Different Samsung Telephones to Think about
In the event you do not see a Samsung cellphone talked about on this information, it could be as a result of it is not offered within the US and is just a little more durable to supply for testing. However listed below are a number of different Samsung telephones we have examined.
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Extremely for $2,100: An incremental improve over the Z Fold7, the Z Fold8 Extremely is for foldable cellphone followers who need one of the best and are prepared to pay for it. The acquainted book-style kind issue presents a 6.5-inch cowl display screen, like a daily sweet bar cellphone, and opens to present a tablet-sized 8-inch show with a fainter crease than earlier than and a stronger hinge. Naturally, you get top-notch efficiency, all-day battery life, and Samsung’s finest digicam in a folding cellphone, with a 200-megapixel fundamental shooter, 50-megapixel ultrawide, and 10-megapixel telephoto lens.
{Photograph}: Simon Hill
Samsung Galaxy S26 FE for $700: The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE is a wonderfully first rate cellphone with good battery life, a beautiful massive show, and a strong triple-camera system, however nothing about it justifies the additional $100 over final yr’s nearly similar S25 FE. The processor is barely higher, however that’s about it. In actual fact, Samsung downgraded the USB-C port to USB 2.0 within the S26 FE, so we expect you’d be higher off shopping for the S25 FE above whereas it’s nonetheless accessible.
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{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu
Z Fold7 for $2,000 or Z Flip7 for $1,100: If you’d like a Samsung foldable with out the eye-watering price ticket, think about 2025’s Galaxy Z Fold7 or Galaxy Z Flip7 if you will discover them discounted. The Fold7 is just a little thicker with a extra distinguished crease within the display screen. The battery life isn’t nice, and the ultrawide digicam is weaker, however there isn’t an enormous distinction between it and the Fold8 Extremely. It’s an analogous story for the Flip7, with the Flip8 bringing minor hinge enhancements, a refined, lighter design with a much less noticeable crease, a sooner processor, and extra helpful software program options for the outer show.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge for $1,300: Have you ever ever needed a actually skinny and light-weight cellphone? No? Effectively, Samsung has an choice for you anyway. The Galaxy S25 Edge was a novel one-off final yr (it is uncertain we’ll see a successor) and matches a number of options of the Galaxy S25 Extremely, like a titanium body, stronger entrance glass, and 4K 120 frames per second video recording. All of the cameras even have autofocus. Nevertheless it made a number of sacrifices to realize its amazingly slim 5.8-mm body (for context, the S25 Extremely is 8.2-mm thick). There isn’t any stylus, no telephoto digicam, and worst of all, the battery capability has been slashed. We have seen this earlier than—skinny telephones have all the time compromised on battery life, and that is no totally different. We continually needed to child this cellphone’s 3,900-mAh battery with combined utilization, and that is simply not acceptable. (The iPhone Air did it higher.) If you end up continually close to an influence supply and suppose you may benefit from the slim and lightweight design, then go for it.
Samsung Galaxy A17 5G for $249: On paper, the Galaxy A17 looks like a extremely nice deal. It presents six years of software program assist, an AMOLED display screen, expandable storage, and a good digicam. Sadly, it is held again by lackluster efficiency. The issue is the very restricted 4 GB of RAM within the US mannequin, which ruins the general expertise. In the event you had to make use of your smartphone in an emergency, I might not belief the A17 to be dependable. But when your wants are extraordinarily minimal, it could suffice.
In the event you’re wanting to avoid wasting money, it is fantastic to purchase Samsung’s Galaxy S24 vary from 2024, so long as the costs are a superb deal decrease than the unique MSRP. (They’re laborious to search out at most main retailers.) These telephones will nonetheless get assist for some time, they usually’re fairly nice. I do not suppose it is value shopping for something older.
Ought to You Spend money on Samsung’s Ecosystem?
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu
Samsung is among the few smartphone producers that may match Apple’s {hardware} ecosystem. The corporate makes smartphones, however it’s also possible to increase your expertise with a Galaxy Watch8 smartwatch, Galaxy Buds4 Professional earbuds, Galaxy Ring health ring, Galaxy Tab S11, and even a Home windows-powered Galaxy laptop computer.
There are perks, like some options on the Galaxy Ring and Watch8 being accessible solely when paired with a Samsung cellphone, and its earbuds mechanically switching between Samsung gadgets based mostly on what you are utilizing. There aren’t many unique options when utilizing a Galaxy cellphone with a Galaxy laptop computer, however capabilities like Fast Share allow you to ship images and paperwork between your gadgets (even to iPhones by way of AirDrop!).
