Samsung Galaxy Phones

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus review: I used it for two weeks, and it’s so good I don’t understand why anyone would buy the Galaxy S25 UItra

9:00 pm | January 22, 2025

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Phones Samsung Galaxy Phones | Tags: AI | Comments: Off

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus review: Two-minute review

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus in Navy Blue showing TechRadar.com Galaxy S25 Ultra review — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

The Galaxy S25 Plus is much better than good enough. For a few hundred more than the Galaxy S25 you’re getting a major upgrade over that phone – much bigger than the step up from the Plus to the Galaxy S25 Ultra. If you’re looking for a larger-screen Android phone and you like the smell of what Samsung is cooking, the Galaxy S25 Plus is easy to recommend. It does everything well, and you won’t be wasting your time and money on features you don’t need.

Don’t call the Galaxy S25 Plus a Goldilocks phone. It isn’t just a slightly bigger Galaxy S25, or a slightly cheaper Galaxy S25 Ultra. The screen size is actually in the middle, fractionally smaller than the Ultra display, but it feels like a much larger phone compared to the Galaxy S25’s more pocket-friendly size.

The Galaxy S25 Plus’s secret weapon is its display. It packs the same number of pixels as the larger S25 Ultra, but more densely into a 6.7-inch panel, instead of the 6.9 inches of the Ultra. That means it’s technically Samsung’s sharpest phone screen, with a higher pixel density than the more expensive flagship, even if you might not notice the difference in day-to-day use.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus in Navy Blue next to Galaxy S25 both showing always on displays — Galaxy S25 on the left, Galaxy S25 Plus on the right (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

What else do you get with the Galaxy S25 Plus, besides the best display? The Plus charges a bit faster, up to 45W, than the Galaxy S25, which charges at up to 25W. Of course it has a larger battery inside as well, which translates to longer battery life. In our battery tests, the S25 Plus actually beat the S25 Ultra by 10 minutes – a nice win considering it has a slightly smaller battery cell.

Another fun advantage the Galaxy S25 Plus has over the Ultra is the choice of colors. Samsung sent me the S25 Plus in blue, and it's the nicest-looking blue phone I’ve ever seen. It’s a deep, rich hue that changes as it refracts light. I’m almost relieved that I didn’t get a case with it, because I love showing off this phone.

During my review period, the Galaxy S25 Plus was a joy to use, and I found myself using the larger Plus much more often than the smaller Galaxy S25. I loved having more screen real estate, especially when it came to shooting photos.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus in Navy Blue showing TechRadar.com with Galaxy S25 Ultra review — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

I wish I had more to say about Galaxy AI, but in the two weeks I spent with the phone, it didn’t do very much. I was expecting more suggestions and recommendations, if not a complete AI takeover like we’re seeing with Apple Intelligence. Instead, during my time with the Galaxy S25 Plus, Galaxy AI was… quiet?

I didn’t mind. The Galaxy S25 Plus is solid, really pleasing in almost every way – and I wonder if more AI would have made my experience worse, rather than better.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus review: Price and availability

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus in Navy Blue behind Galaxy S25 in silver, both from back showing cameras — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Available for $999 / £999 / AU$1,699 with 256GB of storage
Better display than Galaxy S25, cameras a step down from S25 Ultra

While Apple charges $100 / £100 / AU$200 for its ‘Plus’ iPhone 16 over the smaller model, Samsung asks for more when you upgrade to Plus, and it gives you more. The Galaxy S25 Plus isn’t just a larger version of the Galaxy S25; it’s a step up in terms of the display, and it has better battery life with faster charging. Frankly, that puts the Galaxy S25 Ultra in a precarious position, priced as it is above the $1,000 / £1,000 threshold.

What the Galaxy S25 Plus lacks, compared to the flagship Ultra, is the best cameras Samsung offers. The Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus have the same cameras as last year’s Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus, and frankly these cameras look suspiciously similar to the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus. If you want Samsung’s best cameras, and one of the best camera phones you can buy, you’ll need to pay an exorbitant $300 / £250 / AU$450 premium, although you do also get the S Pen.

The Galaxy S25 Plus comes in the brighter, more vibrant colors that you’ll also find on the Galaxy S25, not the made-for-business hues of the Galaxy S25 Ultra. My review sample is, to my mind, the best color, the striking Navy Blue; you also get the Plus in Icyblue, Mint, and Silver Shadow, along with some exclusive colors that Samsung is saving for its own web store.

At this price tier the competition is especially fierce. You can forgo the basic iPhone 16 and get the titanium iPhone 16 Pro. You can get a Google Pixel 9 Pro for around the same price, but the Pixel phone often drops closer to the Galaxy S25’s price level, so it can look a bargain next to the Samsung. The OnePlus 13 is cheaper than the Galaxy S25 Plus, and OnePlus has a perpetual trade-in deal in the US that keeps the final price even lower.

I’m just saying, this phone is a good choice, but it would be even easier to recommend if it had some new, amazing cameras.

Value score: 4 / 5

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Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus review: Specs

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus in Navy Blue showing more setting options — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

The Galaxy S25 Plus gives you more than just a bigger display and battery, compared to the Galaxy S25. The display is much bigger, a full half-inch diagonally, which makes the phone seem a whole larger category of device. It’s also a better display, with more pixels per inch, making it seem just a touch sharper than the Galaxy S25 – as mentioned, it’s technically more sharp than even the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

You also get a bigger battery in the Galaxy S25 Plus than in the Galaxy S25 Ultra, and Samsung also increases the charging speed to 45W versus the Galaxy S25’s 25W charging. In our testing, that translated to about 10% more battery every 15 minutes of charging, a nice little boost.

The Galaxy S25 Plus starts with 256GB of storage, which is twice what most of the world will find on the base model Galaxy S25. Every Galaxy S25 model, including the Plus and Ultra, comes with 12GB of RAM inside.

Samsung offers enough of a spec bump with the Galaxy S25 Plus to justify its price jump over the Galaxy S25, but I wonder if it could have made better choices. At this price range, Apple, Google, and OnePlus give you the best cameras those phone makers offer. With Samsung, you still need to spend more to get the best cameras, and then you’ll end up with the Ultra, which might be more phone than you need, and more money than you’d like to spend.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus review: Design

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus in Navy Blue showing back of phone and bottom USB-C port — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Much bigger than the Galaxy S25, not much smaller than the Ultra
Half the buttons of an iPhone 16

Samsung has stagnated when it comes to its phone design, and the Galaxy S25 Plus looks just like the Galaxy S25, as well as the Galaxy S24 and S23. That’s not the worst thing – the Galaxy S25 Plus feels like a polished, well-built, premium smartphone – but it also feels like a missed opportunity.

Maybe Samsung doesn’t need a full redesign, but can’t we at least have one more button? When the iPhone 16 got the Camera Control and an Action button I predicted that Samsung would eventually catch up; but the Galaxy S25 was already too far along, I suppose, for Samsung to add more hardware to keep parity with Apple’s base model iPhone.

The Galaxy S25 Plus just needs… something. The side button can now activate Google Gemini, in addition to Bixby, but I kind of like using that button for Bixby, to turn on the flashlight or turn on my Wi-Fi hotspot. I don’t need a Gemini button; I want my hardware buttons to control the hardware.

I’d love to see Samsung nail the camera button, because Apple left me wanting something softer, with more travel. Or maybe a temperature sensor, like the Pixel 9 Pro. Or maybe an infrared emitter to control my home gear, like the OnePlus 13. See, the Galaxy S25 Plus needs something, because the competition is offering more and more for the same price, or less.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus in Navy Blue held in hand from side showing volume and power button — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Also, the overall design hews too close to the iPhone… again. If you’d never seen a smartphone and I handed you a Galaxy S25 Plus and an iPhone 16 Plus, you’d think they were made by the same people. That’s a backhanded compliment, but Google, OnePlus, and even Motorola have shown us that there is room for originality in phone materials and design – not every handset has to be hazy glass and metal slabs with rounded corners, and cameras in the upper-left corner.

Design score: 3 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus review: Display

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus in Navy Blue showing home screen with AI generated lighthouse, standinng in between two adorable Android figurines — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Higher resolution than the Galaxy S25, not just bigger
Fingerprint scanner didn’t work consistently

The Galaxy S25 Plus has a fantastic display, and it might be Samsung’s best, on paper at least. Instead of blowing up the Galaxy S25 display, with its lower resolution, Samsung shrank the Galaxy S25 Ultra display a bit, so both phones pack the same pixels. Because the S25 Plus is a bit smaller, it packs those pixels more tightly, resulting in a display that’s technically sharper. I couldn’t see a difference from the Ultra, but the step up from the smaller Galaxy S25 is noticeable, and significant.

The Galaxy S25 Plus is especially bright, which helps when you need to use the phone outdoors. This phone is great for taking photos, because the viewfinder is easy to see in any situation, and I preferred shooting with the larger S25 Plus versus the Galaxy S25 because the larger display made it easier to see my subjects.

The Galaxy S25 Plus, like the S25 Ultra, gets Samsung’s new ProScaler technology, which the phone maker says it’s borrowed from the Samsung TV group. This tech is supposed to upscale the resolution on any video content you watch on the Galaxy S25 Plus. It won’t change the frame rate, so you won’t get the weird motion effect you see on some TVs; it just improves the resolution.

In practice, I didn’t notice much difference between regular HD video quality on this phone and the smaller Galaxy S25. If I paused a video, I could see less blurriness on the Plus, but it wasn’t noticeable while the video was playing.

Like the Galaxy S25, the Galaxy S25 Plus has a fingerprint scanner that gave me some trouble. About once a day it failed to open for my fingerprint, and I had to use my password instead. I’ve seen much more reliable scanning from competitors, especially the OnePlus 13.

Display score: 5 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus review: Software

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus in Navy Blue with two windows open and a pop-up video call all at once — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Samsung One UI is colorful but more polished than ever
Galaxy AI isn’t overbearing, at least not yet

I usually complain about Samsung phone software – I find the settings and the sheer number of features and options to be confusing and excessive. In this case, I’m going to let things slide. The Galaxy S25 Plus has the latest One UI 7 version of Android 15 from Samsung, and it looks good. It’s colorful and original, and it still offers plenty of customization, but now the phone does more of the work for you, thanks to improved AI.

For instance, every time I opened the Widgets menu to add a new widget to my home screen, the Galaxy S25 Plus had new suggestions for me – and they weren’t bad! I found some useful widgets this way, even though I’m not sure what criteria the AI uses to decide what I’d like. The Galaxy S25 Plus also did a fine job with other suggestions, like suggesting replies to text messages, or suggesting edits in the photo Gallery app.

Somehow Samsung has struck the best balance between powerful AI and obtrusive AI of any phone maker. Galaxy AI appears in the form of suggestions, not demands. You can almost ignore the AI features entirely, or just have all of the AI results computed on your phone, instead of in the cloud. This is a nicely measured approach to mobile AI, and Samsung is doing it best.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus in Navy Blue showing settings Quick Settings drop down, standing in between two adorable Android figurines — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

I also appreciate the improvements to Samsung’s own Bixby AI. Bixby is better than ever at finding and controlling features on your phone. We’re still not at the finish line – I think Bixby could become even more helpful if it could explain things better. Still, for finding features and taking actions on the phone, Bixby is the best AI, better than Siri or Gemini, for sure.

Sadly, Bixby has been cut off from most of the Galaxy S25 Plus. At startup, your phone encourages you to make Gemini your side-button companion, relegating Bixby to the settings menu or its own Bixby app. I worry that most people won’t find my friend Bixby, which makes me sad, because Bixby has finally gotten smart enough to be interesting.

It’s still early days for all of this mobile AI stuff, and even new phones like the Galaxy S25 Plus will have years to improve, with Samsung promising seven full Android OS updates. As my phone collects more data about me and learns to do more itself, and once Samsung figures out how to integrate Gemini and Bixby properly, I think Samsung could have the best mobile AI device around.

For now, the AI just doesn’t do much, and I’m fine with that – it doesn’t do too much. I wish it did everything Samsung promised at launch, like turning off my TV when I fall asleep or suggesting better lighting for bed time. We’ll get there. For now, I’m just enjoying the suggestions.

Software score: 3 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus review: Cameras

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus in Navy Blue held in hand showing the back — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Solid cameras that work well in a variety of situations
Great pro settings, though some require extra downloads

The Galaxy S25 Plus takes great photos, and I especially like Samsung’s Camera app for all of its shooting modes, though it can get a bit confusing, in classic Samsung style. If you like shooting bright blue skies, crispy croissants, and colorful crowds, the Galaxy S25 Plus is the right camera for you, because Samsung excels at photos that are meant for sharing.

You won’t get the most accurate colors or the most detail, but the Galaxy S25 Plus is very reliable, and I knew it could capture low-light photos and get me the details I wanted, or close-up macro photos to catch that bug before it skittered away. It feels versatile, and there’s no situation it can’t handle.

There are, perhaps, a couple too many shooting modes. There’s a Pro mode, as well as Pro Video, and you can get even more Pro and become an Expert Raw user. Expert Raw is a separate app, though you access it through the Camera, and it gives you features like astrophotography and even more photo controls.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus in Navy Blue showing a TechRadar Google Meet video call, standing in between four adorable Android figurines — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

If you shoot mostly video, the Galaxy S25 Plus now supports Log file recording, which gives you much more control over your color profile at the editing stage. The maximum video resolution is 8K at 30fps, which is higher-resolution than any monitor I own.

I’m skeptical about AI photo editing, but the Galaxy AI tools have become truly impressive. For fun, I decided to cut my exes out of old photographs, and the Galaxy S25 Plus gave me perfect selfie shots in romantic locations – nobody else included. It even managed to create proper folds in my pullover, or add landscape to fill in the blanks. Only the closest scrutiny would cause a viewer to suspect the photo was altered by AI, were it not for the ‘AI-generated content’ logo that appears at the bottom after you make such changes.

Camera score: 4 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus review: Camera samples

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Camera samples from the Galaxy S25 Plus — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

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Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus review: Performance

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus in Navy Blue with Star Wars Hunters title screen showing — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Top-ranking performance from the Snapdragon 8 Elite
Where does all that power go? It’s hard to tell

The Galaxy S25 Plus is one of the best-performing phones I’ve ever tested, matched only by the other two Galaxy S25 devices. That’s thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset inside, a bespoke version of Qualcomm’s Elite mobile platform that has been just slightly overclocked for Samsung, and while it’s enough for Samsung to claim bragging rights, this processor was already plenty fast.

In fact, I’m not sure why I need all that power? Last year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 could already run all of the best Android mobile games at the top performance settings. What’s above the top? Samsung hasn’t done much visually to take advantage of the improved performance, though I suspect that the Galaxy AI features, especially the AI features that will eventually come to this phone, will take up much of the processor’s clock time.

For now, you can choose to run most of the Galaxy AI computations on the phone instead of sending that work to the cloud, if you’re especially security conscious or worried about the impact on the environment.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus in Navy Blue showing always on display with photograph in color — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

You can also run DeX, Samsung’s desktop environment, though DeX is looking more and more mobile these days, more like a big iPad than a Chromebook. If you want to get some work done on a bigger screen, and with a bigger keyboard, and a mouse even, you can plug all of those into the USB port on the Galaxy S25 Plus (or connect wirelessly), and you suddenly have a mini desktop computer. It’s pretty sweet for the right circumstance, like answering work emails or checking out photos on a big screen.

I still wonder if it’s time for the Galaxy series to step up to a more advanced experience. I’d love to see more desktop-level apps, like a real Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom, since the Snapdragon seems to have that kind of power. I haven’t seen huge improvements in Android apps for a while, besides some choice games, which the Galaxy S25 Plus can handle easily, with all the ray tracing and pixel pushing required.

