Panahi's latest film, It Was Just an Accident, won three Gotham Awards on Monday. The filmmaker has been imprisoned in Iran before — but continues to make movies.
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The Fan Edition range, now dubbed FE, offers a premium flagship experience at a more affordable price, but this is naturally achieved through compromises on the specs sheet. This year’s Galaxy S25 FE tries to be a lower-cost Galaxy S25 Plus, and toward this goal, Samsung has completely delivered.
The Galaxy S25 FE features a solid specs sheet and an experience that’s mostly akin to its more expensive siblings, but some of the tradeoffs result in an experience that’s hard to recommend. The Galaxy S25 FE delivers the same battery life and charging speeds, the same great display, and two of the three cameras are also identical. Yet, the reduction in RAM to 8GB and the switch to last year’s Exynos 2400 processor resulted in performance I found considerably wanting.
A key challenge is the competition - rivals are proving that Samsung may need to tweak its approach to the Fan Edition to deliver on its value. If you’re in the US, the Galaxy S25 FE is much easier to recommend at its starting price of $650, but even then, the OnePlus 13R is a worthy alternative.
In the UK, the Galaxy S25 FE is much harder to recommend. It's starting price is still £649, but there are competitors in this price range that you won't find in the states, like the Honor 400 Pro and Poco F7 Ultra, which both offer more powerful chipsets, better cameras, faster charging, and longer battery life.
That ultimately sums up the biggest challenge for the Galaxy S25 FE. It offers a solid, yet unremarkable experience that doesn’t excel in any particular area and struggles to stand out against its rivals, whether from Samsung or others. It’s a good phone that’ll keep you mostly happy, but there are better choices out there.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge review: Price and availabilityThe US and UK launch prices for the Galaxy S25 FE are competitive, especially as they’ll likely reduce further with sales, and Samsung is offering incentives such as a free Watch 7 and Buds in the UK. It’s worth noting that this pricing applies to the 128GB storage option; the 256GB model costs an extra $50, £50, or €50. If you want the top 512GB model, it’ll cost you a further $100, £100, or €100; at $799 in the US, other devices offer a true flagship experience and also come with similar amounts of storage.
At $649, the Galaxy S25 FE offers considerable value for US audiences and fills an emerging market need. Still, Samsung could do more to deliver a truly competitive experience at this price point.
Storage
US price
UK price
AU price
128GB
$649
£649
AU$1,099
256GB
$699
£699
AU$1,199
512GB
$799
£799
AU$1,399
The Galaxy S25 FE is effectively a pared-back version of the Galaxy S25 Plus at a lower price. It weighs the same, has the same-sized screen, the same battery life and charging speeds, and two of the three cameras are also identical.
To achieve this, Samsung chose to cut down on the RAM (from 12GB to 8GB), reduce the peak brightness of the screen to 1,900 nits, and drop the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor for its own Exynos 2400 processor. The periscope camera is lower resolution and has a longer focal length, but it still offers the same 3x optical zoom.
The 4,900 mAh battery is identical to the Galaxy S25 Plus, as is the 45W charging, which is faster than the 25W included in the more expensive Galaxy S25. There’s also 15W wireless charging and Qi2-Ready cases that add magnetic wireless charging support. As it launches with Android 16 and One UI 8 out of the box, the Galaxy S25 FE will receive one more software update than its namesake siblings.
Samsung Galaxy S25 FE
Dimensions
161.3 x 76.6 x 7.4 mm
Weight
190g
OS
OneUI 8, Android 16, up to 7 major Android upgrades promised
Display
6.7-inch Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, 1,900 nits peak brightness
Chipset
Exynos 2400 (4nm)
RAM
8GB
Storage
128GB / 256GB / 512GB
Battery
4,900mAh
Rear cameras
50MP main, 12MP ultra-wide, 8MP telephoto
Front camera
12MP
Charging
45W wired, 15W wireless
Colors
Icyblue, Jetblack, Navy, White
Samsung Galaxy S25 FE review: DesignPut the Galaxy S25 FE and Galaxy S25 Plus next to each other, and by design, they’re virtually indistinguishable. The Galaxy S25 FE offers most of the Galaxy S25 Plus experience at a lower price by retaining the same design language as the rest of the Galaxy S25 series.
