Apple iPhone 17e vs Samsung Galaxy S25 FE | TechTalkTown
Apple iPhone 17e vs Samsung Galaxy S25 FE
Apple iPhone 17e
Apple
7.5
Capable, but the iPhone 17 is right there
Samsung Galaxy S25 FE
Samsung
7.6
Closest-to-flagship FE yet, but Exynos still bites
Apple iPhone 17e
What Reviewers Agree On
MagSafe is back — the single biggest fix vs the 16e, enabling 15W wireless charging and the entire Apple magnetic accessory ecosystem.
Base storage doubles from 128GB to 256GB at the same $599 price, instantly making the phone a better deal than last year.
The A19 chip delivers flagship-tier performance for the price, outscoring far more expensive Android phones in CPU benchmarks.
Ceramic Shield 2 brings 3× better scratch resistance plus an anti-reflective coating, finally putting the cheap iPhone on the same glass as the rest of the 17 lineup.
Battery life comfortably lasts a full day for most users, with reviewers regularly ending with 15-50% charge left over.
Pros & Cons
Apple iPhone 17e
Pros
MagSafe is back — the single biggest fix vs the 16e, enabling 15W wireless charging and the entire Apple magnetic accessory ecosystem.
Base storage doubles from 128GB to 256GB at the same $599 price, instantly making the phone a better deal than last year.
The A19 chip delivers flagship-tier performance for the price, outscoring far more expensive Android phones in CPU benchmarks.
Ceramic Shield 2 brings 3× better scratch resistance plus an anti-reflective coating, finally putting the cheap iPhone on the same glass as the rest of the 17 lineup.
Detailed Comparison
Design & Build
Apple iPhone 17e
Apart from the new soft pink color and the addition of MagSafe magnets, the 17e is physically identical to the 16e — same 6.1-inch chassis, aluminum frame, single-lens camera plateau, USB-C port, Action Button and notched display. JerryRigEverything confirmed via iFixit teardown that most parts are interchangeable between the 16e and 17e. The big build upgrade is Ceramic Shield 2 on the front, which reviewers say genuinely resists scratches better in real-world use.
MagSafe is the headline addition — Apple has 'righted the wrongs' of the 16e by finally including the magnets the rest of the iPhone lineup has had for five years.
In the new pink shade, the 17e looks great and is one of the best-looking phones at this price point — premium glass back, aluminum sides, no plastic anywhere.
Apart from a 2-gram weight increase from the new magnets, the 17e and 16e have identical dimensions — same 5.78 × 2.82 × 0.31 inches, same camera plateau, same notch.
iFixit teardown confirms the 17e's MagSafe back panel, battery, screen and main camera are physically interchangeable with the 16e — even the logic board fits, so a 16e can be upgraded to A19 hardware.
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The 48MP single rear camera takes consistently good photos, especially with Portrait mode and the new post-capture depth control.
iOS 26 plus Apple's seven-ish years of software support make this a phone that will last 5-7 years for the average buyer.
Deal Breakers
The 60Hz display in 2026 is the universally cited deal-breaker — every reviewer says cheap Android phones now ship with 120Hz and the regular iPhone 17 has ProMotion at $200 more.
Only one rear camera — no ultrawide — limits framing for group shots, landscapes, tight indoor scenes, and tasks where the Pixel 10a's second lens is genuinely useful.
The iPhone 17 is just $200 more and unlocks ProMotion, Dynamic Island, always-on display, an ultrawide, the new 24MP square selfie camera, and a slightly larger sensor — most reviewers say the $200 step-up is the one to take.
No Ultra Wideband (UWB) chip means precision-finding AirTags and other UWB accessories don't fully work — a strange omission on a current Apple phone.
Same 12MP selfie camera as the 16e — no Center Stage, no square sensor, no automatic landscape switching that's on every other 17-series iPhone.
Notch is unchanged from the iPhone 14 era — no Dynamic Island, which means no Live Activities housing and a design that already feels years behind.
Samsung Galaxy S25 FE
What Reviewers Agree On
The 6.7-inch 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED display is bright, vivid, HDR10+ accurate, and at 1,900 nits one of the best screens you can get at this price.
Battery life comfortably lasts a full day on the 4,900 mAh cell — the largest ever in a Samsung FE — and matches the S25+ on capacity.
Seven years of OS and security updates is the longest support commitment in the midrange and beats every direct rival including the OnePlus 13 and Xiaomi 15T Pro.