Performance score: 5 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus review: Battery

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus in Navy Blue showing USB-C port on bottom — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Best battery life of the Galaxy S25 family
Faster charging than the Galaxy S25

Battery life on the Galaxy S25 Plus is remarkable. The phone easily lasted through a full day in my time using it for work and play alike, and probably could have made it through two days with more conservative usage – but I take a lot of photos.

Our Future Labs testing agrees. In our battery rundown test, the Galaxy S25 Plus is our new Samsung battery champ, beating even the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which is odd considering that the Ultra has a slightly larger battery. The S25 Plus lasted 18 hours and 45 minutes, while the Ultra lasted 18 hours and 35 minutes. Both of those are stellar results. The smaller Galaxy S25 was also admirable, but it lasted less than 16 hours in our testing; so if you want the best battery from a Samsung Galaxy, get the Galaxy S25 Plus.

That said, the OnePlus 13 lasted 19 hours and 45 minutes in the same battery rundown test, making it our outright battery champ, but all of these phones will easily get you through an active day of use.

The Galaxy S25 Plus charges faster than the other Galaxy phones as well. With a 45W charger, you can charge the S25 Plus to 70% in 30 minutes, and my phone was fully charged within 50 minutes. That’s faster than the iPhone 16 or the Galaxy S25, which both max out at a slower 25W charging speed. Once again, however, the OnePlus 13 steps out ahead with incredibly fast 80W charging (with a 100W charger on the way).

It’s strange that Samsung hasn’t improved its charging speed, whether that’s for USB-C or wireless charging. Phones from many Chinese brands can charge much faster, but I guess that since Apple and Google aren’t competing with faster charging, Samsung hasn’t stepped up. Hopefully we’ll see this improve with in the next generation.

Battery score: 4 / 5

Buy it if...

You want a Galaxy S25, only bigger and better
You might spend more to get a larger screen and more battery life, but the Galaxy S25 Plus also gives you faster charging and a sharper display.

You have hope for the future
Galaxy AI doesn’t do much right now, but there are seven years of Android updates ahead for this phone. It can only get better, right?

You’re all-in on Galaxy gear
If you have a Galaxy Watch, Galaxy Book, or Galaxy Buds, the Galaxy ecosystem is growing, and Galaxy devices work better together.

Don't buy it if...

You want the best cameras
Unlike Apple and Google, Samsung makes you pay more if you want the best cameras. Only the Ultra has the best cameras Samsung makes, sorry Plus.

You’re buying a house, or you like to draw
The Galaxy S25 Ultra has the S Pen, which is useful if you sign a lot of digital documents, or you want professional-strength drawing capabilities.

You want something fresh and new
The Galaxy S family has been stagnant for a while, so if you don’t need a new phone right away, maybe wait until Samsung has some new ideas.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus review: Also consider

OnePlus 13
For less than the Galaxy S25 Plus you can have much better battery life, better ultra-wide and zoom cameras, and a more durable phone in the OnePlus 13.

Read our full OnePlus 13 review

Galaxy S25 Ultra
Let’s be honest, cameras are the most important feature, and the Galaxy S25 Plus just doesn’t have them. If you want the best cameras, you need the Ultra.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review

How I tested the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus

I tested the phone for two weeks
I took dozens of photos
I played games and watched movies
I checked email and worked in Slack
I used AI features extensively
Benchmark testing is for comparison, not scoring purposes

I received the Galaxy S25 Plus almost two weeks before this review was published. I tested the phone extensively, alongside the Galaxy S25, using the same work and personal apps and accounts on each.

I used the Galaxy S25 Plus for taking photos, communicating with work colleagues using messages and Slack, and conducting video conference calls. I played games, and edited photos from my Google Photos library.

I connected the Galaxy S25 Plus to a Galaxy Watch Ultra and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, supplied by Samsung. I wore the Galaxy Watch to sleep, and let the Galaxy S25 Plus listen to me as I slept. I also connected an Xbox wireless controller to play games. I connected the S25 Plus to my car for Android Auto and multimedia. I connected the phone to my Steelseries USB-C keyboard, my MX Master mouse, and my Dell monitor for DeX capabilities.

I used Smart Things on the Galaxy S25 Plus to control my home thermostat, lights, security, and television. I used Gemini as my primary side-button AI, but I also used Bixby extensively.

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I’ve used the Galaxy S25 for a week and it’s the fastest small phone I’ve tested, but I’d trade some speed for newer cameras

9:00 pm |

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Phones Samsung Galaxy Phones | Tags: AI, AMOLED, Google Pixel | Comments: Off

Samsung Galaxy S25 review: Two-minute review

Samsung Galaxy S25 held in hand at an angle to reflect the Samsung logo

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

The Samsung Galaxy S25 is polished, powerful, and predictable. Everything about the Galaxy S family has gotten a bit better over the years – the sleek design that is totally not an iPhone lookalike; the One UI 7 interface that looks much nicer even as it grows more complex; the bright and colorful display that draws you into every web page and photo. It’s all great, but it’s not very exciting.

The Galaxy S25’s performance is top-notch: this is the fastest phone you can buy at the time of its release, other than the more expensive Galaxy S25 Ultra. Unlike Apple, which hobbles its base model iPhone 16 with a slower processor, Samsung has ensured that the Galaxy S25 starts on the same platform as its larger brethren, with an identical Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset inside. There’s nothing this phone can’t handle.

That might be an empty compliment, because the Galaxy S25 just doesn’t do very much more than you’d expect a flagship phone in 2025 to do… not yet. At launch, Samsung bragged on and on about Galaxy AI, and all the ways this phone would get to know you. Maybe it will, someday, but none of that is here just yet.

Samsung Galaxy S25 from angle in hand showing bottom part of screen and USB-C port with SIM tray — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

In fact, throughout the phone, the AI takes steps backwards. The Now Brief feature that Samsung wants us to use multiple times a day? It offers the weather, and news stories I really don’t want to read – at least Google Discover knows the stories I like. Even the health advice wasn’t helpful – get more sleep? Thanks, I’ll get right on that.

I used to be able to use AI to turn on the flashlight or activate my personal hotspot. Now I have to wrestle between competing AIs. Samsung said users won’t need to know whether they’re using Bixby or Google’s Gemini, so seamless will the combined AI experience be. In my time with the phone, however, that was not at all true. Many of the features I used to enjoy with Bixby are now hidden, because Gemini takes over the side button when you set up the phone, and Gemini cannot do half of what Bixby can do.

Bixby continues to improve, and it comes closer to fulfilling its promise of a voice interface. I can now ask Bixby to “help me charge my Galaxy Buds using my phone” and it will open the correct Settings menu for wireless power sharing. Sadly, Bixby itself is hard to find, relegated to the Search bar in the Settings app.

I can always put Bixby back on the side button, but then I’d lose Google Gemini features, such as they are. It’s easier now to talk to Gemini, and Google’s Search is more ready than ever to identify whatever you see or hear, whether that’s live in person or on the phone screen. Beyond that, it can, um… I’m not sure, exactly.

Samsung told me that Galaxy AI would do things like turn off the TV when I fall asleep, or identify the best thermostat setting to help me fall asleep. Yes, Samsung appears to be obsessed with sleep across its Galaxy range.

So where, exactly, is the AI? I’m using a Galaxy S25, and a Galaxy Watch Ultra, and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. I’m watching my Samsung Smart TV, and controlling everything, including my lights and thermostat, through Smart Things. So, where is it? Where are the suggestions? Where is the intelligence?

If Samsung is being cautious and not overextending Galaxy AI for now, then I appreciate the sensitivity and I will be patient. I don’t need AI-generated fake news headlines, or inaccurate summaries of my messages. When Samsung’s Galaxy AI summarized my phone calls or my Notes, it was very accurate, with no glaring errors. There’s no AI help for Notifications yet, sadly.

Samsung Galaxy S25 showing the Now Brief screen, with a finger covering some corporate information — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

I will continue to feed my Galaxy S25 my personal data to keep in the Samsung Knox-secured Personal Data Engine, and hopefully its Galaxy AI will chew that up and spit out features that are tailored to my personality and habits. I can be patient, because, AI features aside, the Galaxy S25 is a satisfying phone.

The cameras on the Galaxy S25 are great, even if they didn’t get an exciting upgrade with more megapixels or longer zoom. Samsung’s One UI 7 software is the most heavily customizable version of Android you’ll find – you can change everything down to the number of rounded corners on your squircle-shaped widgets, or you can leave everything unchanged, and enjoy the colorful, smooth feel of One UI 7.

Here’s the thing. The Galaxy S25 is a great phone, but there are competitors that are finally catching up to Samsung. You can get a OnePlus 13 for the same price (with OnePlus’s trade-in offer), and that phone has better battery life and nicer cameras. The Google Pixel 9 Pro just got a fabulous new look; it’s more expensive, but I’ve seen that price drop to the Galaxy S25’s level for Black Friday, and its price will surely drop again.

If you need a phone, the Galaxy S25 is an excellent choice that will keep you satisfied for years. If you’re looking to upgrade from a Galaxy S24, you may want to wait a bit longer, because the Galaxy S25 offers only subtle improvements, and I’m hoping that Samsung freshens up the Galaxy S lineup with something more exciting next year.

Samsung Galaxy S25 review: Price and availability

Samsung Galaxy S25 in blue, silver, light blue, and mint green — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Available for $799 / £799 / AU $1,399 with 128GB of storage (256GB in Australia)
All the colors are kinda blue, including Icyblue, Navy, and Mint (and Silver)

The Samsung Galaxy S25 starts at $799 / £799 / AU$1,399, which is not only the same price as the Apple iPhone 16 and Google Pixel 9 (the Pixel 9 is very slightly cheaper in Australia), but also the same price as last year’s Galaxy S24 at launch. It’s a big deal that Samsung didn’t raise the price, because I’ve heard strong rumors that the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset inside is more expensive than previous Snapdragon platforms. It’s worth the premium.

The Galaxy S25 starts with a paltry 128GB of storage in the US and UK, but Australia skips that low-end model and starts at 256GB. Also, for some reason US customers can’t buy a Galaxy S25 with 512GB of storage, although it’s not really an issue, as 256GB is probably the sweet spot. Every Galaxy S25 comes with 12GB of RAM inside.

You can find the Galaxy S25 in a few shades of blue and also silver, and Samsung is keeping a few colors exclusive to its own online web store, like a snazzy pinkish Coralred color. My review sample is Silver Shadow, and it’s a nicer-than-average shade of light grey, with real depth to the finish on the back glass.

An important note here is that Samsung fans often say nobody pays full price for a Samsung phone. You can look for sales throughout the year, especially in the form of a trade-in discount if you give Samsung your old phone. The Galaxy S25 is worth the list price, but keep an eye out for deals, and we will do the same.

Value score: 4 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S25 review: Specs

Samsung Galaxy S25 on a stand showing the lock screen — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

The standout spec in the Samsung Galaxy S25 is the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset. It seems that Qualcomm has overclocked the two primary Oryon cores by 0.15GHz – and if that doesn’t sound like much, know that those cores run at a mind-melting 4.47GHz at peak, and it's hard to imagine squeezing any more speed out of these chips.

That gives Samsung the benchmark crown for many of our Future Labs benchmark tests, whether you’re comparing the Galaxy S25 to the iPhone 16 Pro or any other Android phone. The Galaxy S25 isn’t the spec champ in most other ways, but it has enough power for bragging rights.

You can find phones with screens that refresh faster than 120Hz, like the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro. You can get a phone like the OnePlus 13 with 16GB of RAM, not to mention much faster charging speeds; Samsung is still stuck in the slow lane when it comes to charging.

Finally, the camera specs haven’t improved, and that’s disappointing. It doesn’t seem like any of the three main camera sensors have gotten larger, which is the most clear sign that image quality will improve. Samsung’s camera software, with its AI help and Snapdragon image processing pipeline, is better than ever, but I’d still like to see Samsung focus its camera sights on a phone that isn’t its Ultra.

Samsung Galaxy S25 review: Design

Samsung Galaxy S25 from the back showing the cameras and Samsung logo

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Smaller than an iPhone 16, with a larger display
Still looks like last year’s Galaxy S (and the year before’s, and…)

The Galaxy S25 has a 6.2-inch display, but the phone is smaller in every way, and even lighter, than the Apple iPhone 16 with its 6.1-inch display. The greatest trick Samsung ever pulled was fitting a larger display into a smaller phone – but we saw that trick in 2023 with the Galaxy S23, and it’s still the same trick.

Sadly, Samsung hasn’t changed the Galaxy S design significantly since the Galaxy S23, when it introduced the porthole-style cameras. The new phones look so much like the older models, even the dimensions are unchanged. The Galaxy S25 matches the Galaxy S23 in height, width, and depth to within a millimeter.

Why does that matter? Because I expect a phone design should improve or the phone should drop in price, and the Galaxy S hasn’t improved. Why are we paying the same amount for a phone that hasn’t changed since 2023? Except for the main processor and RAM, these phones are identical.

It’s a good design, it gets the job done, which is getting out of the way of Samsung’s fantastic phone display. The bezel is even smaller this year, though we’re talking fractions of millimeters, not a noticeable improvement. There is still a bezel; it’s just very small.

Frankly, if you’d never seen a smartphone before, you’d have a hard time telling a Samsung Galaxy S from an iPhone. The two have come full circle to resemble each other again. The camera lenses are arranged differently, but otherwise, these phones are glass slabs with rounded corners. The only real difference is where Samsung and Apple stick the buttons.

Design score: 4 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S25 review: Display

Samsung Galaxy S25 showing my thumb on the screen and the fingerprint reader fails to match — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Excellent, bright AMOLED screen with full-color always-on display
Fingerprint scanner is still glitchy

The Galaxy S25 has a fantastic display. It’s bright, colorful, and extra smooth when you’re scrolling through your apps or web pages. There’s very little distance between the glass and the screen, so it feels like elements are floating just beneath the surface.

Samsung displays also excel in bright light, and the Galaxy S25 was easy to use for taking photos on a bright, sunny day with heaps of dazzling, white snow on the ground. The extra brightness really kicks in when the sun is out, and it makes a big difference.

The S25 doesn’t get the ProScaler technology that’s designed to make videos look better, with a higher resolution, but I didn’t see much difference between videos on this phone and the Galaxy S25 Plus, which, along with the S25 Ultra, has the Samsung TV tech. In terms of color, smoothness and brightness, the two are identical.

I think the fingerprint scanner under the display needs improvement. After using the OnePlus 13 for a few months I’ve been spoiled by the reliability of that phone’s scanner. The Galaxy S25 often made me re-present my fingerprint two or three times, and then resort to using my password because it couldn’t recognize my finger.

Display score: 4 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S25 review: Software

Samsung Galaxy S25 showing the Now Brief screen saying it will be a Windy morning — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

One UI 7 is the best-looking One UI in a long time
Still far too complicated, though Bixby helps

I expected to write a few hundred words about Galaxy AI on the Galaxy S25, but, um, where is it? The usual stuff is here, including the photo-editing tools, and the writing assistance, and the transcription for phone calls and voice memos. The phone does a nice job of making suggestions for apps, settings, and even widgets, when you open the widgets menu. It takes a light touch, offering suggestions but not being too pushy.

I was expecting more pushy. I was hoping for more pushy. Samsung sent me a Galaxy Watch Ultra to go along with the Galaxy S25, and I’ve been feeding my phone, via its Personal Data Engine, all of my health data for days. The most I’ve gotten is a critique on my sleep habits. I was expecting much more.

