Samsung's New Galaxy S26 FE Costs More but Barely Changes
Samsung has announced the Galaxy S26 FE, a phone that keeps the same physical design and specs as last year's model but raises the starting price by $50 to $699.99. The base model with 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM now costs what the larger 256GB version did last year. Samsung says the increase is driven by a worldwide shortage of RAM, the memory chips that help phones run smoothly, a shortage the industry has nicknamed "RAMageddon" (The Verge).
The S26 FE keeps the S25 FE's 6.7-inch OLED screen, 4,900mAh battery, and three rear cameras. The only real hardware change is a new processor, Samsung's Exynos 2500. The front-facing selfie camera widens slightly, from an 80-degree to an 85-degree field of view. None of these changes make the phone feel different in size, weight, or everyday use compared to the previous model (The Verge).
Visually, Samsung has made the FE look more like its pricier S26 family. The phone gets glossier finishes and a raised camera bump that matches the S26 Plus and other models. It comes in three colors: graphite, blueberry, and pistachio (The Verge).
The pricing is where things get interesting. At $699.99 for 128GB and $799.99 for 256GB, the FE sits below the S26 Plus, which launched at $1,099.99 and was selling for $899.99 at the time of reporting. The gap between the two phones has shrunk. The FE has the same size, weight, battery, and wired charging speeds as the Plus. The main differences are screen sharpness and a slightly slower wireless charging rate. For someone who does not need the very best display, the FE delivers most of the Plus experience for $200 less at current prices (The Verge).
Where Samsung has put real effort is in software. The S26 FE gets several AI features from the broader Galaxy S26 series, which Samsung unveiled in February 2026 as "The Most Intuitive Galaxy AI Phone Yet" (Samsung US Newsroom). Samsung's Canadian announcement for that series focused on AI performance, power efficiency, and heat management (Samsung Canada Newsroom). That matters here because the FE's new Exynos 2500 chip runs these AI tasks directly on the phone instead of relying on cloud servers.
My FanCam is a new AI tool that automatically edits video to follow a specific subject. Audio Eraser, which cuts background noise from videos, now works with third-party apps like YouTube and Netflix, not just clips you record yourself. The camera app adds a super steady Horizontal Lock option for smoother recording. None of these are game-changers on their own, but together they show Samsung bringing AI features from its most expensive phones down to the FE's price range (The Verge).
Two more AI features focus on helpful suggestions. Now Brief, a summary widget, now offers AI-powered custom cards for tracking weather, health, or online content. Now Nudge, borrowed from Samsung's Z Flip 8 and Fold 8, reads what is on your screen and suggests actions like creating a calendar event or saving a location from Google Maps. The catch: Now Nudge only works if you type on Samsung's own keyboard app. Anyone using Google's popular Gboard would have to switch keyboards to get these suggestions. That is a familiar move from Samsung, nudging users toward its own apps (The Verge).
Samsung's Smart Switch app, which transfers contacts, photos, messages, apps, and settings from an old Android or iPhone, got updates in One UI 9 to make switching phones easier (Samsung Global Newsroom). That matters for the FE because its appeal depends on drawing buyers away from cheaper Android phones or, less often, from iPhones.
The broader context here is that the FE line has always targeted buyers who want premium features without paying premium prices. When the S25 FE launched in September 2025, Samsung called it "The Gateway to Galaxy AI Flagship Essentials" (Samsung US Newsroom). The S26 FE keeps that same goal but starts at a higher price, sits closer in cost to the S26 Plus, and raises its price because of a parts shortage rather than because it offers more.
The $50 increase is not catastrophic for any one buyer. What it signals is that the RAM shortage is now showing up in prices for everyday phones, in a category where profits are already thin. Other phone makers pricing mid-range devices in late 2026 will face the same pressure. The S26 FE may be an early sign of a broader trend, not a one-off.
In my view, what the S26 FE does well is package Samsung's AI software into a phone under $700 that looks and feels almost like one costing $200 more. What it does less well is justify charging more for a phone that is, by Samsung's own spec sheet, basically the S25 FE with a new chip and a slightly wider selfie camera. Buyers will need to decide whether the AI features and new processor are worth the higher price, or whether spending $200 more on a discounted S26 Plus at $899.99 makes more sense.