The full Galaxy AI suite — Now Brief, Generative Edit, Audio Eraser, Circle to Search, Gemini — works identically to the more expensive S25 series, so you do not pay an AI tax for the FE label.
One UI 8 on Android 16 ships out of the box and is currently Samsung's most polished, slick interface to date.
The new thinner, lighter 190g design with slimmer bezels brings the FE much closer to the S25+ in look and feel than any previous Fan Edition.
Charging has finally been bumped to 45W wired (matching the S25+) and 15W Qi2-Ready wireless, a big jump from the S24 FE's 25W.
Deal Breakers
The Exynos 2400 chipset noticeably throttles in demanding 3D games like Fortnite, Honkai: Star Rail and Minecraft — multiple reviewers measured the phone climbing to 49°C and dropping to 13 fps in sustained gaming sessions.
Camera hardware is identical to the S24 FE — same 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide and 8MP 3x telephoto — meaning anyone upgrading from a recent FE gets essentially no imaging improvement, and the 8MP telephoto is now dated against the Pixel 10 and Nothing 3a Pro.
At $649 it sits in an awkward pricing valley: the base Galaxy S25 was discounted to roughly $10 more during Prime Day, and Reddit users on r/gadgets and r/Android repeatedly describe the FE as a 'foolish edition' for that reason.
Base configuration is still only 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage — felt outdated by reviewers given a seven-year support window where future Android versions will demand more memory.
Qi2 is 'Ready' only — no built-in magnets, so MagSafe-style accessories require a separate magnetic case, the same complaint reviewers had with the full S25 series.
Battery life comfortably lasts a full day for most users, with reviewers regularly ending with 15-50% charge left over.
The 48MP single rear camera takes consistently good photos, especially with Portrait mode and the new post-capture depth control.
iOS 26 plus Apple's seven-ish years of software support make this a phone that will last 5-7 years for the average buyer.
Cons
The 60Hz display in 2026 is the universally cited deal-breaker — every reviewer says cheap Android phones now ship with 120Hz and the regular iPhone 17 has ProMotion at $200 more.
Only one rear camera — no ultrawide — limits framing for group shots, landscapes, tight indoor scenes, and tasks where the Pixel 10a's second lens is genuinely useful.
The iPhone 17 is just $200 more and unlocks ProMotion, Dynamic Island, always-on display, an ultrawide, the new 24MP square selfie camera, and a slightly larger sensor — most reviewers say the $200 step-up is the one to take.
No Ultra Wideband (UWB) chip means precision-finding AirTags and other UWB accessories don't fully work — a strange omission on a current Apple phone.
Same 12MP selfie camera as the 16e — no Center Stage, no square sensor, no automatic landscape switching that's on every other 17-series iPhone.
Notch is unchanged from the iPhone 14 era — no Dynamic Island, which means no Live Activities housing and a design that already feels years behind.
Samsung Galaxy S25 FE
Pros
The 6.7-inch 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED display is bright, vivid, HDR10+ accurate, and at 1,900 nits one of the best screens you can get at this price.
Battery life comfortably lasts a full day on the 4,900 mAh cell — the largest ever in a Samsung FE — and matches the S25+ on capacity.
Seven years of OS and security updates is the longest support commitment in the midrange and beats every direct rival including the OnePlus 13 and Xiaomi 15T Pro.
The full Galaxy AI suite — Now Brief, Generative Edit, Audio Eraser, Circle to Search, Gemini — works identically to the more expensive S25 series, so you do not pay an AI tax for the FE label.
One UI 8 on Android 16 ships out of the box and is currently Samsung's most polished, slick interface to date.
The new thinner, lighter 190g design with slimmer bezels brings the FE much closer to the S25+ in look and feel than any previous Fan Edition.
Charging has finally been bumped to 45W wired (matching the S25+) and 15W Qi2-Ready wireless, a big jump from the S24 FE's 25W.
Cons
The Exynos 2400 chipset noticeably throttles in demanding 3D games like Fortnite, Honkai: Star Rail and Minecraft — multiple reviewers measured the phone climbing to 49°C and dropping to 13 fps in sustained gaming sessions.
Camera hardware is identical to the S24 FE — same 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide and 8MP 3x telephoto — meaning anyone upgrading from a recent FE gets essentially no imaging improvement, and the 8MP telephoto is now dated against the Pixel 10 and Nothing 3a Pro.
At $649 it sits in an awkward pricing valley: the base Galaxy S25 was discounted to roughly $10 more during Prime Day, and Reddit users on r/gadgets and r/Android repeatedly describe the FE as a 'foolish edition' for that reason.
