Samsung Galaxy S25 FE Performance Review: Exynos 2400 Stress-Tested With Games & Benchmarks

The Galaxy S25 FE is supposed to be Samsung’s “value flagship” — the one that trims the excess while keeping the essentials intact. But for a lot of us, the question is simple: does it perform like a flagship, or is it just a spec warrior on paper?

Samsung has equipped the Galaxy S25 FE in India with the Exynos 2400 - the very same chip that ran last year's Galaxy S24 and S24+. And while that gives the FE some flagship credentials, this series is also known for throttling when pushed. So I did what I always do: stress-tested it with heavy benchmarks and demanding games to see exactly how well it holds up. Here’s the full breakdown.

Inside the Exynos 2400

The Exynos 2400 inside the Galaxy S25 FE is built on a 4nm process and uses a 10-core setup, which is two more than what you usually see with other chips. So, at the top sits a single Cortex-X4 prime core clocked at 3.2GHz, backed by a cluster of five Cortex-A720 cores for high-performance tasks running at 2.9GHz, and four Cortex-A520 efficiency cores that handle lighter everyday workloads running at 1.95 GHz. Graphics are driven by the Xclipse 940 GPU. In simple terms, Samsung has slotted a year-old flagship processor into the Galaxy S25 FE. It’s the very same Exynos 2400 that powered the Galaxy S24 and S24+ in early 2024.

Galaxy S25 FE Benchmark Breakdown

The Galaxy S25 FE isn’t trying to win over in benchmark numbers, and it shows. Despite packing a deca-core Exynos 2400, it consistently falls behind the Snapdragon 8 Elite and Dimensity 9400. That’s a useful reminder that more cores don’t automatically translate into more power. Samsung’s approach here leans on efficiency, with four Cortex-A520 cores dedicated to lighter tasks, which helps with sustained usage and thermals but doesn’t push peak numbers.

On AnTuTu v10, the Galaxy S25 FE managed a score of 1.94 million, which is solid but noticeably lower than phones like the iQOO 13, OnePlus 13/13s, or even the OPPO Find X8 with its Dimensity 9400 — all of which push comfortably past the 2.4 million mark. But that’s not exactly a shocker.

While the iQOO 13, OnePlus 13, OnePlus 13s, and Oppo Find X8 all post comfortably higher single-core and multi-core scores, the S25 FE trails across the board in Geekbench 6. But raw benchmarks only tell part of the story. In daily use, endless social media scrolling, Netflix binges, YouTube runs, and even juggling a bit of work, the phone held up without a hint of lag or stutter. So while it lags behind in charts, the S25 FE is anything but sluggish in real-world use. On Geekbench AI, the Galaxy S25 FE scored 1,060 in quantized, 787 in half precision, and 380 in single precision scores.

In the CPU Throttling Test, the Galaxy S25 FE didn’t take long to show its limits. Performance dropped by 62% from peak, with the graph flattening out at around 47°C after a sustained run. That’s a heavy dip, and it highlights the Exynos 2400’s tendency to sacrifice raw speed in order to keep thermals in check. In practice, it means the chip can burst strongly for short workloads but struggles to hold that pace over extended sessions.

On the GPU side, the Galaxy S25 FE’s numbers tell a consistent story. In Steel Nomad Light, the phone logged a best loop score of 1907, with stability dropping to 48% and frame rates ranging between 5–17 fps. In the Wild Life Extreme Stress Test, the best loop score came in at 3922, with overall stability at 55.3% — no frame rate data is reported here. Finally, in Solar Bay, which focuses on ray-tracing workloads, the S25 FE posted a best loop score of 8240, stability at 50.9%, and frame rates between 12–38 fps.

Across these runs, the pattern is clear: the Xclipse 940 can hit respectable peaks, but performance falls away under sustained load. Stability hovering around the 50% mark means the Exynos 2400 is fine for short gaming bursts, but it isn’t built to deliver consistently high frame rates in longer sessions.

Galaxy S25 FE Gaming Test

For real-world gaming, I pushed the Galaxy S25 FE through a combined one-hour session of BGMI and Genshin Impact.

In BGMI (HDR graphics + Extreme frame rate), the phone averaged 59.3 fps, with a 5% low of 52.2 fps and an average power draw of just 3.59W. That’s good efficiency for higher frame rates, though the lack of 90 or 120 fps support, something you would see on the OnePlus 13s and the iQOO 13 as well, is not shocking but definitely disappointing. In practice, the gameplay was smooth. Even when I dropped into the crowded Spooky Soiree event, where initial frame dips were noticeable, it quickly stabilized and held steady for the rest of the match. After the BGMI session, the surface temperature peaked at around 40°C. It felt warm in the hand, but never to the point of being uncomfortable.

Genshin Impact at the highest graphics settings with 60 fps locked told a different story. The S25 FE managed an average of 56.3 fps, but the 5% low dropped to just 38.1 fps, with power draw climbing to 6.23W. In boss fights, the gameplay remained fluid, but exploring the open world triggered sudden dips to around 40 fps. These drops lasted only seconds, but they underline how the GPU struggles to maintain stability in sustained, graphics-heavy workloads.

Together, these results show what the above benchmarks section hinted at: the Galaxy S25 FE can deliver solid, consistent performance in lighter or optimised titles like BGMI, but when pushed in heavier, open-world games like Genshin Impact, the limits of the Exynos 2400’s GPU start to show.

Verdict

The Galaxy S25 FE isn’t a performance powerhouse, and the numbers back that up. Benchmarks show a year-old chip struggling to keep pace with newer rivals, and sustained loads expose its limits. But in real-world use, whether it’s social media, streaming, or even an hour of BGMI and Genshin, the phone holds together well enough. Smooth and consistent for most tasks, it’s not the device you pick if raw gaming muscle or sustained peak performance is your top priority, but rather one you choose for its reliability, Samsung’s polished software, and the extra AI tricks that add to the everyday experience. I’ll be coming up with the full review of the Galaxy S25 FE, where we test its cameras, display, and everything else, so stay tuned to Gizbot.