Different Samsung Telephones
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu
For those who do not see a Samsung cellphone talked about on this information, that is perhaps as a result of it is not offered within the US and is a bit of tougher to supply for testing. That features units just like the Galaxy A55 or your entire Galaxy M collection. However listed below are a couple of different Samsung telephones to think about.
Samsung Galaxy A25 5G for $300: That is the one Samsung cellphone within the lineup I have not examined. I did evaluation an older mannequin from a couple of years in the past, the A23 5G, and had a fairly poor expertise, however issues can change drastically yr over yr. On paper, the specs look stable, although do not anticipate snappy efficiency.
Samsung Galaxy A15 5G for $170: The Galaxy A15 was a little bit of a disappointment as a result of its predecessor was exceptional. Efficiency took a success on this newer mannequin, and I skilled lag and slowdowns. Not enjoyable. It does have NFC so you may make contactless funds, to not point out longer software program help, but it surely’s arduous to be completely happy about these perks when the cellphone is annoying to make use of. Samsung has launched a successor, the Galaxy A16, and I will be reviewing it quickly.
For those who’re trying to avoid wasting money, I feel it is tremendous 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. These telephones will nonetheless get help for some time, and so they’re fairly nice. I do not assume it is price 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 it’s also possible to develop your expertise by including on a Galaxy Watch7 smartwatch, Galaxy Buds3 Pro earbuds, Galaxy Ring fitness ring, Galaxy Tab S10+ tablet, and even a Home windows-powered Galaxy laptop.
There are particular perks to this too, like how some options on the Galaxy Ring and Watch7 are solely obtainable when paired with a Samsung cellphone, and its earbuds will robotically swap between Samsung units based mostly on what you are utilizing. There’s not a lot in the best way of unique options when utilizing a Galaxy cellphone with a Galaxy laptop computer however perks like Quick Share allow you to speedily ship photographs and paperwork between your units.
Once more, it is not mandatory, and these different units may not be the precise ones for you inside their respective classes, however if you happen to’re chasing {hardware} parity, you may have that choice with Samsung.
What Is Galaxy AI?
With the Galaxy S24 collection, Samsung launched “Galaxy AI,” a number of synthetic intelligence options, a lot of that are powered by Google’s Gemini large language models. These allow sensible options that could be useful day after day, like real-time translations throughout cellphone calls, real-time transcriptions in Samsung’s Voice Recorder app, the power 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 collection, Galaxy AI expanded to incorporate Gemini because the default voice assistant, and the power 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.
Yow will discover many of those options by heading to Settings > Galaxy AI to toggle them on or off. The next telephones embrace or have been up to date to help Galaxy AI, although not all options can be found on older fashions:
- Galaxy S25, Galaxy S24, Galaxy S23, Galaxy S22, and Galaxy S21 collection
- Galaxy S24 FE, Galaxy S23 FE
- Galaxy Z Fold6, Galaxy Fold5, Galaxy Fold4, Galaxy Fold3
- Galaxy Flip6, Galaxy Flip5, Galaxy Flip4, Galaxy Flip3
What Is Samsung DeX?
Courtesy of David Nield
Samsung’s DeX (quick for “desktop expertise”) 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. Yow will discover a listing of compatible Samsung phones here, and you will want a monitor, mouse, and keyboard, plus a cable to attach the cellphone to the monitor. (You can even forged DeX to pick 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 in all probability will not wish to use this as a everlasting laptop computer alternative or something of the kind. It is nice if you happen to’re visiting one other workplace, or understanding of a espresso store or airplane (when you’ve got a conveyable show). We’ve got a complete information to setting up and using DeX here.
How I Check Telephones
I have been reviewing smartphones for practically a decade, however certainly one of my earliest sensible units was a Samsung Galaxy Captivate, which I acquired for “free” from my service on the time. After working throughout faculty, I had 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 digicam testing and examine 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 tremendous.