Base configuration is still only 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage — felt outdated by reviewers given a seven-year support window where future Android versions will demand more memory.
Ceramic Shield 2 stood up well in bend and scratch testing — at hardness level 6, scratch marks were so faint they were barely visible, a real improvement over earlier iPhones.
Customizable Action Button is present, but the 17e drops the dedicated Camera Control button found on the regular iPhone 17 and Pro models.
IP68 rating means submersion to 6m for 30 minutes — same as the iPhone 17, and uncommon at this price tier.
Reddit r/apple sentiment frames the 17e's clean single-camera back as a positive — top-voted comments call it 'pretty appealing,' 'nice subtle SINGLE camera,' and reminiscent of the iPhone 4 design.
Samsung Galaxy S25 FE
Samsung has trimmed the S25 FE to 7.4mm and 190g — 8% thinner and 11% lighter than the S24 FE — while wrapping it in the same Enhanced Armor Aluminum frame and Gorilla Glass Victus+ used on the S25 and S25+. Reviewers near-universally agree the phone now looks indistinguishable from the S25+ in the hand, though several note that the design also resembles every other 2025 Samsung phone including the much cheaper Galaxy A56. Colour options are limited to muted Navy, Icy Blue, Jet Black and White — a step back from the playful Mint and Yellow of the S24 FE.
At just 7.4mm thick and 190g the FE is 8% thinner and 11% lighter than the S24 FE, while somehow housing a bigger battery.
For the first time the FE looks and feels every inch the flagship the 'S25' in its name suggests, with an IP68 rating and Armor Aluminum frame nearly matching the S25+.
When I first took the S25 FE out of the box, I thought Samsung had played a cruel trick on me — the phone looks identical to its predecessor and I had to dig the S24 FE out of my drawer to compare them.
It looks almost identical to the Galaxy S25, which in turn looks like a carbon copy of the Galaxy A56 — Samsung's phones are now hard to tell apart.
It's hard to spot any difference between this phone and the Galaxy S25 Plus — only the slightly asymmetrical bottom bezel and camera ring design give it away.
The sides of the phone are flat and unfortunately pretty sharp, which can dig into the hand during long sessions.
The new matte back finish instead of last year's gloss is less prone to fingerprints — a welcome change.
The Navy colourway with silver aluminium railings is one of the nicest-looking phones I've tested all year — a real shame Samsung dropped the Mint and Yellow options.
Display
Apple iPhone 17e
The 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED is identical in resolution, brightness and refresh rate to the 16e — 60Hz, no ProMotion, no Dynamic Island, and a peak brightness measured by Trusted Reviews at around 750 nits. The single concrete display upgrade is Ceramic Shield 2 glass with an anti-reflective coating. Every reviewer flags 60Hz in 2026 as the panel's biggest weakness, especially since Apple finally brought ProMotion to the $799 iPhone 17.
Lack of an always-on display is one of the top things missed when using the 17e — no Live Activities at a glance, no bedside clock mode, no Dynamic Island to surface order updates.
Apple still uses a 60Hz refresh rate when 120Hz is now standard at this price — the smoother screen is one of those things that's hard to appreciate until you experience it, and hard to go back from.
The OLED screen itself is standard base iPhone fare — bright enough, but the max 750 nits measured is below the iPhone 17 by quite some margin, noticeable outdoors in bright sun.
Even at 1200 nits peak brightness, the 17e is quite a bit dimmer than the regular iPhone 17's display, with the gap most obvious in direct sunlight.
The notch is unchanged from the iPhone 14 era — no Dynamic Island, no smaller cutout, even though pre-launch rumors had suggested a swap.
If there was ever an element that didn't deserve to be 'e'd' out, it's the screen — display is the single most important thing on a smartphone and the 60Hz panel is the biggest 'e' thing about this iPhone.
Target customers for the 17e are coming from older iPhones without ProMotion — 9to5Mac argues they won't notice the difference and it does not hinder the iOS experience at all.
Compared to the Pixel 10a's 120Hz pOLED at 3,000 nits peak, the 17e's display 'immediately feels less modern' in side-by-side use.
Samsung Galaxy S25 FE
The 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel runs at 120Hz with 1,900 nits peak brightness, HDR10+ support, and 1080p (FHD+) resolution. Reviewers consistently call it the standout feature of the phone — practically indistinguishable from the S25+ in everyday viewing — though several note it falls short of the S25's 2,600 nits peak and is technically not an LTPO panel like the more expensive Galaxy S models. DxOMark singled out improved colour accuracy and viewing-angle uniformity versus the S24 FE.
