The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is a balanced flagship phone, but can it compete with Ultra-branded camera phones from China? To find out, I pitted the best Samsung phone against the Oppo Find X9 Ultra, which is widely considered the best camera phone available right now. But while the Oppo flagship was the favorite going into my photo walk, the Samsung surprised me in a few ways.

With the S26 Ultra, the Korean giant doubled down on software and bundled it with larger apertures on two sensors, whereas Oppo went all-in on hardware upgrades and paired them with meaningful software advancements. It also added 10x optical zoom, making the Find X9 Ultra the only Ultra phone with this feature in 2026. Oppo says its 10x telephoto camera is 3x more light-sensitive than the Galaxy S23 Ultra's 10x camera.

The resulting camera system beats the Galaxy S26 Ultra in most scenarios, but Samsung's flagship phone surprised me on multiple occasions. It's certainly a better camera phone than the Galaxy S25 Ultra, despite having seemingly similar hardware.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs. Oppo Find X9 Ultra: Specs

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra covers 13-111mm focal lengths. It has a 50MP 13mm f/1.9 ultra-wide camera with a 1/2.5-inch sensor, a 200MP 23mm f/1.4 main camera with a 1/1.3-inch sensor, a 10MP 67mm f/2.4 3x telephoto camera with a 1/3.94-inch sensor, and a 50MP 111mm f/2.9 5x periscope telephoto camera with a 1/2.52-inch sensor. It looks formidable until you see what Oppo has on offer this year.

The Find X9 Ultra covers focal lengths from 14mm to 230mm. It has a 50MP 14mm f/2 ultra-wide camera with a 1/1.95-inch sensor, a 200MP 23mm f/1.5 main camera with a 1/1.2-inch sensor, a 200MP 70mm f/2.2 3x telephoto camera with a 1/1.28-inch sensor, and a 50MP 230mm f/3.5 10x telephoto camera with a 1/2.75-inch sensor.

I took more than 500 photos on each phone and narrowed down this comparison to 25 images. Here's how the two Ultra phone cameras compare:

Main camera

Both Samsung and Oppo shoot pixel-binned images from their 200MP sensor by default. I recommend using a higher resolution mode (like 24MP or 50MP on the Galaxy S26 Ultra and 50MP on the Oppo), but I kept the default settings for this comparison.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra boosts color saturation to add a pop, whereas Oppo's shots look more natural. While I like Samsung's contrast, there's some artificial color sharpening going on, making it look less natural.

On the other hand, the Find X9 Ultra gives you a more pleasing bokeh, thanks to a bigger sensor. Both phones captured good amount of details, as you can see the texture on the leaves.

However, I prefer Oppo's color science and Master Mode, which give me natural tones with minimal phone-like color processing.

In evening shots, the Galaxy S26 Ultra gave my photos a teal hue, whereas the Find X9 Ultra had a pink hue. My skin tone was better captured by the Oppo phone, and it had more details. In comparison, the Samsung shot looks slightly noisy and less appealing overall.

Samsung has been working on improving its night mode photos for a few years now, and the Galaxy S26 Ultra beats its rivals in this scenario on most occasions. I want my low-light photos to look like low-light shots instead of artificially brightened photos. That's why I like Samsung's saturated colors on the entrance board versus Oppo's brightened picture quality at night.

However, if you switch to the Master Mode, things change drastically. The Find X9 Ultra handles night light well and doesn't overexpose the shots to brighten every detail. In my testing, Master Mode consistently delivered better results than Oppo's default processing, and I relied on it for night shots.

Telephoto cameras

This is one of the scenarios where Samsung surprised me. I like its cooler tone versus Oppo's warmer look, which gave my skin a yellow tint. It doesn't look bad, but I'm simply not that pale. Again, this could be fixed by using the Master Mode, but I expected better color science from the default processing. However, Oppo's shot captured rich details as compared to a slightly smoother-looking skin on the Samsung flagship.

In challenging lighting situations like the above, when the setting sun was directly hitting my face, Samsung processed the photo better than Oppo.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra managed to get the golden hour look, while the Find X9 Ultra's shot looks washed out. Both photos were captured with tap and shoot, so the focus was set, and the cameras didn't struggle to find the subject automatically. Again, I wish Samsung captured more details with a more natural-looking bokeh. It looks soft and slightly artificial in comparison to the Oppo's.

Oppo's bigger lens and smarter processing comes in handy when you need rich details in shots like above. Samsung struggled to focus on the thick webbing, while the Find X9 Ultra focused and captured even the single strands. And this extends to the 10x telephoto camera.

