Other Samsung phones to consider
If you don’t see a Samsung phone mentioned in this guide, it may be because it isn’t sold in the US and is a little harder to get your hands on for testing. But here are some other Samsung phones I’ve tested to consider.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge for $1,220: Have you ever wanted a In fact Thin and light phone? No? Well, Samsung has an option for you anyway. The Galaxy S25 Edge (6/10, Wired Review) sits in the middle of Samsung’s flagship lineup and matches many of the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s features, like a titanium frame, toughened front glass, and 4K 120 frames per second video recording. All cameras also have autofocus. But it made a lot of sacrifices to achieve its surprisingly thin 5.8-mm frame (for reference, the S25 Ultra is 8.2 mm thick). There’s no stylus, no telephoto camera, and worst of all, the battery capacity has been reduced. We’ve seen it before – thin phones always compromise battery life, and it’s no different here. I had to constantly drain this phone’s 3,900-mAh battery during average to heavy use, and that’s not acceptable. (The iPhone Air did it better.) If you find yourself constantly near a power source and you think you’ll enjoy the slim and lightweight design, go for this. Rumors suggest that the Edge did not perform well, and it may not see a successor until 2026.
Samsung Galaxy A17 5G for $200: On paper, the Galaxy A17 (5/10, Wired review) actually looks like a great deal. Six years of software support, an AMOLED screen, expandable storage, and a good camera. Unfortunately, it has been stalled due to poor performance. The problem is the very limited 4GB RAM especially in the US model, which seriously ruins the whole experience of using the phone. If you have to use your smartphone in an emergency, I wouldn’t count on the A17 to be reliable. But if your needs are extremely minimal, this may suffice.
Samsung Galaxy A36 5G for $395: The Galaxy A36 (6/10, Wired Review) is nothing compared to its Motorola counterparts. The performance is very poor, and it is not acceptable at this price. It’s manageable—it’s not frustratingly slow—but you can do better. If your needs are minimal, it’s a good phone, and the camera system is good, with all-day battery life, a nice AMOLED screen, and 6 years of software updates.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 or Galaxy Z Flip6: If you don’t want to pay a premium for a new folding phone, consider 2024’s Galaxy Z Fold6 and Galaxy Z Flip7 (7/10, Wired Review). The Fold6’s external 6.3-inch screen has an almost “normal” smartphone feel. Open the phone, and a massive 7.6-inch AMOLED screen is staring you in the face, turning this folding phone into a tiny tablet. The Flip6 isn’t as good as the new Flip7 – the larger and brighter cover screen on the latest model is a step up – but it’s worth considering the new Galaxy Z Flip7 FE. Technically, it’s almost identical to that phone, but the FE uses a Samsung Exynos chip instead of a Qualcomm processor, and performance may not be as smooth. Main drawback? Battery life is not great. Make sure you don’t miss the MSRP for these 2024 phones.
If you want to save some cash, it’s fine to buy Samsung’s Galaxy S23 range or the Galaxy S23 FE from 2023, as long as the prices are significantly lower than the original MSRP. (These are hard to find at most major retailers.) These phones will still have support for a while, and that’s great. I don’t think anything old is worth buying.
Should you invest in Samsung’s ecosystem?
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Samsung is one of the few smartphone makers that can match Apple in its hardware ecosystem. The company not only makes smartphones, but you can also expand your experience by connecting the Galaxy Watch8 smartwatch, Galaxy Buds3 Pro earbuds, Galaxy Ring fitness ring, Galaxy Tab S11, and even Windows-powered Galaxy laptops.
This has some benefits, like some features on the Galaxy Ring and Watch8 are only available when paired with a Samsung phone, and its earbuds will automatically switch between Samsung devices depending on what you’re using. There isn’t much in the way of special features when using a Galaxy phone with a Galaxy laptop, but features like Quick Share let you quickly send photos and documents between your devices.
Again, this isn’t necessary, and these other devices may not be right for you in their respective categories, but if you’re chasing hardware parity, you have that option with Samsung.
What is Galaxy AI?
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
With the Galaxy S24 series, Samsung launched “Galaxy AI”, a selection of artificial intelligence features, many of which are powered by Google’s Gemini large language model. These enable smart features that can be useful on a day-to-day basis, like real-time translation during a phone call, real-time transcription in Samsung’s Voice Recorder app, the ability to summarize long paragraphs of text in the Samsung Notes app, or changing the tone of a sentence with the Samsung Keyboard.
In the Galaxy S25 series, Galaxy AI was expanded to include Gemini as the default voice assistant and the ability for Gemini to work with multiple apps simultaneously. It also introduced Drawing Assist, which lets you sketch or enter a prompt and get an AI-generated image. Now, you can access video in real time with Gemini, even from the Galaxy Z Flip7’s cover screen.
You can find many of these features by visiting Settings > Galaxy AI To turn them on or off. We also have an explainer about limiting Galaxy AI to on-device processing.
What is Samsung DeX?
Courtesy of David Nield
Samsung’s DeX (short for “Desktop Experience”) was launched in 2017, and is a way to plug your Samsung phone into an external monitor and trigger a desktop version of the Android OS, powered entirely by the phone. You can find a list of compatible Samsung phones here – the Flip7 is the first Galaxy Flip to support DeX – and you’ll need a monitor, mouse and keyboard in addition to a cable to connect the phone to the monitor. (You can also cast DeX to select screens wirelessly.)
When in DeX mode, you can resize Android apps and open them all in separate windows. It’s a reasonable computing platform, although you probably wouldn’t want to use it as a permanent laptop replacement or anything of that nature. This is great if you’re moving to another office, or working from a coffee shop or on an airplane (if you have a portable display). We have a complete guide to setting up and using DeX here.
how do i test the phone
I’ve been reviewing smartphones for a decade, but one of my earliest smart devices was the Samsung Galaxy Captivate, which I got for “free” from my carrier at the time. After working during college, I finally saved enough cash for my first flagship, the Galaxy S3. I’ve spent many years using Samsung phones in my personal life and started reviewing them for work shortly after.
With every Samsung smartphone, I always keep my personal SIM card inside and use the phone as my phone for as long as I can (a few weeks). I do camera tests and compare the results with similarly priced devices, I benchmark performance and play graphically demanding games to see how they work, I try out all the new features, and even take calls to make sure the old function still works fine.
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