The exception to this is in the rear glass finish. Almost a year after the Galaxy S25 Plus, the Galaxy S25 FE solves one of my key problems with the Plus's navy finish: it scratches extremely easily. Although there’s no notable change to this finish, during my time with the Galaxy S25 FE, I’ve found that the rear finish is more durable than the Galaxy S25 Plus, which is a welcome improvement that wasn’t even applied to the Galaxy Z Fold 7 a few months ago.
Beyond this, the build is virtually identical to the Galaxy S25 Plus, right down to the same 190 grams weight. By virtue of larger bezels — more on that below — the Galaxy S25 FE is almost 3 mm taller and 1 millimeter wider than the Galaxy S25 Plus, but this doesn’t have a large impact on daily usage. Instead, it feels just like the Galaxy S25 Plus does.
If you’ve seen a recent Samsung phone, the design of the Galaxy S25 FE will feel instantly familiar. However, I hope that, in future versions, Samsung aims to differentiate it somewhat so it feels unique, in much the same way that the Galaxy S25 Edge feels familiar yet unique within the rest of the Galaxy S25 family.
The key selling point for the Galaxy S25 FE is that it offers a display of the same size and quality as the flagship Galaxy S25 Plus, but at a more affordable price. In this vein, the 6.7-inch screen on the FE absolutely delivers, and it’s one of my favorite features on this phone.
A peak brightness of 1,900 nits is lower than the Galaxy S25 Plus (which reaches 2,600 nits) and lower than key rivals such as the Pixel 10 (up to 3,000 nits) and OnePlus 13R (up to 4,500 nits). Yet, under the bright sunshine in Bali over the past few days, I’ve had zero issues with this lower brightness and it’s proven to be just as capable as its siblings in direct sunlight. There’s also the same 1-120Hz dynamic refresh rate and HDR10+ support, although it lacks the Dolby Vision support that some non-Samsung rivals continue to offer.
Although the screen size is the same, the bezels around the Galaxy S25 FE display are slightly larger than on the Galaxy S25 Plus, but this doesn’t affect daily usage. Similarly, the drop from Gorilla Glass Victus 2 to Gorilla Glass Victus+ on both the front and rear hasn’t led to any reduction in protection, at least in the time I’ve been using it, especially since both feature the same Mohs hardness rating for durability.
Samsung consistently makes my favorite smartphone screens, and the Galaxy S25 FE screen is up there with the best Samsung phones. If you want a large, vibrant, and colorful display, this one hits the mark!
The Galaxy S25 FE runs One UI 8 on top of Android 16 out of the box, and comes with the same seven-year commitment towards software and security updates as the rest of the family. By launching with the latest Android version out of the box, the seven-year commitment means it will support up to Android 23, whereas the rest of the Galaxy S25 is only guaranteed to support up to Android 22.
Samsung has proven to be quite adept at rolling out updates quite quickly — a stark contrast to its past history of being amongst the slowest — so it’s likely that the Galaxy S25 FE will receive updates in a timely way like the rest of the lineup.
One UI 8 remains one of the most polished Android experiences you can find, and the Galaxy S25 FE does nothing out of the ordinary that you won’t find on the rest of the lineup. However, the lower RAM and change in processor — more on that below — also mean AI performance is far weaker, with more tasks requiring cloud assistance rather than being performed on-device.
Samsung’s Galaxy AI suite has all the features you’d expect from an AI suite on a flagship smartphone, but the lack of performant capabilities means you are less likely to use these. That’s a shame as Writing Tools, editing in the Gallery app, and Circle-to-Search are all features I use quite often. On the Galaxy S25 FE, I’ve found I use them less often simply because there’s a notable delay in responses and completing requests.
Beyond this, you’ll find that the Galaxy S25 FE feels just like any other Samsung smartphone. It’s designed to be instantly familiar to anyone who has used a modern Samsung smartphone, and it delivers the same experience and interface as the One UI 8 update for the Galaxy S25 Ultra, Galaxy S25 Edge, and Galaxy S25 Plus.
Look at the Galaxy S25 Plus camera and the Galaxy S25 FE camera, and you'll notice that they're virtually the same. This is both a blessing and a curse, as it's easy for Samsung to use this camera system again — it's been the same in many recent Samsung phones — but it continually struggles against the competition.
However, dive deeper, and you'll notice that while the 50MP main and 12MP ultrawide cameras are the same as the Galaxy S25 Plus, the 8MP telephoto is a step lower than the 12MP telephoto in the Galaxy S25 Plus. As a result, average telephoto performance on the Plus is even worse on the Galaxy S25 FE.