Oppo demolishes the Galaxy S26 Ultra in macro shots. This was a tricky subject because the small flower kept moving in the slightest breeze. I struggled to get it in focus with the Galaxy S26 Ultra, which it simply couldn't do. That's why I don't have a comparison photo for this shot. The Oppo Find X9 Ultra, by contrast, focused on the same subject with a single tap and even captured those white threads in the picture.

One of the reasons I love having big telephoto cameras, like the one on the Find X9 Ultra, is that they allow me to get so close to small subjects and capture things I'd never be able to focus on with my eyes. Oppo's macro mode is right up there with Vivo's, and Samsung doesn't have a match for it.

Ultra-wide camera

When it comes to my ultra-wide testing, the Oppo Find X9 Ultra was able to get more contrast and highlight the blues of the sky without blowing out the green leaves as the Galaxy S26 Ultra did.

Overall, I prefer Oppo's shot here because it has more details on the tree trunks and didn't overexpose the leaves. However, Samsung's processing focused on better exposing the leaves and didn't have the same halo effect as its rival.

Verdict

The Oppo Find X9 Ultra consistently captured richer details compared to the Galaxy S26 Ultra. However, the Samsung flagship stood its own and even beat the Oppo phone on a couple of occasions. While I prefer having bigger sensors, the Galaxy phone surprised me in the best ways.

That said, Oppo easily wins in most scenarios. It is, hands-down, the current king of smartphone telephoto cameras. TechRadar's Cameras Editor Timothy Coleman also compared the Find X9 Ultra to two dedicated cameras and concluded, "It feels like this flagship Chinese phone renders most travel zoom compacts redundant," which can't be said about the Galaxy S26 Ultra. The Master Mode is an added benefit if you like shooting film-like colors. I simply can't stop shooting with this phone.

• Samsung Display has new screens to show off
• One comes with integrated biometric sensing
• There's also a new stretchable display for cars

Before screen panels appear in the best Samsung phones — often debuting in top-tier flagships like the Galaxy S26 Ultra — they get showcased by the Samsung Display arm of the company, and it's just unveiled its latest screens.

Samsung Display revealed these cutting-edge panels at the SID Display Week 2026 event in Los Angeles, and it's the Sensor OLED Display that's perhaps the most interesting of the bunch: it combines a 500 pixels-per-inch resolution with the ability to read biometric information such as heart rate and blood pressure.

It does this by measuring blood flow, through light emitted from the display. The screen also features the privacy protection tech that appeared in the Galaxy S26 Ultra, which stops other people from seeing what's on your phone unless they're looking directly at it.

Among the other panels shown off by Samsung was a Flex Chroma Pixel OLED screen that hits high marks for both brightness and color space: 3,000 nits and the BT.2020-96 standard respectively. BT.2020-96 is the widest color gamut standard used internationally, and while most phones get to around 70% coverage, the new panel reaches 96%.

Displays that stretch

Samsung Display also demoed a "next-generation stretchable display", rather aptly called the Stretchable Display 2.0. Samsung wants to get this screen installed into car dashboards, so the screen in your vehicle could expand or shrink depending on driving conditions, and what you and your passengers are currently doing.

The new display hits a resolution of 200 pixels-per-inch, up from the 120ppi of the previous version, and matching the current resolution offered by most car infotainment systems. This was achieved by developing a new "pixel structure" that can retain pixel density even as the screen extends and shrinks.

Finally, there were new EL-QD displays too — an upgraded quantum dot technology that Samsung is working on, which doesn't rely on standard OLED techniques. According to the company, these screens offer high color accuracy and improved brightness while offering better power efficiency, and could be used in "AI-based high-computing environments".

There's no indication of when these screens will hit consumer products — some more research and development will likely be needed first — but they give us a good idea of the phone and car displays that will be arriving in the next few years.

Welcome to our MWC 2026 'Best in Show' awards, where we've chosen our top products being shown off at the big trade event.

MWC used to be all about phones — and there are plenty of those in this list — but now it covers everything from wearables to connected smart devices to home networks. Our awards picks cover this breadth of technology.

Honor Magic V6

Some thing in life are inevitable. Night follows day, the tides rise and fall, Honor reveals the thinnest-ever foldable phone at a big tech show. One of the many impressive things about the Honor Magic V6, though, is that it hasn't skimped on durability in favor of being so slim and stylish — it's IP69 rated against water and dust, which is actually better than almost any other phone, despite being foldable.

It's powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon Elite 8 Gen 5 powerful processor, backing that generous 7.95 internal screen with a 2352x2172 resolution, while the 6.5-inch cover display has a 2420x1080 resolution. There's a 6,600mAh battery squeezed into the small frame too. It's an incredibly impressive piece of engineering, and absolutely worthy of our award.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

The best way to get the full low-down on why this phone has won an award is to read our full Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review, but one quote from it will tell you most of what you need to know: "Of course it's the best Android phone ever."

