Samsung Launches Cheaper S25 Phone and Upgraded Tablets
Samsung S25 FE
By Samantha Kelly
September 4, 2025 at 5:30 AM EDT
Samsung Electronics Co. unveiled a $650 version of its premium S25 smartphone and a pair of new tablets, the latest effort to roll out artificial intelligence features across its hardware lineup.
The new phone, the S25 FE, short for "fan edition," uses the same aluminum materials and selfie camera as the $800-plus Galaxy S25, but Samsung forfeited a faster-performing chip and some camera capabilities to keep the price down. Samsung also announced two tablets, the $800 Galaxy Tab S11 and the $1,200 Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra. All three gadgets are thinner than their predecessors, and the tablets also add a revamped S Pen, Samsung’s equivalent to the Apple Pencil.
Notably, the starting prices for the new hardware match the cost of last year’s models, bucking a trend of consumer-electronics price increases since the US announced sweeping tariffs earlier this year.
All of the devices include a handful of artificial intelligence features that were previously available on some Samsung devices, marking an expanded rollout across the brand’s lineup. As tech companies invest heavily in AI, handset makers have been leaning more on the technology to convince consumers to upgrade. Google’s new Pixel 10 series is a showcase for the search giant’s latest advancements in that sphere. And Apple Inc., which has made slow progress in the space, is days away from unveiling upgraded iPhones that will be marketed alongside the company’s latest AI features.
Samsung announced the new devices during the IFA technology conference in Berlin. Aside from an emphasis on AI, the launch underscores the company’s push into the mid-range smartphone market, particularly outside the US where it faces stiff competition from companies including Huawei Technologies Co., Oppo and Vivo.
The FE series competes directly with Google’s $499 Pixel 9a and the $599 iPhone 16e. A Samsung spokesperson declined to provide sales figures, but market researcher IDC estimates that FE-branded devices account for 4% to 5% of the company’s annual mobile phone shipments.
Like some earlier Samsung handsets, the S25 FE lets you search for something and then take relevant action, but new to the FE line is the ability to do this while using Google’s conversational Gemini Live tool. For instance, if you grant Gemini Live permission to “see” what your camera sees, you can point it toward a dish you would like to recreate and ask for suggested recipes to add to Samsung Notes.
Separately, Samsung’s AI-powered Now Brief feature pushes timelier updates, such as weather and traffic information, directly to the lock or home screen and can read the brief out loud.
Samsung S25 FESource: Samsung
The 6.7-inch S25 FE is lighter than last year’s model with slimmer bezels around the screen, and it adds a slightly larger battery, following complaints from some users about the usage time. (Samsung declined to provide a precise battery life estimate.) The charging is also faster: It can now reach the 65% mark in 30 minutes, according to Samsung.
Most of the FE’s cameras remain the same. The setup once again includes a 12-megapixel ultra-wide lens, a 50-megapixel wide-angle camera and an 8-megapixel telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. But the selfie camera has 12-megapixel resolution, up from 10 megapixels on last year’s model. That puts it in roughly the same league as the competition. The Pixel 9a has a 48-megapixel wide lens with 13-megapixel ultrawide and selfie cameras. The iPhone 16e, meanwhile, has a 48-megapixel main camera and a 12-megapixel front-facing camera.
The FE also includes faster and more accurate processing for Samsung’s “Instant Slo-mo” feature, which lets users easily convert clips to slow motion. Meanwhile, Audio Eraser, which is used to eliminate video noise, is now accessible in more apps, such as Samsung Notes, Gallery, Voice Recorder and Video Player.
Samsung S11 Tab UltraSource: Samsung
The Galaxy Tab S11 has an 11-inch display, while the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra has a 14.6-inch panel, matching the size of their predecessors. The retooled S Pen stylus has greater pressure sensitivity and an updated design that Samsung says offers an improved grip.
The tablets also integrate some of Samsung’s existing AI features, including Circle to Search and Quick Tools, a floating toolbar at the top of Samsung Notes with shortcuts for things like erasing and highlighting.
Apple will launch a new iPad Pro this year with an M5 chip and plans to debut a new iPad Air and entry-level model next year, Bloomberg has reported.
— With assistance from Chris Welch
bloomberg.com
It features an Exynos 2400 CPU, which should get the job done but won't be quite as snappy as the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite that ships with the rest of the lineup. There's a 6.7-inch AMOLED screen with up to 1,900 nits of peak brightness. The camera system is decent, with a 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultra-wide lens and an 8MP telephoto lens. There's also a 12MP front-facing camera.
Despite being a bit underpowered when compared to the rest of the lineup, the S25 FE still accommodates all of those fancy Galaxy AI bells and whistles. This includes the company's Generative Edit photo software, an on-device assistant and more. So this is a relatively affordable entryway into that world.
engadget.com
All this is powered by a 3nm MediaTek Dimensity 9400+ processor, which the company said is a first for its tablets and brings 20 percent improved CPU and GPU performance over the previous generation. The neural processing unit (NPU) also sees a jump of 30 percent, according to Samsung. That means AI tools like Writing Assist and Drawing Assist should be faster and smoother.
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