The Poco F9 series launched this week as did the Galaxy S26 FE. Let’s have a look at the newcomers as well as some alternatives.
The Poco F9 Pro brings some serious upgrades over the F8 Pro – however, it also comes at a higher price. Scroll down a bit and you’ll see that the old Pro is €260 cheaper. The new Pro brings a faster chipset (Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 V Series vs. Snapdragon 8 Elite), it has a 200MP main camera (replacing a 50MP module) and its slightly larger 6,330mAh battery supports both wired (100W) and wireless charging (50W), while the old Pro only did wired.
In contrast, the Poco F9 Ultra uses the same chipset as the F8 Ultra. On the plus side, there is a large 8,050mAh battery (up from 6,500mAh) with the same 100W wired and 50W wireless charging. The Ultra also adopted a 200MP sensor swap – here it replaces the large 50MP 1/1.3” sensor of last year’s model. Both old and new Ultra have 50MP 5x/115mm periscope modules compared to 50MP 2.5x/60mm telephoto cameras on the two Pro.
Given their prices, it may be prudent to compare the Poco F9 Pro with the F8 Ultra as well. The old Ultra has a better GPU (the V Series cuts off a third of the GPU hardware), a bigger screen (6.9” vs. 6.59”) and a bigger battery (6,500mAh vs. 6,330mAh). And while it lacks a 200MP main camera, it does have the better 5x telephoto module.
Then there is the Xiaomi 17T. This one has a powerful mid-range chip, the Dimensity 8500 Ultra, paired with a 6.59” display similar to the F9 Pro. And while there’s no 200MP camera on here either, the 17T duo features a 50MP 5x/115mm periscope. The 6,500mAh battery supports only 67W wired charging.
The Xiaomi 17T Pro is priced on par with the F9 Ultra. Unlike its vanilla sibling, this one uses the flagship Dimensity 9500 chipset and a larger 6.83” display. The 7,000mAh battery is not as big as the Ultra battery, but it supports the same 100W wired and 50W wireless charging. As for the cameras, the main has a large 50MP 1/1.31” sensor, while the 50MP 5x/115mm periscope is the one we already mentioned above. Here is a detailed Xiaomi 17T vs. 17T Pro comparison if you are choosing between these two instead of between 17T and F9 models.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra is €556 off. This is a great discount and it makes the Ultra noticeably cheaper than the wide Galaxy Z Fold8. Ideally, the choice between these two would come down to form factor preference – the multitasking-friendly Ultra vs. the media-friendly Z Fold8 – but price is a factor that is hard to ignore. The Ultra also has superior cameras, a 200MP 1/1.3” main, a 10MP 3x/67mm telephoto and a 50MP ultra-wide, compared to Z Fold8’s 50MP 1/1.56” main and 50MP ultra-wide (no tele).
For a more in-depth comparison between the two, read our Galaxy Z Fold8 and Z Fold8 Ultra versus article.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 has a great discount too – we’ve listed both the 256GB and 512GB variants, but we only did it to show that there’s a mere €10 difference between the two. Obviously you go for the 512GB variant – that €590 discount is no joke.
The Galaxy Z Fold8 only gets a minor €70 discount, so we’re including it here for the sake of completeness.
The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE went on sale this week and the only discount available is €100 for Amazon Prime subscribers. Even with that discount, the new FE is a tough sell.
Without the Prime discount, a 256GB Galaxy S26+ is actually cheaper than a 128GB S26 FE. Note that the Plus model has 4 extra gigs of RAM compared to the FE, so it’s not just about the storage.
The Galaxy S26+ is easily the better phone overall. It has the better 6.7” screen (1440p+ LTPO vs. 1080p+ LTPS), the better chipset (Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy vs. Exynos 2500) and better connectivity (including USB-C 3.2 vs. USB-C 2.0). The cameras and battery are similar or identical. The S26 FE needs a price cut, quickly.
If anything, you should maybe consider the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra – comparing 256GB variants, the Ultra is only €80 more than the FE (not accounting for FE’s Prime discount). This is Samsung’s top camera phone with a 200MP 1/1.3” main, a 10MP 3x/67mm telephoto and a 50MP 5x/111mm periscope, plus a 50MP ultra-wide. This is the only phone with a Privacy Display and an S Pen stylus. And it’s the only Galaxy with 60W wired and 25W wireless charging (the S26+ and S26 FE have 45W wired and 20W/15W wireless).
There’s also the Galaxy S26, which is the cheapest in the family – a 512GB phone is only €745. It is smaller – it has a 6.3” display (1080p+ LTPO) and a 4,300mAh battery (with slow 25W wired and 15W wireless charging), so it’s not a direct competitor to the 6.7” S26+ and S26 FE. Still, some people prefer the smaller size.
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