Different Samsung Telephones to Think about
Galaxy A36.
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu
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 offered within the US and is a bit of tougher to supply for testing. However listed below are a couple of different Samsung telephones I’ve examined to think about.
Samsung Galaxy A36 5G for $400: The Galaxy A36 (6/10, WIRED Assessment) 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 digital camera system is sweet, with day-long battery life, a pleasant AMOLED display screen, and 6 years of software program updates.
-Reviewer-Photo-SOURCE-Julian-Chokkattu-(no-border).jpg)
Galaxy S24 FE.
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu
Samsung Galaxy S24 FE for $565: The Galaxy S24 FE is just not definitely worth the worth, contemplating the Galaxy S25 FE is having fun with a greater low cost, nevertheless it’s a superbly effective smartphone. It makes use of Samsung’s Exynos processor, and I have not had any efficiency points in any way; my benchmark scores put it a smidge under the Galaxy S24 and its Snapdragon chipset. You continue to get entry to all the unique Galaxy AI options, practically the identical triple-camera expertise, the 7-year software program replace coverage, and perks like IP68 water resistance and wi-fi charging. What you miss out on are a better decision show, additional RAM, and extra storage choices. The bezels are a smidge thicker across the display screen, which does not help LTPO (the tech that permits the show to maneuver from 1 Hz to 120 Hz to preserve battery life). The fingerprint scanner can also be optical and never ultrasonic, and whereas it has been fairly responsive for me, ultrasonic scanners are sometimes extra dependable. Battery life has been stable; after a number of weeks of use, I common 30 p.c left within the tank by midnight, and that is with a couple of hours of GPS navigation and music streaming thrown in, to not point out too many hours of riffling by means of Instagram Reels.
Galaxy A16.
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu
Samsung Galaxy A16 for $170: Samsung’s Galaxy A16 nonetheless does not attain the highs of the Galaxy A14, and that is largely because of sluggish efficiency. Certain, Samsung is promising six years of software program updates, however that outstanding replace window does not matter when the cellphone is frustratingly gradual, and also you need to throw it out the window. For those who barely plan on utilizing this machine however need one thing from a dependable model that may keep safe, the Galaxy A16 is okay. Its efficiency simply is not aggressive with different equally priced telephones.
Galaxy Z Fold7 and Flip7.
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 for $1,900 or Galaxy Z Flip6 for $900: For those who do not need to pay a premium for a brand new folding cellphone, then contemplate final yr’s Galaxy Z Fold6 and Galaxy Z Flip7 (7/10, WIRED Assessment). The Fold6 has a near “normal” 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 looking at 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—nevertheless it’s value contemplating over the brand new Galaxy Z Flip7 FE. Technically, it is practically equivalent 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 you do not pay MSRP for these 2024 telephones.
For those who’re trying to avoid wasting money, it is effective 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 exhausting to seek out at most main retailers.) These telephones will nonetheless get help for some time, they usually’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 may as well broaden your expertise by including on a Galaxy Watch8 smartwatch, Galaxy Buds3 Professional earbuds, Galaxy Ring health ring, Galaxy Tab S10+ pill, 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 accessible when paired with a Samsung cellphone, and its earbuds will mechanically swap between Samsung gadgets 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 Fast Share allow you to speedily ship photographs and paperwork between your gadgets.
Once more, it isn’t essential, and these different gadgets may not be the proper ones for you inside their respective classes, however when you’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 selection of artificial intelligence features, many of which are powered by Google’s Gemini large language models. These enable smart features that may be helpful day to day, like real-time translations during phone calls, real-time transcriptions in Samsung’s Voice Recorder app, the ability to summarize long paragraphs of text in the Samsung Notes app, or change a sentence’s tone with the Samsung Keyboard.
In the Galaxy S25 series, Galaxy AI expanded to include Gemini as the default voice assistant and the ability for Gemini to work with multiple apps simultaneously. It also debuted Drawing Assist, which lets you sketch or enter a prompt and get an AI-generated image. Now, you can also use video in real-time with Gemini, even from the cover screen of the Galaxy Z Flip7.
You can find many of these features by heading to Settings > Galaxy AI to toggle them on or off. We have an explainer on how to limit Galaxy AI to on-device processing, too.
What Is Samsung DeX?
Courtesy of David Nield
Samsung’s DeX (short for “desktop experience”) launched in 2017, and it is a method 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 a listing of suitable Samsung telephones right 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 also solid DeX to pick out 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 kind. It is nice when you’re visiting one other workplace, or figuring out of a espresso store or airplane (if in case you have a conveyable show). Now we have 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 good gadgets was a Samsung Galaxy Captivate, which I bought for “free” from my provider 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 started 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 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 ensure that ol’ operate nonetheless works effective.
Energy up with limitless entry to WIRED. Get best-in-class reporting and unique subscriber content material that is too necessary to disregard. Subscribe As we speak.