You've got Samsung's special Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chip at the heart, and a beautiful 3120x1440 6.9-inch display – including Samsung's genius and innovative 'Privacy Display', which can hide individual sections of the screen, such as notifications, from snoopers around you. There are wider apertures on the camera to let in more light, lots of advanced AI skills, S Pen support... It's just a powerhouse of a phone for people who want the most capable device on the planet.

Nothing Phone (4a)

If you want super-slick features in an affordable package, we're expecting this to be one of the hottest phones of the year. The Nothing Phone 4(a) keeps the fun techy design that Nothing is known for, including a version of the Glyph Bar on the back.

The 6.8-inch OLED screen has a high 2800x1260 resolution and 120Hz support, with a fast Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 chip inside, and 12GB of RAM even though it's a cheaper phone and memory is pricey now. There's even a triple camera system on the back — it makes the new iPhone 17e look miserly in comparison. And on top of all this, coming in four nice colors doesn't hurt its desirability either.

TCL NXTPAPER 70 Pro

TCL's NXTPAPER screens have been turning our heads for a while now. They're basically ereader-like screens with a matte and paper-y finish that's great for avoiding eyestrain, but with full color performance and advanced screen tech such as 120Hz support. The NXTPAPER 70 Pro phone uses the latest version of this tech, and actually has three adjustable paper-like modes: Color Paper Mode, Ink Paper Mode, and Max Ink Mode. You can hit a button to cycle through them.

There's even an included pen for drawing and making notes on the screen, so this works as a hybrid of phone, ereader and digital note-taker — plus all the other things you expect a phone to do, including taking photos. We've seen NXTPAPER phones from TCL before, but this is the first time we're starting to consider ditching a regular smartphone for one.

MemoMind One

These smart glasses stand out due to the smart flexibility that's built into their core concept. The key idea is that they have a display for each eye built-in, and Harman Kardon personal speakers you can hear, so you can get subtle information from AI assistants easily.

What's really interesting is the modular approach, which applies to both the hardware and software. The glasses offer eight frame styles and five temple designs, so you can find a specific style that suits you — along with prescription lenses. And the LLM support isn't one-size-fits-all; instead it analyzes the task you need it to perform and uses OpenAI, Azure or Qwen, depending on what's the best fit. It's a really clever approach to smart glasses, and we're looking forward to seeing more of (and through) them.

Honor Magic Pad4

The stunning tablet almost seems impossible. At just 4.8mm thick, it feels like there's just not enough space for it to contain a load of great tech — but you've got a beautifully bright 12-inch OLED screen with a resolution of 3000x1920, backed by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 processor, and up to 1TB of storage.

Being so thin and weighing just 450g (slightly less than the 11-inch iPad Air, despite having a larger screen), it feels like the ultimate portable slate. But the finishing touch is that Honor has made it an interesting work companion too, with a desktop windowed mode that seems very slick, plus stylus support. This might be the most impressive-looking tablet in the world.

Soundcore Space 2

Anker's audio brand Soundcore makes a lot of great-value headphones, and its Space One and Space One Pro models went a little more little more premium — with very strong results. The Space 2 look like they'll take that idea into the stratosphere, though.

Soundcore says the headphones will have the brand's most advanced active noise cancellation yet, and reengineered 30mm silk and ceramic drivers to produce "full, rich bass, clear vocals and crystal-clear highs". LDAC higher-res support will help with that, as will the personalized sound feature, which tests your hearing and adjusts the audio frequencies to boost in areas where your hearing struggles. It sounds like an excellent package, especially with 70 hours of battery life, and a launch price of $130 / £130.

Lenovo ThinkBook Modular PC Concept

This might be the "future of laptops", as we said when Lenovo showed it to us along with some other interesting concepts. It's modular in the sense of having an easily changed configuration on the outside. It looks like a normal laptop, though it has a screen on the back of the lid as well as in the normal place you'd expect to find a screen.

This screen can be popped off, and used as a separate external display. Or you can remove the keyboard, and replace it with this second screen, for a dual-display laptop/tablet hybrid. Finally, the range of ports under the keyboard can be swapped out, so you can customize them for what you need most. We love this idea, and while it might remain largely niche even if it comes to a real product, we're thrilled with the possibilities.

Biwin Mini SSD CL100

For creative pros or anyone with a need to carry a huge amount of data around, Biwin's latest Mini SSD looks like a revelation. The small cards (around the size of a coin) contain up to 2TB of flash storage, but these aren't like SD cards — their data transfer speed is at PCIe 4 pro SSD levels.

