Samsung Galaxy S26 FE Officially Launches With One UI 9 and Android 17

Samsung has officially introduced the Galaxy S26 FE, bringing a faster chipset and several new AI-powered features to its Fan Edition lineup. The phone focuses heavily on software and AI improvements, while most of its core hardware remains similar to the previous-generation Galaxy S25 FE.

The Galaxy S26 FE will run Android 17 with Samsung’s One UI 9 interface from the start. This makes it the first model in the Galaxy S26 family to launch with the new software.

Samsung Galaxy S26 FE Officially Launches With One UI 9 and Android 17 Features

Samsung has not officially highlighted the chipset used in the Galaxy S26 FE, but the phone is expected to feature the Exynos 2500. The 3nm chipset was previously used in the Galaxy Z Flip7.

This is a notable upgrade over the Galaxy S25 FE, which came with the Exynos 2400. The Exynos 2500 uses newer CPU cores and comes with a more powerful AMD RDNA 3-based GPU. Its NPU also offers significantly more computing hardware for AI-related tasks.

The new chipset should help the S26 FE handle demanding applications and Samsung’s growing collection of AI features more efficiently.

One UI 9 Brings Several AI Features

AI is one of the biggest highlights of the Galaxy S26 FE. Samsung has added several features that were previously introduced on its more expensive flagship devices.

One of them is My FanCam, which first appeared on Samsung’s latest foldable phones. The feature can automatically track a person in an existing video. It adjusts the zoom and keeps the selected person near the center of the frame.

The phone also supports Horizon Lock. This feature keeps videos level even when the phone rotates while recording. Samsung has also improved Nightography to produce brighter and clearer video in dark environments.

Photo Assist is another AI-based feature. It allows users to edit images using simple instructions. Users can ask the AI to change a background, turn a daytime scene into a nighttime image, or add and remove objects from a photo.

One UI 9 also brings improvements to Now Brief. Users can create text-based widgets using natural-language commands. For example, they can ask the feature to summarize certain information and present it in a simple card.

See Also: Samsung Exynos 2700 Shows Impressive Performance Against Snapdragon Chips

Familiar Display, Cameras and Battery

Apart from the new chipset and software, the Galaxy S26 FE shares much of its hardware with its predecessor.

The phone has a 6.7-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, 1080p+ resolution, and a peak brightness of 1,900 nits.

Samsung has also kept the 4,900mAh battery. It supports 45W wired charging and 15W wireless charging.

The camera setup is also largely unchanged. The rear system includes a 50MP main camera, an 8MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, and a 12MP ultra-wide camera. A 12MP camera handles selfies and video calls.

Samsung is promising seven years of operating system updates and security patches, matching the company’s long-term software support for other recent Galaxy devices.

Six months of Google AI Pro included

Samsung is also offering a new benefit with the Galaxy S26 FE. Buyers will receive a six-month trial of Google AI Pro, which is valued at $120 and includes 5TB of cloud storage.

This offer was previously associated mainly with Samsung’s premium foldable phones, so its arrival on the Fan Edition series gives the S26 FE an additional advantage.

Price and Availability

The Galaxy S26 FE will go on sale starting September 4 in Blueberry, Pistachio and Graphite colors. Some carriers may offer the phone earlier.

The base model comes with 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, while a 256GB version will also be available. The starting price is $700, which is $50 higher than the launch price of the 128GB Galaxy S25 FE.

Some markets will also receive a 512GB storage option.

Pricing and availability in other markers inclusing Pakistan is not clear yet. But we will update you when we get more information about it.

Overall, the Galaxy S26 FE is more of an evolution than a major hardware redesign. Its biggest changes come from the new Exynos 2500 chipset and the wider range of AI features included with One UI 9.