Samsung’s Fan Edition series has always been about offering a more affordable way to get a taste of its flagship phones. The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE is no different, as the company relied on its tried-and-tested method. However, coming from years of using an iPhone as my primary phone, I went into the Galaxy S26 FE with a very different perspective than the users who usually have been Samsung fanboys or have been in that ecosystem before. During my testing, I wasn’t just looking at whether the phone had a good display, a fast processor or capable cameras. Rather, I wanted to see how it would feel after becoming part of my everyday routine and why my every convo with a Samsung user ends with one cliché line: ‘You will not get it.’
Me using an iPhone as my primary device doesn’t mean that I’ve never used Android, but I’ll admit that I’ve spent considerably more time with iOS over the years. So, when I switched to the Galaxy S26 FE, I went into it with an open mind, curious to see how Samsung’s take on Android would feel as a daily driver. And here is my take.
Samsung has not made major changes in the design of its latest Galaxy S26 FE device when compared with the previous generation, which isn’t a bad thing. But there are a few minor changes that make the phone feel fresh, like the introduction of three new colour variants, notably the Pistachio, Blueberry and Graphite variants. We received the Pistachio variant for the review, and the colour is one of the best shades I’ve come across.
Samsung offers a glass back with the Galaxy S26 FE, which gives you a premium feel but attracts fingerprints. Talking about the in-hand feel of the handset, the S26 FE is quite comfortable to hold, thanks to its 7.4mm thickness and 193-gram weight. While it weighs 3 grams more on paper than last year’s Galaxy S25 FE, the device still felt comfortable in hand.
Another thing that is worth mentioning- the device gets a Galaxy S26 series like camera island. While it does give you the flagship look, there is a small problem. When you put it on a solid, flat surface with the display facing upwards, the camera island makes the phone wobble. However, it can be fixed by putting the phone in a case.
Samsung has also retained IP68 protection, so the phone gets the same level of dust and water resistance that you used to get with its predecessor and its assuring.
The Galaxy S26 FE gets a 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a 120Hz refresh rate, and after using it for a good amount of time, I have almost nothing to complain about. The screen feels smooth while scrolling, videos look good, and I found it comfortable enough for long periods of browsing and watching content. Samsung also claims a peak brightness of 1,900 nits, and in my usage, the display held up well outdoors.
What I particularly liked was the colour accuracy, as during our Calman and ColorChecker testing, the display recorded an average DeltaE 2000 of just 0.6, with a maximum of 1.37. This is an excellent result and means the colours on the screen are very close to what they are supposed to look like.
In terms of colour coverage, the panel covered around 99 per cent of the sRGB/BT.709 gamut, while DCI-P3 coverage was measured at around 73.6 to 79.8 per cent and BT.2020 coverage at around 52.8 to 58.2 per cent. In simpler terms, this is among the most colour accurate displays that Samsung has made.
While I don’t think that many users will care about these numbers, at the first look, the phone looks bright and impressive.
The Galaxy S26 FE is powered by the Exynos 2500 chipset and comes with 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage. In day-to-day use, the device handled most of what I threw at it without any major problems. Multitasking was smooth; apps opened and closed without any major hiccups, and I did not feel the phone was struggling.
I also spent some time playing BGMI to see how the Galaxy S26 FE performs in a real-world gaming scenario. During my sessions, the frame rate stayed between 55 and 60 FPS for most of the gameplay. I did notice occasional dips, but they were not frequent or severe enough to affect my gameplay.
One thing to keep in mind is that the Galaxy S26 FE gets warm fairly quickly during gaming, although the heat remained manageable and did not make the phone uncomfortable to use.