At Galaxy Unpacked, Samsung said the Galaxy S25 would use the Galaxy Watch to learn when I fall asleep, and then check Smart Things to understand how the temperature and lighting in my home affected my sleep patterns. I have all of those things set up, including my lights, thermostat, and Samsung TV on Smart Things. And… nothing happens.

I’ve asked Samsung, and they’ll get back to me with more instructions on how to set this all up, but that’s my big problem with Galaxy AI so far. It doesn’t happen, and I might need to do more to set it up.

Take Google Gemini, which now lives on the Side Button of my Galaxy S25. So long, Bixby, right? Nope, Bixby is still there, but you have to find it. If you use the Search feature in the Settings menu, you’re using Bixby. You could have kept Bixby on the side button, but the setup process pushes you to use Gemini instead.

Samsung Galaxy S25 showing the side bar with AI Assist tool — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

That’s too bad, because Bixby is better for the Galaxy S25. Bixby can do things, and I don’t just mean setting timers and checking the weather. Bixby understands the Settings menu better than the Samsung Help Hotline. You can ask Bixby a question using natural language and it will find the settings you need. Say “Bixby, I want to use my phone to charge my Galaxy Buds” and Bixby opens up the Battery menu to Wireless Power Sharing.

You can say “turn on the flashlight” and Bixby can do that, but Gemini can’t. I wish that Bixby were in charge of the phone, including Gemini. Gemini can have a conversation, but Bixby can get things done. Let Bixby talk to Gemini for me.

Samsung said this wouldn’t be confusing, and that users wouldn’t need to know whether they were using Bixby or Gemini or some future AI feature. That’s not exactly true. If you ask the wrong AI to do something, it will act confused and ignore you. That doesn’t make me want to keep using the AI.

Elsewhere, I hate to say that Samsung is falling back into its old ways of software bloat with the Galaxy S25. The amount of extra, unnecessary software is mind-boggling. From Samsung, you get the Samsung Members app (which should just be a website), Shop Samsung to buy Samsung gear, and the Galaxy Store for apps, almost all of which are available on Google’s Play Store as well.

Samsung Galaxy S25 showing the folder of Samsung apps preinstalled on the devices — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

You also get the Samsung Smart Things app, even if you don’t have any Smart Things equipment, and the Galaxy Wearable app, even if you don’t have any Galaxy wearables. But wait, there’s more. There’s Samsung News, Samsung Global Goals (?!), and an app just for Tips about your phone.

Then there are two photo gallery apps, one from Google and one from Samsung. Also two Calendar apps, two web browser apps, oh, and Microsoft gets to stick four apps on your phone as well, just for good measure. Hope you enjoy LinkedIn.

All told, there are 46 apps already installed on your phone before you turn it on for the first time; the final one of these, YouTube, dangles alone an unsightly second page for apps. It’s too much. It’s time for the junk to disappear; it’s time for the duplicate apps to end.

I will freely admit that Samsung Internet Browser is faster than Google Chrome, but it doesn’t benefit users to have two web browsers on a brand-new phone, it just confuses me.

Software score: 3 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S25 review: Cameras

Samsung Galaxy S25 showing camera app taking a photo of the Galaxy S25 Plus — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Reliable cameras with great camera modes
Not the best quality, but still impressive

The Galaxy S25 has an impressive array of cameras that take excellent photos, especially if you love to share your photos for some dramatic effect. The cameras tend to saturate colors deeply and give images a warmer tone, which makes subjects like food, sunrises, and faces look more dramatic and inviting. It’s not exactly accurate, but who cares!

These aren’t the best cameras around, not even in this price range. The OnePlus 13 really impressed me with its image quality, and side-by-side shots taken against the Galaxy S25 show the Galaxy can’t match OnePlus for dynamic range, low-light exposure, and accurate color.

I still like the Galaxy Camera app for its versatility. You get the normal shooting modes for slow motion or portrait shots, in addition to a dedicated Night mode. There’s also a great Food mode that is my go-to for showing off anything I cook.

In classic Samsung fashion, there’s a Pro mode, or you can download an extra app for Expert Raw mode, which gives you even more advanced features like simulated aperture and astrophotography.

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Samsung Galaxy S25 showing a photo of me in front of a helicopter with some random people in the background — A photo of me in front of a helicopter with some random people in the background (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

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Samsung Galaxy S25 showing photo edited using AI — Photo edited using AI (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

I’m not the biggest fan of AI photo editing, but occasionally even I would like to remove a random passerby from my tourist photos. The Galaxy S25 is so good at this that it can even remove a person’s shadow with accuracy. If someone is standing on a wood floor, the generative AI will perfectly match the wood planks when it makes the shadow disappear.

Camera score: 4 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S25 review: Camera samples

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Samsung Galaxy S25 image samples from the different cameras — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

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Samsung Galaxy S25 review: Performance

Samsung Galaxy S25 showing the Galaxy Store for apps — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Snapdragon delivers on its performance promise
Too bad there aren’t more cool features to take advantage of it

What do you do with the fastest smartphone in the world? That’s the question Samsung needs to answer, because while the Galaxy S25 wins on many performance and benchmark tests, it’s not clear what the phone can do with all of that power.

To be fair, Samsung lets you choose to limit Galaxy AI so that all computations are handled on the device, and not in the cloud. It’s unclear if that saves a lot of energy, but it certainly shows Samsung’s confidence in the power of the Galaxy S25. OnePlus is still offloading almost all of its AI tasks to cloud computers, even though its OnePlus 13 has the same Snapdragon 8 Elite processor as the Galaxy S25.

Well, not exactly the same processor, as Qualcomm overclocks the chipset just a smidgen so that Samsung can add a ‘for Galaxy’ label. That makes it the de facto performance winner, though again I wish Samsung were putting all of that power to better use.

Don’t get me wrong, everything is very smooth. The interface is buttery slick, and all of my games and apps ran at top performance on the S25. I have no complaints - I was just hoping for a bit more. While One UI 7 looks nicer than ever, I was hoping for maybe something a bit flashier to take advantage of that powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite.

Samsung Galaxy S25 in hand from side showing volume and side buttons — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Where’s my rippling screen when I tickle Bixby, the way my iPhone ripples when Siri wakes up? How about cool animations, or even a fancy screensaver? There’s a generative AI wallpaper that will change the weather in any photo to match your local weather, but it just adds snowflakes on top; it doesn’t let snow accumulate, which would have been cool.

It’s too bad that all of that Snapdragon power is going to AI features, because I would have liked to have seen some real advances in the interface this generation to match the leap in performance. Samsung has a winner – the Galaxy S25 is unequivocally faster than the iPhone 16. Now, let’s see what it can do with all that power, besides standing atop the winner’s podium.

Performance score: 5 / 5

Samsung Galaxy S25 review: Battery

Samsung Galaxy S25 from the bottom showing USB-C port — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Best battery life of any phone this size
The Galaxy S25 Plus and Ultra have faster charging

The Samsung Galaxy S25 has excellent battery life, better than competing phones of this size. In my testing, the Galaxy S25 lasted a full day every single day I used it, even if I took a lot of photos or played graphically intense games with a Bluetooth joystick connected.

Our Future Labs tests say the same. The Galaxy S25 lasted longer than the similarly-sized iPhone 16 and Google Pixel 9. The iPhone 16 lasted less than 12 and a half hours in our battery rundown test, while the Galaxy S25 made it to nearly 16 hours.

You can find better battery life on a phone, but you’d have to buy a much bigger phone. For phones this size, the Galaxy S25 has the best battery life I’ve seen, likely thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, which has gone hand in hand with impressive battery longevity in every phone I’ve tried, like the OnePlus 13 and the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro.

For charging, the Galaxy S25 is capable, but its speed is average. It charges at 25W, the same as the iPhone. It charged to 50% in 30 minutes, and was fully charged within an hour, but I’ve seen much faster charging on phones like the OnePlus 13.

The Galaxy S25 has wireless charging as well as reverse wireless charging, so you can power up your Galaxy Buds 3 Pro case by laying it atop your phone battery – and Bixby can help you find the feature if you get stuck.

Battery score: 4 / 5

Buy it if...

You need a really good new phone
If you’re looking for a phone this size, or this price, the Galaxy S25 should be one of the top options on your list. It’s a great all-around pick with few faults.

You can get one for free, or almost free
Samsung phones tend to come with great deals from your carrier, if you’re willing to sign a long-term contract. Not every phone this good is so easy to buy.

You want a great phone to mix work and personal use
The Galaxy S25 is great for work, thanks to DeX desktop software and strong multi-tasking, but it’s also great at keeping work separate from your fun time.

Don't buy it if...

You want the best cameras and can spend a bit more
You may not find better cameras at this price, but for just a bit more (or if they’re on sale), the OnePlus 13 and Pixel 9 Pro have the Galaxy beat.

You wish it were a whole lot thinner
The Galaxy S25 Edge is coming, and it will probably cost more than the Galaxy S25, but who knows? If it’s thin and similarly priced, it could be worth the wait.

You want a whole lotta AI, for whatever reason
I don’t judge – if you want an overwhelming amount of AI controlling your phone, you might try an iPhone or Pixel instead.

Samsung Galaxy S25 review: Also consider

Apple iPhone 16
The iPhone 16 doesn’t have the same great battery life, and its cameras lack zoom, but it has iOS and all of the powerful Apple Intelligence features you won’t find on other phones.

Read our full Apple iPhone 16 review

Google Pixel 9 Pro
Sometimes the Pixel 9 Pro goes on sale and drops to the same price as the Galaxy S25 – keep your eyes peeled for Pro cameras, and a bargain.

Read our full Google Pixel 9 Pro review

How I tested the Samsung Galaxy S25

I tested the phone for more than one week
I took dozens of photos
I played games and watched movies
I checked email and worked in Slack
I used AI features extensively
Benchmark testing is for comparison, not scoring purposes

I tested the Samsung Galaxy S25 extensively, alongside the Galaxy S25 Plus, for almost two weeks, using the same work and personal apps and accounts on each.

I used the Galaxy S25 for taking photos, communicating with work colleagues using messages and Slack, and conducting video conference calls. I played games, and edited photos from my Google Photos library.

I connected the Galaxy S25 to a Galaxy Watch Ultra and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, supplied by Samsung. I wore the Galaxy Watch to bed, and let the Galaxy S25 monitor me as I slept. I connected an Xbox wireless controller to play games. I connected the Galaxy S25 to my car for Android Auto and multimedia. I connected the phone to my Steelseries USB-C keyboard, my MX Master mouse, and my Dell monitor for DeX capabilities.

I used Smart Things on the Galaxy S25 to control my home thermostat, lights, security, and television. I used Gemini as my primary side button AI, but also used Bixby extensively.

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Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review – head-turning power and all-encompassing AI

9:00 pm |

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Phones Samsung Galaxy Phones | Comments: Off

Goodbye, all those Note vestiges, and hello to new, or at least more consistent, design language. The all-new Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra finally looks like a part of the Galaxy S Family, sharing the same flat band wrapping around its body.

For this latest flagship, Samsung has recast the Galaxy S25 Ultra in the image of its siblings while maintaining that Ultra flair with premium materials, the largest screen, and, yes, the integrated S Pen.

Like the rest of the line, the S25 Ultra now features Qualcomm’s best mobile CPU, the 3-nanometer Snapdragon Gen 8 Elite for Galaxy, which promises to be faster and more efficient than anything the Galaxy S line has run before. Samsung told us this is actually a custom version of the processor, but didn’t go into detail.

While we’ve not yet had the time to benchmark the new phone – we’ll be doing that for our full review – the company did note that the NPU could be 40% faster, the CPU is, as they measure it, 37% faster than the last Ultra, and the GPU is, they promise, 30% faster. Even ray tracing gets a boost with Samsung’s benchmarks finding it 40% better than the S24 Ultra’s Ray Tracing capabilities. Put another way, this might be a very good gaming smartphone.

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Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra hands-on review: Price and availability

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra was unveiled at Galaxy Unpacked on January 22. It's available to pre-order now in a choice of four colors: Titanium Silver Blue, Titanium White Silver, Titanium Gray, and Titanium Black.

The phone ships in either 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB storage configurations, and every variant comes with 12GB RAM.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra will begin shipping on February 7 for the following prices:

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra hands-on review: Specs

Here's a look at the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra's key specs:

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra hands-on review: design and display

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra looks and feels good, and while some might prefer the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s more rounded styling, the S25 Ultra is 15% lighter and, as a result, feels better in the hand. It’s also still rated IPX68 for water and dust resistance.

Samsung has mostly chosen to leave the screen technology as it is. Covered in more scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass Armor 2 (the previous model had the first generation of Armor glass), the display still has a sharp and pleasing QHD+ resolution, but it’s slightly larger than the S24 Ultra's at 6.9 inches instead of 6.8 inches diagonally. Samsung did this not by making the phone larger, but by shrinking the bezel by 15%.

It’s still an adaptive refresh screen, moving smoothly from 1Hz to 120Hz on an as-needed basis. New to the screen technology is ProScaler, which actually comes from Samsung's TV line and upscales lower-resolution content. This is a hardware update that will not filter down to previous models.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra hands-on review: cameras

While the camera array has been redesigned, and the three rear lenses now almost float above the phone body, two of the three cameras are unchanged from the S24 Ultra: the 50MP 5x zoom and the 200MP wide main camera. New to the trio is the 50MP ultra-wide. Shooting macro images in 12MP binned format, I could already see the quality difference and was especially impressed with the level of close-up detail I could capture. The front-facing portrait camera is unchanged from the S24 Ultra. It's still 12MP, and in my brief hands-on time it did an excellent job of capturing portrait-mode photos.

I’m a bit disappointed that Samsung didn’t bring back its optical 10x zoom from the S23 Ultra, but the 10x zoom that crops in on the higher pixel count zoom will probably satisfy most people.

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Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: battery and performance

Battery size is unchanged from the S24 Ultra, but Samsung says we should expect better battery life from the Galaxy S25 Ultra thanks to the Snapdragon Gen 8 Elite’s 3-nanometer process and the new 40% larger vapor chamber that Samsung has paired with a Thermal Interface Covering (TIM). The TIM sits right on top of the CPU, and the vapor chamber is on top of that to deliver more efficient heat dissipation, which can extend better battery life. Speaking of the battery, Samsung says the phone is “Qi2 compatible”, but that support is not built into the phone; in other words, the phone will work with an external accessory that supports the updated wireless charging system.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: software

Perhaps the biggest upgrade over the S24 Ultra is the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra’s impressive AI capabilities. This is more than just a Galaxy AI upgrade; Samsung has infused AI throughout the system, and given it broader capabilities that span across Samsung and Google apps. The company is calling it Cross Action Apps.

Smart select is, well, smarter now, with the ability to recognize on-screen elements and then make suggestions about what you might want to do, AI-wise, with the image. For instance, it could suggest a straight generative edit or making a GIF.

Circle to Search is now aurally capable, with the ability to identify sounds in a video. It's also adept at naming that tune. I pressed the home button, tapped the new music note icon, and began humming Hot to Go by Chappell Roan. The AI got it right, bringing up the music video from YouTube in Google search. It did similarly well with my terrible hum of Fly Me to the Moon. The recognition isn't instant; you have to know more than a few bars, and the software will prompt you to "keep going" as necessary.

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Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Hands-On, testing the new music / sound function of 'Circle to Search' — (Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

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AI-assisted search is now more agnostic. I long-pressed the home button and asked natural language questions about travel and buying a new vacuum. In each instance, the system used Google Gemini to tap into YouTube and Samsung Notes. It found what I was looking for on Google’s service, dug into videos to find the details that mattered to me, made summaries, and saved them in Samsung Notes.