The net result is that while this camera is mostly as capable as the rest of the Galaxy S25 family — save for the flagship Galaxy S25 Ultra — it's not a true flagship camera. Instead, the main and ultrawide cameras are slightly above average at best, while the telephoto is below average, especially compared to the competition.
Despite this, the Galaxy S25 FE does retain one of my favorite camera features on any smartphone camera: color point in portrait mode.
Samsung's portrait mode has proven more versatile than the competition, with a variety of options that can be adjusted before or after taking a photo.
Color Point is the most unique feature on a phone. It lets you keep a subject in color while turning the background grayscale. While performance is less capable on the Galaxy S25 FE than on other Samsung phones, it still lets you capture unique photos that no other phone can natively.
Then there's the 12MP selfie camera, and this delivers the same performance as the rest of the lineup, which uses the same selfie camera. I've found that images are a little soft and lacking in detail, but this is true of most of its siblings.
That mostly summarizes the entire Galaxy S25 FE camera experience: it's virtually identical to the Galaxy S25 Plus, but this isn't necessarily a positive, especially as the Galaxy S25 Plus camera is slightly above average at best. However, the Galaxy S25 FE offering this at a lower price does mean it's better than most phones at this price point.
If there's one area where the Galaxy S25 FE has proven disappointing, it's performance.
Samsung managed to reduce the price of the Galaxy S25 FE (compared to the Galaxy S25 Plus) by switching from Qualcomm's flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy to last year's Samsung Exynos 2400. While this is acceptable for daily use, it has a marked impact on performance under gaming, heavy loads, and AI.
Simply put, the Galaxy S25 FE begins to struggle under heavy loads, especially since the lower RAM means it's often bumping up against the edge of available memory. This is also readily apparent in the camera app, where image processing takes considerably longer than on the Galaxy S25 Plus.
In most daily tasks, the Galaxy S25 FE delivers flagship-level performance, but if you're a heavy user, you will likely find it wanting. Similarly, the fingerprint sensor remains one of the worst on a smartphone to date — just like the rest of the Galaxy S25 family — and Samsung needs to improve it considerably in future phones, especially as the competition is significantly better.
The Galaxy S25 FE features the same 4,900 mAh battery as the Galaxy S25 Plus, and as such, it delivers mostly the same battery life.
During my time with it, it has mostly lasted a full day of use with around 5-6 hours of screen time, but it doesn't achieve much more than that. With heavy usage, this slips to just under five hours, and the battery needs recharging by the end of the day, but this is mostly when using the camera extensively or gaming heavily.
When you need to recharge the battery, charging speeds have improved from 25W to 45W, reducing overall charging time to around an hour.
However, like the rest of Samsung's lineup, achieving the top speeds requires using Samsung's own 45W charger, or another higher-rated PPS charger. When plugged into my trusty Nomad wall charger — which can deliver up to 100W for most phones — or my Anker power bank, I've experienced charging speeds closer to 30W, and overall charging time dropped to around an hour and 20 minutes.
Then there are two different occasions where the Galaxy S25 FE decided to trickle charge and took over 3 hours to charge to full. When I next charged it with the same charger, it had suddenly returned to the fast charging speeds, and even restarting the phone didn't help when it had entered this trickle charging mode. There's no specific reason this should have happened, and I've yet to replicate it beyond those two occasions, but it's puzzling and a little concerning.
Overall battery life is more than good enough for most people, but the charging situation remains somewhat puzzling. It can deliver a fast charge in an hour, but it can also take much longer, and there seems to be little rhyme or reason for it.
Value
If you want a Galaxy S25 Plus at a more affordable price, the Galaxy S25 FE delivers. However, rivals stand out for key reasons in ways that the Galaxy S25 FE just can't.
4/5
Design
An improved rear finish over the Galaxy S25 Plus, but otherwise this is virtually indistinguishable from the rest of the Samsung's lineup. I wish Samsung had found a way to make it stand out.
4/5
Display
The same great display I saw on the Galaxy S25 Plus (with the same below-average fingerprint scanner). It’s vibrant and sharp, even in direct light despite the lower peak brightness, but it remains one of the best screens on a phone.
4/5
Software
Samsung’s One UI looks as good as ever, though the lack of performance means the AI features are less useful than ever. Thankfully, this phone still gets seven years of updates so is a solid buy for long-term support.
3/5
Cameras
The cameras are virtually identical to the Galaxy S25 Plus, meaning you get the same above-average camera experience. Yet, this is the same camera system found on Samsung phones for years, and doesn't stand out in any way, especially when rivals offer better zoom performance.