The benchmark results were also fairly strong. Here’s how the Galaxy S26 FE performed in our tests:
| Benchmark | Score | Result |
| AnTuTu | 2,596,848 | CPU: 857,480, GPU: 919,750, Memory: 360,987, UX: 458,631 |
| Geekbench 7 | 1,876 / 7,290 | Single-core / Multi-core |
| PCMark Work 3.1 | 17,214 | Work performance |
| 3DMark Wild Life Extreme | 5,351 | 32.04 FPS |
| 3DMark Solar Bay | 11,240 | 42.74 FPS |
| 3DMark Steel Nomad Light | 2,544 | 18.85 FPS |
Moreover, I’d also like to draw your attention to the fact that this year’s Galaxy S26 FE comes with USB 2.0, which is a downgrade from last year’s Galaxy S25 FE, which came with USB 3.2 Gen 1. While you may not notice the difference during normal charging or everyday use, if you regularly transfer large files through a cable, the newer phone is actually taking a step backwards.
Coming to the software part, the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE is one of those devices that natively comes with One UI 9 (Android 17-based skin). With that you get newer Galaxy AI features such as an updated Now Brief, Now Nudge and improved Circle to Search.
Coming from years of using iOS, I found One UI 9 quite easy to get used to. The interface feels smooth, the animations are generally good and there is plenty of customisation for people who like changing the way their phone looks and works.
Samsung is also promising seven years of software and security updates. That should give the Galaxy S26 FE a longer usable life if you plan to keep the phone for several years.
The camera setup on the Galaxy S26 FE is not very different from last year’s Galaxy S25 FE. You get a 50MP primary camera, a 12MP ultrawide, an 8MP 3x telephoto and a 12MP front camera. However, after using the cameras for some time, I feel the sensors still do a good job.
Daylight photography is where I was most impressed, as images captured with the main camera are sharp and have plenty of detail. Colours also look fairly natural, which I personally prefer over photos that are heavily processed and made to look good only on social media. Samsung does provide an option that automatically processes your images and makes them social media-ready in the Settings.
Talking about Portrait mode, I think Samsung has done a good job here, as the edge detection is quite good, especially around people. I didn’t notice many of those strange cuts around the hair or body that you sometimes get with portrait photography.
The main camera performs well at night and captures photos with good detail. The ultrawide camera is fine in daylight, but its quality drops in low-light conditions. I feel there is also a slight difference in colour between the main and ultrawide cameras when shooting in low light but does not create much of a difference. But, zooming in at night is also a problem, as photos taken at 2x, 3x, or higher zoom levels show visible grain, although there is little noise and the text remains readable.
Samsung has retained the 4,900mAh battery from the last-generation Galaxy S25 FE, along with support for 45W wired and 15W wireless charging. While the battery backup was good, I expected a little more after looking at the competition in the segment.
In day-to-day use, the handset can comfortably last a full day but this is subjective to the use case. If you’re someone who is constantly browsing, watching videos on YouTube, using the camera, playing games or scrolling through social media then the device drains quickly.
The PCMark battery test also gave a similar picture, with the phone lasting 11 hours 58 minutes in our controlled test. Of course, real-world battery life can vary depending on how you use the phone, but for regular day-to-day use, getting through a full day was not a problem.
When it comes to charging, the 45W wired charging is useful when you need a quick top-up. In our 0 to 100 battery test, the phone took 98 minutes to fully charge. However, the wireless charging felt relatively slow, so I’d personally stick to using it overnight rather than when I need to quickly add some battery.
After spending real time with it, both running it through benchmarks and using it as my daily phone, I feel that Samsung has definitely refined its fan edition formula. The design feels premium and comfortable, the display is excellent, and colour accuracy is particularly impressive. Performance is more than enough for everyday use and gaming, although the phone does get warm sooner than I expected.
The cameras also do a good job in daylight, portrait shots and normal zoom, while the battery easily gets me through a full day. You also get fast wired charging (that you get with the Galaxy S26 Ultra) and seven years of software support. However, the battery and camera should have been part of the upgrade. Also, the downgraded USB port from (USB 3.2 to USB 2.0) also feels like a compromise.
So, is the Galaxy S26 FE a good choice at Rs 79,999? My answer would depend largely on what you expect from your phone. But if your priorities are a flagship-like experience, an excellent display, a polished user interface, premium design and reliable everyday performance, the Galaxy S26 FE makes a compelling case at this price, particularly at a time when smartphone prices are steadily climbing.