Why an old Exynos chip in the Galaxy S25 FE could be the best thing about it TechTricks365

Specs for a new Samsung Galaxy S phone recently leaked — and no, they’re not for the Galaxy S26 Ultra. They’re for a phone that’ll be here much sooner: the Galaxy S25 FE. Like the Galaxy S24 FE before it, we expect the S25 FE to deliver specs and features similar to the main Galaxy S lineup, but at a much more reasonable price.

This is the first major Galaxy S25 FE leak we’ve seen, and at first glance, it seems like bad news. Code viewed by Android Authority suggests that the S25 FE will use Samsung’s Exynos 2400e chip, which, for context, is the same one found in the S24 FE last year. In other words, likely no performance or power efficiency upgrades for this next generation of the FE.

Normally, a reused chip in a new phone is disappointing. But in the case of the Galaxy S25 FE, I actually think it’s perfectly fine. In fact, it could be one of the best things about the upcoming phone.

I tested the Galaxy S24 FE for a bit last fall, and while I wasn’t as impressed with it as Ryan was in his Galaxy S24 FE review, there was plenty I still liked about the phone. Ultimately, a lot of that was thanks to the Exynos 2400e.

Performance on the S24 FE was (and still is) great. From daily apps such as Slack and Gmail to playing graphically intense games like Star Wars: Hunters, the phone never felt slow or sluggish. It also did a great job powering the 120Hz AMOLED panel, which looked excellent and moved as fluidly as you could hope for.

Power efficiency was equally impressive. The Galaxy S24 FE proved to be a two-day smartphone for my personal usage. While the 25W wired charge speeds weren’t as fast as I’d like, I didn’t have to worry about that very often throughout any given week.

The Exynos 2400e also lent itself well to two other important areas: software updates and AI features. The chip was capable enough to get Samsung’s best seven-year update guarantee, and the full Galaxy AI suite was available, too. Unlike the Google Pixel 9a, which has some of Google’s AI features but not all of them, the S24 FE gave you the exact same AI experience found on the S24/S24 Plus/S24 Ultra. At the end of the day, almost everything the Galaxy S24 FE got right can be attributed to its chipset.

Unfortunately, other areas of the phone were severely disappointing — the hardware being chief among them. For a $650 smartphone, the S24 FE didn’t feel the price. The aluminum frame was sharp and uncomfortable, the back felt hollow, and the big screen with large bezels was the opposite of ergonomic.

The cameras also left a lot to be desired. The 50MP primary camera performed well in adequately lit environments, but it struggled in low-light and with moving objects. Similarly, the 8MP telephoto camera and 12MP ultrawide cameras were as unremarkable as you’d expect.

More so than the lacking build quality and mediocre cameras, what killed the Galaxy S24 FE for me was the price. At $650, the S24 FE was horribly uncompetitive. It was strong in a bubble, but put next to the $500 Google Pixel 8a or OnePlus 12R — its two biggest competitors at the time of release — there was no contest. Samsung made a good phone with the S24 FE, but not a great one.

With all that in mind, we come back to the Galaxy S25 FE. Right now, all we know about the phone is that it may reuse the Exynos 2400e. And assuming that’s true, it may give us a promising indication of Samsung’s priorities for the phone.

Sticking with the Exynos 2400e for another year means a few things: reliable performance and battery life, long-term update support, and plenty of AI features. Not only does that give Samsung a strong baseline to work from, but given the age of the chip (and likely existing inventory Samsung has on its hands), it should come at a much cheaper cost than last year.

Naturally, that should allow Samsung to focus on improving aspects of the Galaxy S25 FE that need it the most — specifically, tightening up the hardware and adding more reliable camera sensors. If the company were to cram in a brand new chip, that’d likely come at a much higher cost and leave less wiggle room to address those other areas. Sure, we’d see faster performance and maybe some improved efficiency, but when the 2400e has already proven capable in those departments, how much would that matter?

Finally, another year of the same Exynos chip could even result in a more competitive price. It’s too early to say exactly how much the S25 FE will cost, but the reused silicon will only help. Even if the price stays at $650, the savings from keeping the Exynos 2400e should give Samsung enough wiggle room to improve the design, cameras, and potentially other areas, too. If you ask me, that’s a much better outcome than using that money on a new Exynos or Snapdragon chip with performance upgrades that would only be felt by the hardest of power users.

Choosing which specs to upgrade and which to leave untouched is always a delicate balancing act, and in the case of the Galaxy S25 FE, leaving the chipset alone could be the best decision Samsung makes.

Of course, this all hinges on Samsung using the money it saves from the Exynos 2400e and putting it to good use. That’s a big assumption, especially after a fairly tame and disappointing release with the main Galaxy S25 series.

But if there is a chance for the Galaxy S25 FE to be the knockout value its predecessor wasn’t, having the Exynos 2400e is a good start. It signals that Samsung knows where its priorities with the phone should lie. And even with so much about the S25 FE still uncertain, it’s a promising start that has me hopeful for how the rest of it will turn out.