Using the Biwin Mini SSD Reader RD510, you can transfer data from the CL100 drives at up to 3.7GB/s read speeds, and up to 3.4GB/s write speeds. They're a mind-blowing bit of design, taking elite storage performance and putting it in a package that would enable you to take hundreds of terabytes with you in the same size and weight as a single regular external SSD.

TP-Link Aginet HB810

This is designed to be the ultimate ultra-fast home mesh Wi-Fi system, and it's on this list because it really seems to achieve that goal. Offering tri-band Wi-Fi 7 across its mesh devices, TP-Link says you'll get 19–22Gbps of wireless speed, and if you want to wire in there's a 10 GbE/SFP+ combo WAN/LAN port, plus 10GbE and 2.5GbE ports.

Part of the key promise here is to be able to maintain the fast speeds even when things get busy or complicated. There's support for 12 spatial streams at once, 320MHz channels, and tech such as Multi-Link Operation to ensure the network is rock steady when loads of people are using it across multiple nodes. Throw in the security and parental control options that you'd expect from an elite Wi-Fi system, and you've got a great-looking home network upgrade.

uCloudlink OmniFlex Pro

This is a pro-level Wi-Fi router that's designed for when you need to set up a network in a new place quickly, and it can pull its internet connection over broadband or over a mobile connection. Nothing new there, but what made this stand out is its commitment to fast performance, combined with the fact that you don't need to have a SIM card for the mobile internet.

It's eSIM only, which means that's one less thing you need to worry about before deploying — whether you're using the mobile connection as a backup only (it will auto-switch to cellular internet if the main connection fails), or using it in a new country, either way you don't need to have planned your SIM use in advance.

Just take out a new digital connection when you need it, or manage your provider so much more easily. And with a 5G connection and Wi-Fi 7 for connection to devices, it'll work as quickly as anything in the category can, plus it has mesh options for expanding the network. Comprehensive!

TP-Link Tapo C665G KIT

This comprehensive outdoor security camera is designed to be something you just never have to worry about — unless it sees something you need to worry about. It's built to be super-tough, standing up to any weather conditions, dust blasts or temperature changes. It's battery powered for total flexibility on placement, and uses its own solar panels to charge the battery during the day, so it can run at night.

Crucially, a very sharp 4K sensor with enhanced night vision combines with AI-based recognition of events, so that it not only can see everything it needs to, but it can also differentiate between movement that's just things blowing in the wind, and disruptions that are really worth warning you about. TP-Link emphasizes that the goal is to make sure it can cover a really broad area efficiently and smartly, making it a great investment — especially since it even has 4G support so it doesn't need to be near your router.

TechRadar is on the show floor for this year’s MWC (Mobile World Congress) in Barcelona, Spain, and we’ll be covering the latest news from some of the biggest names in mobile, computing, fitness and more.

We're almost certainly only a few weeks away from the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S26 family, with the next Galaxy Unpacked likely to be held on February 25.

Yet despite this set to be one of the larger phone launches of the year, given Samsung's position in the phone market and as a maker of the best phones, the hype doesn't seem to be there this year.

When I recently asked readers if they’re excited for the Samsung Galaxy S26, a hefty 70% of respondents said they weren't hyped for the much-rumored new phones, with comments noting there's not much to get excited about given the iterative nature of phones and the lack of tipped upgrades for next-generation Galaxy models.

With that in mind, I'm here to ask: what do you want to see from the Galaxy S26 launch and the phones themselves to make you excited again?

Do you want big camera upgrades? This could be hard, given that the Galaxy S25 Ultra is one of the best camera phones around.

A new chipset is almost guaranteed for the Galaxy S26 range, but that might not be enough to move the excitement needle. So what type of performance would you like to see?

In a recent poll, battery life topped the list as the most desired phone feature for TechRadar readers. So would you like to see the Galaxy S26 come out with new battery tech or accessories to boost battery life beyond a day of heavy use?

Maybe you want to see really powerful AI features that go beyond simple translation and image manipulation...

There's a lot of possibility when one unshackles the mind from the rumor mill. Now, a lot of the above could be wishful thinking, and we may just have to accept an iterative generation of Samsung phones.

But head to the comments section below and do let me know what you'd like to see from the Galaxy S26 to get your hype gland pumping once again.

CES 2026 is well underway now, and the TechRadar team has been on the show floor – and in the many private briefing rooms dotted all over Las Vegas – to see what the most important, most innovative, and most fun gadgets coming your way in 2026 will be.

