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Galaxy S26 FE arrives six months later than the other entries

Samsung has introduced an affordable new handset in its top-of-the-line Galaxy S26 range.

Meet Galaxy S26 FE. It joins the Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26+, and Galaxy S26 Ultra announced back in February to complete the lineup.

Samsung says "FE" stands for "Fan Edition", which complements each generation of its flagship Galaxy S series. The Korean firm explains: "We take on your feedback and produce a device packed with all of your favourite features. Samsung FE smartphones let you do everything you love, for less."

Starting from £699, the Galaxy S26 FE is more affordable than the regular Galaxy S26, which launched at £879 ...although it can regularly be found for under £800 now that six months have passed since its worldwide release. For that, you'll pocket a smartphone with a 6.7-inch AMOLED screen, the same size display as the larger Galaxy S26+, which usually commands an impressive £1,099 price tag. Clearly, Galaxy S fans love a bigger screen.

Samsung has equipped its display with a 120Hz refresh rate for buttery-smooth animations and fast-paced gameplay on the go.

It also maxes out at 1,900-nits, which should ensure everything is easily visible on-screen, even on the brightest summer day. It's worth noting that is a step-down from the peak of 2,600-nits found across the rest of the (pricier) Galaxy S26 lineup.

Under the bonnet is an Exynos 2500, custom-designed by the teams at Samsung, coupled with a 4,900mAh battery cell. That's about the same as the Galaxy S26+, although as mentioned, the Galaxy S26 FE doesn't reach the same levels of brightness with its display, which should extend its battery life.

On the back, Samsung has equipped a triple-camera system with a 12-megapixel Ultra Wide for big group shots or skyscrapers, a 50-megapixel main camera, and an 8-megapixel Telephoto Camera capable of 3x lossless optical zoom and up to 30x digital zoom. It's a pretty comprehensive collection of lenses, and should ensure the Galaxy S26 FE handles everything you throw at it.

Samsung is bringing its Super Steady Video capture with Horizontal Lock, which adds GoPro-like stabilisation to the rear camera when filming, so your footage isn't going to trigger motion sickness in anyone watching.

It also benefits from improved Nightography performance, which captures details in the gloom without blinding everyone with the LED flash. Samsung says Galaxy S26 FE owners should expect reduced noise and better colour correction when taking stills and videos in low light.

This £699 Fan Edition handset is also the first Galaxy S smartphone to launch with the My FanCam feature that made its debut with the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Fold 8 Ultra, and Galaxy Z Flip 8 lineup launched earlier this summer. If you missed that Galaxy Unpacked, My FanCam is a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) feature that lets you track and centre the footage on a specific person after you've finished recording. The whole thing is inspired by K-pop fan culture, where fans record individual performers on-stage. Instead of zooming while filming, you record a wide shot and let AI reframe the clip later.

It's not the only AI feature that's included in the Galaxy S26 FE, with a bolstered Document Scan using Artificial Intelligence to remove creases, fingertips, folded corners, and more from any scans in the camera app. Audio Eraser, which leverages AI to stomp out unwanted background sound when capturing video, now comes to third-party apps like YouTube, Netflix, Instagram Live, and more. While the feature itself isn't new, the ability to — with just a few taps — quash any unwanted background sounds in football streams or concerts streamed on these apps certainly is.

Selfies and video calls are handled with a 12-megapixel front-facing camera, which peeks out from a hole-punch in the edge-to-edge screen.

Out of the box, Galaxy S26 FE ships with One UI 9, which is based on Android 17. Now Brief, the daily summary that tries to anticipate what you'll need from your Galaxy S smartphone before you ask for it, comes to the Galaxy S26 FE for the first time.

There's also Now Nudge, which understands the context of what's happening on-screen, and prompts you with the right information from a variety of apps, like Calendar, Weather, Google Maps, etc. For example, if you're discussing dinner plans with a friend in text messages, and you suggest a date, Now Nudge will suggest adding an event to your Calendar with a single tap.

Galaxy S26 FE is available in Blueberry, Pistachio, or Graphite.

The entry-level model ships with 128GB of storage for £699, while the 256GB model costs £799, and the maxed-out 512GB model costs £949. All three of these variants come with 8GB of RAM compared with the 12GB and 16GB available across the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Ultra lineup.

Galaxy S26 FE is the successor to the Galaxy S25 FE launched back in September last year.