These Gemini Live and Bixby enhancements can access all native Samsung and Google apps. Plus, Samsung plans to release the APK so that other third-party companies can become part of the Galaxy AI ecosystem. At launch, it'll feature built-in Spotify and WhatsApp support.

Samsung has also enhanced many of its generative image tools. I took a photo, and drew a marquee to select and remove all the background people in the shot with a single tap. I could tap another icon to quickly see the original photo. The Galaxy S25 Ultra did a good job, even neatly removing shadows.

Other photography features have also been given a generative-AI sheen. Portraits can now instantly be turned into excellent pencil sketches, and the ones I generated looked as good as any sketch portrait that might appear in The Wall Street Journal. Seeing the quality made me a little sad for the soon-to-be-unemployed sketch artists around the world – although I felt a little better when I took another portrait, but in less dramatic light, and the sketch looked nothing like my subject.

There's also a powerful new AI audio cleanup tool called Audio Eraser, which I used to remove distracting background noises from an interview – I could do it on the fly in the video playback, and tone the background noises down or up to my taste. When I fully removed the background noises, though, the main audio sounded a bit artificial. This is similar to the Audio Mix tools Apple introduced with the iPhone 16 Pro, but with fewer audio presets, and I can’t say for certain yet if it has more limited capabilities until I get to spend more time with it.

Sketch to image, which I used to entertaining effect on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 last summer, is now multi-modal, which means you can start with a photo, draw on that, and have the generative AI do its image magic. You can also use text prompts to adjust the image, although I didn't get to try this feature in my brief hands-on time.

Even Samsung's photo library app, Gallery, has been given a brain transplant, and now lets you search by voice. I asked it to show me pictures of "wine" and quickly got a gallery of photos of wine bottles.

One UI overhaul

One UI 7, a three-year-long project for Samsung, has had a complete makeover. I generally like One UI because it’s long been one of the least overbearing Android overlays, and based on my brief look at it, I think One UI 7 continues this trend.

There’s also a new Now Brief widget, which uses on-system AI to learn about you and give you morning and evening briefs that can help you manage your days and nights. There’s health-related info, upcoming schedules, your energy score, sleep quality, weather, reminders, and more. The connections to some of Samsung’s other devices, like the Galaxy Ring are impressive – if you own all the latest Samsung gear, the S25 Ultra could be an even more worthwhile upgrade.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Hands-On, Now Brief screen. — (Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

What’s interesting here is how Samsung is managing this private data locally, using something called the Personal Data Engine. Through this the phone sends your data to an onboard core that can use AI to understand and act as AI agents on your behalf. None of your data, which is protected by Samsung's Knox security, is shared with the cloud or with apps. It’s the kind of insight Apple has been promising us with Apple Intelligence but has so far failed to deliver.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra hands-on review: S Pen

The S Pen is still there, but Samsung has removed Bluetooth LE support because, it told us, no one was using it. Its main function was to enable you to use the pen as a remote control for shooting photos or controlling presentations. I doubt I will miss it. Otherwise, the S Pen’s operation is unchanged – I drew with it a bit on the S25 Ultra and was impressed with the responsiveness.

Finally, the good news is that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra costs the same as its predecessor, starting at $1,299 for 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage (you can go up to 1GB). That’s still a hefty price, but you should expect some early promotions to lower the pocket pain, and trade-in deals are typically excellent.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: AI doesn’t come cheap … until now

6:25 am | September 27, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Phones Samsung Galaxy Phones | Tags: AI | Comments: Off

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE: Two-minute preview

The Galaxy S24 FE is a phone that almost makes too much sense to get excited about. I spent a couple of hours with the phone in a hands-on look, and we have a sample being tested by one of our reviewers now, but I can already see how this will be a phone worth buying. I reviewed the Galaxy S23 FE, which was my favorite phone in this price range. The Galaxy S24 FE, while a bit more expensive, delivers even more.

It’s been years since Samsung’s ‘FE’ devices were sold as ‘Fan Edition’ phones, tablets, and now wearables, but it’s easy to see how Samsung fans get what they want for less money with the Galaxy S24 FE. The phone looks much like the Galaxy S24, though maybe a bit cheaper. The colors are more muted than I’d hoped, but the blue and teal look pleasantly bright and friendly.

Inside, you get a Samsung Exynos 2400 chipset, but don’t fret if you were hoping for a Snapdragon. This platform powers the Galaxy S24 in most of the world, just not in the US. It’s plenty potent for all of the new AI features that Samsung is loading onto the Galaxy S24 FE.

The Galaxy S24 FE costs $649 / £649 / AU $1,099 at launch, and there are surprisingly few good phones in that price range, at least not brand-new models. You can buy a Google Pixel 8 for that much, or maybe an iPhone 14, but those phones are a year and two years old, respectively. They won’t get all of the latest AI features, while Samsung is launching this phone specifically to bring AI to a lower price point.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE phones in blue, mint, graphite and yellow — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

That works for me! Samsung’s AI is some of the most fun to use, and the company has so far avoided many of the problems and stumbles that other phone makers have faced. I’m happy to get Samsung AI photo editing, or Samsung’s generative writing tools, on a less-expensive Galaxy model. That’s better than waiting for the price to drop on an iPhone 16.

I could dive into the specs on this phone, but that would be missing the point. The specs are good. The specs are so good that if you want a bigger phone but can’t spend more on a Galaxy S24 Plus, you might consider the Galaxy S24 FE instead. With a 6.7-inch display, it’s a decidedly big phone this year, not middle-of-the-road.

The cameras look good on paper, but we’ll have to test them to be sure. At this price, you rarely see a 3X telephoto zoom lens, and Samsung gives you real zoom in addition to an ultrawide and a normal wide-angle main camera. That’s before we get to all the new AI camera mumbo-jumbo that Samsung has presumably added. I’ve used a lot of Samsung cameras; they are reliably good, especially when shooting specialty photos.

What makes this phone interesting? It’s a great value for its power and features, and it comes with the same promise of seven years of Android OS updates and security patches that you get with a Galaxy S24. That makes it a good investment for companies looking to equip a fleet with professional phones that are also easy on the eyes.

I also expect interesting deals and bundles with this phone. You might buy a Galaxy S24, or you could find a Galaxy S24 FE with a free Galaxy Watch FE, Galaxy Buds FE, or some other accessory FE. Or a Galaxy Ring … you get the point. The lower price will give carriers more room to make bundle offers, and Samsung gear is more fun when it works together.

We’ll have a full review of the Galaxy S24 FE soon, and we’re making sure it lives up to its promise and my enthusiasm. We’ll be sure to compare this phone against the best Samsung phones and all the best bargain phones you can buy.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE: Price and availability

Starts at Starts at $649 / £649 / AU $1,099 for 128GB of storage
Available up to 256GB storage, colors vary by region of storage
Available up to 256GB storage, colors vary by region

The Galaxy S24 FE costs $649 / £649 / AU $1,099, which is $150 / £150 / AU $300 less than the Galaxy S24. You get a bigger screen on the Galaxy S24 FE, and that amounts to a bigger battery as well. The screen isn’t as sharp or as bright as the regular Galaxy S24 phones, but it still looked very nice in my hands-on time at Samsung’s New York City showroom.

I was looking forward to seeing the color choices for the Galaxy S24 FE, because Samsung proved with the Galaxy S23 FE that it was willing to cut loose when it came to flashy, saturated hues. The Galaxy S24 FE is a bit more muted and professional, so it won’t jump out of a crowd and into traffic with a bright pink or orange.

Instead, the Galaxy S24 FE comes in a very pretty blue, a nice mint, an acceptable graphite grey, and boring black. There’s also a yellow color, but it wasn’t available in my US hands-on. Oh, and sorry Australia friends, it looks like black and yellow aren’t coming your way, at least not at launch.

You can pre-order the Galaxy S24 FE right now from Samsung, but you may want to wait to see what your favorite carrier offers. This phone seems ripe for a ‘get it free’ offer, or a bundle with other Galaxy accessories, and Samsung accessories are worth a look if you have a Samsung phone.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE: Specs

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE in mint and graphite showing front and back with cameras — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Exynos 2400e processor – okay, calm down, it’s not so bad
Same camera specs, new camera tricks

Below, we've rounded up the keys specs of the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE.

The Galaxy S24 FE is a small step down from the Galaxy S24 in most ways, but not enough that most people will notice. I expect this phone to have no trouble playing the latest games, running through your productivity apps, and showing off the latest AI parlor tricks. A lot of the AI stuff happens in the cloud, but the Exynos 2400e processor should be able to handle the tasks.

Wait, what is that ‘e’ on the end of the Exynos chipset? The Galaxy S24 didn’t have the same ‘e’ designation. Samsung’s VP of Product Management, Drew Blackard, told me that this would be a slightly clocked-down version of the same processor.

That choice usually makes sense for two reasons. First, it cuts down on power consumption. Blackard says that this phone has great battery life, even compared to other Samsung phones with close to the same battery size.

Second, a slower chip is usually less expensive. Yes, this is a Samsung phone with a Samsung chipset, but you may as well consider Samsung Semiconductor, a different company. After all, Samsung used a MediaTek chip in the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra, which launched on the same day as the Galaxy S24 FE.

So, compared to the Galaxy S24, what do you lose if you buy the Galaxy S24 FE? Let’s go spec by spec.

The Galaxy S24 FE is slightly thicker and heavier than the Galaxy S24 or even the Galaxy S24 Plus, which has the same 6.7-inch display size. It uses Gorilla Glass Victus Plus and Victus 5 on the front and back instead of Victus 2 glass, like the Galaxy S24. Thankfully, it is just as water resistant, with IP68 certification.

The display on the Galaxy S24 FE is not as sharp in terms of pixel density as the Galaxy S24 or Galaxy S24 Plus. It has the same resolution as the Galaxy S24 but is stretched to a larger display size. The FE cannot get as bright as the Galaxy S24; it reaches around 1,900 nits peak brightness versus a glaring 2,600 nits on the Galaxy S24. That still gives you a very bright phone with the Galaxy S24 FE.

The Galaxy S24 FE is only available with 8GB of RAM, while you can find a Galaxy S24 with up to 12GB of RAM, and 12GB is the standard for the Galaxy S24 Plus.

The battery on the Galaxy S24 FE is 4,700 mAh, much larger than the 4,000 mAh cell on the Galaxy S24. Samsung says it should even last longer than the 4,900 mAh battery on the Galaxy S24 Plus. The Galaxy S24 FE can charge up to 25W, the same as the Galaxy S24, and it can also handle the same wireless charging. You can even charge other devices using reverse wireless charging from the Galaxy S24 FE.

Overall, I’d say the sacrifices are worth the phone's price. Better battery life is always a boon, so I’m willing to trade a drop in performance for a few more hours of screen time. Of course, we’ll need to test all of these features and claims to ensure they live up to the Galaxy S24 FE’s promise. We’re reviewing this phone now, so check back soon for an in-depth look with testing from Future Labs.

First previewed September 2024

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: AI doesn’t come cheap … until now

6:25 am |

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Phones Samsung Galaxy Phones | Tags: AI | Comments: Off

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE: Two-minute preview

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE: Price and availability

Starts at Starts at $649 / £649 / AU $1,099 for 128GB of storage
Available up to 256GB storage, colors vary by region of storage
Available up to 256GB storage, colors vary by region

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE: Specs

Exynos 2400e processor – okay, calm down, it’s not so bad
Same camera specs, new camera tricks

Below, we've rounded up the keys specs of the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE.

So, compared to the Galaxy S24, what do you lose if you buy the Galaxy S24 FE? Let’s go spec by spec.

The Galaxy S24 FE is only available with 8GB of RAM, while you can find a Galaxy S24 with up to 12GB of RAM, and 12GB is the standard for the Galaxy S24 Plus.

First previewed September 2024

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 review – an excellent foldable makes another leap ahead

4:00 pm | July 10, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Phones Samsung Galaxy Phones | Comments: Off

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6: One-minute hands-on

Bit by bit Samsung’s foldables have become practical, powerful, and elegant devices that you might reasonably choose over a flagship that doesn't bend in the middle. The new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is no exception, and it’s a testament to how far Samsung has come since introducing its first foldable Galaxy in 2019. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 bears almost no resemblance to the original Fold, and the changes are all for the good, in the areas that matter.

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Z Fold 6 at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked in Paris on July 10 alongside the new but perhaps less-altered Galaxy Z Flip 6 and a host of other new Galaxy hardware, including watches, earbuds, and the eagerly-anticipated Galaxy Ring.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 hands-on: price and specs

The Galaxy Z Fold 6 starts at $1,899.99 / £1,799 / AU$2,749, which is $100 more than the previous model. That model comes with 256GB of storage and an ample 12GB of RAM. I’ll have more to say on the price hike later. It’s on preorder as of today, July 10, and will ship on July 27. There are multiple color options, including Pink, and a few online exclusives including white and Crafted Black, though I think the Navy Blue may be my favorite.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 hands-on: design

While Samsung didn't completely throw out the previous Fold aesthetic, it’s substantially different in the Galaxy Fold 6. The handset is thinner and lighter than the previous model; in fact it's so light at 239 grams that it’s only seven grams heavier than the single-screened Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. That itself is quite a feat (granted, there may be some material differences, like Armor Aluminum on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 versus the S24 Ultra’s Titanium body), and the Galaxy Z Fold 6 feels noticeably lighter than the Z Fold 5 that I brought with me to Paris for the sake of comparison.

The chrome edging is gone, and I do not miss it at all. Even though the button placement is unchanged and the fingerprint reader (power/sleep button) is the same, all the buttons look and feel better.

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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 HANDS ON — (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

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Unfolded, the Fold 6 is thinner than the Fold 5, and it’s also slightly shorter and slightly wider than the last foldable flagship. In a quick comparison with the Google Pixel Fold, though, the Fold 6 maintains the height advantage. The newly squared corners and visibly thinner bezels give the tablet-sized screen a more expansive and cleaner feel.

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The main screen crease is still visible, but less so than it was on the Z Fold 5. It’s impressive how year over year Samsung moves the art of this technology a little closer to perfect. The crease-free Fold is coming – someday.

Samsung told me it's strengthened the hinge by adding more steel to the dual-rail system. That system by the way is more or less sealed, which means it doesn't need tiny brushes inside the hinge to push out debris. Still, while the phone is rated to survive 30 minutes in a meter of water, its ability to withstand a dust storm might be a bit less certain, which is why it has an IP8X rating and not IP68.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 hands-on: display

Both the main and the cover screens look bigger and better than ever. The cover screen benefits from a shrinking bezel that adds a tiny bit of screen real estate without making the phone much wider. The inside display, which is still AMOLED, does get some important updates. It’s now, at 2,600 nits, much brighter than the one on the Z Fold 5 (1,700 nits), and includes adaptive refresh up to 120Hz. There are also more software controls, including vibrancy (adopted from the S24 line).

However, the most notable folding screen update may be one you can't see (though you might say you can feel it). Samsung execs told me they added a new layer made of neodymium to the folding screen panel. The material has Newtonian qualities, which means it can act like cornstarch and water, which when mixed are soft if you're pressing gently, but harden when you hit it harder. It’s designed to be pliable, but if you were to hit the Fold 6 screen with a hard object, the layer would automatically meet it with stiff resistance. Naturally, we won't know the effectiveness of all this until I test the foldable fully.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6: cameras

Samsung redesigned the camera housing to make it look, I believe, a bit more 'pro' and in line with the phone's more elegant overall appearance. However, it’s in this area where I worry Samsung didn’t go far enough.

It has retained last year’s 50MP main wide and 10MP 3x optical zoom cameras, and only upgraded the 12MP ultrawide, adding a sensor that's better equipped to handle low-light situations (it's adopted from the S24, and it can also help with focusing speed). Any other photographic improvements are due to upgrades in Samsung’s ProVision software.

