The Samsung Galaxy S25 FE is pitched as a more affordable version of the flagship Galaxy S25 – but how does it compare to the Poco F7 Ultra?
Poco’s latest mid-ranger manages to stand out from the crowd with flagship-level specs, including the use of the top-end Snapdragon 8 Elite, and impresses with 120W charging. Can the Galaxy S25 FE truly compete with such an affordable smartphone powerhouse?
While we’re yet to fully test the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE, we’ve thoroughly tested the Poco F7 Ultra. Here’s how the two compare on paper to help you decide which is best for your needs.
Pricing and availability
The Poco F7 Ultra is the more affordable of the two smartphones, in the UK at least, coming in at £649 – though as it was released in March, it can often be found at a discounted price. It’s available for just £529 at the time of writing.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 FE is much newer, only having made its debut on 4 September at IFA 2025, and starts at £699/$649 with 256GB of storage. That is cheaper than the flagship Galaxy S25, but it’s also more expensive than the Poco alternative.
The Poco F7 Ultra is more powerful
One of the key selling points of the Poco F7 Ultra is the chipset found within.
Despite its mid-range price point, the Poco F7 Ultra features the top-end Snapdragon 8 Elite – the same chipset found not only in the top-end Galaxy S25 Ultra but other 2025 flagships like the OnePlus 13, Honor Magic 7 Pro and Xiaomi 15 – all phones that cost double that of the F7 Ultra.
The performance is, unsurprisingly, flagship-level, with both excellent day-to-day use and the ability to handle some of the most demanding games available on the Play Store.
With the flagship Galaxy S25 family all sporting the custom Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset, you might assume that the tech has also made an appearance on the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE – but that’s not the case.
Instead, you’re treated to Samsung’s own Exynos 2400. While not exactly a slow chip – it was Samsung’s top silicon in 2024 – it can’t quite compete with the Snapdragon 8 Elite.
We haven’t tested the S25 FE specifically yet, but we’ve seen what the chipset is capable of – it was the chipset of choice for the Galaxy S24 in Europe. Even when compared to the 8 Elite’s predecessor, the 8 Gen 3, the Exynos 2400 trailed in benchmark tests, although day-to-day use was generally solid. It’ll likely be the same story here.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 FE is thinner and lighter
Samsung’s Galaxy S25 FE closely resembles the flagship S25 collection, both in overall look and the materials used. Despite the use of metal and glass, the phone weighs just 190g and measures in at a relatively svelte 7.4mm thick.
The Poco F7 Ultra isn’t quite as slimline, tipping the scales at 212g and measuring in at 8.4mm thick. It is still made from glass and aluminium, like the Samsung alternative, though Samsung uses its own Enhanced Armor aluminium frame that it claims makes it more resistant to damage.
The S25 FE also sports the flagship-level Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection both on the front and rear, while the F7 Ultra uses Poco’s proprietary Poco Shield Glass – and only on the display. Both are IP68 rated, though the F7 Ultra can be submerged in up to 2.5m of water for 30 minutes, while the S25 FE taps out at 1.5m for 30 minutes.
The Poco F7 has higher-res cameras
Poco steals the limelight from Samsung – in most respects anyway – when it comes to the cameras. The F7 Ultra goes all in on megapixel count with a combination of a 50MP main, matching 50MP 2.5x telephoto lens and a 32MP 120-degree ultrawide – though as we found out during testing, there’s more to a camera setup than megapixel count.
In most scenarios, the Poco F7 Ultra delivered pretty good shots – especially the main and floating telephoto lenses – but the ultrawide fell flat in our experience. It was comparatively muddy and flat compared to shots from the other lenses, with a mismatched colour profile.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 FE’s camera offering appears more modest by comparison, featuring a 50MP main lens, an 8MP 3x telephoto lens, and a 12MP 123-degree ultrawide lens. However, its main and telephoto lenses have larger sensors than Poco’s alternatives.
This means that the lenses should capture more light and detail than Poco’s alternative without the need for excessive pixel binning tech – but we’ll have to confirm that once we’ve tested the handset.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 FE has Galaxy AI smarts
Emulating the flagship experience it’s based on, the Galaxy S25 FE has access to the full roster of Galaxy AI features and functionality.
Based on our experience with other Galaxy AI-powered phones like the Galaxy S25 Ultra and Galaxy Z Fold 7, Samsung offers a holistic approach to generative AI, with features and functionality permeating practically every area of the operating system.
Not everything is going to be game-changing, but even small features like call recording and transcription, on-device translation capabilities and Samsung’s excellent object removal camera editing can really come in handy.
That’s not to say the Poco F7 Ultra is devoid of AI functionality – it certainly isn’t. It offers much of the same core functionality, like image editing, text rewriting tools and translation tech, but it doesn’t go quite as far as Samsung’s alternative.
The Poco F7 Ultra has a bigger battery and faster charging
Rather surprisingly, considering the difference in thickness and weight, there isn’t that much difference when it comes to battery sizes.
The Poco F7 Ultra has the larger cell of the two at 5300mAh, but the Galaxy S25 FE’s 4900mAh alternative isn’t that far behind. In reality, you’ll likely not be able to tell the difference, with both likely to last all day without much issue – but we’ll have to confirm that once we test the S25 FE.
Where the two diverge greatly is in the charging department; the Poco F7 Ultra steams ahead with impressive 120W charging and 50W wireless charging – though both require a Xiaomi-branded charger to hit those top speeds, and neither come in the box.
The S25 FE, on the other hand, offers 45W and 15W wireless charging, though you won’t need a proprietary charger to hit those speeds – any USB-C PD charger should do. Given that the S25 FE doesn’t ship with a charger, it’s handy.
Early thoughts
If you want pure power, the Poco F7 Ultra appears to be a better choice; it features the best Snapdragon chip on the market right now, a large battery, and ultra-fast charging. The accompanying cameras are also quite solid, and the design, although not as minimalist and slimline as Samsung’s alternative, still has plenty of character.
That said, the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE appears to be the better choice for those who appreciate high-end design, emulating the flagship S25 collection closely, and for those who want to experience Samsung’s Galaxy AI package.
We’ll reserve our final judgement until we’ve thoroughly tested the Galaxy S25 FE, however, so head back soon.
