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My daughter has had the Galaxy S22 for years now and has taken nice care of it. Sadly, even essentially the most cautious cellphone proprietor isn’t resistant to accidents, and her cellphone was bumped out of her fingers, the place it fell to its premature loss of life.

I made a decision she wanted a alternative, however we agreed it didn’t essentially have to be a top-tier flagship. We settled on the Galaxy S25 FE ($534.99 at Samsung), which I used to be capable of get for below $500. From the second we set it up, I seen how acquainted this cellphone felt to my very own Galaxy S24, in and out. After setting it up, I didn’t dwell on it a lot till a couple of week or two later, after I requested my daughter if she was okay with the cellphone nonetheless. Her response was that, if something, it felt like a giant improve over her Galaxy S22 when it comes to battery life, and she or he appreciated the bigger show.

This obtained me curious. May this maintain as much as my Galaxy S24, and even the Galaxy S25 Edge I exploit as a backup system? After begging her to modify telephones for every week, I jumped in to see how it will evaluate. By the point I used to be completed, I used to be satisfied that my days of shopping for the most recent flagships would possibly simply be over.

If I’m trustworthy, there wasn’t a single factor that gained me over, however it was actually a mix of things. First, let’s speak about day-to-day efficiency. It’s true the Galaxy S25 FE has simply 8GB of RAM (vs 12GB) and a weaker Exynos processor that isn’t technically on the identical web page as a high-end Snapdragon chip, however don’t assume meaning you’ll discover a giant distinction.

Each sport, app, and expertise I ran on the Galaxy S25 FE felt as clean and fluid as my Galaxy S24, nearly throughout the board. Even within the uncommon cases the place I may inform a imprecise distinction, corresponding to throughout heavy hundreds, it was lower than there was a real efficiency situation, and extra as a result of I used to be attempting onerous to discover a fault.

Likewise, the digital camera expertise was significantly better than I anticipated. To be honest, I’m not a lot of a digital camera snob. I largely simply need one thing that works effectively sufficient and not using a ton of fuss, however the footage don’t have to be excellent.

Fortunately, the Galaxy S25 FE is greater than able to an honest digital camera expertise, simply remember it gained’t be fairly to the identical degree as a high-end Samsung flagship. Nonetheless, you will get fairly shut in the event you take just a few further pictures from totally different angles, so that you guarantee you might have an excellent shot. Enhancing and AI instruments can even assist quite a bit.

What actually impressed me was the battery life. Whereas Galaxy flagships have seen improved battery life through the years, I nonetheless discover my Galaxy S24 struggles to achieve way more than six or seven hours of screen-on time. My Galaxy S25 Edge carried out equally right here as effectively. In distinction, the Galaxy S25 FE has a 3,900mAh battery that was capable of make it to round eight or 9 hours with out situation.

This won’t look like an enormous change, however it means I’m a lot much less prone to have to cost my cellphone earlier than mattress than I used to be with the Galaxy S24. Lastly, I used to be additionally drawn to the larger show. I personally favor bigger telephones, however I by no means felt the Plus sequence was well worth the premium.

Now I get a 6.7-inch AMOLED show over the 6.2-inch display screen on my Galaxy S24, which appears to be like and works nice. Admittedly, the brightness ranges aren’t almost as excessive, however it by no means felt like a serious downside both.

After every week with the cellphone, I used to be most impressed that nothing main actually felt “lacking”. Positive, there have been issues I knew my Galaxy S24 was technically stronger at, however except I centered onerous and nitpicked, none of this made a serious distinction in my expertise. Finally, the Galaxy S25 FE felt much less like a notable downgrade to the Galaxy S24 and extra like a sidegrade. Some issues have been higher for me, some issues worse.

I got here to the conclusion that I used to be clinging to one thing I now not actually wanted. The reality is, I was a real energy consumer, and it was simpler to justify the prices then. In 2026, I’d nonetheless cling to the id, however that doesn’t imply I really want extra out of a cellphone anymore.  I don’t mess with rooting anymore. I finished utilizing customized ROMs years in the past, and even my customizations and tweaks to the OS are pretty minimal as of late.

There’s actually just one cause to get a high-end flagship for me anymore, and that’s bragging rights and perceived standing. As I become old, I discover that issues little or no to me. My job will at all times require me to have some familiarity and hands-on expertise with newer flagships, however I’ll actually suppose twice earlier than spending my cash on a high-end cellphone going ahead. If my wants change, I may ultimately need or demand extra, however for now, I don’t see this altering anytime quickly.