In my limited hands-on time, I could see that the cameras work as well as what I experienced using the Galaxy Z Fold 5. The 3x zoom is useful, and you can go all the way up to a 30x space zoom, though I wouldn’t recommend it, mainly because space zoom relies a little too much AI image enhancement for my tastes.

What I was hoping for here was the adoption of the flagship-class S24 Ultra cameras. That handset’s 200MP main camera and better 5x optical zoom are the least we should expect from a smartphone costing nearly $2,000 (even one with two displays). That said there’s nothing wrong with this camera array, and it should please most casual photographers. The cover screen features a cutout 10MP selfie camera that I tried and liked, and there's also a 4MP main display camera (usually hidden by pixels) that you’ll mainly use for video calls.

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I shot some test images both with the Z Fold 6 unfolded, in which orientation the main screen becomes a giant viewfinder, and with the handset closed, using the smaller cover screen as my viewfinder. The nice thing about using the large screen is that you can have a view that shows both the live camera feed, and a film strip of your most recent shots next to it.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 hands-on: Galaxy AI

Like most recent Galaxy phones, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is bursting with Galaxy AI. It’s evident in, among other things, photography, image and video editing, and cross-language conversation.

One of my favorite integrations is in Notes, where I used the new Sketch to Image feature to turn rough doodles into fully-fledged pieces of art.

I drew a terrible crocodile, and it was transformed into a magazine-worthy illustration. The process is simple: you sketch in the app using either the Galaxy Fold 6-specific S Pen or your finger. You then select the image, and ask Galaxy AI to generate a more polished image based on it. It’s a cloud-based operation, so it takes 20 or so seconds, and most of the time I got not just one great illustration but a few to choose from. It’s the kind of technology that makes me worry for human illustrators.

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If it’s any solace to those illustrators, the tool wasn’t foolproof. It didn't appear to like when I put too much detail in my sketches, but I could usually overcome this by marqueeing only part of my original sketch.

The same tool can also be used to add additional design flourishes to original images. In this case, you can poorly sketch something on top of a photo – say you want to make an image of your dog wearing glasses, you can sketch the glasses and Sketch to Image will make a realistic pair of spectacles for the dog.

The Fold 6 has also adopted Galaxy AI features that first appeared with the Samsung Galaxy S24. For example, I shot a short video with the Galaxy Fold 6 of our social editor Viktoria Shilets tossing her hair at normal speed. During playback on the phone, I held my finger on the screen and it automatically turned that portion of the video into a commercial-worthy slow-motion. It’s a fun little feature, and one that works even more effortlessly on the Fold 6 thanks to the slow-mo output now being downloadable right after creation – S24 users had to dig for that option.

Samsung told me that features like Generative Fill, which you can use to move a subject within a photo or remove a subject from a photo, also work on the Z Fold 6, though I didn’t have time to test them.

Circle to Search is now live on the Z Fold 5 and it worked equally well on a pot of flowers as it did on table decorations. In each case, I pointed the camera at my subject, held down the virtual home button for a second, and then circled the on-screen object in question. A second later, I had Google images and descriptions that made sense of the original. I’m not sure the long-press on home is the most obvious way to activate this, and some might forget it exists, but if you use it a few times I bet you’ll be hooked.

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The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 also has substantial on-device translation capabilities. I tried out Conversation mode and Listening mode. In the latter, you can set the phone to listen to a foreign language speaker and it will quickly display the transcription in the language of your choice. In Conversation mode, we set the phone in Flex mode, which means having the phone opened to 90 degrees so that someone speaking Russian could see the cover screen on which our English-spoken words were displayed in their native Russian. On the main screen facing us, we saw their Russian phrases displayed in English.

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The translations, which happen locally and can be exported (otherwise they disappear) were good but not perfect – the system would usually get the meaning right but not always match the precise phrasing.

I also noticed that the only indication to the other speaker that it’s okay for them to speak is that a small microphone icon turns blue, so if you already have a language barrier, explaining to someone how to use this feature might be a problem.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 hands-on: under the hood

Samsung has made a few changes inside the phone. It now has a larger vapor chamber, which should help with heat dissipation, especially during intense activities like gaming. I didn’t get to game on the Galaxy Z Fold 6, but I confess that gaming is one of my favorite activities on the big-screen Galaxy Z Fold 5.

The phone should have some extra oomph thanks to the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chip – and that 'Galaxy' at the end is more than just lip service for a favored partner. These chips have slightly faster main CPUs (3.39GHz vs 3.3GHz) and a faster GPU, and that this is backed by 12GB of RAM is even better news. The 256GB base storage, which is the same as last year, is also good news, and if you feel the need for more you can pay for up to 1TB of storage.

This is, naturally, a 5G phone, and Samsung told me that it supports WiFi 6e – there's no word on WiFi 7 though.

There are still stereo speakers, which I did not get time to test, but I noted how the chassis design has transformed them from grilles to thin slots, which is similar to the design on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra – Samsung execs insisted that this is not less safe for the internals.

There's a 4,400mAH dual battery, which is unchanged from the Galaxy Fold 5.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 hands-on: early verdict

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 seems better than its predecessor, the Galaxy Z Fold 5, in almost every way and should join our list of best foldable phones. Design-wise, I think this is a big leap forward – this now feels like a normal phone that just happens to split open to reveal a big main-screen wonder, and it’s a lovely screen even with that visible crease.

All the built-in AI isn't just fun, it has the potential to be genuinely useful for many people, assuming they can discover it (Samsung hides too many of these features under menus or non-obvious actions).

The cameras are good, though I would love a bigger zoom and more megapixels on the main camera.

My main criticism comes down to price. The foldable market remains tiny, and I think consumers will more quickly gravitate towards affordable foldables than they will full-featured ones (go figure). Asking for yet another $100 – even for a better device –seems like a mistake and, as I noted recently, probably won't help Samsung grow the tiny foldable market. Of course, there’s a good chance that you’ll pay less than $1,899.99 / £1,799 for the Z Fold 6 – I have yet to see a Galaxy phone launch that doesn't include significant deals and discounts.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 review – tougher, smarter, snappier

4:00 pm |

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Phones Samsung Galaxy Phones | Comments: Off

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: Two-minute hands-on

The best foldable phones are no longer considered the overly expensive, impractical cousins of the best phones around, but the number of clamshell foldables on the market continues to be dwarfed by the number of tablet-style foldables on offer in 2024.

Samsung, for its part, has long played both sides of the foldable field, with only Motorola for company in the flip-phone space (the Oppo Find N2 Flip proved a worthy foil to the Galaxy Z Flip 4, but the limited global availability of its successor, the Oppo Find N3 Flip, meant that last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 5 went up against the Motorola Razr Plus 2023 and little else).

The story is similar for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, which arrives with limited competition beyond Motorola’s new Motorola Razr Plus 2024. That’s not to say Samsung has been complacent with its latest clamshell foldable – the Galaxy Z Flip 6 brings plenty of worthwhile upgrades over the Galaxy Z Flip 5 – but it certainly has a lower bar to clear than the Galaxy Z Fold 6, which finds itself in competition with the Google Pixel Fold, OnePlus Open, Honor Magic V2 and Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 (not to mention their respective imminent successors).

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I bore this context in mind when handling the Galaxy Z Flip 6 for the first time ahead of Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2024. Visually, it’s exactly the same phone as the Galaxy Z Flip 5 – save for some color-matched rings around the rear camera lenses and a nice satin finish for the frame – with most of this year’s upgrades coming either under the hood or in the durability department. The Galaxy Z Fold 6, by contrast, looks a lot more premium than the Galaxy Z Fold 5, but Samsung clearly hasn’t felt the same pressure to drastically overhaul the appearance of the Galaxy Z Flip 6 given its current position atop the clamshell market.

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The good news is that this tried-and-tested design still very much works. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 boasts the same 3.4-inch, 60Hz AMOLED cover display (720 x 748) and 6.7-inch, Full HD+ AMOLED main display (2640 x 1080) as its predecessor, with the larger of these two screens boasting an adaptive 1-120Hz refresh rate. The phone itself measures 72 x 85 x 15mm when folded and 72 x 165 x 7mm when unfolded, and it weighs just 187g, which again is the same as the Galaxy Z Flip 5.

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The functionality of the 'Flex Window' (i.e., the cover display), as Samsung calls it, has been further expanded with interactive wallpapers and ambient weather animations, but you’ll still get the usual smorgasbord of clock, calendar and timer widgets to choose from.

As with the Galaxy Z Flip 5, the Flex Window on the Galaxy Z Flip 6 skirts around the phone’s rear cameras, which leaves a bigger bezel than you’ll find on either of Motorola’s latest flip devices. For me, though, this dented square shape brings a nice retro vibe to the Galaxy Z Flip 6, especially now that the rear camera lenses have been made more eye-catching with color-matched rings. The combination results in a cute, retro robot-like look, which works particularly well with the phone’s (mostly) new colors: yellow, blue, mint and silver.

So far, so similar; but as mentioned, the meaningful upgrades come under the hood. For starters, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 boasts a 4,000mAh battery, where the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 both use a 3,700mAh cell. Samsung has also squeezed a vapor cooling chamber – the first ever in a flip phone – into the Galaxy Z Flip 6, so the new foldable should offer improved heat dissipation as well as longer battery life (we haven’t yet been able to test either metric). These upgrades are made more impressive when you consider the phone’s unchanged 187g weight. So, where did Samsung shed the pounds?

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One answer could be in the materials protecting the Galaxy Z Flip 6. According to Samsung, the Armor Aluminum frame encasing its latest foldable is 10% stronger than before, while the hinge and edges have been toughened up, too.

Most welcome of all is a new IP48 dust- and water-resistance rating, which betters the water-only IPX8 rating of the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Motorola Razr 2024, but falls just short of the Galaxy S24’s totally dust-proof IP68 rating. In layman’s terms, this means the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is protected against particles over 1mm in size (i.e., large bits of dust).

On paper, at least, this combination of durability features makes the Galaxy Z Fold 6 the most practical flip phone of the lot, and I certainly felt more comfortable about repeatedly opening, closing and repositioning the device as I photographed it for this hands-on review.

The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is powered by Qualcomm’s top-end Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset (i.e., the chipset inside almost all of the current best Android phones) and 12GB RAM instead of 8GB, so I highly doubt that you’ll be left wanting for performance with this phone.

The 8 Gen 3 brings the Galaxy S24’s impressive ProVisual photography engine to Samsung’s latest foldable, too, and you’re also getting the same main and ultra-wide cameras as on the Galaxy S24 Plus – specifically a 50MP main lens and a 12MP ultra-wide lens. That’s a marked improvement over the Galaxy Z Flip 5’s 12MP primary and ultra-wide combination. On the front, the phone’s 10MP selfie snapper is unchanged.

Given my short handling time, I wasn’t able to do much testing with either rear lens – and I wasn’t permitted to extract any camera samples, either – but I can tell you about a handful of new camera-focused features that make the process of actually taking photos much easier.

The first is Auto Zoom, which automatically adjusts the camera’s zoom length when you’re not operating the phone manually. Say, for instance, you’re out at the park and want to capture a picture of you and your surroundings; you can now set up the Galaxy Z Flip 6 on a perch, trigger a timed photo, and let the phone do the framing for you. This is a nice example of Samsung optimizing its software for foldable phones, specifically, and it’s far from the only one.

Another is the improved Camcorder Mode on the Galaxy Z Flip 6, which has been optimized to feature an old-school, thumb-based zoom toggle. I took it for a spin during my hands-on session, and it really does make the new phone feel like a 90s video camera.

Samsung has added foldable-specific optimizations to certain Galaxy AI features, too. Interpreter, for instance, now lets you conduct live, two-way translated conversations using the internal and external displays. This meant I was able to ask, in English, a Korean-speaking Samsung representative about a particular regional dish, and they were able to view and answer my question, in Korean, via the Galaxy Z Flip 6’s cover display. It’s a truly impressive – and, crucially, useful – upgrade to an already impressive feature.

As for Samsung's update commitment to the Galaxy Z Flip 6, you'll get seven years of software updates and seven years of security updates, which should ensure Apple-level longevity.

One note I would add about all this great Galaxy Z Flip 6 software is that I don’t think these optimizations will remain exclusive to the Galaxy Z Flip 6 for long. I highly doubt that they’re dependent on the power of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and if they aren’t, then I expect Samsung to roll out similar optimizations for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 – and potentially even the Galaxy Z Flip 4 – in the months following the Galaxy Z Flip 6’s launch.

Samsung took a similar approach with the first set of Galaxy AI features, which launched as temporarily exclusive to the Galaxy S24 before becoming available at a later date on selected older-generation Samsung phones. And while this is by no means a bad thing (quite the opposite – good on Samsung!), it may be hard to recommend the Galaxy Z Flip 6 on the basis of excellent software alone. By the time we publish our full review of the device, perhaps we’ll know more about Samsung’s plans for the future rollout of these features.

All told, then, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 represents an iterative but welcome upgrade over the Galaxy Z Flip 5. It isn’t likely to be a must-own device for anyone who’s already using a relatively recent Galaxy Flip phone, but if you’ve been hesitant to try a foldable due to concerns over practicality, then the Galaxy Z Flip 6 could be the perfect place to start.

Specs comparison

Here's how the Galaxy Z Flip 6 stacks up against the Galaxy Z Flip 5 in terms of specs.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: Should you pre-order?

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 pre-orders are now open, with the phone set to begin shipping on July 24. In Australia, shipping will begin on July 31.

The Galaxy Z Flip 6 starts at $1,099.99 / £1,049 / AU$1,799 for the model with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage, rising to $1219.99 / £1,149 / AU$1,999 for the model with 512GB of storage.

For context, that starting price is $100 / AU$150 higher than that of the Galaxy Z Flip 5, though you do get 12GB RAM instead of 8GB with the Galaxy Z Flip 5. UK pricing remains unchanged across both storage variants.

So, should you pre-order the Galaxy Z Flip 6? Well, that depends on what phone you're currently using, as well as how much you value mobile photography.

In a straight shootout between Samsung's newest foldable and the Galaxy Z Flip 5, the former wins out – on paper, at least – in several departments. It's got a better main camera, a faster Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, a bigger batter, improved durability and, in my opinion, a slightly more premium-looking design.

That said, I don't think any of these new features will warrant a direct generational upgrade, unless you're particularly disappointed with the Galaxy Z Flip 5's 12MP main camera, and are clamouring for a more powerful 50MP snapper.

Mind you, if you're not reading this hands-on review as an existing Galaxy Z Flip owner, and are considering whether to dive into foldable phones for the first time, then the Galaxy Z Flip 6 looks certain to rank alongside the best foldable phones (and indeed the best Samsung phones) we've ever tested.

Samsung Galaxy A55 review: mid tier has never looked so high end

10:43 am | May 28, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Phones Samsung Galaxy Phones Samsung Phones | Tags: Australia, OS, UK, US | Comments: Off

Samsung Galaxy A55 5G: Two-minute review

If you’re shopping for a mid-range phone in 2024, there’s a lot of box-ticking happening in this category. Thankfully, Samsung is a pretty sure-fire bet in this space and its latest release, the Galaxy A55, is another strong contender to become one of the best cheap phones you can get. Like its predecessor, it’s a mid-tier phone with a design that arguably looks and feels as good as its flagship counterpart.

It might not possess all the high-end components and cutting-edge features of the Galaxy S range, but straight out of the box, the Galaxy A55 looks and feels like a premium smartphone – all while costing less than half the handsets that sit atop our list of the best Samsung phones. And while it might be slightly sacrilegious, I think it's even more attractive than the Samsung Galaxy S24.

