Are smartphone flagships still worth it? I’m not so convinced

My daughter has had the Galaxy S22 for years now and has taken great care of it. Unfortunately, even the most careful phone owner isn’t immune to accidents, and her phone was bumped out of her hands, where it fell to its untimely death.

I decided she needed a replacement, but we agreed it didn’t necessarily need to be a top-tier flagship. We settled on the Galaxy S25 FE ($534.99 at Samsung), which I was able to get for under $500. From the moment we set it up, I noticed how familiar this phone felt to my own Galaxy S24, inside and out. After setting it up, I didn’t dwell on it much until about a week or two later, when I asked my daughter if she was okay with the phone still. Her response was that, if anything, it felt like a big upgrade over her Galaxy S22 in terms of battery life, and she appreciated the larger display.

This got me curious. Could this hold up to my Galaxy S24, or even the Galaxy S25 Edge I use as a backup device? After begging her to switch phones for a week, I jumped in to see how it would compare. By the time I was done, I was convinced that my days of buying the latest flagships might just be over.

If I’m honest, there wasn’t a single thing that won me over, but it was really a combination of factors. First, let’s talk about day-to-day performance. It’s true the Galaxy S25 FE has just 8GB of RAM (vs 12GB) and a weaker Exynos processor that isn’t technically on the same page as a high-end Snapdragon chip, but don’t assume that means you’ll notice a big difference.

Every game, app, and experience I ran on the Galaxy S25 FE felt as smooth and fluid as my Galaxy S24, almost across the board. Even in the rare instances where I could tell a vague difference, such as during heavy loads, it was less than there was a true performance issue, and more because I was trying hard to find a fault.

Likewise, the camera experience was much better than I expected. To be fair, I’m not much of a camera snob. I mostly just want something that works well enough without a ton of fuss, but the pictures don’t need to be perfect.

Thankfully, the Galaxy S25 FE is more than capable of a decent camera experience, just be aware it won’t be quite to the same level as a high-end Samsung flagship. Still, you can get pretty close if you take a few extra shots from different angles, so you ensure you have a good shot. Editing and AI tools can also help a lot.

What really impressed me was the battery life. While Galaxy flagships have seen improved battery life over the years, I still find my Galaxy S24 struggles to reach much more than six or seven hours of screen-on time. My Galaxy S25 Edge performed similarly here as well. In contrast, the Galaxy S25 FE has a 3,900mAh battery that was able to make it to around eight or nine hours without issue.

This might not seem like a massive change, but it means I’m much less likely to need to charge my phone before bed than I was with the Galaxy S24. Lastly, I was also drawn to the bigger display. I personally prefer larger phones, but I never felt the Plus series was worth the premium.

Now I get a 6.7-inch AMOLED display over the 6.2-inch screen on my Galaxy S24, which looks and works great. Admittedly, the brightness levels aren’t nearly as high, but it never felt like a major problem either.

After a week with the phone, I was most impressed that nothing major really felt “missing”. Sure, there were things I knew my Galaxy S24 was technically stronger at, but unless I focused hard and nitpicked, none of this made a major difference in my experience. Ultimately, the Galaxy S25 FE felt less like a notable downgrade to the Galaxy S24 and more like a sidegrade. Some things were better for me, some things worse.

I came to the realization that I was clinging to something I no longer really needed. The truth is, I used to be a true power user, and it was easier to justify the costs then. In 2026, I might still cling to the identity, but that doesn’t mean I truly need more out of a phone anymore.  I don’t mess with rooting anymore. I stopped using custom ROMs years ago, and even my customizations and tweaks to the OS are fairly minimal these days.

There’s really only one reason to get a high-end flagship for me anymore, and that’s bragging rights and perceived status. As I get older, I find that matters very little to me. My job will always require me to have some familiarity and hands-on experience with newer flagships, but I will certainly think twice before spending my money on a high-end phone going forward. If my needs change, I could eventually want or demand more, but for now, I don’t see this changing anytime soon.