It's easy to see the screen in bright sunlight thanks to 1,900 nits of peak brightness, and with HDR10+ support it's great for watching YouTube and Netflix.
With 1,900 nits, Samsung's Dynamic AMOLED panel and HDR10+, everything comes through with such vibrancy and contrast that you can't look away — like having a mini tablet on your person.
Slimmer, more uniform bezels give the phone an improved screen-to-body ratio and a more premium look closer to the S25+.
Peak brightness of 1,900 nits is lower than the flagship S25 models' 2,600 nits in HBM, which can hinder readability in strong sunlight.
Camera
Apple iPhone 17e
The 17e ships with the same 48MP Fusion main sensor as the 16e — physically a smaller sensor than the iPhone 17's main camera — plus the same 12MP selfie camera (no Center Stage square sensor). The single new camera capability is next-gen Portrait mode borrowed from the iPhone Air: depth capture, post-shot focus control, and better segmentation. No ultrawide, no telephoto, no macro mode, no Action mode. The 2× crop on the main sensor is Apple's substitute for a real second lens.
The 48MP rear camera sensor is just a little smaller than the one on the regular iPhone 17 — a difference you'll see in careful side-by-side comparisons, especially low light.
A single camera at $599 is just too limiting — taking a wider group shot or ultrawide architectural close-up simply isn't possible the way it is on the $499 Pixel 10a.
The Pixel 10a is generally more reliable in low light, where the iPhone's Night mode kicks in too aggressively and produces motion-blurred photos of moving subjects.
Next-gen portraits are the most important camera improvement — better segmentation, more natural bokeh, depth captured automatically for people, cats and dogs, and you can adjust blur and focal point after the shot.
The selfie camera is unchanged from the 16e at 12MP — no new square 24MP sensor with Center Stage auto-landscape rotation that's on every other 17-series iPhone.
Side-by-side 1× shots between the 17e and 17 Pro Max are hard to tell apart in good lighting — the 24MP Fusion-engine output looks really great even compared to the Pro.
Apple's 'optical-quality 2× telephoto' is weasel language — it's a 12MP center-crop of the main sensor, not a real second lens, and r/apple commenters call this out specifically.
Video records up to 4K Dolby Vision at 60fps with Spatial Audio — better than most mid-range Android phones and comfortably better than the best Pixel.
I have heard people say they would rather keep their iPhone 12 because it has an ultrawide camera instead of upgrading to a 17e — the missing lens is a real reason average buyers stay put.
Samsung Galaxy S25 FE
Samsung kept the entire rear camera array unchanged from the S24 FE: 50MP main with OIS and f/1.8, 12MP ultrawide at f/2.2, and 8MP 3x telephoto. The only new sensor is a 12MP front-facing camera (up from 10MP) with f/2.2 aperture but, notably, no PDAF. Daylight stills from the main sensor draw consistent praise, but the 8MP telephoto is widely flagged as outdated when the Pixel 10 offers 5x optical and the Nothing 3a Pro packs a 50MP periscope, and the 12MP ultrawide noticeably lags rivals like the Pixel 9. DxOMark ranked the S25 FE lower than the standard S25 in their database.
Samsung made a single tweak to the camera hardware — a higher-resolution 12MP front-facing sensor — but unfortunately omitted the PDAF that would have matched the regular S25's selfie camera.
In 2025 the S25 FE's 8MP telephoto feels outdated — it doesn't offer the 5x optical zoom of the Pixel 10 nor the 50MP resolution and periscope zoom of the Nothing 3a Pro.
The main 50MP camera produces solid photos with good sharp dynamic range and reliable colour accuracy, though indoor photos can be a little muted and flat.
The telephoto camera is a big win at this price — you won't find one on an iPhone unless you spring for the 17 Pro — but the 8MP cap means clarity drops off quickly once you zoom into 3x shots.
Battery & Charging
Apple iPhone 17e
Same 4,005 mAh battery as the 16e, but the more efficient A19 plus the C1X modem give the 17e comfortable all-day endurance — Trusted Reviews finished a typical day with 15-20% left, The Verge ended at ~50% after 3-4 hours of screen-on time, and Wired hit nearly two days on light use. The actually-new charging story is MagSafe + Qi2 at 15W (double the 16e's 7.5W), plus 0-50% wired in 28-30 minutes via a 20W+ adapter. No charger in the box — just a USB-C-to-USB-C braided cable.
No red flags on the battery front — with three to four hours of screen-on time, the 17e finishes the day around 50% remaining.
