Different Samsung Telephones to Think about
If you happen to do not see a Samsung telephone talked about on this information, that could be as a result of it is not offered within the US and is somewhat more durable to supply for testing. However listed here 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) 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 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.
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Samsung Galaxy S24 FE for $565: The Galaxy S24 FE shouldn’t be well worth the value, contemplating the Galaxy S25 FE is having fun with a greater low cost, however it’s a superbly high-quality smartphone. It makes use of Samsung’s Exynos processor, and I have not had any efficiency points in any respect; my benchmark scores put it a smidge under the Galaxy S24 and its Snapdragon chipset. You continue to get entry to all of the authentic Galaxy AI options, almost 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 assist 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 via Instagram Reels.
Samsung Galaxy A16 for $170: Samsung’s Galaxy A16 nonetheless would not attain the highs of the Galaxy A14, and that is largely as a consequence of sluggish efficiency. Positive, Samsung is promising six years of software program updates, however that outstanding replace window would not matter when the telephone is frustratingly gradual, and also you wish to throw it out the window. If you happen to barely plan on utilizing this machine however need one thing from a dependable model that can keep safe, the Galaxy A16 is ok. Its efficiency simply is not aggressive with different equally priced telephones.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 for $1,900 or Galaxy Z Flip6 for $900: If you happen to do not wish to pay a premium for a brand new folding telephone, then contemplate final 12 months’s Galaxy Z Fold6 and Galaxy Z Flip7 (7/10, WIRED Assessment). 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 most recent mannequin is a step up—however it’s price contemplating over the brand new Galaxy Z Flip7 FE. Technically, it is almost an identical to that telephone, however the FE makes use of a Samsung Exynos chip as a substitute of a Qualcomm processor, and efficiency will not be as easy. The principle disadvantage? Battery life is not nice. Be sure you do not pay MSRP for these 2024 telephones.
If you happen to’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 great deal decrease than the unique MSRP. (They’re onerous to seek out at most main retailers.) These telephones will nonetheless get assist for some time, they usually’re fairly nice. I do not assume it is price shopping for something older.
Ought to You Put money into 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 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 obtainable when paired with a Samsung telephone, and its earbuds will routinely change between Samsung gadgets based mostly on what you are utilizing. There’s not a lot in the best way of unique options when utilizing a Galaxy telephone with a Galaxy laptop computer, however options like Fast Share allow you to speedily ship pictures and paperwork between your gadgets.
Once more, it is not mandatory, and these different gadgets may not be the correct ones for you inside their respective classes, however in case you’re chasing {hardware} parity, you may have that choice with Samsung.
What Is Galaxy AI?
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu
With the Galaxy S24 sequence, Samsung launched “Galaxy AI,” a choice of synthetic intelligence options, a lot of that are powered by Google’s Gemini massive language fashions. These allow good options that could be useful daily, like real-time translations throughout telephone 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 sequence, 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. Now, you may also use video in real-time with Gemini, even from the duvet 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 got 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 option 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 assist DeX—and you will want a monitor, mouse, and keyboard, plus a cable to attach the telephone to the monitor. (You may also 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 most likely will not wish to use this as a everlasting laptop computer substitute or something of the kind. It is nice in case you’re visiting one other workplace, or figuring out of a espresso store or airplane (you probably have a transportable show). We’ve got a complete information to establishing and utilizing DeX right here.
How I Check 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 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 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 telephone as my very own. I do digicam testing and examine 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 guarantee that ol’ perform nonetheless works high-quality.
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