Samsung Galaxy A57 vs. Galaxy S25 FE
The Samsung Galaxy A57 quickly became one of the popular mid-range go-to options. However, if you aren't relying on a strict budget and you are looking for a better Samsung experience, the Galaxy S25 FE from last year is somewhat close budget-wise, and it's worth considering.
While the Galaxy A57 sits comfortably in the mid-range bracket, the Galaxy S25 FE crosses the border toward the upper mid-range segment with some flagship-level features.
In some markets, the price difference is smaller than you might expect, making the S25 FE a great deal in comparison, but others will have to consider the pros and cons. We will help you make the choice between the two, so let's dig in.
Table of Contents:
For starters, you can compare the complete spec sheets or directly continue with our editor's assessment in the following video or in the text below.
Size comparison
Despite their class difference, the Galaxy A57 is thinner, lighter and offers the same build quality as the Galaxy S25 FE. Both devices are equipped with Gorilla Glass Victus+ sheets on the front and back, held together by an aluminum frame.
Ingress protection is also the same - IP68. The color options and the camera island design are the only two things that set the two handsets apart.
Display comparison
Even though Samsung markets the two phones' displays differently, there's no practical difference between the two. Same diagonal, same resolution, same refresh rate, same HDR features and, according to our tests, same max brightness, too. In short, don't base your decision on displays alone. The A57's screen is just as good as the one on the more expensive model.
Battery life
The Galaxy A57 and the S25 FE offer roughly the same battery capacities, but the former is the clear winner in this race. The A57 shows better endurance in the web browsing and video streaming tests, helping it earn a better Active Use Score. However, the S25 FE is better for 4G calls, if that matters to you.
It's probably somewhat expected given the more energy-demanding SoC inside the Galaxy S25 FE.
Charging speed
Regardless of the device you choose, you will get the same charging speed, which is somewhat expected given the similar battery size and charging tech. Both devices get 45W wired fast charging over Power Delivery, but only the S25 FE will give you wireless charging and reverse wireless charging. So, in a way, the S25 FE is the winner in this category.
Speaker test
Even though our test ranks the Galaxy S25 FE higher than the A57 in terms of loudness, the difference is negligible in reality. However, the S25 FE is the one with a more desirable tuning. The vocals are deeper and cleaner, the highs are crispier, and the tracks overall sound somewhat warmer.
Performance
The two phones are powered by in-house chipsets with Xclipse GPUs that are co-developed with AMD. The Galaxy A57 employs a typical mid-range Exynos 1680 SoC, while the Galaxy S25 FE gets a flagship grade Exynos 2400 chip.
Both devices offer 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage by default, but the S25 FE has faster UFS 4.0 storage compared to the UFS 3.1 chips used in the Galaxy A57. Interestingly enough, the top-tier 512GB Galaxy A57 variant comes with 12GB of RAM, while the S25 FE settles for 8GB/512GB.
Benchmark performance
Unsurprisingly, the Galaxy S25 FE easily beats the Galaxy A57 in every benchmark scenario. The Exynos 2400 has about 58% faster CPU and almost 2.5x more powerful GPU. In the combined AnTuTu 10 test, the Exynos 2400 outperforms the Exynos 1680 by 74%.
The performance gap between the two phones is hard to ignore, and even with the price difference in mind, the Exynos 2400 SoC tips the scales in S25 FE's favor.
Side note: both phones are expecting 6 major Android upgrades as of the time of writing. Technically, the S25 FE is entitled to 7, but it has been almost a year since its release, so it's down to 6 now. Additionally, the Galaxy S25 FE supports wired and wireless DeX (Samsung's desktop-like big-screen experience), so if you are a power user, you might be better off with the S25 FE.
Camera comparison
The A57 and S25 FE have a lot of similarities in their camera configurations. Both main cameras are built around 50MP 1/1.56" sensors, and both models feature ultrawide cameras with 12MP 1/3" sensors and no autofocus. The front-facing cameras are also fixed-focus and of the same caliber.
The key difference then is the 8MP 3x zoom telephoto on the higher-tier model - the A57 has a 'macro' camera instead. Admittedly, the S25 FE's 8MP telephoto isn't too impressive, but it's certainly a lot better than a 5MP dedicated unit for close-ups.
The camera samples (both photo and video) have been taken on separate occasions with the two phones.
Image quality
Daylight
In broad daylight, main camera photo quality is somewhat similar, though the S25 FE is superior with its detail processing - it just renders fine detail more naturally. Perhaps the FE also has a bit of an edge with dynamic range, though the A57 is doing just fine itself. Both phones will get you lively colors without going into extremes.
Daylight comparison, main camera (1x): Galaxy A57 • Galaxy S25 FE
At 2x, the S25 FE continues to show mature detail processing next to the more intensely sharpened, but ultimately softer A57 output.
Daylight comparison, main camera (2x): Galaxy A57 • Galaxy S25 FE
The FE's telephoto may only have an 8MP sensor, but the phone outputs 12MP images at 3x. Samsung indeed manages to do quite a nice job with the upscaling, treating you to well detailed and overall pretty likeable shots. The A57 was already trailing at 2x and 3x is well outside its comfort zone.
