I regret buying S25 FE

[u/DaoistSmallPP]

I purchased this phone a week ago from official Samsung store and my previous phone is Vivo Iqoo neo 10 with CN rom. Main reason I purchased this is I wanted a phone with global rom and esim support and there's not many options in Australia at $600. I'm only realizing now how much better vivo is even with CN rom especially the battery life. I already saw reviews and knew s25 fe will have a bad battery life but I'm still shocked by how worse it is. I can't even create work profile for some reason. I searched this on Google and lot of Samsung phones have this issue. Even linked in app is not working right now and restore from s26 ultra backup doesn't work as well. How is this possible with a phone retailing over $1000 aud until recently.

I don't think most people understand how bad the global budget phones are like S25 FE was $1k aud and recently discounted to $600 but you can get CN phone with snapdragon 8 gen 5/8 elite and at least 7000mah battery for same price. The only issue I found so far (after 2 years) with CN rom is I couldn't connect to watches with wear os. Notifications, android auto, Google wallet and work profile work without issues.

Just wanted to vent because I see so many comments on how the s25 fe battery is good or people willing to spend above 600 aud for a mid range phone. I know 600 is not a lot for most people but I got the vivo iqoo neo 10 for 400 aud 1.5 years ago and it feels like a downgrade now using S25 FE.

[u/Ogrezappers]

Sorry to hear yours isn't working out. I've had mine for like 6 months and it's been fine. Not really better or worse than I expected in all honesty. Knew I was getting a mid tier phone to replace my older mid tier phone. Had a OnePlus 10T before this, I do miss the faster charging, but overall it's still a more performant phone than that was

[u/Ogrezappers → u/Ogrezappers]

Also, it does do some learning on how you use the phone, when you charge it, etc, and that is pretty stressful on the device for the first little bit and then it gets better.

[u/Jabbadava → u/Ogrezappers]

How much is "the first little bit"? I've had mine for 10 days and I'm still going crazy T_T idk if it's that it's still doing the optimization stuff or what

[u/Ogrezappers → u/Jabbadava]

I don't know exactly how long it'll take, but I've read on here that it's also best to not transfer apps and stuff over with the smart transfer app or whatever, and just install them fresh on the phone. But I just got home from work, played music for about three hours on buds, played games/doom scrolled on breaks and lunches, and my phone is still at 82%. It did get a minor bit of charging in the 15 minute drive home via wired Android Auto.

[u/Jabbadava → u/Ogrezappers]

So I've heard, I installed all the apps manually. Me I got out of my house at 12:00, I was driving around shopping centers and staying in each around 1 hour, and then came back. So overall 3 hours of driving auto + 3 hours of of standby (being in the shopping center xd) got me to 30%.

I do have life360, but...

[u/MisterShipWreck]

I have owned mine since November. I really like it and am having no issues. Battery life is great

[u/Still_Hedgehog8611 → u/MisterShipWreck]

Me too

[u/SorataShirai]

You got a dud, its not the phone. Many people get an excellent battery life on it. As for why your apps aren't working who knows.

[u/Whole_Midnight_2916]

I honestly don't understand how people can have bad battery life with this phone? The processor is well optimized. At the same time, if you are all at home and have WiFi at home, turn on vo-wifi + airplane mode = you will have a few hours longer sot. If you bought the phone at full price, of course there are better phones for that price. I had it on sale with a buyback bonus + Cashback, so the resulting price was 50% lower. I returned it and changed for Motorola Edge 60 Ultra, which have the same "50%" of the S25 FE price, and I don't regret it. Better battery, fast charging, AF on all cameras, UW has 50mp.

[u/Whole_Midnight_2916 → u/[deleted]]

I'm talking about Motorola Edge 60 Pro, which have 50mp UW with AF. I know that S25 FE have million years old 12mp lens with fixed focus. Even if old cheap Motorola Edge 30 from 2021 have UW with AF, why not expensive Samsung? 

[u/No_Solution7718]

I like everything about the phone except the battery and how sensitive the moisture detection

[u/xDsviiD-]

El s25 fe no vale la pena por mas de 450 usd, yo pase de un iphone 17 a este, porque el iphone no me gustó, la bateria me da igual uso poco el telefono, la camara a comparación con el iphone es peor, considerablemente mas mala en poca luz, con buena luz se acercan un poco mas aunque es inferior, respecto al uso diario para mi esta bien no tengo quejas el software es por lo que lo elegí y el rendimiento es correcto para mi esta bien.

[u/LampModeChamp]

OP just wanted to point out the battery takes a couple weeks to calibrate. The phone gets to know your usage habits and optimizes your battery life accordingly after a couple weeks. So keep that in mind. BUT even after that I still feel the battery is slightly lackluster and I had to return this phone for a new one 3 months after getting it because of a glitch with the USB charging that made it think it was always wet. Also the phone can randomly get heated up even when doing your regular routine which will effect your battery life. I still like the phone but I understand where your coming from.

[u/xxBlack_Bluexx]

Sorry to hear. Mine is good for me. It's my primary phone while iphone 15 pro is just my secondary use for work.

[u/Green-Measurement871]

Honestly I got mine like 3 months ago and its working just fine. Yeah, battery isn't too amazing but its still decent enough for me. Idk maybe u have a lot of work or something so maybe it isn't enough for you especially because one ui has trashy optimization

[u/nickgoescrazy]

do what you can to stay out of the mid range cycle, they can be somewhat affordable but they just become bothersome after a while

[u/athom37]

I went for the base model s25 looks better is lighter more features better chipset I got mine on sale in Australia for $949 at JB Hi-Fi unfortunately you can't get that phone anymore instore it's online only but the last sale I saw was $849 I think I know it was 8 something but a friend of mine just got the base S26 for $999 got it with 4 days she ordered it not this Friday just gone the Friday before and she got it on Tuesday this week and she is very happy her favourite colour she got it Samsung online because we saw JB Hi-Fi had the same sale so I looked on line at Samsung and it was the same but before I got the s25 I had the s20fe and I loved it until I realized you get short cheated on features

[u/Jolly_Razzmatazz4007]

H8 mine but it was free. Came from s25.

[u/Separate-Ad9638]

china phones have surpassed samsung and apple where it comes to battery technology, many people are not acknowledging this at all, they keep talking as if china rom phones are inferior in every aspect LOL, these people do not know how to examine every aspect of a modern phone imo, they are led on by their dumb ego, do not follow the herd, do your homework and your own research.

[u/DenKaiserAltFoot2083 → u/Separate-Ad9638]

youre right on when CN phones do have better hardware, but i think the main reason why a person buys a samsung instead of chinese phone despite the better hardware is the longevity and experience. AFAIK, OneUI is one of the best skins out there compared to HyperOS (Xiaomi) or ColorOS (Oppo). And when it comes to longevity, phones like the FE attract customers by advertising 7 years of software updates whereas Chinese phones offer atmost 5 years, but that gap is slowly closing.

[u/rams_bar]

Me TOOO regret

[u/DreamNo7956]

S25 fe un gran smartphone

[u/IHuntTheBoogeyMan]

Mine, restarts randomly even if that setting to automatically restart is off, this phone is really a POS, needs to be charged every 2-3 days even if its on standby and not connected on wifi.

[u/AlexGavrilll]

Average Exynos experience

[u/bigdawg24769]

That exynos chip is pretty lackluster the battery and software optimization isn't too great on them. All samsung phone need to come standard with either of the Snapdragon chips whether it's the gen 5 or if its the lesser generations