Galaxy S25 FE review: Beautiful screen, good camera, adequate performance

(Dan Tri) - Galaxy S25 FE launched in Vietnam with prices ranging from 16 to 21 million VND, much higher than products in the same segment. Is it just a shortened version of the Galaxy S25 series, or is it really close to a flagship?

In the ever-changing world of technology, there are products that not only fill a gap in the market, but also redefine their own position. Every year, the “Fan Edition” (FE) line from Samsung is always expected as a version that inherits the essence of the high-end Galaxy S but at a more accessible price.

Over many generations, the Galaxy FE has affirmed its own position, becoming a worthy choice in the segment. This year, the Galaxy S25 FE appears with greater ambition than before: blurring the line between a "fan version" and a true flagship model.

However, the question is: will that ambition be realized or will it still have familiar limitations? Dan Tri reporters directly experienced the product to give objective assessments of this device.

+ Strengths:

- Sharp camera

- Good display

- Software updates every 6 years

+ Limitations:

- Powerful chip but using heavy tasks for a long time makes the device heat up quickly

- Fast charging battery not as advertised

Galaxy S25 FE review: Beautiful screen, good camera, adequate performance ( Video : Cam Tien).

Refined design

First overview, Galaxy S25 FE has a familiar design of the S series with a flat glass back, without a bulky module cluster to help the three camera lenses line up vertically for a neat, uncluttered look.

The feeling of holding it in hand shows that the product is not inferior to any high-end phone. Samsung has upgraded the frame material to "reinforced armored aluminum" (Armor Aluminum).

Although it's not the advanced Armor Aluminum 2 version like on the S25 plus, it still offers a solid and solid feel compared to standard aluminum.

Each flat, sharp bevel at the intersection of the frame and the two Gorilla Glass Victus+ panels creates a unified, solid block. The Galaxy S25 FE is also combined with IP68 water and dust resistance standards.

The product comes in four color options including ice blue, smoke black, navy blue and white - all borrowed from the S25 line, but there is one highlight to distinguish it, which is the bezel.

Regardless of which color you choose, the frame remains the same silver anodized aluminum. This small detail creates an interesting visual effect and is also a recognizable sign of the FE line.

According to the reporter's assessment, the flat edge design brings solidity and modernity, but the grip may be less soft than the curved edge style.

The optical fingerprint sensor on the Galaxy S25 FE is located slightly lower than the center of the screen. For users with small hands, unlocking may require stretching the thumb or adjusting the way you hold the device, which is not really convenient.

Hope Samsung fixes this issue soon for next generations.

Screen

Up to now, Samsung has almost never disappointed users in terms of display technology. The S25 FE's screen is a testament to that, with a Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X panel, 6.7 inches in size, 1080x2340px resolution.

"Dynamic AMOLED 2X" ensures 100% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage, delivering vibrant, vibrant colors while maintaining high accuracy. Meanwhile, "LTPO" (Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Oxide) technology allows the screen to automatically change the refresh rate from 1Hz when displaying a static image (like Always-On Display or when you're reading a book), up to 120Hz when you're scrolling through a web page, surfing social media, or playing a game.

This intelligent adaptation not only creates a smooth experience, but is also a key factor in saving energy and optimizing battery life.

Galaxy S25 FE has good screen quality, not inferior to current flagship models (Photo: Cam Tien).

Brightness is a notable point on the Galaxy S25 FE. In our experience, the manual brightness of 435 nits is enough indoors. But when we step outside in bright sunlight, the automatic mode will push the brightness up to 1,247 nits (maximum brightness of 1,900 nits).

This brightness ensures that the displayed content is clear and sharp, helping users easily read messages, view maps or take photos without any difficulty.

However, there are already competitors on the market with screens that are super bright up to 5,000 nits, and have lower prices.

Samsung S25 FE also supports HDR10+ and Android Ultra HDR, when users watch compatible content on Netflix or YouTube, light and dark areas are reproduced with incredible contrast.

