Different Samsung Telephones to Think about
For those who do not see a Samsung cellphone talked about on this information, that is likely to be as a result of it isn’t bought within the US and is slightly tougher to supply for testing. However listed below are a number of different Samsung telephones I’ve examined to think about.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge for $1,220: Have you ever ever wished a actually skinny and light-weight cellphone? No? Properly, Samsung has an choice for you anyway. The Galaxy S25 Edge (6/10, WIRED Review) sits in the course of Samsung’s flagship lineup and matches a number of options of the Galaxy S25 Extremely, like a titanium body, stronger entrance glass, and 4K 120 frames per second video recording. All of the cameras even have autofocus. Nevertheless it made a number of sacrifices to realize its amazingly slim 5.8-mm body (for context, the S25 Extremely is 8.2 mm thick). There is not any stylus, no telephoto digicam, and worst of all, the battery capability has been slashed. We have seen this earlier than—skinny telephones have all the time compromised on battery life, and that is no totally different right here. I always needed to child this cellphone’s 3,900-mAh battery with common to heavy utilization, and that is simply not acceptable. (The iPhone Air did it higher.) If you end up always close to an influence supply and also you suppose you will benefit from the slim and lightweight design, then go for it. Rumors recommend that the Edge didn’t carry out nicely, and it might not see a successor in 2026.
Samsung Galaxy A17 5G for $200: On paper, the Galaxy A17 (5/10, WIRED Review) looks as if a extremely nice deal. Six years of software program help, an AMOLED display, expandable storage, and a good digicam. Sadly, it is held again by lackluster efficiency. The issue is particularly the very restricted 4 GB of RAM within the US mannequin, which severely ruins your entire expertise of utilizing the cellphone. For those who had to make use of your smartphone in an emergency, I might not belief the A17 to be dependable. But when your wants are extraordinarily minimal, it might suffice.
Samsung Galaxy A36 5G for $395: The Galaxy A36 (6/10, WIRED Review) does not fairly measure as much as its friends from Nothing and Motorola. Efficiency is simply too uneven, and that is not acceptable at this worth. It is manageable—it isn’t so gradual that it’ll frustrate—however you are able to do higher. In case your wants are very minimal, it is an OK cellphone, and the digicam system is sweet, with day-long battery life, a pleasant AMOLED display, and 6 years of software program updates.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 or Galaxy Z Flip6: For those who do not wish to pay a premium for a brand new folding cellphone, then think about 2024’s Galaxy Z Fold6 and Galaxy Z Flip7 (7/10, WIRED Review). The Fold6 has a near “regular” smartphone expertise on the outside 6.3-inch display. Open the cellphone up, and there is a huge 7.6-inch AMOLED display observing your face, turning this folding cellphone right into a tiny pill. The Flip6 is not as good because the newer Flip7—the larger and brighter cowl display on the newest mannequin is a step up—nevertheless it’s value contemplating over the brand new Galaxy Z Flip7 FE. Technically, it is practically an identical to that cellphone, however the FE makes use of a Samsung Exynos chip as an alternative of a Qualcomm processor, and efficiency will not be as clean. The primary disadvantage? Battery life is not nice. Be sure you do not pay MSRP for these 2024 telephones.
For those who’re wanting to avoid wasting money, it is positive to purchase Samsung’s Galaxy S23 range or the Galaxy S23 FE from 2023, so long as the costs are a very good deal decrease than the unique MSRP. (They’re exhausting to seek out at most main retailers.) These telephones will nonetheless get help for some time, and so they’re fairly nice. I do not suppose it is value shopping for something older.
Ought to You Spend money on Samsung’s Ecosystem?
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu
Samsung is likely one of the few smartphone producers that may match Apple in its {hardware} ecosystem. Not solely does the corporate make smartphones, however you may as well increase your expertise by including on a Galaxy Watch8 smartwatch, Galaxy Buds3 Pro earbuds, Galaxy Ring fitness ring, Galaxy Tab S11, and even a Home windows-powered Galaxy laptop.
There are specific perks to this, like how some options on the Galaxy Ring and Watch8 are solely obtainable when paired with a Samsung cellphone, and its earbuds will mechanically change between Samsung units based mostly on what you are utilizing. There’s not a lot in the way in which of unique options when utilizing a Galaxy cellphone with a Galaxy laptop computer, however options like Quick Share allow you to speedily ship photographs and paperwork between your units.
Once more, it isn’t mandatory, and these different units may not be the proper ones for you inside their respective classes, however when you’re chasing {hardware} parity, you could have that choice with Samsung.
What Is Galaxy AI?
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu
With the Galaxy S24 sequence, Samsung launched “Galaxy AI,” a choice of synthetic intelligence options, lots of that are powered by Google’s Gemini large language models. These allow good options which may be useful each day, like real-time translations throughout cellphone calls, real-time transcriptions in Samsung’s Voice Recorder app, the flexibility to summarize lengthy paragraphs of textual content within the Samsung Notes app, or change a sentence’s tone with the Samsung Keyboard.
Within the Galaxy S25 sequence, Galaxy AI expanded to incorporate Gemini because the default voice assistant and the flexibility for Gemini to work with a number of apps concurrently. It additionally debuted Drawing Help, which helps you to sketch or enter a immediate and get an AI-generated picture. Now, you may as well use video in real-time with Gemini, even from the quilt display of the Galaxy Z Flip7.
Yow will discover many of those options by heading to Settings > Galaxy AI to toggle them on or off. We’ve an explainer on restrict Galaxy AI to on-device processing, too.
What Is Samsung DeX?
Courtesy of David Nield
Samsung’s DeX (brief for “desktop expertise”) launched in 2017, and it is a technique to plug in your Samsung cellphone to an exterior monitor and set off a desktop model of the Android OS, all utterly powered by the cellphone. Yow will discover a listing of compatible Samsung phones here—the Flip7 is the primary Galaxy Flip to help DeX—and you may want a monitor, mouse, and keyboard, plus a cable to attach the cellphone to the monitor. (You may as well forged DeX to pick screens wirelessly.)
When in DeX mode, you may resize Android apps and have all of them open in separate home windows. It is a correct computing platform, although you in all probability will not wish to use this as a everlasting laptop computer alternative or something of the kind. It is nice when you’re visiting one other workplace, or figuring out of a espresso store or airplane (when you’ve got a transportable show). We’ve an entire information to setting up and using DeX here.
How I Check Telephones
I have been reviewing smartphones for a decade, however certainly one of my earliest good units was a Samsung Galaxy Captivate, which I acquired for “free” from my service on the time. After working throughout faculty, I lastly saved sufficient money for a Galaxy S3, my first flagship. I’ve spent years utilizing Samsung telephones in my private life and commenced reviewing them for work not too lengthy after.
With every Samsung smartphone, I all the time put my private SIM card inside and spend so long as I can (a number of weeks) utilizing the cellphone as my very own. I do digicam testing and evaluate the outcomes with equally priced units, I benchmark efficiency and play graphically demanding video games to see how they fare, I check out all the brand new options, and even take calls to ensure that ol’ operate nonetheless works positive.
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