Galaxy S26 FE appears at FCC with an unexpected Qualcomm twist

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Samsung has just launched its new foldable phones, but we’re already looking forward to the Galaxy S26 FE‘s imminent arrival. The phone is expected to launch in the coming weeks, and a regulatory filing has revealed a few details.

The Galaxy S26 FE passed through the FCC’s database, and the filing reveals a few notable features. For one, the listing hints at both Qualcomm and Samsung Exynos silicon in the same model. Wait, what?

FCCThis filing notes that the Galaxy S26 FE is equipped with both S.LSI (Samsung LSI) and Qualcomm FastConnect technologies for RF transmission. So what does this actually mean, then? Does this mean the phone will have Exynos or Snapdragon chips, depending on the region?

Further reading shows that the phone uses S.LSI technologies for cellular or WWAN functionality, but switches to Qualcomm FastConnect technologies for WLAN functionality (i.e., Wi-Fi). Furthermore, FastConnect refers to Qualcomm’s local wireless networking suite rather than its modems or SoCs. Devices with Qualcomm modems are usually listed as using “Smart Transmit” functionality rather than FastConnect tech, but we don’t see any “Smart Transmit” references in this filing.

This discovery strongly suggests that the Galaxy S26 FE has an Exynos modem and chipset, but a Qualcomm local networking chip. This differs from the Galaxy S25 FE, which only references Samsung transmission technologies in its FCC filing. We’re not sure why Samsung would take this new approach, but it’s possible that the FastConnect chip was cheaper, smaller, more reliable, or more efficient than its own local networking solution. Either way, it sounds like US buyers might not be getting a Snapdragon variant.

FCCThe FCC filing also reveals that the Galaxy S26 FE has 45W wired charging (see image above). This lines up with a previous regulatory filing and means the FE model once again boasts faster charging speeds than the base flagship.

Other specs gleaned from the listing include reverse wireless charging functionality, NFC, Wi-Fi 6 support, and supplemental satellite support akin to T-Mobile‘s direct-to-cell functionality.

This FCC filing joins a few other Galaxy S26 FE leaks in the last few weeks. We exclusively uncovered the phone’s camera specs last month, while another major leak revealed the phone’s design and first-party cases. The phone is also tipped to arrive with an Exynos 2500 processor.

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