Samsung Galaxy S25 FE vs. Galaxy S25 Plus | Infinium-tech

With this year’s Samsung Galaxy S25 FE, Samsung brings this model much closer to the S25 series. Size- and design-wise, it’s identical to the Galaxy S25+, while it shares the full-fledged Exynos 2400 SoC with last year’s Galaxy S24+.

Compared to the S25+, the Galaxy S25 FE is about 30% cheaper in Europe and about 50% cheaper in the US (when you account for storage and purchases you make from third-party retailers). Based on pricing and the specs sheet alone, if you’re on a budget, the Galaxy S25 FE is a preferred choice between the two, and if so, well, that’s already been decided.

But if the Plus model is really worth its price premium, we intend to find out by comparing our review findings for these two models. We try to look beyond the specs sheet and see how the two phones compare in the real world.

For starters, you can compare the entire specifications here or continue with our editor’s assessment directly in the following video or text below.

size comparison

The Galaxy S25 FE and S25+ have almost the same footprint, and their screen diagonal is also the same. However, physically, the more expensive S25+ is a few millimeters narrower and shorter than its sibling.

There is also a difference in construction materials. The S25+ is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2 sheets on the front and back and has an Armor Aluminum 2 frame, which is marketed as tougher than the Enhanced Armor Aluminum on the S25 FE. The latter is also suitable for the previous generation Victus+ glass panel.

However, both the handsets feel similar in hand. Minor deviations in dimensions and materials are virtually undetectable. And both devices boast IP68 ingress protection.

display comparison

The displays of both these Samsungs are quite similar. According to Samsung’s official specs sheet, the S25+ features a more premium LTPO display, while the S25 FE settles for a standard OLED screen. However, during our review process, we discovered that the S25 FE supports a variable refresh rate that can go as low as 1Hz, which is similar to what the S25+ achieved with its LTPO screen.

Of course, this does not mean that there are No There is no difference at all between the two panels. The S25+ has a high-resolution screen. This display also has thin bezels, which is easily considered more premium.

The S25+ screen is also rated to produce a high maximum brightness, and in our standardized testing, it reached 1,449 nitsWhile the S25 FE couldn’t exceed 1,247 nitsIn practice, this isn’t a huge difference, as the increase in perceived brightness is not as linear as the numbers suggest, Both panels offer excellent readability in sunlight,

battery life

Initially, we were expecting similar battery life from both devices, but the Qualcomm chipset proved to be more efficient than the Exynos. The S25+ takes the lead with a significantly higher active usage score, outperforming the fan version in every battery test. We saw the biggest differences in call and gaming runtimes.

charging speed

In theory, the Galaxy S25 FE and S25+ should post similar charging times, as they share the same rated 45W charging power and the same battery – 4,900 mAh.

However, the S25+ significantly outpaced the S25 FE at the 15- and 30-minute marks. A full charge takes about the same amount of time. The S25+ is only 10 minutes faster than the finish line.

speaker test

To our surprise, the Galaxy S25 FE offers better sound quality than the S25+. The former has more pronounced bass and warmer-sounding speakers overall, while the S25+ sounds flat-out in comparison.

However, when it comes to loudness, both perform similarly.

Display

The Galaxy S25 FE runs on last year’s Samsung flagship SoC, the Exynos 2400, while the Plus model uses the Snapdragon 8 Elite for the Galaxy Note 8, a slightly overclocked version of the standard SD 8 Elite.

In addition to raw horsepower, the memory configuration of the Galaxy S25+ is also better equipped. The entry-level configuration of the Plus is 12GB/256GB, while the S25 FE starts at 8GB/128GB (which uses UFS 3.1 storage until you reach 256GB). Additionally, the S25 FE is only offered with 8GB of memory in all its variants, while the Plus is always offered with 12GB of RAM.

benchmark performance

Not surprisingly, the Galaxy S25 Plus outperforms the S25 FE by a significant margin. The S25+ scored about 40% higher in the multi-core CPU test and about 14% better in the combined AnTuTu 10 test. The GPU performance difference was most significant as the S25+ outperformed the FE in 3DMark Wildlife Extreme by about 54%.

camera comparison

On paper, the Galaxy S25+ has a better camera system than the S25 FE. On the plus side the telephoto camera has a larger sensor with higher resolution, and the ultrawide shooter also uses a slightly larger sensor.

On the other hand, the main and front-facing cameras are largely identical, so we don’t expect any meaningful differences.

image quality

As far as ultrawide goes, both phones upscale their photos to 12 megapixels and there’s hardly a clear winner. The S25+’s shots come out more detailed but that’s not the case in every scene and you have to really pixel peep to see the difference.

Again, as expected, the difference in the main camera is negligible. Both phones deliver comparable images with similar quality.

S25 FE (0.6x) • S25 Plus (0.6x) • S25 FE (1x) • S25 Plus (1x)

For the 2x crop zoom from the main camera, image quality is the same give or take.

S25 FE (2x) • S25 Plus (2x) • S25 FE (3x) • S25 Plus (3x)

The difference isn’t so obvious with the zoom cameras, once again, both phones upscale their photos to 12 megapixels. And while technically, the S25 FE has a smaller sensor, it also has a longer focal length so that objects appear larger. However, the level of detail is not the same, and the S25 Plus still has more resolved details.

S25 FE (0.6x) • S25 Plus (0.6x) • S25 FE (1x) • S25 Plus (1x)

Night-time photography is equally good with the main cameras on both phones, but if you peek at the pixels, you might find the S25 FE’s photos to be slightly cleaner and with better definition – though it’s still by a very small margin.

This is also true for ultrawide and 2x zoom photos.

The difference we saw during the day from the two zoom cameras also applies to the night results, but it requires even more pixel peeping to notice.

S25 FE (2x) • S25 Plus (2x) • S25 FE (3x) • S25 Plus (3x)

video quality

Below we have some framegrabs of videos taken by both phones at each focal length, so it’s easy to compare them to each other.

Comparing 4K videos taken with these two Galaxy phones, we were surprised to find that the S25 FE actually captures sharper videos with better contrast during the day. The rendering of the S25 Plus is much more comfortable.

Neither phone is great when it comes to telephoto zoom clips, but we prefer the less processed footage captured by the S25 Plus.

4K screengrabs: S25 FE (0.6x) • S25 Plus (0.6x) • S25 FE (1x) • S25 Plus (1x) • S25 FE (2x) • S25 Plus (2x) • S25 FE (3x) • S25 Plus (3x)

And at night, the trend continues – the S25 FE’s low-light videos from the main and telephoto cameras are slightly more contrasty and less noisy. However, the ultrawide footage of the S25 Plus is better.

4K screengrabs: S25 FE (0.6x) • S25 Plus (0.6x) • S25 FE (1x) • S25 Plus (1x) • S25 FE (2x) • S25 Plus (2x) • S25 FE (3x) • S25 Plus (3x)

decision

As we mentioned earlier in the article, the S25+ is a better equipped phone with higher-end build materials, longer battery life, faster charging, and a significantly more powerful SoC.

The S25 FE, on the other hand, is already significantly cheaper in most countries, while offering a largely similar user experience. It also has better sounding speakers and can hold its own in the camera department as well.

So if you want to save some money, buy the S25 FE. Otherwise, the S25 Plus is a more well-rounded phone that offers a top-tier screen, better performance, faster charging, and longer battery life, as well as some more niche features like ultra-wideband (UWB).