The HDR photos you take will also appear more vibrant. The lack of Dolby Vision is a minor disappointment, but given the overall quality of the panel, most users will be hard-pressed to notice the difference.

It can be seen that the S25 FE's screen is perfect for the price range, competitive enough with even today's expensive flagship models.

Strong performance but lack of durability

Samsung's Exynos 2400 chip surprised many users. The Exynos 2400, built on the advanced 4nm process, is a complex chip with 10 CPU cores, including a super-performance Cortex-X4 core, high-performance Cortex-A720 cores, and power-efficient Cortex-A520 cores.

Comes with the Xclipse 940 GPU based on AMD's famous RDNA 3 architecture, promising superior graphics processing capabilities and Ray Tracing support.

In short performance tests (benchmarks), the S25 FE satisfies users. GeekBench and AnTuTu scores show that its raw processing power is not inferior to competitors in the same segment, especially in multi-core tasks.

Everyday operations, from opening applications, switching to multitasking, browsing dozens of tabs, all happen smoothly and quickly. Users will feel like they are using a real flagship phone.

However, when using heavy tasks for a long time, the sustained performance of the S25 FE is really poor, when the device heats up quickly. Although Samsung has advertised the phone as being equipped with a 10% larger cooling system; it still seems to be not enough to "rein in" the powerful Exynos 2,400 chip.

During extended CPU stress tests, the chip's performance began to drop alarmingly after just about 10 minutes. The performance graph was unstable, constantly going up and down.

In particular, the 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test showed stability at just under 50%, meaning that after 20 minutes of running at high intensity, the machine's graphics performance was less than half of what it was initially.

The flexibility of the screen refresh rate helps users have an optimal experience (Photo: Cam Tien).

This is a big limitation for users, for example, you are in a game of Lien Quan Mobile, at first it brings a stable high frame rate per second (FPS). But then, the phenomenon of jerking, lagging, and frame drops begins to appear, directly affecting the experience and results of the match.

At the same time, the metal frame of the device heats up quickly, sometimes reaching temperatures that are uncomfortable to hold.

Clearly, the S25 FE isn't durable enough for a long race. The initial power is real, but it can't be sustained for long.

This is a serious compromise, especially for users who demand high performance and stability.

Camera

Samsung brings to the S25 FE a familiar but still very effective camera system with a 50MP main camera, along with a fairly large sensor size capable of capturing a lot of light, producing good quality low-light photos with little noise.

Dual Pixel PDAF focusing technology works quickly and accurately, while optical image stabilization (OIS) is a lifesaver for stable photos and videos, limiting blur.

Samsung's typical image quality is good with vibrant, flattering colors and wide dynamic range.

Meanwhile, the 8MP telephoto camera is quite modest and only has 3x optical zoom. This is understandable, showing the company's cuts to optimize costs.

Experience shows that, in bright enough conditions, the Galaxy S25 still produces good quality 3x optical zoom photos, useful when needing to capture distant subjects. However, when zooming closely or in low light conditions, the details will be significantly reduced.

The 12MP ultra-wide-angle camera takes great photos of landscapes, majestic nature, massive architectural structures, or large group photos.

Samsung has upgraded the front camera to 12MP, which is a plus, providing more detailed selfies, good skin color reproduction, and sharp 4K video recording.

Portrait photos, in low light conditions, still give sharpness (Photo: Cam Tien).

In low light conditions, Nightography continues to assert itself as Samsung's familiar "weapon". This technology helps night photos to be bright and clear, limits noise and retains many details even in complex lighting environments.

In terms of video recording, the S25 FE is very flexible with options for recording resolutions from 4K to 8K. The manufacturer also equipped it with effective electronic anti-shake, providing smooth footage even when moving.

