Galaxy S26 FE vs S23 FE: Bigger, faster, smarter AI, but pricier

Samsung's new Fan Edition phone is almost here. The company announced the Galaxy S26 FE today. It will go on sale on September 4, unless you're in the United States, where Samsung is giving customers a chance to order the phone a day early.

The Galaxy S26 FE is another yearly upgrade with relatively modest improvements over the 2025 model. One year didn't make a huge difference, but what about three years?

Here's how the new Galaxy S26 FE compares to its distant predecessor from 2023, the Galaxy S23 FE.

The Galaxy S26 FE features a larger and brighter screen. It's a Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel with a 60Hz/120Hz refresh rate, HDR10+, and 1,900 nits of brightness.

Most notably, the Galaxy S23 FE's screen is smaller and dimmer. It's a 6.4-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel with HDR10+, a 60Hz/120Hz refresh rate, and peak brightness of 1,450 nits.

The Galaxy S26 FE and S23 FE look alike, except the S23 FE is smaller, has thicker display bezels, and doesn't have a camera housing underneath the three camera rings.

Both phones follow a similar design path, but the Galaxy S26 FE is newer and more refined.

It's also a little tougher, at least in theory. Both phones have IP68 ratings and aluminum frames, but the Galaxy S26 FE uses Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection for the display and back panels. In contrast, the S23 FE uses the older Gorilla Glass 5 solution.

And if you value thinness, especially for a device with a larger screen, the Galaxy S26 FE is slimmer. It measures 7.4mm compared to the S23 FE's 8.2mm.

A newer chipset is always a part of a yearly Galaxy upgrade, but the Galaxy S26 FE no longer follows the two-pronged Exynos-Snapdragon strategy.

The Galaxy S26 FE is powered by the newer 3nm Exynos 2500 chip in every market, including the USA, where most Samsung Galaxy S phones are powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon chips.

Thankfully, the new Exynos 2500 chip is more powerful and efficient than the older Exynos 2200 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chips you'll find inside the Galaxy S23 FE in global and US variants, respectively.

It's worth noting that the Galaxy S23 FE was offered with only 128GB or 256GB of storage, and the newer S26 FE adds a 512GB option, except in the USA.

Looking strictly at the camera hardware, the 2026 and 2023 Fan Edition phones are not all that different. However, the software is doing a lot of heavy lifting for the Galaxy S26 FE.

Hardware-wise, both phones have 50MP wide, 12MP ultra-wide, and 8MP telephoto cameras. The S26 FE has a 12MP selfie camera instead of a 10MP unit.

Nothing too exciting, but new features like My FanCam and Super Steady with Horizontal Lock are available on the Galaxy S26 FE and are highly unlikely to become available on the S23 FE through its upcoming One UI 9 update.

Speaking of software, the Galaxy S26 FE already ships with Android 17 and One UI 9, the same as Samsung's latest Galaxy Z8 foldable phones.

Samsung says it will support the Galaxy S26 FE with OS upgrades and security patches for seven years, which gives it a massive longevity advantage over the S23 FE.

The Galaxy S23 FE currently runs One UI 8, and One UI 9 will be its fourth and last major OS upgrade.

Galaxy AI is also a factor if you enjoy these sorts of tools. The Galaxy S26 FE has the upper hand. It ships with every Galaxy AI feature you'll find on pricier premium phones, whereas the Galaxy S23 FE's AI suite is more limited and not entirely up to date, likely due to hardware limitations.

Samsung will release the Galaxy S26 FE globally on September 4. Buyers in the US will be able to order theirs a day early through select carriers.

The Galaxy S26 FE is pricier than the S23 FE was at launch and will go on sale for $699 / £699 / €799.