Different Samsung Telephones to Think about
For those who do not see a Samsung telephone talked about on this information, that is perhaps as a result of it is not bought within the US and is a bit tougher to supply for testing. However listed below are just a few different Samsung telephones I’ve examined to think about.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge for $1,220: Have you ever ever wished a extremely skinny and light-weight telephone? No? Effectively, Samsung has an choice for you anyway. The Galaxy S25 Edge (6/10, WIRED Overview) 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. But it surely 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 no stylus, no telephoto digicam, 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 telephone’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 suppose 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 Overview) looks as if a extremely nice deal. Six years of software program help, an AMOLED display screen, expandable storage, and an honest 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 telephone. 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 could suffice.
Samsung Galaxy A36 5G for $395: The Galaxy A36 (6/10, WIRED Overview) 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 value. It is manageable—it is not so gradual that it’s going to frustrate—however you are able to do higher. In case your wants are very minimal, it is an OK telephone, and the digicam system is sweet, 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: For those who do not need to pay a premium for a brand new folding telephone, then contemplate 2024’s Galaxy Z Fold6 and Galaxy Z Flip7 (7/10, WIRED Overview). The Fold6 has a near “regular” smartphone expertise on the outside 6.3-inch display screen. Open the telephone up, and there is a huge 7.6-inch AMOLED display screen watching your face, turning this folding telephone 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—however it’s value contemplating over the brand new Galaxy Z Flip7 FE. Technically, it is practically an identical to that telephone, 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 you do not pay MSRP for these 2024 telephones.
For those who’re wanting to avoid wasting money, it is nice to purchase Samsung’s Galaxy S23 vary or the Galaxy S23 FE from 2023, so long as the costs are a very good deal decrease than the unique MSRP. (They’re onerous to seek out at most main retailers.) These telephones will nonetheless get help for some time, they usually’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 among the few smartphone producers that may match Apple in its {hardware} ecosystem. Not solely does the corporate make smartphones, however you may also 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 out there when paired with a Samsung telephone, 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 telephone 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 crucial, and these different gadgets won’t be the fitting ones for you inside their respective classes, however if you happen to’re chasing {hardware} parity, you will 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, lots of that are powered by Google’s Gemini massive language fashions. These allow sensible options which may be useful everyday, like real-time translations throughout telephone 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 also use video in real-time with Gemini, even from the quilt display screen of the Galaxy Z Flip7.
You could find many of those options by heading to Settings > Galaxy AI to toggle them on or off. We’ve an explainer on the way to 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 approach to plug in your Samsung telephone to an exterior monitor and set off a desktop model of the Android OS, all fully powered by the telephone. You could find a listing of appropriate 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 telephone to the monitor. (You too can forged DeX to pick screens wirelessly.)
When in DeX mode, you possibly can 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 need to use this as a everlasting laptop computer alternative or something of the type. It is nice if you happen to’re visiting one other workplace, or understanding of a espresso store or airplane (you probably have a transportable show). We’ve a complete 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 received for “free” from my provider 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 started 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 (just a few weeks) utilizing the telephone as my very own. I do digicam 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’ perform nonetheless works nice.
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