Once more, it isn’t vital, and these different gadgets may not be the proper ones for you inside their respective classes, however in the event you’re chasing {hardware} parity, you’ve that choice with Samsung.
What Is Galaxy AI?
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu
With the Galaxy S24 sequence, Samsung launched “Galaxy AI,” a choice of synthetic intelligence options, lots of that are powered by Google’s Gemini massive language fashions. These allow sensible options that could be useful in your day-to-day, like real-time translations throughout cellphone calls, real-time transcriptions in Samsung’s Voice Recorder app, the power to summarize lengthy paragraphs of textual content within the Samsung Notes app, or altering a sentence’s tone with the Samsung Keyboard.
Within the Galaxy S25 sequence, Galaxy AI expanded to incorporate Gemini because the default voice assistant and the power for Gemini to work with a number of apps concurrently. It additionally debuted Drawing Help, which helps you to sketch or enter a immediate and get an AI-generated picture. Now it’s also possible to use video in actual time with Gemini, even from the duvet display screen of the Galaxy Z Flip7.
And within the Galaxy S26 sequence, the AI options obtained much more useful. The Doc Scanner constructed into the digicam app can now erase fingers and creases and decrease distortion earlier than changing the picture right into a PDF. Audio Eraser is now accessible in any media app to cut back distracting background sounds in movies, so you’ll be able to hear the topic clearly. And there is now built-in name screening to raised filter out robocalls. Samsung additionally debuted Google’s Activity Automations within the Gemini assistant, permitting you to ask Gemini to guide you an Uber or order one thing from DoorDash, Uber Eats, or GrubHub, although it is fairly sluggish.
You will discover many of those options in Settings > Galaxy AI to toggle them on or off. We even have an explainer on how you can restrict Galaxy AI to on-device processing.
What Is Samsung DeX?
Courtesy of David Nield
Samsung’s DeX (quick for “desktop expertise”) launched in 2017, and it enables you to plug your Samsung cellphone into an exterior monitor and launch a desktop model of Android, all powered by the cellphone. You will discover an inventory of appropriate Samsung telephones right here—the Flip7 is the primary Galaxy Flip to assist DeX—and you will want a monitor, mouse, and keyboard, plus a cable to attach the cellphone to the monitor. (You may as well solid DeX to pick out screens wirelessly.)
In DeX mode, you’ll be able to resize Android apps and open all of them in separate home windows. It is a correct computing platform, although you most likely will not need to use this as a everlasting laptop computer alternative or something of the kind. It is nice in the event you’re visiting one other workplace, or figuring out of a espresso store or airplane (when you have a conveyable show). We have now a complete information to establishing and utilizing DeX right here.
What Occurred to the Galaxy Z TriFold?
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PHOTOGRAPH: Julian Chokkattu
I’ve not examined Samsung’s Galaxy Z TriFold, and it appears I by no means will. (I had some transient hands-on time with it at CES 2026, however Samsung didn’t present WIRED with a take a look at unit.) This folding cellphone, which had an MSRP of $2,800, formally went on sale within the US on the finish of January, however three months later Samsung discontinued it due to excessive manufacturing prices.
Sure, unfolding it from a reasonably compact cellphone to an enormous 10-inch pill was wonderful and the stuff of desires, but it surely did not justify the excessive worth; you should buy a killer cellphone and wonderful pill for manner lower than $3,000. The posh of getting them in a single pocket is unimaginable, however greater than a $1,000 unimaginable? I believe the TriFold is the true “phablet” Samsung promised so way back, and the folding mechanism is novel and a wonderful feat. Hopefully, when the smartphone market picks again up, Samsung will revisit this design. It is nice for productiveness junkies who continuously juggle a number of apps. Alas, it is only a dream now. You will have to stay with the usual Z Fold. —Julian Chokkattu
How We Check Telephones
WIRED has been protecting Samsung smartphones since they entered the market. With every Samsung smartphone we take a look at, our reviewers all the time put their private SIM card inside and spend so long as they will (a number of weeks) utilizing the cellphone as their very own. We do digicam testing and examine the outcomes with equally priced gadgets; we benchmark efficiency and play graphically demanding video games to see how they fare; we check out all the brand new options; and we even take calls to ensure they undergo and that voice high quality is okay.
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