The Best Samsung Phones of 2025, Tested and Reviewed

Other Samsung Phones to Consider

If you don't spot a Samsung telephone mentioned successful this guide, that mightiness beryllium because it's not sold successful nan US and is simply a small harder to root for testing. But present are a fewer different Samsung phones I've tried to consider.

Samsung Galaxy A36 5G for $400: The Galaxy A36 (6/10, WIRED Review) doesn't rather measurement up to its peers from Nothing and Motorola. Performance is conscionable excessively choppy, and that's not acceptable astatine this price. It's manageable—it's not truthful slow that it will frustrate—but you tin do better. If your needs are very minimal, it's an OK phone, and nan camera strategy is good, pinch day-long artillery life, a bully AMOLED screen, and 6 years of package updates.

Samsung Galaxy A16 for $200: Samsung's Galaxy A16 still doesn't scope nan highs of the Galaxy A14, and that's mostly owed to sluggish performance. Sure, Samsung is promising six years of package updates, but that singular update model doesn't matter erstwhile nan telephone is frustratingly slow, and you want to propulsion it retired nan window. If you hardly scheme connected utilizing this instrumentality but want thing from a reliable marque that will enactment secure, nan Galaxy A16 is fine. Its capacity conscionable isn't competitory pinch different likewise priced phones.

If you're looking to prevention immoderate cash, it's good to bargain Samsung's Galaxy S23 range aliases nan Galaxy S23 FE from 2023, arsenic agelong arsenic nan prices are a bully woody little than nan original MSRP. (They're difficult to find astatine astir awesome retailers.) These phones will still get support for a while, and they're beautiful great. I don't deliberation it's worthy buying thing older.

Should You Invest successful Samsung's Ecosystem?

Samsung is 1 of nan fewer smartphone manufacturers that tin lucifer Apple successful its hardware ecosystem. Not only does nan institution make smartphones, but you tin besides grow your acquisition by adding connected a Galaxy Watch7 smartwatch, Galaxy Buds3 Pro earbuds, Galaxy Ring fittingness ring, Galaxy Tab S10+ tablet, and moreover a Windows-powered Galaxy laptop.

There are definite perks to this, too, for illustration really immoderate features connected nan Galaxy Ring and Watch7 are only disposable erstwhile paired pinch a Samsung phone, and its earbuds will automatically move betwixt Samsung devices based connected what you're using. There's not overmuch successful nan measurement of exclusive features erstwhile utilizing a Galaxy telephone pinch a Galaxy laptop, but features for illustration Quick Share fto you speedily nonstop photos and documents betwixt your devices.

Again, it's not necessary, and these different devices mightiness not beryllium nan correct ones for you wrong their respective categories, but if you're chasing hardware parity, you person that action pinch Samsung.

What Is Galaxy AI?

With nan Galaxy S24 series, Samsung launched “Galaxy AI," a action of artificial intelligence features, galore of which are powered by Google's Gemini ample connection models. These alteration smart features that whitethorn beryllium adjuvant time to day, for illustration real-time translations during telephone calls, real-time transcriptions successful Samsung's Voice Recorder app, nan expertise to summarize agelong paragraphs of matter successful nan Samsung Notes app, aliases alteration a sentence's reside pinch nan Samsung Keyboard. In nan Galaxy S25 series, Galaxy AI expanded to see Gemini arsenic nan default sound adjunct and nan expertise for Gemini to activity pinch aggregate apps simultaneously. It besides debuted Drawing Assist, which lets you sketch aliases participate a punctual and get an AI-generated image.

You tin find galore of these features by heading to Settings > Galaxy AI to toggle them connected aliases off.

What Is Samsung DeX?

Samsung's DeX (short for “desktop experience”) launched successful 2017, and it's a measurement to plug successful your Samsung telephone to an outer show and trigger a desktop type of nan Android OS, each wholly powered by nan phone. You tin find a database of compatible Samsung phones here, and you'll request a monitor, mouse, and keyboard, positive a cable to link nan telephone to nan monitor. (You tin besides formed DeX to prime screens wirelessly.)

When successful DeX mode, you tin resize Android apps and person them each unfastened successful abstracted windows. It's a due computing platform, though you astir apt won't want to usage this arsenic a imperishable laptop replacement aliases thing of nan sort. It's awesome if you're visiting different office, aliases moving retired of a java shop aliases airplane (if you person a portable display). We person a full guideline to mounting up and utilizing DeX here.

How I Test Phones

I've been reviewing smartphones for a decade, but 1 of my earliest smart devices was a Samsung Galaxy Captivate, which I sewage for “free” from my bearer astatine nan time. After moving during college, I yet saved capable rate for a Galaxy S3, my first flagship. I've spent years utilizing Samsung phones successful my individual life and began reviewing them for activity not excessively agelong after.

With each Samsung smartphone, I ever put my individual SIM paper wrong and walk arsenic agelong arsenic I tin (a fewer weeks) utilizing nan telephone arsenic my own. I do camera testing and comparison nan results pinch likewise priced devices, I benchmark capacity and play graphically demanding games to spot really they fare, I effort retired each nan caller features, and moreover return calls to make judge that ol' usability still useful fine.

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