Sample Testing: S25 FE vs. A56: The Upper Mid-Range Melee

[GusB]

If you're deciding where to drop your cash, ive compared 2 Sammy devices youmay be cross-shopping,A56 (previous sample test) and the newly releasedS25 FE. It's Power vs. Price.

A34, A35, A56

Price & Value (accurate at time of posting on S.com)

A56 (256GB): The mid-range champ, is currently around £425, great value for money,OR better still theA36 for slightly less spec for that sweet lower mid price of £324.

S25 FE (128GB): The premium entry. Starts at £649. You pay a £200+ premium for flagship DNA and a string of multiple little improvements dotted about here and there that youmay benefit from.

S25 FE 

Performance & Specs

This is where the money goes. The S25 FE is running a seriously beefier engine.

Processor

-A56: Uses theExynos 1580. Fast and smooth for daily use and lighter games, many people I'm sure would be totally satisfied.

-S25 FE: Packs the Exynos 2400. This is the 2024flagship chip, offering a massive leap in power for heavy multitasking and mobile gaming. It's 50% more power in single core and almostdouble in multi core (geekbench 6)PLUS dont forget image processing, video capture etc etc... it's just a better chip.

Display

Both are 6.7-inch, 120Hz AMOLED, but the S25 FE gets the brighter Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel. Sammy are FAMOUS for their mobile screens, I mean even Apple use them, and these are no exception.

Durability

The S25 FE features the superior IP68 rating(better water/dust protection), while the A56 has a very good IP67 rating. Depends how often your planning on dropping your phone down the toilet I guess.

Charging

Both support fast wired charging (up to 45W), but the S25 FE adds the convenience ofWireless Charging.

Battery

The A56's larger 5,000mAh battery, combined with its less powerful chip, would likely win on real-world endurance but I'm not able to do a true side by side as I gave the A56 back before reviewing the S25FE... 

Camera Showdown

More to come on this topic with sample shots; both phones take great main photos, but they swap one key lens for another.

-A56: Triple camera system with a 50MP Main, 12MP Ultrawide, and a 5MP Macro(mostly a fun-but-niche lens).

-S25 FE: Triple camera system with a 50MP Main, 12MP Ultrawide, and a crucial 8MP 3xOptical Telephoto lens. This gives the FE a massive advantage for high-quality portraits and zooming into action without losing detail.

A56

Final Words

- Get theA56: If you only need great performance for everyday apps and light gaming. It’s built well, great specs at this upper-mid range, and good cameras for those family and holiday snaps.

- Get theS25 FE: If you're more of a power user, you need the better camera flexibility (that 3x zoom!), or you absolutely require wireless charging. It’s the affordable path to a flagship feel. 

** Disclaimer ** I'm not areal reviewer, I find it quite hard to compare some of these devices are they are SO SIMILAR. I currently use the S25 Ultra which makes it harder as there's no comparison🤣

I guess ultimately, the more you spend, the more you do get, but will you benefit from those increased specs? Stick to your budget and buy what's RIGHT for you.

( @SocietyGirl )

[JAMES4578]

@GusB  interesting review which gives the pointers for a variety of users.  The S25 FE is obviously the better Device but think if I was looking for an Mid Range Device for contingencies  the A56 5G would suit me fine. When testing although some compromises thought it had a bit of a premium feel and was quite snappy.

[Maria_vm]

I would upgrade to the s25 fe in a heartbeat if it wasnt for such a big phone. I wish Samsung made more midrange/fe smaller phones. Thats why I always go for the base flagship series. Price of the fe would make it so tempting if it wasnt so big 😅

[GusB]

Yeah this size has totally become normalised.

[Shilpsz]

Disappointed with the front camera and selfie quality on S25fe my S10 was miles better in this respect

[AnthonyPA]

I have an A16 and i read on your review a A56 so does that mean im 40 phones behind 😆 not that i really care, its just amusing how many A's and S's they bring out. Surely its got the the point that most phone's do the same, its only the memory and camara that seems to change, not much else. And recently the only reason i got this phone was because of the change in 2,4, to now 5g. But its odd because my older phone the Samsung A12 still works the same as it did before. But still, this phone now seem to have better A.I interaction.

[GusB]

Ha! No you're good... With the A series there's different tiers of spec, the first number denotes the place in the tier, the second number is the year of release.
So A06, A16, A26, A36 and A56 all came out in the same year (2025) but the bigger the number, the higher the spec. (No idea why there's no A46...)

There is a difference between each, but maybe not to a lot of people.

Yes there's alot of phones, there's also an M series in some markets!!!

[AnthonyPA]

Better for gaming though, if your into gaming on a phone. I've not for years, but reasonatly ordered those phone gaming tablets that you just put the phone in the slider part. Im huge Division gamer and they are doing a mobile version so, how can i resist 😅. So maybe a pain for a few, but for us gamers its a bigger screen, so all good. Jeez im 55 and worrying about gaming 😅

[GusB]

I'm with you man, I use mine for gaming. Red Ded Redemption 1 is coming to Android next week, can't wait!!

[AnthonyPA]

Ohh i love R.D.R That will be fun.

[Raza2904]

Did you use a Samsung Galaxy S25 ULTRA to take the pictures?