The A55 has kept the elegantly smooth and clean design of its predecessor, including the shiny back glass that was a major improvement over the Samsung Galaxy A53. However, what sets the A55 apart from both the Galaxy A54 and other mid-tier phones, and what makes it feel like a premium device, is that it’s completely ditched plastic in favor of a new and strikingly classy metal build.

Samsung Galaxy A55 on desk — (Image credit: TechRadar/ Max Delaney)

Upgrading the already impressive 6.4-inch display in the A54 to 6.6-inches, you could assume the size increase would make the A55 harder to hold than its predecessor. Don't immediately rule out the A55, however: while I admittedly have big hands and had no issue using the Galaxy A54, I found the A55’s aluminum frame even easier to grip. As a happy side effect, this ensures its bigger Super AMOLED display isn't tarnished by having to put your grubby fingerprints all over it to comfortably hold it.

That's about where the big talking points end. The Galaxy A55 won't leave you disappointed in the photography department, keeping the same 50MP main, 12MP ultra-wide and 5MP macro camera trio that we loved in our Samsung Galaxy A54 review. The photos and videos are detailed, the app is snappy, the autofocus is quick and it does indeed perform well in low-light areas, even if it takes a bit of a learning curve to get the best results. The only real flaw I found was that the photos taken in bright sunshine tended to be overexposed, resulting in a hazy, unsaturated image.

Despite retaining the same 5,000mAH battery as its predecessor, the Galaxy A55 easily saw me through more than seven hours of screen time during my testing – that’s regular use like social media, YouTube, some light gaming and sitting on the home screen while I stare into the abyss – and that’s thanks to its new Exynos 1480 chipset. It's unlikely to see you through the two-day battery life that Samsung boasts about, but it will last long enough for most users. While I loved the battery life, it's charging was slower than I'd have liked, and it didn't have the convenience of wireless charging to make up for it.

Samsung Galaxy A55 rear glass on natural background — (Image credit: Future/ Max Delaney)

This also isn't the phone for the more intense or passionate mobile gamer, but it can still handle relatively demanding titles (like 3D online shooters) with medium graphics settings.

These few sacrifices, though, are what make the Galaxy A55 a great budget smartphone – a speedier chipset than before, a bigger display and a premium design at an affordable price tag that matches the launch price of the A54 in some markets.

Samsung Galaxy A55 review: Price and availability

Launch price from £439 / AU$699
Released March 20 in the UK and March 25 in Australia; unavailable in the US at the time of writing
Available in two storage options and four colorways

While it was released across the globe in March 2024, the Galaxy A55 is unavailable in the United States as Samsung places a larger focus on the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE and the even more budget-friendly Samsung Galaxy A35 5G in that market.

In other markets like the UK and Australia, the A55 is available in two storage options – 128GB and 256GB – both with only 8GB of RAM (there is a model with 12GB RAM that seems to be listed only for availability in India). However, the Samsung Galaxy A55 5G provides the rare feature of up to 1TB of additional storage via a microSD card.

In a change to what we see across a span of products, Aussies actually get quite the deal in comparison to their UK brethren, as £439 directly converts to over AU$800. So while we think the Australian price is very fair, UK customers aren't getting the same deal. It's not all bad, though, as the UK price is actually cheaper than the launch price of the Galaxy A54's two £449 and £499 models last year, and the 6GB RAM option is no more.

Value Score: 4/5

Samsung Galaxy A55 review: Specs

There's a few considerable changes from the Galaxy A54, including improved glass durability, a larger display and greater size generally. Here's a quick breakdown of the Samsung Galaxy A55's specs.

Samsung Galaxy A55 review: Design

Aluminum build
IP67 rating means it can handle a splash
Fingerprint sensitive
Bigger and heavier than it predecessor

With no plastic in its build, Samsung has continued its lean towards sustainability by opting to use aluminum for the Galaxy A55’s chassis, giving it a premium-looking, exceptionally classy and functional metal build. When combined with its stylish back glass, it amounts to a supremely elegant design that brings the handset physically more in line with Samsung's Galaxy S series.

It's not beauty over function, though, as the upgraded Corning Gorilla Glass Victus Plus – the toughest yet – adds even more durability to its front and back than what we saw in the A54, and the pretty aluminum build increases sturdiness while making it easier to grip. During my testing period, it's strong build and IP67 rating had no problems handling the trials of everyday life – in and out of bags, a few small drops onto a carpeted floor and some water-laden situations when listening to podcasts while in the shower – the A55 is almost as durable as it is beautiful.

Samsung Galaxy A55 showcasing fingerprint smudges on its rear glass — (Image credit: TechRadar/Max Delaney)

Unfortunately, that big sleek, glossy back glass isn’t without drawbacks, as I found out as soon as I picked up my Navy Galaxy A55, which was anything but ‘Awesome’ in this respect. It picks up smudges as easily as my niece picks up germs from preschool. Even leaving some room for the possibility that I have an above-average knack for smudges, the phone is extremely smudge sensitive. However, it's safe to assume fingerprint marks on the lilac, lemon and ice blue models will be less visible.

It's also probably worth mentioning that the A55 doesn't lie evenly on its back due to its floating camera design – and placing it face down just put the abundance of fingerprint smudges on display. This little niggle is not exclusive to the Galaxy A55, but I did find it bothersome.

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Samsung Galaxy A55's rear outdoors — (Image credit: TechRadar / Max Delaney)

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While UK customers will have access to the full gamut of colorways, a design factor that the Galaxy A55 5G has retained from its predecessor, Australian customers only get two colors. Last year it was Awesome Violet and Awesome Graphite, and now in 2024 it's Awesome Lilac and Awesome Navy. Apparently Aussies only like near-black shades and variants of purple. The UK has a little more room for taste, with Awesome IceBlue and Awesome Lemon added into the fold.

Design Score: 4.5/5

Samsung Galaxy A55 review: Display

Samsung Galaxy A55 display — (Image credit: TechRadar / Max Delaney)

Bigger display than the Galaxy A54 (6.6-inches)
1000-nit peak brightness
120Hz variable refresh rate
Protected with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+

It would be unreasonable to expect immense display upgrades with such heavy improvements to the A55's design, but there are a few slight improvements from the A54 that make a definitive difference. Most notably being a slight increase in size, moving up to 6.6 inches from the A54's 6.4 inches. Otherwise, you'll get the same 1080 x 2340 resolution Super AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, HDR 10 support and the same 19:5.9 aspect ratio.

While Samsung makes a clear point of saying the A55 peaks at 1000 nits, and did not say that the A54 did, our time with both shows that the difference, if any at all, is negligible. In comparison to the Google Pixel 8a's 2000-nit maximum, let alone something like the OnePlus 12 that boasts an insane 4500 nits, the A55's output can't be considered much more than a pass mark.

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Galaxy A55 display reflecting the sky — (Image credit: TechRadar / Max Delaney)

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Galaxy A55 display — (Image credit: TechRadar / Max Delaney)

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Samsung Galaxy A55 display playing PUBG Mobile — (Image credit: TechRadar / Max Delaney)

The Samsung Galaxy A55 5G has a wonderful display that makes swiping through socials, watching videos and playing games an absolute blast. Heck, I could almost taste LeBron James' wine while watching the Mind the Game podcast. With a passable peak brightness you'll be able to enjoy its beauty even in direct sunlight and its minimum brightness is more than comfortable laying in bed. The A55's display is vibrant, detailed and strong, so while there might be better displays on more expensive phones, I have very few complaints.

One thing I did like about the A55's display was the built-in fingerprint sensor. While it's not the snappiest I've experienced, it was accurate and faster than typing in a passcode or pattern. Even if it's a bit slow for your taste, the payoff of the A55's flawlessly clean design – with no fingerprint sensor or button below the screen or on the back glass – is well worth it. However, I was unimpressed with the A55's facial recognition, too often finding myself swiping to unlock before it was ready, despite my face being unobstructed.

Display Score: 4/5

Samsung Galaxy A55 review: Software

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Samsung Galaxy A55 software — (Image credit: TechRadar / Max Delaney)

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Galaxy A55 homepage, app library and control panel (Image credit: TechRadar / Max Delaney)

Android 14 w/ One UI 6.1
Four years of OS updates
Knox Vault and Seamless Updates

If you were expecting the Galaxy A55’s software to mimic that of the Galaxy S24, you've set yourself up for disappointment. This is a mid-tier phone that costs a lot less than the S24, so expecting mass upgrades from the A54's output would be unfair. That said, the OS is far from bad, it's just a minimal update to that of the A54, running on the Android 14-based One UI 6.1.

Despite reported issues for older phones and rumored impact on charging speed from the One UI 6.1 update, the Galaxy A55 runs very smoothly, and will be familiar to those with some Samsung experience. While it doesn't have the Galaxy AI functionality of the S line, and only four major upcoming OS updates to the latter’s seven, One UI 6.1 is a perfectly fine operating system that works seamlessly within the A55.

One positive feature worth noting – a very happy introduction that comes years after Google launched a similar function with the first Google Pixel – is the introduction of a new era of update functionality for Samsung devices. 'Seamless Updates' adds the ability to download system updates in the background, and the A55 is the first Samsung phone to feature it as part of the brand's March 2024 security patch.

Shutting your phone down for 20 minutes while it updates is, or should be, a thing of the past, and this patch means only a speedy 3-minute restart is needed to complete updates. Along with seamless updates, the A55 also sees the addition of Knox Vault – a new addition passed down from the S24 – that secures important data like passwords and biometrics.

Now, while those two little features aren't much, when put together with the design and display developments we've already looked at, it makes for quite the enhancement. Combined with smooth performance and everything Samsung fans already enjoy about the Galaxy software – squircles and all – there's a lot to like about the software of the A55. With guaranteed four years of software updates coming, you can rest easy knowing your phone will remain up to date, at least for a while.

Software score: 4/5

Samsung Galaxy A55 review: Cameras

Galaxy A55 camera trio — (Image credit: TechRadar / Max Delaney)

50MP f/1.8 main camera w/ OIS
12MP ultra-wide + 5MP macro camera
32MP f/2.2 front-facing camera
Improved low-light photography

Photography is a crucial part of the modern handset, and a phone's camera can make or break it in the eyes of the user. In the best way possible, the Galaxy A55's camera does neither.

Providing a rear trio of cameras that can take wonderful photos in various ways, and a front camera that you'll have no problem taking flattering selfies with, the camera is a huge upgrade… over the Samsung Galaxy A53's 64MP main camera. But, a lack of massive change from the A54 isn't what disappointed me about it.

Whether it's selfies, ultra-wide shots, high-detail pics or snaps of your morning coffee, the Galaxy A55 has an objectively good camera system that will be more than serviceable, even for the most photo-obsessed. My biggest problem was that it just didn't capture the reality of what I was looking at when I most expected it to – aka in bright sunlight. Whether it was photos of my sun-baking dog, the book I was reading or a cat-holding selfie out in the garden, the results were a toned-down, dull version of what my eyes were seeing due to overexposure. They were still clear, beautiful images, but a touch too hazy for my liking.

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Photos of my sun-loving doggo — (Image credit: TechRadar / Max Delaney)

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Some flicks of a morning coffee and some very handsome limes — (Image credit: TechRadar / Max Delaney)

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Galaxy A55 excels at pet photos — (Image credit: TechRadar / Max Delaney)

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Galaxy A55 Camera — (Image credit: TechRadar)

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Night photography — (Image credit: TechRadar / Max Delaney)

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Samsung Galaxy A55 camera — (Image credit: TechRadar / Max Delaney)

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Combine that issue with a macro camera that was near-impossible to hit the sweet spot with – as you can see by my best results below – and you have a camera that is little more than good. There is just too much high-quality competition, even within this price range, to give it any further praise.

Samsung does make up for that slightly, though, with an abundance of options to help you take the best photo possible, even before you get to the pool of editing tools waiting for one to be taken. Within the four main photo-type options in the camera app (Fun, Portrait, Photo and Video) are tools to help you smooth out the image, get the right framing, activate a timer, turn the flash on and enter the camera settings to ensure you're ready to click away.

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Samsung Galaxy A55 macro camera — macro camera results (Image credit: TechRadar / Max Delaney)

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Galaxy A55 macro camera — (Image credit: TechRadar / Max Delaney)

While the modes within More, like macro, slow-mo and Pro, will undoubtedly be put to good use by some users, they remain mostly unused by me. However, the one mode hidden here that I do think is worth a special mention, is night mode. I wasn't blown away by the A55's ability to take photos in low-light areas at first. However, when I put it to the test in a pitch-black room its performance was truly impressive.

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Galaxy A55 night-mode photography — Testing the night mode on the Samsung Galaxy A55 (Image credit: TechRadar / Max Delaney)

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Galaxy A55 low-light photography — The before: the books are invisible in normal, standard photo mode (Image credit: TechRadar / Max Delaney)

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Samsung Galaxy A55 low-light photography — The after. The same lighting but with night mode turned on (Image credit: TechRadar / Max Delaney)

While it might not be a breathtaking photo of the night sky, I think the night mode better portrays how well the Galaxy A55's camera performs in low light. As you can see from my sample images, it works pretty darn well. From freezing cherished moments at dimly-lit restaurants, taking selfies under the hazy ambiance of street lights and snapping pics of your puppy snoozing under the TV’s silver glow, the A55's nighttime performance will be there for a really good shot.

Camera score: 4/5

Samsung Galaxy A55 review: Performance and Audio

Samsung Galaxy A55's rear glass shining in the midday sun — (Image credit: TechRadar / Max Delaney)

New Exynos 1480 Chipset
8GB RAM (12GB in select locations) with no more 6GB model
Stereo speakers
Up to 256GB of storage with up to 1TB additional storage

With a new chipset, I had high hopes for a noticeable performance improvement over the Galaxy A54, but I was prepared for the more-than-likely event that it would be hardly noticeable. Thankfully, the Exynos 1480 chipset provided much more of the former than the latter.

With scores of 1155 and 3468 in the two single-core and multi-core Geekbench tests, and solid results in the 3D Mark: Wildlife, Wildlife Extreme and Sling Shot Extreme stress tests of 3996, 939 and 6216, the Galaxy A55 won't be getting any awards on the test front. However, its results were consistent. For reference, the Google Pixel 7a and Samsung Galaxy S24 results can be seen below.

Despite what the numbers might say and how they compare, the A55 felt excellent during my time with it. From Spotify, Instagram, Reddit, YouTube, Netflix to the camera, the A55 ran each one of them perfectly, even when I switched haphazardly between them to try and force some lag – it didn't break a sweat.

Galaxy A55 rear glass reflecting the sky while resting on a red hat — (Image credit: TechRadar / Max Delaney)

One area the Galaxy A55 did slow down slightly was within high-performance apps like the Camera after considerable use. With a day’s worth of apps open and some considerable time spent within the camera app, load times started to get noticeable when switching between camera modes. Though it was little more than slight stutters, the lag did stand out compared to its otherwise smooth performance.

Perhaps due to its upgraded cooling system and adaptive refresh rate that better uses its battery, the A55 will be more than adequate for even a heavy casual mobile gamer. I had no problems earning 20 eliminations and a win in my first game of PUBG Mobile, even if it was against a bot, and was happy to see PUBG automatically set the graphics and framerate to their mid-range settings, with the A55 remaining smooth even when turned up to Ultra HD and the highest framerate. However, some rendering issues did start to occur at those high settings, but didn't impact gameplay. Whether it's PUBG Mobile, Apex Legends or hours of Candy Crush interspersed with regular phone use, the Galaxy A55 will handle it all, with battery to spare.

