samsung has typically eschewed in their phones – battery life as the phone has a slightly larger 4,900mAh battery; its predecessor only had a 4700mAh battery. That’s not all, Samsung has added in 45W wireless fast charging too along with wireless and reverse wireless charging.
In terms of pricing, the newer model at launch is priced cheaper than its predecessor which is a pleasant bonus. Stay tuned for our Galaxy S25 FE review when we finish field testing! For more details, check out Samsung’s official Galaxy S25 FE page here.