3/5
Performance
The Exynos 2400 is a key difference to the rest of the Galaxy S25 family, and also a source of disappointment for overall performance, but especially on-device AI features. An older Snapdragon chipset would likely have performed better here.
3/5
Battery
Solid but unremarkable battery life, that's just shy of the battery found on the Galaxy S25 Plus.. The 45W charging is a welcome improvement, but doesn't markedly change overall charging times and neither stands out against the competition.
3/5
Buy it if...You want a cheaper Galaxy S25 Plus
The Galaxy S25 FE is effectively a more affordable Galaxy S25 Plus, so if your budget doesn't stretch that far, or deals aren't as widely available, you should consider the Galaxy S25 FE.
The camera isn't as important to you. If you don't take many photos or don't care about the best camera, the Galaxy S25 FE is worth considering.
Don't buy it if...You want the best phone.
If you want the best phone, look elsewhere. The Galaxy S25 FE is fine, but there are better phones you can buy at a similar price.
You want a camera that doesn’t disappoint.
The Galaxy S25 FE's camera can be disappointing if you want the best or if you take a lot of photos.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus
The Galaxy S25 Plus is a better version of the Galaxy S25 FE, and is often available at a similar price, especially outside the US. If it's between these two, the Galaxy S25 Plus is a much better purchase.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus review
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.
If you want the best Samsung phone you can buy, this is it, as it comes with an S Pen, anti-glare screen, two zoom lenses, incredible battery life, and up to 1TB of storage. The only problem? It's twice the price.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review
How I tested the Samsung Galaxy S25 EdgeI've been using the Galaxy S25 FE for over two months since its launch in early September.
Before posting this review, I used it extensively in the US, UK, and Bali for a week, complete with two active SIM cards. I tested all of the AI features on both Wi-Fi and mobile data connections, as well as
Future Labs tests phones using a mix of third-party benchmark software and proprietary, real-world tests. We use Geekbench, CrossMark, JetStream, WebXPRT, Mobile XPRT, and 3DMark for performance testing. We test a phone's performance on video tasks using Adobe Premiere Rush. We also measure display color output and brightness.
For battery testing, we perform proprietary tests that are the same for every phone, which enable us to determine how long it takes for the battery to run down.
Why you can trust TechRadar☑️ 100s of gaming laptops reviewed
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At a White House this afternoon, President Trump said he was terminating "ridiculously burdensome" fuel economy rules. It's part of a series of changes relaxing or eliminating rules promoting cleaner cars.
(Image credit: Mario Tama)
Now, I love my trusty M4 Pro 14-inch MacBook Pro. It helps me run all of what I do for my business, all my clients, and beyond. But, when I got word of a laptop with a rolling display from Lenovo, I knew it was going to be something uniquely incredible.
I've tested some of the best business laptops around. Some that have incredible performance, some with incredible screens, some with more power than some entire companies can produce, and some with features that are sweet and enhance productivity in cool ways. But a rolling laptop with an extendable display at the touch of a button is something that I never expected. After all, as Lenovo is keen to remind us, this is the world's first rollable laptop for working on the go.
The ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable's extending display isn't even a gimmick; it works, and it works well. It's genuinely helpful, and it's something that I have learned to love and cannot wait to see what version 2 looks like.
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable: Price and availability(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable is a first-generation device. No other laptop has done this before, so I don't expect this to be a budget laptop. On top of that, this computer packs an Intel Core Ultra 7, Windows 11 Pro with Copilot, 32 GB of soldered memory and a terabyte of storage. This would be a capable business machine even without the rollable screen, that's just the icing on the cake.
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable: Unboxing and First Impressions(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable Laptop is the first time that I haven't left the charger in the box in a long time. Usually, I jump to using an Anker or UGREEN charging brick and cables due to being more compact and powerful than most laptop bricks (except for the monster workstations I test), or I know I'm going to be hopping from docking station to docking station and only need to maybe top off on the go. But, with Lenovo's GaN charger in the box, I may actually keep this one in my bag for a while as my USB-C Charger on the go, or at least I don't feel the need to change it up right away.
Beyond that, the computer comes with docs, and the laptop itself. pretty straightforward. Right away, after I started the computer, of course the first thing I had to do was open the rollup screen. That first time even to now, after using this computer in my personal rotation for 99 days at the time of writing this, I am still blown away at the display. It feels magical every time.