Daylight comparison, telephoto (3x): Galaxy A57 • Galaxy S25 FE
There's not a lot to set the two phones apart when it comes to the ultrawide photos - both are essentially on the same detail level, and both provide expressive shots with great contrast and vibrant colors.
Daylight comparison, ultrawide camera (0.6x): Galaxy A57 • Galaxy S25 FE
Low light
The full auto results from the main camera just might be a little bit cleaner on the A57, while the S25 FE's photos are noisier, but perhaps better with color fidelity (bear in mind that the lights on the left section of the building in the second scene did get changed from amber to a more neutral temperature since the S25 FE's sample run).
Low-light comparison, main camera (1x): Galaxy A57 • Galaxy S25 FE
The FE's Night mode cleans up the noise pretty nicely, while the A57's Night mode doesn't do much good - if anything, it makes things worse.
Low-light comparison, main camera (1x), Night mode: Galaxy A57 • Galaxy S25 FE
At 2x zoom, we're looking at two different styles of 'bad' - the soft and heavily sharpened A57 vs. the noisy and soft (though somehow still detailed) S25 FE.
Low-light comparison, main camera (2x): Galaxy A57 • Galaxy S25 FE
Night mode does make things better for the FE at 2x, but can be more of a detriment to the A57's performance in these conditions.
Low-light comparison, main camera (2x), Night mode: Galaxy A57 • Galaxy S25 FE
When used in Photo mode, the S25 FE's telephoto produces images that are barely usable. You just need to remember to switch to Night mode, which will bring dramatic improvements and capture good-looking shots. The A57 isn't much good at all at 3x, whether in Photo mode, or in Night mode.
Low-light comparison, telephoto (3x): Galaxy A57 • Galaxy S25 FE
Low-light comparison, telephoto (3x), Night mode: Galaxy A57 • Galaxy S25 FE
Neither ultrawide is particularly good in the dark, with both phones producing very soft results.
Low-light comparison, ultrawide camera: Galaxy A57 • Galaxy S25 FE
Night mode may sharpen things quite a bit on both phones, and in this case we'd be leaning towards the FE - with detail a tie, its better colors give it an edge.
Low-light comparison, ultrawide camera, Night mode: Galaxy A57 • Galaxy S25 FE
Selfies
Selfies are pretty great on both phones, and we'd be hard-pressed to pick one over the other - they're as good as identical.
Selfies comparison: Galaxy A57 • Galaxy S25 FE
Video quality
The two phones have quite different video recording capabilities, with the S25 FE sporting flagship grade specs including 8K30 and 4K120 modes, while the A57 maxes out at 4K30 so right there is big differentiator - if you want higher resolution or frame rate, the S25 FE is the way to go.
If you limit yourself to 4K30, the A57 will be about as good as the S25 FE, but still different. The A57's processing is heavier on the sharpening and clarity, while the S25 FE is more lax with its pixel-level treatment. The FE's 3x zoom isn't much of an advantage in video, though - quality isn't too hot there.
In the dark, both main cameras capture solid clips, with good exposure and dynamic range, with a bit of an advantage for the FE in shadow development.
Below we have a few framegrabs from the videos taken by the two phones at each focal length so it's easier to compare to one another.
Video screengrabs, Galaxy A57: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 1x, low light
Video screengrabs, Galaxy S25 FE: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 1x, low light
Verdict
The price gap between the two phones at the time of writing is about $180/€150/INR 9,000, but since the Galaxy A57 is a more recent model, it's probably safe to assume that the price gap will widen over the next few months. Still, the S25 FE's advantages are hard to overlook.
The Galaxy S25 FE isn't just the more powerful smartphone by a significant margin here, it's also the one with a better camera system overall. It produces nicer photos, in most cases, and offers more versatile hardware with 3x optical zoom. The better speakers and the wireless charging support are a nice bonus, too.
On the other hand, if you are not into games and you can settle for a mid-range chip, while the cameras on the back serve a more functional role than anything else, then the Galaxy A57 might be the better pick as it matches the S25 FE's display, charging and build, while outperforming its more expensive sibling in our battery endurance tests.
- The lower price tag.
- The largely the same user experience.
- The slightly longer battery life.
- The lighter and thinner design.
Get the Samsung Galaxy A57 for:
| 128GB 8GB RAM | $ 379.50 | £ 254.50 |
| 256GB 8GB RAM | $ 425.00 | £ 382.46 |
| Show all prices | ||
- The considerably more potent chipset.
- The 3x optical zoom camera.
- The wider video options - up to 8K30/4K120.
- The slightly nicer speakers.
- The wireless charging support.
- The Samsung Dex support.
Get the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE for:
| 128GB 8GB RAM | $ 389.95 | £ 499.00 |
| 256GB 8GB RAM | $ 569.50 | £ 399.99 |
| Show all prices | ||
Reader comments
- Anonymous
- J5a
what are you talking about? Not sure where you live but here in Poland 256GB A57 is 150€ cheaper than 256GB S25FE
- YUKI93
- K1L
128GB internal storage on phones without microSD card slot is forever always a capitalist joke. But for me, it's an easy S25 FE because of wired DeX support.
- idfoiewbsdnf
- 7Xg
if one has the money for a flagship they would have the future models more, the market for this is just for the uber rich, they have little reason to stay with the phone for more than 3-4 years at all most of the time that said, the midrangers h...
