Samsung announces the budget-friendly Galaxy S25 FE

Samsung can't stop releasing Galaxy S25 phones.

A few months after launching the flagship S25 and S25 Ultra, Samsung dropped the ultra-thin S25 Edge on us. Now, just a few months after that, we've got the Galaxy S25 FE, a more budget-friendly model with some mildly compromised specs.

Launching Thursday for $649.99, the Galaxy S25 FE comes in four colors: Navy, Jetblack, White, and IceBlue.

Of course, whether you consider $649.99 budget or mid-range status depends on your income. It's certainly affordable compared to Samsung's $1,999.99 Galaxy Fold 7.

Here are the basic specs for the S25 FE:

• 6.7-inch AMOLED display with 60-120Hz adaptive refresh rate

• Exynos 2400 processor

• 8GB RAM

• 128/256GB storage

• 4,900mAH battery

• Rear cameras: 50MP wide, 12MP ultra-wide, 8MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom

• 12MP selfie camera

There are, of course, some noteworthy differences here between the base S25 and the S25 FE. Samsung's budget phone comes with an Exynos 2400 processor, which is a step down from the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chip found in the regular S25. You're also only getting 8GB of RAM instead of 12GB, while the 8MP telephoto lens is slightly inferior to the 10MP module found on the S25, at least numerically.

Still, it's got a very large screen with a better refresh rate than the iPhone 16 and a battery that could theoretically be pretty good. A telephoto lens on a phone that costs less than $700 is nothing to sneeze at, either. Beyond the hardware, you also get Samsung's suite of AI features, including Generative Edit for photos, Gemini Live, and the Now Brief daily hub page that shows you the weather, the news, and other things that might interest you.

Maybe they can sneak in one more S25 model before the end of the year.