It's taken a little bit to get the settings dialed in the way I want, mostly with choosing to finally disable the smart widgets when I extend the display. For some, I could see this being super helpful, but for me, when I extend the screen it's because I want to control what is down there, not have Lenovo throw a calendar and some other widgets at me, but then again, maybe that's showing my control issues a bit too much.
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable: Design & Build Quality(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )The rolling mechanism still shocks me. I've opened and closed this display countless times, and still, I'm blown away. The motor-driven display is smooth, easy, and surprisingly fast.
Beyond the display, the keyboard is comfortable, even for all-day typing, and I appreciate the full-function row on the top. The touchpad is good, nothing amazing, but nothing negative so far, and the built-in fingerprint reader is a nice touch.
Lenovo made the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable MIL-STD 810H-certified, with a still 50% recycled aluminum bottom cover.
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable: In use(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )SpecsCPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 258V
GPU: Intel Arc Graphics
Memory: 32 GB
Storage: 1 TB SSD
Display: 14″ (2000 × 1600) → 16.7″ (2000 × 2350) POLED, 400 nits, 100 % DCI-P3
Camera: 5 MP + IR
Ports: 2 × USB-C (Thunderbolt 4 / DisplayPort 2.1 / PD 3.1), 1x 3.5 mm audio combo
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
Battery: 66 Wh Rapid Charge (up to 80 % in 1 hr)
Dimensions: 303.5 × 230.6 × 19.9 mm
Weight: 1.69 kg (3.72 lb)
Like I mentioned above, I've had this computer in my rotation for almost 100 days at the time of writing this. It's been one of the most fun laptops to carry around because everyone around stops and stares and asks questions, regardless of if I am working from an office I frequent, a coffee shop, a co working space, on a train or even in my own home, my three kids are shocked every time they see it, even my one-year-old daughter gasps "whoaoww" every time I extend the display.
When you first use the extended screen, Lenovo suggests using their smart workspace feature that allows for pinning apps or widgets for quick access. Personally, I didn't find anything worth putting there, but that could be due to my particularity.
What I do like to do, though, is when I want more screen, I will simply wait for it to fully extend while working on whatever I am working on, then I will use a quick command or the trackpad to pull the window down to the bottom third or half. That section is also great for messaging apps such as Slack or Project management tools like Notion. However, Lenovo has made this display so seamless and excellent that you don't even need to think of that extended display as an extension, but rather a continuation of the main display.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable: Final verdictThe ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable laptop changes what I think of when I think of a laptop. It also changes what is possible when it comes to working remotely or on the go.
Granted, adding two inches of screen real estate is not the same as bringing along the Sotsu Portable monitor or whipping out a tablet for extra productivity, but it also isn't trying to be. This is a whole new way of thinking about laptop size and functionality.
Much like how when the Cybertruck hit the market and shook up the truck world by being a truck but not a truck, the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable laptop is a laptop, but its more.
Should you buy a Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable?Image 1 of 13(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )Image 2 of 13(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )Image 3 of 13(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )Image 4 of 13(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )Image 5 of 13(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )Image 6 of 13(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )Image 7 of 13(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )Image 8 of 13(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )Image 9 of 13(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )Image 10 of 13(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )Image 11 of 13(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )Image 12 of 13(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )Image 13 of 13(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )Value
First-Gen rollable laptop, yet reasonably priced for what it is
4 / 5
Design
Sleek design with smooth OLED rollable display
4.5 / 5
Hardware
Fast chip, fast ram, fast wireless, and a fancy display
4.5 / 5
Performance
Great for productivity, which is what it's designed for
4.5 / 5
Overall
This laptop is clearly for the individual that is productivity-focused, this is a really unique and powerful option
4.5 / 5
Buy it if...You like new technology
Rolling displays are still on the forefront, so if you want to hop on the bandwagon of new technology, check this out.
You always want more screen
If you're the kind of person always wishing they had a bit more screen real estate, look no furtherView Deal
You're needing the most powerful laptop experience
This laptop is a productivity machine, but not the most powerful of workstations. It's a business laptop first and foremost.
You need a lot of ports
Sadly, this laptop only has two USB-C/Thunderbolt ports. If you need more, this just does not have it, sadly
For more, we've tested the best Lenovo ThinkPad laptops.
Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control Prevention will scrutinize the childhood vaccine schedule and may start to upend it.
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A forthcoming inspector general report finds that had intel shared by Hegseth been intercepted by an adversary, it would have endangered servicemembers, according to a source who viewed the findings.
(Image credit: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds)