Category: Technology

Five years after the release of the Galaxy S20 FE, Samsung has settled into a predictable pattern with its “Fan Edition” line of phones. Each new phone doesn’t offer much new or different from its immediate predecessor, with the company opting to offer iterative updates instead.

That might have been fine before, but with the arrival of the Nothing Phone 3a Pro and Pixel 10 — devices that changed the value proposition in their respective categories — the S25 FE feels woefully out of touch with a market that’s changing to meet people’s demands. There’s not much here that makes the new Galaxy S25 FE stand out, and any “upgrades” aren’t substantive.

Hardware and display

When I first took the S25 FE out of the box, I thought Samsung had played a cruel trick on me. The phone looks identical to its predecessor, sporting the same brushed aluminum frame that’s been the company’s go-to for years now. I had to dig the S24 FE out of my gadgets drawer to compare the two phones before I confirmed they were in fact different devices.

The physical differences are minor. Samsung has tweaked the dimensions of the new phone, making it slightly shorter, wider and thinner. Specifically, the S25 FE measures in at 6.35 x 3.02 x 0.29 inches, while its predecessor was 6.38 x 3.04 x 0.31 inches. The new phone is also protected by Samsung’s “enhanced Armor” aluminum frame. 

More noticeable is that the S25 FE is lighter than last year’s model, coming in at 6.7 ounces, down from 7.51 ounces. This is despite the fact the new device has a higher-capacity 4,900mAh battery. Together, these changes don’t make the S25 FE easier to hold if you have small hands (just ask my girlfriend), but it does feel better balanced than its predecessor. One issue with the size of the S25 FE is the placement of the in-display fingerprint sensor. It’s right at the bottom of the screen. I found this made it awkward to unlock the phone with my thumb — and I’m someone with big hands.

Another slight difference is the finish on the back of the phone. This time around, Samsung has gone with a matte coating, instead of the glossy finish it used on the S24 FE. It’s a welcome change since it makes the new model less prone to smudging and attracting fingerprints. I just wish Samsung had decided to offer the S25 FE in more fun colors. At release, it’s available in four colorways: white, icy blue, jet black and navy (pictured). So, if you don’t like blue, I’m sorry.

Amid the slight design tweaks, Samsung has gone with the same screen it did last year. The S25 FE has a 6.7-inch AMOLED display, with a panel that offers a 120Hz refresh rate and 1080p resolution. The S24 FE’s vibrant screen was one of the best parts of last year’s model, and it’s the same with S25 FE. It’s easy to see the screen in bright sunlight, thanks to the fact it can push 1,900 nits of peak brightness. It’s also vibrant, and with HDR10 support included, great for watching videos on YouTube, Netflix and elsewhere.

Cameras

Samsung made a single tweak to the Galaxy S25 FE’s camera hardware. Like last year’s model, the new phone has a 50-megapixel main camera with optical image stabilization (OIS) and a fast f/1.8 aperture lens. Once again, it also has an 8MP telephoto camera with a 3x optical zoom and a 12MP ultrawide angle that offers a 123-degree field of view.

The one addition is a higher resolution 12MP front-facing camera with a faster f/2.2 aperture lens. For selfies, the S24 FE made do with a 10MP sensor and f/2.4 lens. If the new front-facing camera included phase detection autofocus (PDAF), it would be the same one that’s available on the Galaxy S25. Unfortunately, it doesn’t and that’s a shame because PDAF greatly increases the likelihood your photos will come out sharp and in focus.

It’s also a shame Samsung decided not to update the FE’s telephoto camera. Before the Nothing 3a Pro, that was one of the features that made the S24 FE stand out in its price range. In 2025, however, the S25 FE’s telephoto feels outdated. It doesn’t offer the 5x optical zoom of the Pixel 10 nor the 50MP of resolution and periscope zoom you get with the 3a Pro. Coming from the former, the FE’s telephoto camera felt limiting. With only 8MP of resolution, trying to snap a photo at anything beyond 5x zoom was pointless; it would just turn out a blurry mess.

As for FE’s other cameras, they’re decent if uninspiring. The 50MP camera is the best of the bunch, capable of capturing detailed, good-looking photos even in low light. The ultrawide, meanwhile, is mostly forgettable. It does an okay job of capturing big scenes, but it’s lacking in dynamic range and detail. The selfie camera is a noticeable upgrade from the one that came with last year’s model, and produces pleasing photos that are on par with what you can expect from the S25’s front-facing camera.

Otherwise, snapping pictures with the S25 FE feels like using a flagship phone from a few years ago. The one thing that saves it from being a complete blast from the past is the inclusion of Samsung’s generative photo editing software, which you can use to remove distracting objects from photos. Of the AI photo apps I’ve tested, Samsung’s is among the best at editing out objects without smearing the background. You can also use the generative edit to add things to a photo, but as you might expect, this doesn’t work as well as removing them.

Performance and battery life

On paper, the S25 FE should offer better performance than its predecessor, thanks to Samsung’s decision to equip the phone with its Exynos 2400 chipset over the cut-down Exynos 2400e it used on last year’s model. In practice the two are about on par with one another. On Geekbench’s processor test, the Exynos 2400 delivered a 2,144 single-core score and a 7,059 multi-core score. That’s not much better than the 2,140 and 6,690 I recorded last fall on the S24 FE.

Still, it’s a more impressive showing than either the Pixel 9a and Nothing 3a Pro had when my colleague Sam Rutherford and I put their Tensor G4 and Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chips through Geekbench earlier this year. For comparison, the former delivered a modest 1,665 on single-core performance and 4,294 on multi-core performance. The latter scored an even less impressive 1,115 and 3,082 respectively.

In real-world use, the Exynos 2400 feels snappy. Scrolling is fast and fluid, as is opening apps and switching between them. Gaming performance is also impressive, with the chip able to handle the 60 fps modes in graphically demanding games like Diablo Immortal and League of Legends: Wild Rift without dropping frames.

Last year, Samsung said it redesigned the S24 FE’s vapor chamber to make it bigger and improve cooling. With the S25 FE, that component is an additional 10 percent larger. However, if the new vapor chamber made a difference to the phone’s thermals, I had a hard time telling. Both the S25 FE and S24 FE got warm after about 15 to 20 minutes of gaming. The new phone never got hot to the point I couldn’t hold it anymore, but it also didn’t feel noticeably cooler than the S24 FE running the same games. 

As mentioned at the top, the S25 FE has a larger 4,900mAh battery. That’s about four percent more capacity than the S24 FE offered. As a result, any difference in battery life is minimal. I’m sure there are some scenarios the S25 FE may last longer than its predecessor, but in my testing the two phones were equal in terms of longevity. With three to four hours of active screentime, I managed to get a full day of battery life from the S25 FE, with enough power left over to get the phone through the night before charging it in the morning. That’s similar to the experience I had last year.

Speaking of charging, the S24 FE, with a 25 watt wired limit, was painfully slow at it. Going into this review, my hope was the S25 FE would do better and I had good reason to be hopeful. Samsung lists the new phone as capable of charging at 45 watts. However, in my testing the S25 FE was only slightly faster than its predecessor. Plugged into a 130 watt Razer GaN charger, it took the phone about an hour and 14 minutes to charge to full from a battery at 10 percent life. When I replicated that same test with a 25 watt charger, it took the S25 FE just over an hour-and-a-half to charge back up. 

Either way, if battery life is important to you, the Nothing 3a Pro and Pixel 9a are better bets. Both come with bigger batteries (5,000 and 5,100mAh, respectively), and with the former, you also get 50 watt charging.

Software

The S25 FE ships with Android 16 and Samsung’s One UI 8 out of the box. Samsung has promised to support the phone with at least seven generations of platform updates, so it should stay current with Google’s yearly release schedule up until at least Android 23 in 2032. Notably, this means the S25 FE may end up on a more recent version of Android than the S25, S25 Edge and S25 Ultra, all of which released with Android 15.

With One UI 8, the S25 FE has access to all of the latest AI features from both Samsung and Google. Some of these tools are useful; others replicate functionality that has been present in Android for a long time. For example, Google’s Circle to Search is great. It makes it easy to do a visual search of anything on the phone’s screen. On the other hand, I could do without Samsung’s Now Brief, which offers much of the same utility you’ll find on Android’s Discover page (a feature that comes standard on every Android phone).

Each S25 FE also comes with six months of free access to Google AI Pro. Normally priced at $20 per month, the service gives you access to some of the company’s best models, including Gemini 2.5 Pro, inside of the Gemini app. Within Flow, Google’s AI filmmaking app, you also get limited access to Veo 3.1, Google’s latest video generation system. Some other perks include 2TB of cloud storage and higher rate limits when using NotebookLM.

Wrap-up

With changes that amount to window dressing, I can’t recommend anyone buy the S25 FE at full price. There’s just enough here to justify spending $650 on a phone that is barely an upgrade over its predecessor. If you’re a Samsung fan, I’m sure the S25 FE will be frequently discounted, but why reward the company for a lazy effort? Besides, the S25, following a $200 discount for Prime Day, was only $10 more than the FE earlier this month.

Over the past few years, Google and Nothing have shown midrange phones don’t need to be boring, iterative affairs. For Samsung, I think it’s time to rethink its FE strategy. If these phones offered something different — say actual fan favorite features like a headphone jack — there could be compelling reasons to recommend them. But as things stand, there’s just no reason to buy a new FE phone when the company’s flagships see steep price discounts within months of their release.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/samsung-galaxy-s25-fe-review-iterative-to-a-fault-183026577.html?src=rss 

There’s a lot to like about NordVPN, as I covered in my full NordVPN review. It’s one of the fastest among the best VPNs, and it’s got a bunch of cool, specialized servers for various VPN tasks. But the apps can be frustrating, and beyond that, no VPN is perfect for everyone. If you’ve decided NordVPN isn’t for you, here’s how to cancel your subscription and get your money back.

How to turn off auto-renewal on NordVPN

Even though you’ve decided to part ways with NordVPN, you may want to keep your subscription active while you pick out a replacement service. If that’s the case, you can simply cancel automatic renewal and let your subscription expire at the end of the billing period. If you change your mind before then, you can turn auto-renew back on. Here’s how to do it.

Go to my.nordaccount.com. Click Log in to Nord Account and enter your email address and password.

You’ll arrive at the account overview page. In the left-hand column, click on Billing.

On the list of subscriptions that appears, find NordVPN. Find the line that says “Auto-renewal: ON,” and click the Cancel link next to it.

A warning message will appear. Click Cancel auto-renewal at the bottom-right.

This will turn auto-renewal off. If you decide to turn it back on, just go back to the billing tab of your Nord account overview, find your NordVPN subscription and click Enable auto-renewal.

How to cancel if you subscribed through an app store

If you paid for NordVPN on a mobile device through Google Play or the Apple app store, you’ll need to go to the relevant app store to cancel the subscription. On Android, sign in to Google Play, touch your profile picture, tap Payments & subscriptions and tap Subscriptions. Scroll until you find NordVPN, tap it and hit Cancel subscription. If you want a refund, follow the instructions in “How to get a refund from NordVPN” below.

On iOS, open the settings app, touch your profile picture, then tap Subscription. Scroll down to NordVPN, tap it and hit Cancel subscription. To get a refund for an Apple purchase, contact the Apple support team instead of the NordVPN team.

How to delete your NordVPN account

On the other hand, if you’re sick of NordVPN and already have another VPN lined up, you can cancel immediately by deleting your Nord account altogether. This will also cut you off from any other Nord Security products you might be using, including NordPass and NordLocker.

Go to my.nordaccount.com, click Log in to Nord Account and enter your credentials.

At the top-right of the account overview page, click your email address. In the dropdown menu, click Account settings.

Look at the bottom of the page to find the account deletion controls. Click Delete account.

Nord will send an authentication code to your account’s email address. Enter it.

Follow the onscreen prompts to confirm deletion.

How to get a refund from NordVPN

NordVPN has a standard 30-day money-back guarantee. As long as you bought your subscription in the last 30 days, you can get a full refund. To do so, you’ll need to first cancel auto-renewal on your plan as described above, then contact support to ask for the refund.

You can reach NordVPN support by going to the help center at support.nordvpn.com. To reach the live chat and email ticket options, you’ll need to work your way down to a bottom-level help center article, then scroll down until you reach the section titled “Still having issues?” It’s frustrating, but you can get there by just clicking the first link on every page (or just follow this link and scroll down).

Once you’ve found the buttons, either start a live chat or open the email form. Whichever you choose, explain that you’ve cancelled your subscription and would like a refund. Make sure not to end the interaction until you’ve received confirmation that your refund will be processed. Afterwards, it’ll take up to 10 business days for your reimbursement to go through.

NordVPN alternatives

With NordVPN cancelled, you may be in the market for another VPN. I’ve collected several on my best VPN list (linked at the start of the article), but here’s a few specific recommendations: Proton VPN is the best overall, Surfshark is the fastest and ExpressVPN is good for beginners and great at streaming. Good luck in your quest for a VPN that meets your needs.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/vpn/how-to-cancel-nordvpn-and-get-your-money-back-173008588.html?src=rss 

Beats devices have been the more colorful, full-of-personality complements to Apple’s clean-and-minimal gear ever since Apple bought the company back in 2014. Beats earbuds and speakers are the more flexible alternatives to things like AirPods and HomePods, and the new Beats Powerbeats Fit keep that tradition alive. Some six months after the Powerbeats Pro 2 debuted earlier this year, Beats now has an updated version of the Fit Pro to offer folks looking for many of the conveniences of an Apple device in something with slightly more character and versatility. Rather than reinventing the wheel, Beats made small changes on the Powerbeats Fit that ultimately make for a more polished version of its predecessor.

What’s new

If you’re familiar with the Beats Fit Pro, you’ll be familiar with the Powerbeats Fit. Beats kept much of what worked with its previous $200 earbuds here (including the price), making very minor changes to improve the comfort and the overall design. The new buds have 20 percent more flexible wingtips and the charging case is 17 percent more compact than that of the Beats Fit Pro. More on the wingtips in a moment, but first I have to commend Beats for making the charging case feel ever so slightly more premium this time around — and since it’s smaller than before, it’s less cumbersome to tuck in your back pocket. The buds also fit snugly into the charging case with a satisfying snap every time; they always align properly to recharge, something I cannot say about past pairs of the AirPods Pro I’ve owned.

When it comes to the wingtips on the Powerbeats Fit, they appear to be a hair shorter than those on the Beats Fit Pro, and certainly more malleable. I felt the biggest difference in flexibility at the base of the wingtip where it meets the earbud — those on the Powerbeats Fit have a bit more give than those on its predecessor. These small changes make it easy to pop the Powerbeats Fit into your ears and really not fuss with the wingtips at all. They’re present just to provide a more secure fit during intense workouts, and they do just that.

I wore them during strength training, 5K runs and leisurely walks and I didn’t have to adjust them at all once I popped them in. When Beats announced these new buds, the company claimed its design tweaks would also make the Powerbeats Fit more comfortable to wear all day long, not just during workouts. I’ll admit that I didn’t find the previous Beats Fit Pro uncomfortable to wear when not at the gym or on the trail. Yes, the Powerbeats Fit are marginally more comfortable now and the wingtips are more supple, but the change is subtle. If you jibe with the wingtip design to begin with, you’ll safely be able to use the Powerbeats Fit as daily drivers in addition to workout companions.

Notably, the Powerbeats Fit come with one extra pair of eartips in the box (four instead of the previous three), so once you find the eartips that are your best fit, you’ll be off to the races. There are also two new bold colors to choose from, orange and pink, in addition to gray and black.

What’s the same

Thankfully, Beats didn’t mess with all of the good things about the Fit Pro when developing the Powerbeats Fit. The new buds have an IPX4 water resistance rating, which isn’t the highest level of protection out there, but more than enough to withstand your sweatiest training sessions. Onboard controls in the form of physical buttons remain the same, although I didn’t accidentally trigger the buttons on the Powerbeats Fit nearly as much as I did with the Fit Pro. That might be because all the small changes Beats made in the design paid off — I didn’t fuss with the new buds in my ears as much as before, therefore I didn’t accidentally press the buttons as much.

The Powerbeats Fit also have Apple’s H1 chip inside, which enables features like hands-free Siri, automatic switching between devices, Adaptive EQ, Audio Sharing and Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking. Transparency mode returns here as well, and it remains one of the standout features of any Apple-associated wireless earbuds. And if you do decide to wear the Powerbeats Fit all day long, you’ll likely make even more use of transparency mode as you need to jump in and out of conversations happening around you. In addition, you can keep track of the new earbuds in Apple’s Find My app.

Beats didn’t bill any improvements in sound quality on the Powerbeats Fit, and after listening to them alongside the Beats Fit Pro, I can say they sound almost identical. While listening to some tracks with the Powerbeats Fit, I noticed an almost imperceptible increase in the clarity of vocals, but that’s about it. Bass remains punchy and strong, and the buds get decently loud.

Active noise cancellation (ANC) is also the same on the new buds: strong enough to block out ambient noise around you and people’s voices. While running outside, I still heard the loudest disturbances like passing trucks and oddly sonorous cackling of nearby wildlife, but that’s arguably for the best. If you’re exercising outside, be it in a park or on city streets, you should be at least somewhat aware of your surroundings.

Battery life is consistent here as well, with Beats promising up to seven hours on a single charge (or six with ANC turned on) and up to 30 hours total when employing the Powerbeats Fit charging case. Anecdotally, after a week of using the Powerbeats Fit for an average of one hour each day, the charging case still had 75 percent battery left. If you’re using these all day, every day, you’ll obviously need to power it up more frequently. But if these are primarily your workout companions, you could get a week or two before needing to plug them in.

Wrap-up

The Powerbeats Fit are a fitting update to the Beats Fit Pro. The latter was one of the best devices in the Beats lineup to begin with, and the latest model only improves upon the winning formula. They offer a solid balance of a comfortable, secure design, good sound quality and ANC and handy additional features at a decent price. The latter is arguably just as important as the buds’ ability to withstand a sweaty training session: folks looking for many of the conveniences found in AirPods will find them here in an alternative design, and in a pair of buds that also works just as well with Android devices. If you’re willing to pay more, you could shell out $250 for either the Powerbeats Pro 2 to get that full over-ear hook style, or AirPods Pro 3 — both of which have built-in heart rate tracking But that feature in particular will be more of a nice-to-have than a necessity for most.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/beats-powerbeats-fit-review-deja-vu-in-a-good-way-120058332.html?src=rss 

Links have proven to be a tricky thing when it comes to social media engagement. On platforms like Threads, data suggests that people often don’t click the links in posts, and creators on X have complained that posts including links don’t get as much visibility. X is now trying to solve that. Head of product Nikita Bier shared that the platform is “testing a new link experience” that lets people open a link without leaving the original post entirely, so they can still view the Like, Repost and other buttons. The test is rolling out to iOS users first.  

“To help get better signal, posts will now collapse to the bottom of the page so people can react while you’re reading,” Bier wrote alongside a screen recording of how it will work. As to why posts with links typically don’t perform as well, Bier said, “This is because the web browser covers the post and people forget to Like or Reply. So X doesn’t get a clear signal whether the content is any good.” 

Of course, X has been accused of throttling links to specific sites, and Elon Musk has said in the past that links “don’t get as much attention” on the platform, so tweaking the popups will only go so far in addressing the reach issue. Bier added that posts should always “stand alone as great content so write a solid caption.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/x-is-testing-a-new-way-of-opening-links-in-posts-to-improve-engagement-211210520.html?src=rss