Is Samsung's Galaxy S26 FE still a good value at $700?

This is Samsung's Galaxy S26 FE. It starts at $700 for 128 gigs of space and $800 for 256 gigs of

space. But does it offer enough features for its price? Let's find out on all things mobile

The S26 FE's biggest change is its 12 megapixel selfie camera. That's the same megapixel count as

last year's selfie camera, but its new wider field of view allows you to photograph more of

your surroundings. But I'm most excited about all the camera software features the phone is getting

from Samsung's more expensive devices. Super steady video with horizontal lock helps keep your video shooting stable even when

your hands are shaking or you're moving around while recording. My fan cam automatically frames specific subjects within a video, and Samsung's audio eraser

removes background noise from videos you take on the FE and also supports Netflix and YouTube

All of these features are part of Android 17 and Samsung's One UI 9, and the S26 FE's

lower cost makes them more accessible than any of the other phones in the company's lineup

Plus, the phone works with Samsung's new Smart Switch app, which makes it easier to move your

app data and text over from an iPhone. I still don't need time to test out the S26 FE, but on

paper, I can see this being a very solid upgrade for someone looking to get a nice phone with access

to all of Samsung new features especially if you coming from a Galaxy S23 FE or earlier The phone has a 6 display which is great if you want a bigger phone but I do wish it was brighter The phone peak brightness is 1900 nits and that should suit most environments but

other comparably priced phones are hitting 3000 nits. I also wish the phone's $700 price included more storage

128 gigs could fill up fast, especially if you're using it for video

You'll be better off with 256 gigs if you want to use this phone longer term

The phone is powered by Samsung's Exynos 2500 processor, and it's a camera system that

includes a 50 megapixel wide camera, a 12 megapixel ultra-wide camera, and an 8 megapixel

telephoto camera with a 3x optical zoom. Those specs didn't change from the S25 FE, but Samsung improved the digital zoom to 30x

and says that details should look sharper for images shot at 1x and 2x zoom

The phone also has a 4900 mAh battery with 45W wired charging and 15W wireless charging speeds

That's also unchanged from last year, but in our 30 minute wire charging test with the S25 FE

that battery recharged from 0% to 69%, and that's very good. And hopefully the S26 FE pulls in a comparable result

The S26 FE will come in three colors, pistachio green, blueberry blue, and graphite dark gray

It goes until September 3rd. What do you think about the Galaxy S26 FE

from its first impression? Are there other features you wish made it down to its $700 price

Let us know in the comments. For all things mobile, I'm Mike Sorrentino