We've had our experts all over the big launches as well as the smaller stuff tucked away at the back of the halls, and we've chosen our 25 favorite products of the show. We're covering a wide gamut of consumer tech here, so make yourself a coffee and dig into what we loved, and why it stood out to us.

Want to watch along and see more of the tech we loved at CES? Check out the video below!

Best phone

Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold

• A phone that really turns into a tablet
• Impressive camera system, too
• Read more: I finally tried the Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold and couldn't believe my eyes

We finally got to try Samsung's first double-folding phone (it may be called the TriFold, but there are two hinges…), and we called it a "remarkable feat of engineering that offers the potential of truly pocketable big-screen tablet productivity". When folded, it isn’t meaningfully thicker than regular phones, and it has a 6.5-inch screen… but then it becomes 10-inch tablet – so truly tablet-sized – in an instant when you fold its two sides out.

It's not just a one-trick pony, though – the TriFold has five cameras in total, to make sure it can deliver all the flexibility you want from a modern phone. There's Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy customized powerful processor, and a generous 5,600mAh battery. It's the clear stand-out among CES's phones this year.

Best earbuds

Shokz OpenFit Pro

• Shokz' first open earbuds with active 'noise reduction'
• Great fit and sound quality
• Read more: I’ve worn the all-new Shokz open earbuds for 4 days and the ‘noise reduction’ is so good, I forget they’re open-ear

The best open earbuds have become incredibly popular, but Shokz has making them for longer than most, and the new OpenFit Pro proves that it's good to be the veteran. Crucially, these are the company's first with active noise cancellation – even though Shokz doesn't want to call it that, because not having an in-ear seal means it's not quite as effective as what people think of for ANC. No, this is 'noise reduction'.

Well, we've tested them, and actually the noise reduction is as good as a lot of ANC earbuds. It's really effective, and paired with impressive sound and high levels of comfort, these are really impressive.

Best stereo speakers

Cambridge L/R Series

• 3 sizes of wireless stereo bookshelf speakers with huge power
• Dedicated bass drivers with passive radiators
• Read more: Cambridge has unveiled three active bookshelf speakers at CES and it’s not hard to see the KEF resemblance

British hi-fi company Cambridge launched its first wireless stereo speakers, and despite being modest in size, they are huge in sound. There are three sizes – the L/R X is the biggest, the L/R M is the medium, and the L/R S is the small – and it's amazing how much oomph they provide.

We heard the L/R X going hard, and the bass is enough to shake the room, despite not being that big. A big down-firing woofer and dual passive bass radiators get it to this point, delivering an amazingly full sound, with tons of detail and finesse to it as well. And they're great-looking, too.

Best Bluetooth speaker

Fender Audio Elie 6

• 3-way speaker system in a small body produces great sound
• Connections for guitars and mics, and great wireless options
• Read more: Fender just released new wireless headphones and Bluetooth speakers

Fender Audio launched two speakers and a pair of headphones at CES, and all are interesting in various ways, but during our ears-on time it was the Elie 6 that really impressed us. It's a pretty small unit, but it packs in a tweeter, full-range speaker and down-firing bass driver, meaning the sound is amazingly full and impactful – especially in stereo mode, with two units connected wirelessly.

They have interesting features, too – a combined XLR and 1/4-inch port for connecting a mic or guitar directly, and even two wireless buttons for a specific connectivity feature Fender is planning to work with wireless mics. We like the design too, with a solid carry handle.

Best headphones

TDM Neo

• Headphones that 'twist' to become a portable speaker
• 200-hour battery life in headphones mode

We love seeing something totally new at CES. The TDM Neo work like a regular pair of on-ear wireless headphones. You put them on, you enjoy some nice bassy music. But when you take them off, you can twist the flexible headband and connect the earcups together magnetically, to form a small round device. As soon as you do this, they start playing music out loud, as a Bluetooth speaker.

They have two sets of audio drivers to make this happen: one for headphones mode, and a more powerful set for speaker mode. And they're really thoughtfully designed – the headband hinges attach to each other when you twist, so you know you've done it correctly, but then they become a flat surface you can stand the speaker on.

If you prefer, you can also change the behavior so that when you twist, they pause instead of auto-switching to speaker mode. And because the speaker mode requires more power, they have huge batteries, and can deliver a colossal 200 hours of life in headphones mode.

Best toy

Lego Smart Play

• A classic Lego brick, now with sound and light magic
• All the tech is under the hood – no screens required

At first glance, Lego’s Smart Brick looks like a regular 2x4 Lego brick. Aside from a transparent top, you’d never know it’s any different. But bring a Smart Minifigure close, and that's where the magic starts to happen. If Darth Vader approaches, the Imperial March starts up. Move R2-D2 nearby and you’re greeted with frantic boops and flashes of blue light. Same goes for a Smart Tag to identify what the Lego build is – say, an X-Wing or Tie Fighter.

