Samsung Galaxy S9 vs S26 FE
44
out of 100
VS
79
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 5.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S9 (with Exynos 9 Octa 9810) that was released on February 25, 2018, against the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE, which is powered by Exynos 2500 and came out 8 years and 8 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 S9
- 48% higher pixel density (568 vs 385 PPI)
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 400GB
- Better grip in hands – the body is 8.2 mm narrower
- Weighs 30 grams less
- Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE
- 3.7x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (2289K versus 611K)
- Delivers 181% higher peak brightness (1839 against 654 nits)
- The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Comes with 1900 mAh larger battery capacity: 4900 vs 3000 mAh
- Shows 69% longer battery life (25:38 vs 15:09 hours)
- Has a 0.9 inch larger screen size
- Has 2x more RAM: 8GB versus 4GB
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.4)
- Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 15W)
- The phone is 8 years and 8 months newer
- More recent OS version: Android 17 versus 10
- More energy-efficient CPU – Exynos 2500
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 | Super AMOLED | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Size | 5.8 inches | 6.7 inches |
| Resolution | 1440 x 2960 pixels | 1080 x 2340 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 18.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 568 ppi | 385 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | Yes (1-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 658 nits | 1300 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | - | 1900 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10 | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 | Gorilla Glass Victus Plus |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 84.1% | 88.6% |
| Display features | - Always-On Display | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| PWM | 240 Hz | - |
| Response time | 7 ms | - |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | - |
Screen space comparison
Galaxy S26 FE
6.7″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 17.1 in2
Galaxy S9
5.8″ (18.5:9 ratio) = 13.2 in2
~29% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 147.7 mm (5.81 inches) | 161.6 mm (6.36 inches) |
| Width | 68.7 mm (2.7 inches) | 76.9 mm (3.03 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.5 mm (0.33 inches) | 7.4 mm (0.29 inches) |
| Weight | 163 g (5.75 oz) | 193 g (6.81 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | - | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Gold, Gray, Blue, Purple | Gray, Blue, Purple |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, rear | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 9810 | Samsung Exynos 2500 |
| Max clock | 2900 MHz | 3300 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (4 + 4) | 10 (1 + 2 + 5 + 2) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.9 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 4 cores at 2.9 GHz: Exynos M3 |
- 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 | - | 16 MB |
| Manufacturing | Samsung | Samsung |
| Lithography process | 10 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Yes | Yes |
| Graphics | Mali-G72MP18 | Xclipse 950 |
| GPU shading units | 216 | 1024 |
| GPU clock | 572 MHz | 999 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~247.1 GFLOPS | ~4091.9 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 4798 | 22100 |
| Single-core score | 769 | 2217 |
| Multi-core score | 2000 | 7699 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 242718 | 771016 |
| GPU | 92154 | 723824 |
| Memory | 121349 | 356421 |
| UX | 155709 | 438435 |
| Total score | 611930 | 2289696 |
| Samples | [16 tests] | Less than 3 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 5601 | - |
| Video editing | 5488 | - |
| Photo editing | 9525 | - |
| Data manipulation | 5650 | - |
| Writing score | 6250 | - |
Recent User Tests
Samsung Galaxy S9
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-24 (s9) | AnTuTu 12 | 744869 |
| 📘 2026-07-06 -> legusk | AnTuTu 11 | 653076 |
| 📘 2026-07-04 -> Otchem1488 | AnTuTu 11 | 617656 |
| 📘 2026-06-15 (Dib) | AnTuTu 11 | 539997 |
| 📘 2026-06-03 (Zolw) | AnTuTu 11 | 670558 |
Samsung Galaxy S26 FE
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-10-15 -> Malagau2 | AnTuTu 12 | 2751051 |
| 📘 2026-10-13 (Feran) | AnTuTu 12 | 2750381 |
Memory
| RAM size | 4 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR5X |
| Memory clock | 1794 MHz | - |
| Channels | 2 | 4 |
| Storage size | 64 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 2.1 | UFS 4.0 |
| Memory card | MicroSD | No |
| Memory card max size | Up to 400 GB | - |
Software
| Operating system | Android 8.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 10) | Android 17 |
| ROM | One UI 2.5 | One UI 9.0 |
| OS size | 14 GB | - |
| OS updates | - | 7 years |
| Security updates | - | 7 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 3000 mAh | 4900 mAh |
| Max charge power | 15 W | 45 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | - |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes, Qi/PMA (10 W) | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | Yes, (wireless) |
| Bypass charging | - | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (40% in 30 min) | Yes (69% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:35 hr | 1:08 hr |
| Web browsing | 05:32 hr | 09:42 hr |
| Watching video | 09:42 hr | 17:42 hr |
| Gaming | 03:45 hr | 06:12 hr |
| Standby | 75 hr | 117 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 50 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 8160 x 6120 |
| Zoom | Digital | Optical, 3x |
| Flash | Dual LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | Up to 30FPS |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 120FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 240FPS | Up to 120FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | 960 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | - | 123° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 12 MP |
1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Telephoto: 8 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.5 - 2.4 | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 24 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung SAK2L3 | Samsung ISOCELL S5KGN3 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) | 1/1.57" (≈ 0.64 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.4 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | - | 8 MP |
| Aperture | - | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | - | 75 mm |
| Sensor | - | OmniVision OV08A10 |
| Sensor size | - | 1/4.4" (≈ 0.23 inch) |
| Pixel size | - | 1 micron |
| Stabilization | - | Optical |
| Image resolution | - | 12 MP |
| Aperture | - | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | - | 13 mm |
| Sensor | - | Samsung S5K3L6 |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.0" (≈ 0.33 inch) |
| Pixel size | - | 1.12 micron |
| Stabilization | - | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 8 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3264 x 2448 | 3648 x 2736 |
| Aperture | f/1.7 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 25 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K3H1 | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) | 1/3.2" (≈ 0.31 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.22 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1440p at 30 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
DxOMark front camera
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5 | 5.4 |
| Bluetooth features | PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.1 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | Yes | No |
| LTE Cat* | 18 | 20 |
| 5G support | No | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | Yes | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | February 2018 | August 2026 |
| Release date | March 2018 | September 2026 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $720 | $699 |
| Successor | - Samsung Galaxy S26 FE | - |
| SAR (head) | 0.362 W/kg | - |
| SAR (body) | 1.18 W/kg | - |
| Sensors | - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | - | Not included |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: < 1