Battery life is reliable — even on heavy days of navigation, music streaming and video, the 17e lasts a full day with around 20% left before bedtime, and light use can stretch to two days.
MagSafe wireless charging at 15W is a huge real-world improvement over the 16e — in a 15-minute test on a wireless stand the 17e gained 16% versus just 3% for the 16e.
JerryRigEverything teardown actually measured 17W draw from a 15W MagSafe charger, suggesting Apple's headline number may be conservative.
Wired charging goes from 0-50% in 28 minutes with a 20W plug — fast enough for the price, even though no plug is included in the box.
The Pixel 10a's 5,100 mAh battery and 30W charging still pull ahead of the 17e's 4,005 mAh cell — the iPhone's efficiency narrows the gap but can't close it on capacity.
Same 4,005 mAh battery as the 16e, but Apple still rates it for up to 26 hours of video playback — efficiency from the A19 plus C1X keeps endurance roughly identical.
MagSafe also enables the entire Apple magnetic accessory ecosystem — power banks, wallets, tripods, car mounts — that the 16e couldn't tap into.
Samsung Galaxy S25 FE
The 4,900 mAh battery is the largest Samsung has put in any FE phone and matches the Galaxy S25+. Real-world endurance is consistently described as a solid full day with battery to spare — Trusted Reviews ended a heavy day at 22%, Dave2D measured 24 hours of HD YouTube playback, SuperSaf gets a day with no anxiety. Charging finally jumps to 45W wired (from 25W on the S24 FE) and 15W Qi2-Ready wireless — but real-world full-charge times of 69-74 minutes still trail the Nothing 3a Pro and other rivals in the price bracket.
The S25 FE has the largest battery Samsung has ever put in an FE handset at 4,900 mAh (up from 4,700 mAh), with 45W charging giving 50% in 30 minutes.
In our YouTube HD video battery drain test, the S25 FE manages a respectable 24 hours of constant playback at max brightness — only two hours under the S25 Ultra and 5 hours more than the Pixel 10 Pro XL.
On a heavy day involving social, hotspotting, video, calls and gaming, the phone went from 9:25am to 10:40pm with 22% left in the tank.
From dead I clawed back 67% in just 30 minutes and a full charge took 69 minutes — definitely not the fastest around, but handy in a rush.
Charging speed in real-world tests still lags rivals: a full charge takes 69-74 minutes even on a 130W charger, well behind the Nothing 3a Pro's 50W and cheaper Chinese midrangers.
Qi2 is 'Ready' only — no built-in magnets, so MagSafe-style accessories require a separate magnetic case, the same complaint reviewers had with the full S25 series.
Charging speed in real-world tests still lags rivals: a full charge takes 69-74 minutes even on a 130W charger, well behind the Nothing 3a Pro's 50W and cheaper Chinese midrangers.
Peak brightness sits at 1,900 nits, which is a downgrade from the S25+'s 2,600 nits, but you can still use it under the sun — it'll just look a little dim.
While Samsung hasn't officially labeled this as an LTPO panel, the display can drop as low as 1Hz when idle compared to 60Hz minimum on last year's model — a genuine improvement.
The 120Hz refresh rate combined with the chipset's performance creates fast-paced, engaging gameplay, elevated by impressive stereo speakers with a surprisingly deep soundscape.
Photos from the FE look natural with good detail and balanced colours — Samsung's image processing isn't overly aggressive here, so shots don't look oversaturated or oversharpened.
The S25 FE ranks lower than the standard S25 in our database — still photos generally show good quality but results can be inconsistent, particularly for colour rendering and exposure.
Samsung's generative photo editing is among the best at removing distracting objects without smearing the background — one of the few real flagship-grade software touches.
The Editors' Choice-winning Google Pixel 9a delivers similar AI smarts and better photos for significantly less money — value-minded buyers should look there first.
r/Android calls out the same 8MP low-resolution telephoto as the S20 FE, S21 FE, S23 FE and S24 FE — 'it should be a crime to use the Flagship tag on FE models.'
Plugged into a 130W charger the S25 FE took 1 hour 14 minutes to charge from 10% to full — only slightly faster than its predecessor despite the 45W spec.
If battery life is important to you, the Nothing 3a Pro and Pixel 9a are better bets — both have bigger batteries and the Nothing gets 50W charging.
There's 15W Qi2 wireless charging but no MagSafe-style magnets — you need a third-party case to align with magnetic accessories.
Battery life is definitely better on the S25 FE than the S24 FE — it's a genuine full-day phone, though it won't stretch to two days.