All of this is powered by a custom chip hidden inside the brick, along with sensors, a gyroscope, non-invasive microphones, and a sound synthesizer. Together, they let the Smart Brick understand what’s around it and respond with the right sounds and lighting effects, without adding a screen or changing the core Lego experience. For now, it’s limited to a handful of Star Wars sets, but it’s a smart, confident foundation – one that enhances play rather than distracting from it.

Best OLED TV

LG W6 Wallpaper TV

• LG's best OLED panel, in a super-thin 9.9mm body
• Uses a wireless connections box to keep it aesthetically pure
• Read more: LG announces new OLED TVs at CES

The LG W6 is a stunner in more ways than one. It uses LG's most advanced OLED panel – the new Primary RGB Tandem 2.0 also used in the LG G6 – but in a design that's just 9.9mm thick. It's also totally uniform, meaning it can be as invisible on the wall as pretty much any TV can be these days. In the image above, you can see how well it blends in using a photo of the wall behind it. To help this minimalism, it uses a wireless connections box that's capable of full-quality 4K HDR pictures, but without the tangle of cables running to the TV.

It looks like it'll be a fantastic TV, thanks to the panel and LG's latest-gen image processing, and should only cost a little more than the G6 does. That means you'll be getting something super-impressive and premium at a still-realistic price.

Best RGB TV

Samsung R95H

• Stunningly rich color and fantastic contrast
• Available in realistic sizes, and shown in an amazing 130-inch model
• Read more: Samsung's enormous micro-RGB TV is coming to smaller screen sizes, and it borrows one great feature from Samsung OLED TVs

CES has been dominated by RGB TVs this year. These are basically mini-LED TVs with a new more colorful backlight behind the pixels, meaning they offer a greater range of colors, and can be even brighter. Having seen them in action, our pick of the bunch is the Samsung R95H. It looks so lush and colorful, with impressively inky black tones, and Samsung's anti-reflective screen ensuring you can see everything, without distractions.

More than that, this is a TV available in realistic sizes – Samsung showed off 75-inch and 85-inch versions, but overall its RGB TVs will come in sizes starting from 55 inches – while still feeling cutting edge. However, for good measure, Samsung also showed an amazing 130-inch version of this TV.

Best Mini-LED TV

TCL X11L SQD MiniLED

• A twist on traditional QLED mini-LED TV tech
• Astoundingly bright, with 20,000 dimming zones
• Read more: TCL launches next-gen SQD mini-LED TV at CES – the ‘best TV in the market’ for 2026

TCL has put a fascinating twist on its flagship TV here. It uses more traditional mini-LED tech rather than RGB mini-LED – but only sort of. TCL is employing a single-color mini-LED backlight, but has applied a layer of 'Super Quantum Dots' (the SQD part) directly over the top, which filter the color before – rather than after – it reaches the LCD layer.

This means it kind of works like an RGB TV, but TCL says this approach means it can pack in way more LEDs. It can produce 10,000 nits of brightness and 20,000 dimming zones for probably the best contrast we've ever seen from a mini-LED TV. Based on early impressions, this is the closest we've seen to mini-LED beating the blooming problem completely.

Best projector

Hisense PX4-Pro

• Ultra short throw laser 4K projector with amazing brightness and color
• Up to 200 inches projected with the device just inches from the wall
• Read more: Hisense unveils two 4K laser projectors — a 300-inch beast with huge brightness, plus the sequel to the best ultra short throw projector

The PX4-Pro is the follow-up to the projector we rate as the best ultra short throw projector overall right now, so we were excited to take a look, and it lived up to our expectations. Its picture looks beautifully bright with a good light-rejecting screen – closer than ever to TV brightness – and eye-grabbingly rich color.

But it can now project up to 200 inches in size still from right near the wall, while maintaining immersive brightness and color depth, and all still in the same size of projector package. CES is full of projectors this year, but this one popped for us.

Best soundbar

LG Sound Suite H7

• The world's first Dolby Atmos FlexConnect soundbar
• A powerful all-in-one, and you can add more speakers in any position
• Read more: LG’s 2026 TVs and soundbars get the Dolby Atmos FlexConnect treatment

Dolby Atmos FlexConnect is a really interesting technology that means you can place home theater speakers wherever is convenient for your room, and the system will configure their sound to create immersive spatial audio, even if they're not in the 'ideal' spot.

