Samsung Galaxy S26 (Snapdragon) vs S26 FE
84
out of 100
VS
80
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.3-inch Samsung Galaxy S26 (Snapdragon) (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5) that was released on February 25, 2026, against the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE, which is powered by Exynos 2500 and came out 6 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S26 (Snapdragon)
- 70% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (3898K versus 2289K)
- Has 50% more RAM: 12GB versus 8GB
- Compatible with the latest Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
- 60% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 3551 and 2217 points
- Weighs 26 grams less
- Better grip in hands β the body is 5.2 mm narrower
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE
- Has a 0.4 inch larger screen size
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- More recent OS version: Android 17 versus 16
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 25W)
- The phone is 6 months newer
- CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Size | 6.3 inches | 6.7 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 1080 x 2340 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 411 ppi | 385 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (1-120 Hz) | Yes (1-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 1500 nits | 1300 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 2600 nits | 1900 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Touch sampling rate | 240 Hz | - |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus 2 | Gorilla Glass Victus Plus |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 90.9% | 88.6% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
Screen space comparison
Galaxy S26 FE
6.7β³ (19.5:9 ratio) = 17.1 in2
Galaxy S26 (Snapdragon)
6.3β³ (19.5:9 ratio) = 15.1 in2
~13% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 149.6 mm (5.89 inches) | 161.6 mm (6.36 inches) |
| Width | 71.7 mm (2.82 inches) | 76.9 mm (3.03 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.2 mm (0.28 inches) | 7.4 mm (0.29 inches) |
| Weight | 167 g (5.89 oz) | 193 g (6.81 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Blue, Pink, Purple | Gray, Blue, Purple |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
| Repairability | Good (3.01/5) | - |
| Drop resistance | Excellent (A) Β· 270 drops | - |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 | Samsung Exynos 2500 |
| Max clock | 4740 MHz | 3300 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 6) | 10 (1 + 2 + 5 + 2) |
| Architecture | - 6 cores at 3.63 GHz: Oryon Gen 3 Performance - 2 cores at 4.74 GHz: Oryon Gen 3 Prime |
- 2 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A520 - 5 cores at 2.36 GHz: Cortex-A725 - 2 cores at 2.74 GHz: Cortex-A725 - 1 core at 3.3 GHz: Cortex-X925 |
| L3 cache | 12 MB | 16 MB |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | Samsung |
| Lithography process | 3 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Yes |
| Graphics | Adreno 840 | Xclipse 950 |
| GPU shading units | 1536 | 1024 |
| GPU clock | 1300 MHz | 999 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~3993.6 GFLOPS | ~4091.9 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 28096 | 22100 |
| Single-core score | 3551 | 2217 |
| Multi-core score | 10235 | 7699 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 1173242 | 771016 |
| GPU | 1544662 | 723824 |
| Memory | 410536 | 356421 |
| UX | 770452 | 438435 |
| Total score | 3898892 | 2289696 |
| Samples | [2 tests] | Less than 3 |
AnTuTu 11 Ranking List (24th and 188th place)
Recent User Tests
Samsung Galaxy S26 (Snapdragon)
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| π 2026-08-12 (Fahad Nadeem) | CPU Throttle | 51% |
| π 2026-08-12 (Fahad Nadeem) | GeekBench GPU | 22177 |
| π 2026-08-12 (Fahad Nadeem) | GeekBench CPU | 3551 / 10235 |
| π 2026-08-12 (Fahad Nadeem) | AnTuTu | 3898892 |
| π 2026-08-08 (Fahad Nadeem) | CPU Throttle | 80% |
Samsung Galaxy S26 FE
No benchmark results yet
Memory
| RAM size | 12 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5X |
| Memory clock | 5300 MHz | - |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 4.0 | UFS 4.0 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 16 | Android 17 |
| ROM | One UI 8.5 | One UI 9 |
| OS size | 31.6 GB | - |
| OS updates | 7 years | 7 years |
| Security updates | 7 years | 7 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 4300 mAh | 4900 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 45 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | - |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes, (wireless) |
| Bypass charging | Yes | No |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes (69% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | - | 1:08 hr |
| Battery cycles | 1200 cycles | - |
| Web browsing | - | 09:42 hr |
| Watching video | - | 17:42 hr |
| Gaming | - | 06:12 hr |
| Standby | - | 117 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (#147th place)
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 50 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8160 x 6120 | 8160 x 6120 |
| Zoom | Optical, 3x | Optical, 3x |
| Flash | LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 120FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 120FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 960 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120Β° | 123Β° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Telephoto: 10 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Telephoto: 8 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | 24 mm | 24 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung ISOCELL S5KGN3 | Samsung ISOCELL S5KGN3 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.56" (β 0.64 inch) | 1/1.57" (β 0.64 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 10 MP | 8 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | 67 mm | 75 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung ISOCELL S5K3K1 | OmniVision OV08A10 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.94" (β 0.25 inch) | 1/4.4" (β 0.23 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1 micron |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX564 | Samsung S5K3L6 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" (β 0.39 inch) | 1/3.0" (β 0.33 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.4 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 3648 x 2736 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K3LU | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.2" (β 0.31 inch) | 1/3.2" (β 0.31 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.4 | 5.4 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | Yes, DP 1.2 | - |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | - | 20 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | February 2026 | August 2026 |
| Release date | March 2026 | September 2026 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $899 | $699 |
| Sensors | - Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | Not included | Not included |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the performance, gaming, and connectivity are more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy S26 (Snapdragon). But if the battery life is more of a priority β go for the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 15