In addition, Samsung also added entertainment features such as super slow-motion video recording to capture impressive moments, along with Audio Eraser to help eliminate background noise when filming, thereby keeping voices and main sounds clearer and clearer.

Overall, the S25 FE's camera system can be described as "versatile and reliable". It's not the best camera system on the market, but it's more than capable of handling 95% of the average user's photography and video needs.

Battery and charger

The 4,900 mAh battery is a small upgrade over the previous generation, promising longer battery life.

In practice, the S25 FE can easily last a full day of mixed use. The GSMArena “Active Use” score of 11 hours and 43 minutes is decent, but not groundbreaking.

It's worth noting that the web surfing score is quite low, suggesting that there might be a lack of optimization between the chip and the display in this task.

The point to note is that the charging speed of the device is not really commensurate with expectations. Although the box and promotional materials say it supports 45W, on par with the S25 Plus, in actual experience, the charging speed is not as fast as users expect.

Tests with Samsung's official 45W charger and a standard 5A cable showed that the Galaxy S25 FE rarely reached the maximum 45W power level, but often fluctuated lower during charging.

Actual power is often just below the advertised level. As a result, the S25 FE's charging speed is only slightly faster than the S24 FE (which only supports 25W), and it takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes to fully charge.

While many Chinese competitors such as Huawei and Oppo have popularized 65W and even 120W charging technology in the mid-range segment, the charging speed of the Galaxy S25 FE is still modest. This may make some users feel that it is not commensurate with the expectations set by the 45W specification.

Software

If sustained performance and fast charging are weak points, software is the S25 FE's notable strength.

Right out of the box, the Galaxy S25 FE comes pre-installed with Android 16 and the latest One UI 8 interface. In particular, Samsung is committed to providing up to 7 generations of operating system upgrades and 7 years of security updates - a rare advantage that almost no Android competitor can match.

This completely changes the life cycle of a phone. Instead of becoming obsolete after 2-3 years, the S25 FE can be used safely and updated with the latest features until 2032.

One UI 8 continues to build on Samsung's strengths with deep customization, a seamless ecosystem with other Galaxy devices, and powerful features like Samsung DeX that turns your phone into a desktop.

More importantly, the S25 FE is equipped with the full suite of Galaxy AI features. From upgraded Circle to Search that works in games, live translation assistant, to intelligent photo editing tools and improved Gemini Live virtual assistant.

ProVisual Engine uses AI to analyze the context and optimize every detail in the photo, from light, color to contrast. Users just need to raise the camera to take a photo, the system will automatically adjust to achieve the best quality photo.

For those who love to be creative, the Photo Assist & Generative Edit toolkit offers a smart photo editing experience. Users can remove unwanted objects, enlarge the frame, or even recreate missing backgrounds with AI, all while looking natural.

Summary

The Samsung Galaxy S25 FE is a commendable attempt by Samsung to bring a premium experience down to a more affordable price point. It succeeds in so many ways: a luxurious design, a near-perfect display, a reliable camera system, and an operating system with unmatched long-term support.

However, that ambition has encountered two major obstacles that cannot be ignored: performance is not durable enough under high pressure and fast charging technology has not met expectations.

It's like a supercar with a powerful engine but a weak cooling system, only able to accelerate for a short period of time before having to slow down to protect itself.

If you've been using Galaxy devices, love the One UI interface, and want to enjoy the power of Galaxy AI and the promise of 7 years of updates, the S25 FE is a near-perfect upgrade without having to spend too much money on the S25 Ultra or Plus line.

Or if you want a device with a beautiful screen for entertainment, a good camera or a luxurious design; the Galaxy S25 FE meets these requirements well.

But if you are someone who regularly plays heavy graphic games or your job requires rendering videos and continuously processing large files on the phone, the S25 FE is not the priority choice.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/cong-nghe/danh-gia-galaxy-s25-fe-man-hinh-dep-camera-tot-hieu-nang-du-dung-20250916114836693.htm