Samsung’s Galaxy S25 FE Could Offer A Nice Surprise In The Hardware Department

The Samsung Galaxy S24 FE hit retail shelves in October last year. While we were impressed with the performance of the mid-tier smartphone, the relatively steep launch-day price tag meant it wasn’t an ideal buy for many. The countdown for this year’s Fan Edition refresh has begun, and based on recent leaks, Samsung wants to outfit the same Exynos 2400e chipset on the Galaxy S25 FE. But a new report suggests the company could follow a different approach this year.

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As per a source quoted by the folks at NotebookCheck, Samsung is also mulling the use of MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400 chip on the Galaxy S25 FE. The publication notes that this will be a “backup plan” in case Samsung cannot produce enough units of the Exynos 2400e meant for the upcoming Fan Edition phone.

MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400 made headlines last year when it became Android’s first 3nm smartphone chipset. It is based on TSMC’s 3nm process (second generation), and currently features on Oppo and Vivo-branded phones in multiple markets. By contrast, the Exynos 2400e is built on a 4nm process and falls short in performance when compared to MediaTek’s more recent offering.

Samsung still has a lot of faith in Exynos

Although the report specifies this is a backup plan for Samsung, the likelihood of the manufacturer launching a portion of the Galaxy S25 FE models with the Dimensity 9400 and the rest with the Exynos 2400e is extremely slim. Considering the obvious gulf in performance between the two chipsets, the company would be effectively shooting itself in the foot with a decision like that. Let’s not forget that MediaTek’s flagship SoC won’t be cheap, particularly compared to a chip made by Samsung Foundry.

If leaks so far are accurate, Samsung is also expected to use the Exynos 2400e on the Galaxy Z Flip FE, though we have also come across reports claiming the Exynos 2500 is in the mix. The Exynos 2500 was also in contention to be used on global variants of the Galaxy S25, though yield-related issues meant Samsung had to use the Exynos 2400 instead.

As for the Galaxy S25 FE, although there’s no date to mark on our calendars yet, we can expect a late Q3 or early Q4 arrival, roughly aligning with the Galaxy S24 FE’s launch last year. Releasing the phone any later than that would pose a great risk for Samsung, especially with the Galaxy S26 arriving in early 2026. It will be interesting to see if Samsung will learn its lesson from the Galaxy S24 FE’s steep price tag and make some amends with the successor.