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PUBG Mobile on the Samsung Galaxy A55 — (Image credit: TechRadar / Max Delaney)

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PUBG Mobile on Galaxy A55 — (Image credit: TechRadar / Max Delaney)

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As for audio, whether you like to listen to podcasts through the phone's stereo speakers or blast music through a pair of the best wireless headphones, the days of muffled speakers from the A-series handsets are gone. You'll find little problems in how the A55 handles its audio.

The phone's earpiece and down-firing speakers combine to offer clear, balanced sound, providing easy listening when you don't feel like using headphones – and you won't unless you need to. While audiophiles might want to stick with their high-powered stereo units, the A55 does more than well enough for the average person, retaining some clarity even at high volume. And, in regards to connecting wireless devices via Bluetooth, I had absolutely no issues – even when pairing Apple AirPods 3, which don't always easily connect to Android devices.

Performance and Audio score: 4/5

Samsung Galaxy A55 review: Battery

5000mAh battery
25W wired charging
Advertised two-day battery life

Simultaneously great and disappointing might sound strange, but the Samsung Galaxy A55's fantastic battery life was slightly tarnished by its disappointing charge speed.

The surprisingly good battery life of the Galaxy A55, improving on the A54, more than offsets the slight disappointment I felt when my handset went from only 18% to 48% after 30 minutes of charging. That's far from terrible, and fully charging in around 90 minutes to reach 100% isn't the worst thing in the world, but it took longer than I had hoped. Unfortunately, Samsung's claims that the A55 has “super fast charging”, burying in the fine print that the fast-charging wall adapter is sold separately, sets the phone up for some disappointment.

Samsung Galaxy A55 on-screen battery and charging information — (Image credit: TechRadar / Max Delaney)

Retaining its predecessor's 5,000mAh battery, Samsung created high expectations once again, and fell short once again. While you won't get two days of use unless you leave your phone untouched and unopened, I was still impressed by the A55's battery life. Whether it was the seven hours of continuous Stranger Things – after which it still had more than 15% battery left – or hours of Candy Crush, plus everyday actions like social media, video calling, browsing and audio playing – the battery life of the A55 more than held up. I racked up around seven hours of screen time from a full charge, far more than my personal average of just over five, and there was still ample battery at the end of the day.

While the A54 charges slightly faster than the A55 in my experience, the Exynos 1480 chip the Galaxy A55 uses helps it to outlast its predecessor – if by a miniscule amount – leaving enough charge left that could be the difference between ordering an Uber and being left stranded. In short, the Samsung Galaxy A55 5G has more than enough battery life to get you through work, fun and be there when you need it. Just don't expect it to charge to 50% in 15 minutes before you head out.

Battery score: 4/5

Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy A55?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider...

If this review of the Samsung Galaxy A55 has left you wondering about other mid-tier alternatives, take a look at a few listed below. I’ve also compiled a specs comparison between them and the A55 for a clearer snapshot.

How I tested the Samsung Galaxy A55

Review period: Three weeks
Testing included: everyday use including web browsing, social media, photography, video calling, gaming, streaming video, music playback
Tools used: 3D Mark: Original, 3D Mark:Extreme, 3D Mark: Slingshot Extreme (unlimited), Geekbench 6.2.2, Geekbench, native Android stats

Once I received the Samsung Galaxy A55, I put it to the test immediately by running it through some benchmarking tools. I then used it as my main phone through the first week and this included playing games, taking photos and watching content.

Across the final two weeks of my testing time, I put it under the stresses, both technical and physical, of everyday life. From scrolling sessions at home to podcasts on the bus to being pulled in and out of my bag and accidentally walking into the doorway of my bedroom. These activities allowed me to see how the battery holds up over the course of time with normal use, not just how it handles high-impact stress tests.

With a heavy coverage focus on phones here at TechRadar, I'm knowledgeable of the phone market, what it has to offer and how different phones aimed at different budgets fit into it – making me the perfect candidate to test a mid-tier phone like the Samsung Galaxy A55 5G.

Samsung Galaxy A35 two-minute review

The Samsung Galaxy A35 is a smartphone designed for people who want the finest tech from South Korea’s favorite phone company, but can’t stomach the hefty price tag often demanded by the best Samsung phones.

By ‘finest tech’ I of course refer to the Samsung Galaxy S24 series, Sammy’s recent line of flagship phones, which come with a cost that's north of my monthly rent. Thankfully, people who prefer their cheap phones can still enjoy some of the best Galaxy tech thanks to the A35.

If you’re new to the Galaxy A range, it’s Samsung’s step-down line compared to the flagship Galaxy S range (though not as far down as the M or J series, available in some countries). The ‘3’ in the title refers to the phone’s place in the sliding scale of premiumness – ‘0’ is super-cheap, and higher numbers get incrementally better – while the ‘5’ tells you that this is part of the fifth generation of Galaxy A mobiles (well, at least since Samsung started this numbering system).

These handsets all borrow specific bits of Samsung tech from the company's top-end mobiles, while otherwise presenting an affordable package with corners cut to keep the price low. And the Galaxy A35 is another great example of that strategy.

Samsung’s fantastic display tech is shining brightly on the Galaxy A35: the screen is big, bold, bright, vibrant, and other synonyms for ‘nice to look at’. If you consider your phone to be a glorified Netflix, Prime Video or Disney Plus-streaming device, then the Galaxy A35 will tick your box.

The Samsung Galaxy A35 leaning against a bench. — (Image credit: Future)

You’re getting all of Samsung’s popular OneUI software here, with its customization tools, programmable routines and the colorful, fun user interface. You’re also getting its bloatware, as it’s not just stuffed with Samsung and Google apps, but also some choice third-party ones, too.

The chipset is a surprising feature: on paper, it’s just a bog-standard, low-end Samsung chip, but it absolutely cracks through long gaming bouts or intensive tasks; mobile gamers won’t find anything to turn their nose up at here.

It’s not a perfect phone, though, even by Galaxy A standards. The cameras are a prime example, as they just don’t hold a candle to those on other models I’ve tested. Low-light snaps were vibrant enough, but odd scene optimization AI edits and questionable ultra-wide performance marred the results.

The trappings of low-end mobiles are here in some respects, too: charging is slow, the design is a bit utilitarian and the fingerprint sensor is just awful. Stick to facial unlocking or a PIN/password if you buy this device.

Still, there’s nothing on this phone that’s outright disappointing when you consider its price, and a fair few features are actually better than you’d expect. All told, then, you’re not going to be left feeling mugged off if you buy the Galaxy A35.

Samsung Galaxy A35 review: price and availability

Released in March 2024
On sale in the US, UK and Australia, among other regions
$399.99 / £339.99 / AU$549.99, only one variant

The Samsung Galaxy A35 was announced in March 2024 and released shortly thereafter, as part of the company’s 2024 line of budget smartphones.

You can pick up the device for $399.99 / £339.99 / AU$549.99 in its sole 128GB configuration, though you can pick between a few color options if you want some amount of customization.

At that price, this is a worthy budget alternative to the $799 / £799 / AU$1,399 Samsung Galaxy S24, getting you a few specs and features pinched from the premium mobiles, but at a much lower price.

It’s not Samsung’s cheapest phone, with the Galaxy A0X, A1X and A2X lines all offering cheaper options, though almost all of those devices have specs weak enough to make them not worth considering (with the exception of the Samsung Galaxy A25).

Samsung Galaxy A35 review: specs

The Samsung Galaxy A35 has specs that run the gamut from low-end to top-end, which you can see below:

Samsung Galaxy A35 review: design

The Samsung Galaxy A35's USB-C port. — (Image credit: Future)

Standard-looking chocolate bar Android phone
Color options vary by region
Fingerprint scanner is unreliable

Samsung hasn’t exactly been changing things between its Galaxy A-series mobiles of late, and the Galaxy A35 is certainly no exception. It’s your standard chocolate bar smartphone with a fairly large body and a flat edge.

The handset weighs 209g, so it’s roughly average as mobiles go, and it measures 161.7 x 78 x 8.2mm, which is a little on the hefty side but not as big as Samsung’s ‘Ultra’ phones. It’s noticeably bigger than the S24, though.

The Galaxy A35 has a glass front and back, making it feel more premium in the hand than many other mid-range phones. It ships in a range of color options, too, but those options depend on region: US buyers can pick between navy and lilac, Australian customers can choose navy or pale blue, and UK buyers get all three of those options, as well as the fetching pale yellow that you see in the images accompanying this review. All these colors are relatively restrained given the vibrancy of some of Samsung’s previous Galaxy A color options.

Unlike some of its cheaper A-series siblings, the Galaxy A35 doesn’t have a 3.5mm headphone jack. Instead, its only port is the USB-C one on the bottom edge of the device.

Both the volume rocker and power button are on the right edge of the device, and you may find yourself stretching to reach them unless you have big mitts.

Samsung uses an under-display fingerprint sensor for the phone, but you’d be forgiven for not noticing — that is to say, it failed to find my finger more often than it succeeded, and I ended up having to type my password in far more often than on most other mobiles.

The phone is certified with an IP67 rating, which means it’s totally protected from small particles (sand, dust, flour and the like) and will also survive being submersed in liquid at a depth of up to 1 meter for a limited time – don’t take it swimming, then, but it should still work if you accidentally drop it in your beer.

Design score: 3 / 5

Samsung Galaxy A35 review: display

6.6-inches with 1080 x 2340 resolution
Super AMOLED results in punchy visuals
120Hz refresh rate for smooth scrolling

If any part of the Samsung Galaxy A35 will make you forget that you’re using a budget mobile, it’s the display.

The phone boasts a big 6.6-inch display, which is bigger than most Galaxy A-series mobiles and also the Galaxy S24. It has a 1080 x 2340 resolution, which is the same as most mobiles on the market, and a 19.5:9 aspect ratio.

Anyone who’s used a Samsung phone will know that the company’s tech is strongest in the display department; this mobile uses a Super AMOLED panel with a fairly high max brightness of 1000 nits. The screen is bright and colors pop, enhancing that Netflix stream or gaming session.

Even your average scrolling experience is better on the Galaxy A35 thanks to its 120Hz refresh rate, which makes motion look smoother and is far from a given on phones in this price range (heck, even the iPhone 15 doesn't have a 120Hz refresh rate).

Display score: 4 / 5

Samsung Galaxy A35 review: software

The Samsung Galaxy A35's quick settings menu. — (Image credit: Future)

Android 14 with One UI 6.1 over the top
Customization and routines good, bloatware bad
Four years of OS updates, five of security

A major similarity between the Samsung Galaxy A35 and its Galaxy S24 brethren is in the software department: both come with Android 14 pre-installed, with Samsung’s One UI 6.1 slathered over the top.

Samsung has promised four years of software updates, taking you up to Android 18 (unless Google decides to get funky with numerical orders) and you get an extra year of security updates on top of that.

Visually speaking, One UI is one of the more distinctive Android forks, offering pebble-shaped icons, colorful menus and easy-to-parse icons in the quick settings menu. However, between the Samsung apps, Google apps and a fair few third-party apps, the Galaxy A35 is also chock-full of bloatware, which is something you’d think a massive company like Samsung would be above.

One UI brings plenty of customization options with widgets for your installed apps, a wide range of pre-installed wallpapers, the ability to pick a system-wide color palette, and more. The options here aren’t quite as extensive as on, say, Motorola or stock Android phones, but it’s something.

Like on iPhones, Samsung offers a handy ‘Modes and Routines’ feature so you can jump between, say, sleep, driving or workout modes at the tap of a button, which lets you completely change the way your phone works if you need different settings for a temporary amount of time. These options do require some set-up, though, so carve 15 minutes out of your schedule when you first buy the phone to set them up.

Software score: 3.5 / 5

Samsung Galaxy A35 review: cameras

The Samsung Galaxy A35's camera app. — (Image credit: Future)

50MP main, 8MP ultra-wide and 5MP macro cameras
13MP selfie camera on front
Range of extra photography and video modes

You’re looking at three rear cameras on the Samsung Galaxy A35. They create a package that’s par for the course for a mid-range phone at this budget, but won’t hold a candle to the Galaxy S24 range or even higher-priced Galaxy A mobiles.

The leader of the pack is a 50MP f/1.8 main camera, which is joined by a 8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide snapper, with a 5MP f/2.4 macro rounding out the trio.

In well-lit conditions, the main camera takes bright and colorful pictures, which made pictures of close items like flowers or food look bold. That's likely due to Samsung’s scene optimization AI processing, which is a staple of Galaxy phones. This feature adds some pep and pizazz to your snaps; and by that I mean it ratchets up the contrast and saturation, and also drizzles in some sharpening and HDR.

Seasoned photographers might find this tweakery unwanted, but seasoned photographers probably aren’t using this kind of phone. The optimization is most welcomed for snappy social media posts and selfies.

Why did I specify ‘close items’ before? Well, for wider shots, pixel binning seems to result in a noticeable lack of quality, which you can see in the picture of a tree in the camera samples section below.

The Samsung Galaxy A35 taking a selfie. — (Image credit: Future)

The Galaxy A35 also struggled in lower-lighting conditions, with details lost and contrast handled about as well as you’d expect. Sometimes scene optimization decided to cast an odd blue pall over snaps – a picture of some ducks below was taken in overcast conditions, yet looks like a cheap TV-movie day-for-night.

The camera will suit you better if you usually take pictures of close-up subjects (including people) in decently-lit environments, rather than wider landscapes at darker times of day.

The Achilles’ heel of the phone’s camera array is the ultra-wide snapper, because photos taken on it looked dull and lifeless compared to their counterparts. It’s as though the AI scene optimization forgot to step in!

Rounding out the trio is the macro camera, which is a lot more situational in use than its siblings; it’s used for those close-up photos that the main camera will struggle to keep in focus. It’s up to the task, but you probably won’t be using this camera too much if you can help it.

On the front of the phone is a 13MP f/2.2 selfie camera, and everything I said about the rear camera’s optimization is out here in force, with the added distinction that the subject of a selfie is generally going to be close to the camera, so no landscape-shot woes here. There’s nothing wrong with nice bright selfies though, and in Portrait mode the device was fab at blurring the background and balancing the elements of the picture to create a great-looking shot.

Video recording goes up to 4K at 30fps or FHD at 60fps, or goes very low with several slow-mo modes. Most of the modes here are par for the course for a modern-day smartphone, with night, time-lapse and Portrait modes present and correct. Samsung stalwart modes Food (which ramps the saturation up for a very limited focus area) and Fun (which adds AR effects on human subjects) are back here, too.

Samsung Galaxy A35 camera samples

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A selfie taken on the Samsung Galaxy A35 — A selfie taken in 'standard' mode. (Image credit: Future)

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A bright flower taken on the Samsung Galaxy A35 — A flower taken on the standard camera. (Image credit: Future)

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A field with a church taken on the Samsung Galaxy A35 — An ultra-wide picture of a field. (Image credit: Future)

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A well-lit tree taken on the Samsung Galaxy A35 — A well-lit willow tree with detail lost on the leaves and grass. (Image credit: Future)

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A picture of ducks taken on the Samsung Galaxy A35 — An oddly-blue picture of ducks on the Galaxy A35. (Image credit: Future)

Camera score: 3 / 5

Samsung Galaxy A35: performance and audio

Snapdragon 695 is fit for purpose
128GB storage can be expanded up to 1TB, plus 4GB RAM
3.5mm headphone jack for wired audio

The ‘brains’ of the Samsung Galaxy A35’s operation is Samsung’s own Exynos 1380 chipset, which Samsung previously used in the pricier Galaxy A54 from last year.

In a Geekbench 5 benchmark test, the Exynos 1380 returned an average multi-core score of 2,868; the warmer the phone was, the lower the result, with scores ranging from the low 2,900s when cool to the mid 2,700s when warm. I’ve seen phones with much more dramatic ranges than that, I just say this to contextualize the average score.