LG's Sound Suite H7 is the first soundbar to include the tech, delivering 9.1.6 channels of Dolby Atmos sound on its own. However, you can add a sub and satellite speakers that are positioned anywhere in the room, and the soundbar will automatically optimize them and create the ideal immersive system. It sounds amazing, and the freedom of placement is a game-changer.

Best smartwatch

Pebble Round 2

• The original smartwatch returns!
• E-paper screen means a week of battery life
• Read more: Pebble unveils Pebble Round 2 — and fixes all the original's major pitfalls

Pebble holds a strong place in the heart of tech lovers – it was the first smartwatch that really took, and now it's back with its coolest model yet. Pebble Round 2 is a sleeker, rounder watch, and using a color e-paper helps it deliver a week of battery life per charge.

Naturally, it does some fitness and sleep tracking, and there's a big range of apps and watch faces, thanks to the ongoing commitment to having open source software on the Pebble range.

Best fitness tracker

Noise Luna Band

• A screenless health-tracking band
• No subscription needed – a rarity these days

We've enjoyed the Luna Ring models, and now the brand has the Luna Band. It's a Whoop-like fitness tracker, meaning there's no distracting screen. It doesn't really feel like tech, and that's a good thing – you just live your life, and the Luna Band will offer helpful updates on your diet, workouts, sleep, mood and more. You can use your voice to tell it what meal you ate, to log your workouts, or how you're feeling – and then you can review them later on the app. The one downside is that this function uses Apple's Siri, which means it's iPhone-only for now.

Perhaps the best part is that it doesn't require a subscription on top of the device cost to do all this – people are tired of being nickel-and-dimed, and so the Luna Band looks like it'll help you stay zen in more ways than one.

Best exercise tech

Merach W60 Walking Pad

• "Treadmill-grade engineering" for a low price
• Auto-incline or manual incline options

Walking pads are getting more and more popular, especially for people who work from home and want to get some exercise in during the work day. Merach's new model promises to help you do this more easily and reliably than ever. We love the promise of "treadmill-grade engineering" for a super-sturdy feel, and Merach says it will have a 2,000km warranty.

It's available in two options: one with an auto-incline feature, and one where you'll have to manually set an incline. There's also RGB lighting and Bluetooth speakers built in, if you want to set a mood. Starting from just $299 for the manual version and $329 for the auto-incline version, this really looks like it could be the new standout walking pad on the market.

Best wellness innovation

Nuralogix Longevity Mirror

• A smart mirror that can detect blood flow in your face to give health insights
• Everything from physiological age to mental health

This smart mirror has cameras built in that combine with an AI algorithm to work out a surprising amount of health data just from your face. It's not looking at your features – it's detecting blood-flow patterns, which it can make a variety of sophisticated estimations from.

These include your heart-rate, your physiological age (as in, is your body working as well as it should for your 'real' age?) and your mental health. It appears to be pretty accurate based on early testing – it seems like an incredibly clever system.

Best laptop

Dell XPS 14

• Smart new design with usability improvements
• Intel's new Core Ultra 3 chips inside
• Read more: Hands on: Dell XPS 14 2026 and XPS 16 2026

Without question, the most exciting laptop of CES 2026 was the Dell XPS 14. While many a reviewer and tech journalist is praising the return of the XPS brand itself, what matters most – in our opinion – is the redesign of the laptop. The last Dell XPS 14 and 2025's Dell 14 Premium (the short-lived successor to the XPS 14) were both fantastic laptops that were hamstrung by some major design flaws; namely, the virtual function keys and ‘invisible’ trackpad that turned out to be an accessibility nightmare.

Those have now been fixed with a new design that is also thinner and more modern-looking than its predecessors. And with the new Intel Core Ultra series 3 chips, it’s even more powerful and better equipped to take on the Apple MacBook Air for the 'thin and light' laptop crown.

Best gaming laptop

Lenovo Legion Pro Rollable

• A 16-inch display that expands to a 24-inch display
• The flexible OLED screen literally rolls out like a scroll
• Read more: Lenovo officially unveils the rumored Legion Pro Rollable gaming laptop with expanding screen

The Lenovo Legion Pro Rollable, previously rumored but officially unveiled at CES 2026, is easily one of the most intriguing gaming laptops we’ve ever seen. Its screen expands horizontally from a 16-inch display to 21.5 inches, then once more to a 23.8-inch panel at max extension – all from a quick keyboard shortcut.

The Legion Pro Rollable is an exciting prospect for PC gamers who travel often and want desk-like levels of screen space without attempting to cram a massive laptop into their bag. Gaming aside, it also brings benefits to everyday browsing and productivity, giving you more space to organize windows at the click of a button. It’s only a proof of concept at the moment, but we'll be following it closely to see if the Legion Pro Rollable hits mainstream production.

