Different Samsung Telephones to Contemplate
When you do not see a Samsung cellphone talked about on this information, that is perhaps as a result of it is not bought within the US and is just a little more durable to supply for testing. However listed here are a couple of different Samsung telephones I’ve examined to contemplate.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge for $1,220: Have you ever ever needed a actually skinny and light-weight cellphone? No? Properly, Samsung has an choice for you anyway. The Galaxy S25 Edge (6/10, WIRED Evaluation) sits in the midst 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 digital camera, and worst of all, the battery capability has been slashed. We have seen this earlier than—skinny telephones have at all times compromised on battery life, and that is no completely different right here. I continually 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 continually close to an influence supply and also you assume you may benefit from the slim and lightweight design, then go for it. Rumors recommend that the Edge didn’t carry out properly, and it could not see a successor in 2026.
Samsung Galaxy A17 5G for $200: On paper, the Galaxy A17 (5/10, WIRED Evaluation) looks as if a very nice deal. Six years of software program help, an AMOLED display screen, expandable storage, and an honest digital camera. 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 the complete expertise of utilizing the cellphone. When you 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 could suffice.
Samsung Galaxy A36 5G for $395: The Galaxy A36 (6/10, WIRED Evaluation) would 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 is not so sluggish 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 digital camera system is nice, with day-long battery life, a pleasant AMOLED display screen, and 6 years of software program updates.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 or Galaxy Z Flip6: When you do not wish to pay a premium for a brand new folding cellphone, then contemplate 2024’s Galaxy Z Fold6 and Galaxy Z Flip7 (7/10, WIRED Evaluation). The Fold6 has a near “regular” smartphone expertise on the outside 6.3-inch display screen. Open the cellphone up, and there is a huge 7.6-inch AMOLED display screen 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 screen on the newest mannequin is a step up—but it surely’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 might not be as easy. The principle downside? Battery life is not nice. Be sure to do not pay MSRP for these 2024 telephones.
When you’re wanting to avoid wasting money, it is high-quality to purchase Samsung’s Galaxy S23 vary or the Galaxy S23 FE from 2023, so long as the costs are a superb deal decrease than the unique MSRP. (They’re onerous to search out at most main retailers.) These telephones will nonetheless get help for some time, and so they’re fairly nice. I do not assume it is value shopping for something older.
Ought to You Spend money on Samsung’s Ecosystem?
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu
Samsung is without doubt one of the few smartphone producers that may match Apple in its {hardware} ecosystem. Not solely does the corporate make smartphones, however you can even increase your expertise by including on a Galaxy Watch8 smartwatch, Galaxy Buds3 Professional earbuds, Galaxy Ring health ring, Galaxy Tab S11, and even a Home windows-powered Galaxy laptop computer.
There are particular 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 gadgets primarily based 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 Fast Share allow you to speedily ship images and paperwork between your gadgets.
Once more, it is not vital, and these different gadgets won’t be the appropriate 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 collection of synthetic intelligence options, a lot of that are powered by Google’s Gemini massive language fashions. These allow sensible options which may be useful day after 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 can even use video in real-time with Gemini, even from the duvet display screen of the Galaxy Z Flip7.
You’ll find many of those options by heading to Settings > Galaxy AI to toggle them on or off. We’ve an explainer on easy methods to restrict Galaxy AI to on-device processing, too.
What Is Samsung DeX?
Courtesy of David Nield
Samsung’s DeX (quick for “desktop expertise”) launched in 2017, and it is a option 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. You’ll find an inventory of suitable Samsung telephones right here—the Flip7 is the primary Galaxy Flip to help DeX—and you will want a monitor, mouse, and keyboard, plus a cable to attach the cellphone to the monitor. (You may also solid DeX to pick out screens wirelessly.)
When in DeX mode, you’ll be able to resize Android apps and have all of them open in separate home windows. It is a correct computing platform, although you most likely 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 understanding of a espresso store or airplane (you probably have a conveyable show). We’ve an entire information to establishing and utilizing DeX right here.
How I Take a look at Telephones
I have been reviewing smartphones for a decade, however one in every of my earliest sensible gadgets was a Samsung Galaxy Captivate, which I obtained for “free” from my service on the time. After working throughout school, 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 at all times put my private SIM card inside and spend so long as I can (a couple of weeks) utilizing the cellphone as my very own. I do digital camera testing and evaluate the outcomes with equally priced gadgets, 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 be sure that ol’ operate nonetheless works high-quality.
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