The high 2,000s is nothing to phone home about, but it’s more than enough for most everyday use cases, and the A35 performed admirably in real-world testing. It blitzed through many games of Call of Duty Mobile or PUBG Mobile without breaking a sweat (though it did warm up if I was pushing it), and it did so without significant lagging, bugging or any crashing. Mobile gamers on a budget won’t find anything to dislike here.

Similarly, the phone felt snappy and fast to navigate, which is something you hope for but can never guarantee with phones around this price.

There’s 6GB RAM and board and 128GB storage; if you want more space you’ll need to rely on cloud storage, as there’s no expandable memory.

With no 3.5mm headphone jack, you’ve got one less option for audio on the Galaxy A35. The stereo speakers are serviceable: I found them perfectly fine for CoD:M, but even cheap headphones are better for music. The Bluetooth is 5.3, which is a decent standard for reliable and power-economic connection. You can also use a USB-C to 3.5mm adaptor if you absolutely need wired music.

Performance score: 3.5 / 5

Samsung Galaxy A35 review: battery life

Chunky 5,000mAh battery
Phone lasts a day of use, sometimes more
25W wired charging is slow

You’re looking at a 5,000mAh battery on the Samsung Galaxy A35, which is the same battery you'll find in the vast majority of other budget and mid-range mobiles (and some high-end ones, too).

In testing, that saw the phone comfortably last for a full day of use, despite the big bright screen and 5G connectivity. It limped until lunchtime on a second day before charging really became necessary, so I’d recommend charging daily.

Charging is done using the USB-C port, and it’s 25W, which isn’t exactly fast. At that speed, you’ll have to be tethered to the wall for over two hours, which nudges into ‘overnight charging’ territory.

There’s no wireless charging, but that’s no surprise when it comes to a mid-range mobile like the A35.

Battery score: 3.5 / 5

Samsung Galaxy A35 review: value

The Samsung Galaxy A35's camera bump. — (Image credit: Future)

In many ways, the Samsung Galaxy A35 gives you exactly what you pay for, but you’re getting great value for money in a few distinct areas. I wasn’t kidding when I called this a budget Galaxy S24.

The display, software and performance all reach above the trappings of the A35’s low-mid-range price tier, giving you an experience that’s not quite ‘premium’, but is still more than you’d usually get for this price.

Plus, there’s no real department in which the Galaxy A35 falls below expectations: value all around.

Value score: 4 / 5

Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy A35?

Buy it if...

You watch lots of videos
The good-looking display on the Galaxy A35 makes it a dream for Netflix fans on a budget.

You're a gamer on a budget
The A35 is decently powerful for its price, but the big and attractive display ticks even more boxes.

You want One UI, without the price
You don't need to pay Galaxy S24 prices to use all of One UI's handy features, like routines and its customization options.

Don't buy it if...

You're a photography fan
The Galaxy A35's three cameras aren't going to impress amateur photographers much, especially with its overactive AI optimizations.

You need quick charging
You can buy budget phones with 120W charging, so the Samsung Galaxy A35's paltry 25W is slower than its rivals.

Your budget goes a little higher
Only a small fee will let you upgrade from the Galaxy A35 to the Galaxy A55, or another Samsung phone with improved features.

Samsung Galaxy A35 review: Also consider

If you're not certain on the Samsung Galaxy A35, here are some alternatives you might want to consider:

How I tested the Samsung Galaxy A35

The Samsung Galaxy A35's Samsung logo.

(Image credit: Future)

Review test period = 2 week
Testing included = Everyday usage, including web browsing, social media, photography, video calling, gaming, streaming video, music playback
Tools used = Geekbench 6, Geekbench ML, GFXBench, native Android stats

I tested the yellow – sorry, 'Awesome Lemon' – version of the Samsung Galaxy A35 for two weeks for this review. Product photography was conducted right at the beginning of testing, hence why I've only got a few apps in-shot.

Testing was done by using the phone as my normal smartphone for the two-week duration: texting, photography, music streaming, Netflix, and so on.

I have over five years' experience of reviewing tech gadgets for TechRadar, having previously been an editor for the phones team and currently freelancing for several verticals. I've used plenty of Samsung phones (and other gadgets by the company) including previous Galaxy A devices.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus: Two-minute preview

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus was rumored to be the last Plus-branded entry in Samsung’s long-running flagship Galaxy S series, and had a successor – the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus – not been unveiled at Galaxy Unpacked 2024, it would’ve been easy to forgive the company for calling time on its awkwardly-positioned middle-child devices.

Despite offering Galaxy Ultra sizing at a more accessible price, Samsung’s Galaxy Plus phones have seldom, if ever, proven better value for money than its all-singing, all-dancing Ultra devices. This year, though, the Galaxy S24 Plus is a much more enticing proposition: its display is objectively better than the one you'll find on the standard-sized Samsung Galaxy S24, and it doesn’t lose out on the impressive AI features that Samsung is touting as the key selling point of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Specifically, the Galaxy S24 Plus benefits from QHD+ display technology – a feature previously reserved for the Galaxy S23 Ultra – and a bespoke Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset (or Samsung’s own Exynos 2400, depending on your region) that places AI at the forefront of the mobile experience. The former upgrade is far from game-changing – it essentially means the Plus’s 6.7-inch screen is sharper and more detailed than the S24’s FHD+ equivalent – but it’s enough to better differentiate the Plus from its cheaper sibling. The latter, by contrast, brings a parity to the Galaxy S24 range that we haven’t seen, well, ever.

Galaxy AI is the umbrella term for Samsung’s suite of AI-powered features, which range from real-time text and call translation to generative photo editing. I tried out several of these features during my brief hands-on time with the Galaxy S24 Plus, and while their level of real-world utility remains to be seen, their seamless integration into Samsung’s One UI is seriously impressive.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus hands on front handheld angled home screen — (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)

On the physical upgrade front, the Galaxy S24 Plus sports marginally narrower bezels and a slightly flatter design than its predecessor, though its (supposedly stronger) Armor Aluminum frame is the most noticeable change. The phone’s 4,900mAh battery is a touch larger, too, though this is unlikely to equate to much (if any) real-world battery life improvement.

If you’re after the best camera phone around, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is the way to go, but the new Plus model boasts some decent photography hardware nonetheless. The phone retains its predecessor’s 50MP wide lens (f/1.8), 12MP ultra-wide lens (f/2.2), 10MP telephoto lens (f/2.4, 3x optical zoom), and 12MP selfie camera (f/2.2), though the aforementioned addition of Galaxy AI has thrown some neat new AI-powered editing capabilities into the mix.

I haven’t spent enough time with the Galaxy S24 Plus to deliver a full verdict on its value-for-money offering yet, but after some brief hands-on time with the device at Galaxy Unpacked 2024, I can safely say that Samsung’s latest second-tier flagship is an objectively better phone than last year’s S23 Plus – and one that might finally make buyers think twice.

If you're interested in our thoughts on the other new Galaxy phones, check out our hands-on Samsung Galaxy S24 review and our hands-on Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review.

Hands-on Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus review: Price and availability

Starts at $999 / £999 / AU$1,699
Preorders are open now
Shipping from January 31

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus was announced at Samsung’s latest Galaxy Unpacked event on January 17, 2024. Samsung Galaxy S24 preorders are live now, and all three new devices will begin shipping on January 31.

Pricing for the Galaxy S24 Plus starts at $999 / £999 / AU$1,699 for the base configuration (8GB RAM / 256GB storage), and rises to £1,099 / AU$1,899 for the model with 8GB RAM / 512GB storage. I’ll be updating this article with US pricing for the latter configuration as soon as I have it.

For comparison, the Galaxy S23 Plus started at $999.99 / £1,049 / $1,649 for the model with 8GB RAM / 256GB storage, so £999 marks a welcome £50 decrease (in the UK, at least).

Hands-on Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus review: Specs

Here's a look at the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus' specs and how it compares to its stablemates.

Hands-on Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus review: Design

Slightly flatter edges and narrower bezels
New Armor Aluminum frame

Samsung Galaxy S24 S24 Plus S24 Ultra hands on back straight — (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)

For the second year running, Samsung’s newest Galaxy Plus model places emphasis on meaningful internal upgrades over a dramatic aesthetic redesign. But that’s not to say the Galaxy S24 Plus looks identical to its predecessor.

Measuring 158.5 x 75.9 x 7.7mm and weighing 196g, this year’s Plus phone has slightly narrower bezels, slightly flatter edges (think the iPhone 15 Pro and Galaxy Z Fold 5) and a more durable Armor Aluminum frame versus the Galaxy S23 Plus.

Personally, I’m all for the changes – the S23 Plus’s mirrored frame was a garish fingerprint magnet – although you’d be hard pressed to distinguish the Galaxy S24 Plus from its predecessor when viewing the two phones at a glance.

Hands-on Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus review: Display

QHD+ display for the first time in a Plus model
Enhanced outdoor visibility
New 2,600-nit peak brightness

Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus hands on front handheld straight lock screen — (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)

For the first time, the display on Samsung’s latest Galaxy Plus model is objectively superior to the display used by its standard sibling. Specifically, the Galaxy S24 Plus uses a 6.65-inch dynamic AMOLED 2X display, with QHD+ technology that delivers improved sharpness and detail compared to the screen on the smaller Galaxy S24. Previously, QHD+ displays have been reserved for Samsung’s Ultra phones, and although the differences here aren’t all that noticeable, it’s good to see Samsung giving the Galaxy S24 Plus the best screen possible.

The other display upgrades are shared between the Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus. Both phones get a new peak brightness of 2,600 nits, as well as improved outdoor visibility thanks to Samsung’s Vision Booster feature. Their refresh rates have also been improved – you’ll now get 1-120Hz instead of 48-120Hz.

All of these features combine to deliver the biggest, boldest and brightest Galaxy S Plus display yet, and although I’ll need to conduct further testing, I was able to use the phone under the bright lights of Samsung’s hands-on testing space without issue.

Hands-on Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus review: Cameras

Same triple-lens setup as the Galaxy S23 Plus
Up to 8K video at 30fps
AI features are impressive but potentially problematic

Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus hands on camera closeup — (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)

If there’s one big disappointment with the Galaxy S24 Plus, it’s the lack of changes in the camera hardware department. The phone retains its predecessor’s 50MP wide lens (f/1.8), 12MP ultra-wide lens (f/2.2), 10MP telephoto lens (f/2.4, 3x optical zoom), and 12MP selfie camera (f/2.2). This isn’t necessarily a bad thing – I was impressed with the all-round photography capabilities of the Galaxy S23 Plus – but an S23 Ultra-style 200MP main sensor wouldn’t have gone amiss.

Samsung has instead turned to AI for this year’s camera-related Galaxy upgrades, with a suite of new editing tools on hand to help you re-compose and remaster photos. Edit Suggestion, for instance, uses Galaxy AI to suggest suitable photo tweaks, while Generative Edit can fill in parts of an image background with generative AI. Instant Slow-mo can generate additional frames to add more detail (or the illusion of more detail) to videos, while Super HDR reveals lifelike previews before the shutter is ever pressed.

I’ll need to further test these features before passing judgment on their utility, but the demos given by Samsung staff for each were supremely impressive. Generative AI looks particularly mind-blowing, although it does raise some awkward questions about authenticity, beauty standards, and the value of photography in 2024.

Hands-on Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus review: Performance

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset in the US, Exynos 2400 elsewhere
Larger vapor chamber and ray tracing support

Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus hands on back table angled — (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)

Much to the chagrin of Samsung fans the world over, Samsung has again split the chipset offering for its latest Galaxy phones – though rumors suggest that the situation isn’t as bad as it was for the Galaxy S22 line, where the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 outperformed the Exynos 2200 by some margin).

Specifically, the chipset powering your Galaxy S24 Plus depends on the region in which you buy the phone. Those in the US get a bespoke version of Qualcomm’s newly released Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, while those in Europe and other regions get Samsung’s new Exynos 2400 chipset. Luckily, however, early benchmark results promise similar real-world performance from both chipsets, so I don’t expect the differences to be significant this year, although the Snapdragon may prove slightly more efficient than the Exynos in the long run.

In my brief time with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered Galaxy S24 Plus, the phone was able to juggle gaming, heavy-duty video recording, and multiple apps with ease.

Speaking of gaming, the Galaxy S24 Plus benefits from a vapor chamber that’s 1.9x larger than its predecessor, which Samsung says will deliver improved heat dissipation. All three Galaxy S24 phones offer ray tracing support, too, so the Galaxy S24 Plus might prove to be one of the best gaming phones of 2024.

Hands-on Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus review: Software

Galaxy AI enables several experience-enhancing features
Seven years of OS updates and seven years of security updates

Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus hands on on-device AI only mode — (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)

The ace(s) in the hole for the Galaxy S24 Plus are its new AI capabilities, which Samsung says are “aimed at enhancing every part of life.” Here’s how the company describes the key features of Galaxy AI:

When you need to communicate defying language barriers, Galaxy S24 makes it easier than ever. Chat with a student or colleague from abroad. Book a reservation while on vacation in another country. It’s all possible with Live Translate, two-way, real-time voice and text translations of phone calls within the native app. No third-party apps are required, and on-device AI keeps conversations completely private.
With Interpreter, live conversations can be instantly translated on a split-screen view so people standing opposite each other can read a text transcription of what the other person has said. It even works without cellular data or Wi-Fi.
For messages and other apps, Chat Assist can help perfect conversational tones to ensure communication sounds as it was intended: like a polite message to a co-worker or a short and catchy phrase for a social media caption.
In the car meanwhile, Android Auto will automatically summarize incoming messages and suggest relevant replies and actions, like sending someone your ETA, so you can stay connected while staying focused on the road.
Organisation also gets a big boost with Note Assist in Samsung Notes, featuring AI-generated summaries, template creation that streamlines notes with pre-made formats, and cover creation to make notes easy to spot with a brief preview.
For voice recordings, even when there are multiple speakers, Transcript Assist uses AI and Speech-to-Text technology to transcribe, summarize and even translate recordings.
Communication isn’t the only way Galaxy S24 takes the fundamental benefits of the phone into the future. Online search has transformed nearly every aspect of life. Galaxy S24 marks a milestone in the history of search as the first phone to debut intuitive, gesture-driven Circle to Search with Google. With a long press on the home button, you can circle, highlight, scribble on, or tap anything on Galaxy S24’s screen to see helpful, high-quality search results.

Naturally, I’ll be taking these AI-powered features for a proper spin as I test the Galaxy S24 Plus for my full review, but the early signs are promising. Circle to Search with Google worked perfectly when I tried to identify a plant, two different watches and even my battered backpack during my hands-on session, while Live Translate worked well, too (though it remains to be seen how effective this feature will be when it comes to interpreting colloquialisms and muffled phrases).

Also on the software front, Samsung is committing to seven years of OS updates and seven years of security updates for the Galaxy S24 Plus and its siblings, which is a welcome improvement on the five years we’ve come to expect from the company (and brings the S24 range in line with the Google Pixel 8 and Apple’s latest iPhones). In other words, you’ll be able to use the Galaxy S24 Plus without fear of being left behind until at least 2031. Yikes.

Hands-on Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus review: Battery

4,900mAh battery is a slight upgrade

Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus hands on bottom handheld angled — (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)

The Galaxy S24 Plus has a 4,900mAh battery, which is a 200mAh increase over the S23 Plus’s 4,700mAh power pack. That said, I’m not expecting the new phone to offer significantly better real-world battery life than its predecessor. I found that the Galaxy S23 Plus could comfortably last for almost two days when testing that phone, so I’m anticipating something similar from the Galaxy S24 Plus. I’ll confirm as much in my upcoming review of the phone.