Which Samsung Galaxy phone should you buy?

Other Samsung Phones to Consider

If you don’t see a Samsung phone mentioned in this guide, it might be because it’s not sold in the US and is a little harder to find for testing. But here are some other Samsung phones I’ve tested.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge for $1,220: Have you ever wanted a Really a thin and light phone? No? Well, Samsung has an option for you anyway. THE Galaxy S25 Edge (6/10, WIRED review) sits in the middle of Samsung’s flagship lineup and matches several features of the Galaxy S25 Ultra, like a titanium frame, a stronger front glass, and 4K video recording at 120 frames per second. All cameras even have autofocus. But it made several sacrifices to achieve its incredibly thin 5.8mm bezel (for context, the S25 Ultra is 8.2mm thick). There’s no stylus, no telephoto lens, and worst of all, the battery capacity has been reduced. We’ve seen it before: thin phones have always compromised battery life, and it’s no different here. I’ve had to constantly monitor this phone’s 3,900 mAh battery with medium to heavy usage, and that’s just not acceptable. (THE iPhoneAir does better.) If you find yourself constantly near a power source and think you’ll appreciate the thin, lightweight design, then go for it. Rumors suggest the Edge hasn’t performed well and may not see a successor in 2026.

Samsung Galaxy A17 5G for $200: On paper, the Galaxy A17 (5/10, WIRED review) This seems like a pretty good deal. Six years of software support, an AMOLED display, expandable storage and a decent camera. Unfortunately, it is held back by poor performance. The problem lies specifically in the US model’s very limited 4GB of RAM, which seriously spoils the entire experience of using the phone. If you had to use your smartphone in an emergency, I wouldn’t trust the A17 to be reliable. But if your needs are extremely minimal, this may be enough.

Samsung Galaxy A36 5G for $395: THE Galaxy A36 (6/10, WIRED review) isn’t quite up to par with its peers at Nothing and Motorola. The performance is just too choppy, and that’s not acceptable at this price. It’s manageable – it’s not so slow that it’s frustrating – but you can do better. If your needs are very minimal, it’s an OK phone and the camera system is good, with all-day battery life, a nice AMOLED display and 6 years of software updates.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 Or Galaxy Z Flip6: If you don’t want to pay a lot for a new foldable phone, consider the 2024 one. Galaxy Z Fold6 and Galaxy Z Flip7 (7/10, WIRED review). The Fold6 offers a close to “normal” smartphone experience on the 6.3-inch exterior screen. Open the phone and a vast 7.6-inch AMOLED display stares into your face, transforming this foldable phone into a small tablet. The Flip6 isn’t as good looking as the new Flip7 (the latest model’s larger, brighter cover screen is an improvement), but it’s worth considering over the new Galaxy Z Flip7 FE. Technically, it’s almost identical to that phone, but the FE uses a Samsung Exynos chip instead of a Qualcomm processor, and performance may not be as smooth. The main disadvantage? Battery life isn’t great. Make sure you don’t pay MSRP for these 2024 phones.

If you are looking to save money, you can buy the one from Samsung. Galaxy S23 range or the Galaxy S23 FE starting in 2023, provided prices are well below the original MSRP. (They’re hard to find at most major retailers.) These phones will still have support for a while, and they’re pretty great. I don’t think it’s worth buying something older.

Should you invest in the Samsung ecosystem?

Samsung is one of the few smartphone manufacturers that can compete with Apple in its hardware ecosystem. Not only does the company make smartphones, but you can also expand your experience by adding a Galaxy Watch8 smartwatch, Galaxy Buds3 Pro Earbuds, Galaxy Ring fitness ring, Galaxy Tab S11and even a Windows galaxy laptop.

This has some advantages, like how certain features of the Galaxy Ring And Watch8 are only available when paired with a Samsung phone, and its earbuds will automatically switch between Samsung devices depending on what you’re using. There aren’t many exclusive features when using a Galaxy phone with a Galaxy laptop, but features like Quick share lets you quickly send photos and documents between your devices.

Again, this isn’t necessary, and these other devices might not be right for you in their respective categories, but if you’re looking for hardware parity, you have this option with Samsung.

What is Galaxy AI?

With the Galaxy S24 series, Samsung launched “Galaxy AI“, a selection of artificial intelligence features, many of which are powered by Google’s Great Gemini Language Models. These enable smart features that can be useful in everyday life, 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 the tone of a sentence with the Samsung keyboard.

In the Galaxy S25 series, Galaxy AI has expanded to include Gemini as the default voice assistant and the ability for Gemini to work with multiple apps simultaneously. It also launched Drawing Assist, which lets you draw or enter a prompt and get an AI-generated image. Now you can also use real-time video with Gemini, even from the Galaxy Z Flip7 cover screen.

You can find many of these features by going to Settings > Galaxy AI to activate or deactivate them. We have an explainer on how to limit Galaxy AI on-device processingAlso.

What is Samsung DeX?

Samsung’s DeX (short for “desktop experience”) was launched in 2017. It’s a way to plug your Samsung phone into an external monitor and trigger a desktop version of the Android operating system, all powered entirely by the phone. You can find a list of Compatible Samsung phones here—the Flip7 is the first Galaxy Flip to support DeX—and you’ll need one monitor, mouseAnd keyboardmore has cable to connect the phone to the monitor. (You can also stream DeX to select screens wirelessly.)

In DeX mode, you can resize Android apps and open them all in separate windows. It’s a suitable computing platform, although you probably won’t want to use it as a permanent laptop replacement or anything like that. This is ideal if you’re visiting another office or working in a coffee shop or on an airplane (if you have a portable screen). We have a whole guide to configure and use DeX here.

How to test phones

I’ve been reviewing smartphones for a decade, but one of my first smart devices was a Samsung Galaxy Captivatewhich I got “for free” from my carrier at the time. After working through college, I finally saved enough money to buy a Galaxy S3my first flagship product. I spent years using Samsung phones in my personal life and started reviewing them for work soon after.

With every Samsung smartphone, I always put my personal SIM card inside and spend as much time as possible (a few weeks) using the phone as my own. I test the cameras and compare the results with similarly priced devices, I compare performance and play graphically demanding games to see how they fare, I try out all the new features and I even take calls to make sure the old feature is still working properly.

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