Best computing innovation

Core Ultra series 3

• Excellent performance in thin-and-light laptops
• Particularly impressive GPU means great gaming on ultrabooks
• Read more: The Intel Core Ultra series 3 processors look impressive enough, but the Arc B390 iGPU is the real game-changer here

We’ve been waiting for the Intel Core Ultra series 3 for several months now, having seen pre-launch builds of Intel Panther Lake last year. Now the Core Ultra series 3 has launched, every laptop we’ve tried with the new chips just reinforces how well Intel has stuck the landing on this release.

This is especially true when it comes to the graphics performance of the higher-end 12 Xe core Arc B390 iGPU, which delivers high-quality 1080p PC gaming on an ultrabook – no other chipmaker even comes close in 2026. If you’re looking to upgrade to a premium thin and light Windows laptop, there’s little reason to buy anything other than a laptop with an Intel Core Ultra series 3.

Best action camera

Dreame Leaptic Cube

• Tiny modular 8K action camera
• Clip to a screen module, or just a battery

Dreame is best known for its vacuum and cleaning tech, but it used CES 2026 to announce its entry into a ton of other product categories. And one of the coolest things we saw at the show was this tiny action camera. The core here is a really small action cam with up to 8K recording, or 4K in HDR if you prefer.

But the clever part is its modular design. It has a little docking system, and Dreame showed it running into two modes: one with a clip-on battery, keeping the whole thing at a small size; and one with a touchscreen module that's larger. You can imagine all the possibilities for accessories from here, all enabling smart extra functions, not just attaching dumbly.

Best gaming accessory

Razer Project Madison

• The ultimate immersive gaming chair
• Surround speakers, haptic feedback and RGB lights all react to games

Razer has decided to throw every kind of immersive gaming chair tech into one product here. This chair uses sight, sound and touch to create something totally enveloping, taking features from Razer's products including the Freyja haptic gaming cushion and Clio headrest speakers.

This chair has speakers behind your head, which combine with front speakers to create a true 5.1 or 7.1 surround system. It has lights that react to compatible games, creating the feeling that events are happening around you, not just on the screen. And the built-in haptics deliver sensations and impacts during play. It looks like the best way to get truly lost in a game.

Best gaming innovation

Neurable / HyperX headset concept and priming software

• A brain-reading gaming headset to improve your performance
• Helps you lower reaction times and improve accuracy
• Read more: I tried a prototype brain-scanning headset designed to make you better at Valorant — and it actually works

Brain-scanning company Neurable has worked on headphones that can scan your brain activity using EEGs to help you focus and prevent burnout in the past. Now it's bringing these ideas to gaming headsets, in a collaboration with HyperX – but the focus is on improving your focus and performance in games.

We tried it out, and it really makes a difference. Using a 'priming' exercise before playing, where you have to focus your mind to shrink a cloud of dots down to nothing, we improved accuracy by a few percentage points, and the company's research has shown it can reduce reaction time by around 40 milliseconds. For esports players, this is a big deal, and the software can track your focus and cognitive load levels while playing, to potentially help with coaching and to prevent tilting.

Best robot mower

Mammotion LUBA 3 AWD

• Offers ±1 cm positioning precision via an upgraded LiDAR, RTK and Vision navigation system
• Can make decisions almost instantly with a 10 TOPS AI chip
• Read more: I just watched Mammotion's new flagship lawnbot scale an astroturf mountain, and it was mesmerizing

There were a lot of incredible robot lawn mowers on show at CES this year, but the one that really stood out to us was the Mammotion LUBA 3 AWD. It builds on the success of the excellent LUBA 2 AWD that precedes it, and is one of the most all-round capable lawnbots we've seen.

At the heart of the design is an upgraded 'Tri-Fusion' navigation system, where the bot will switch between LiDAR, RTK GPS and AI Vision depending on what's most appropriate for the situation. That means it's unlikely ever to get itself lost – the brand promises positioning accuracy to ±1 cm. Mammotion has also upgraded the processing system with a powerful AI chip that can handle 10 trillion operations per second, meaning it can make smart mowing decisions almost instantly.

Best robot vacuum

Roborock Saros Rover

• It's a robovac with actual, proper legs
• It can climb stairs, duck and dive, and even hop
• Read more: I saw Roborock's new robot vacuum with legs, and it promises to make no-go zones a thing of the past

This one is still in the middle of development, but is so cool already – and, admittedly, a little weird. This robot vacuum uses two extended legs that make it look like a Star Wars droid to get around your house more easily. Having articulated legs means it can climb stairs – including spiral staircases – cleaning them as it goes.

In fact, stairs are just the start. Roborock says the Rover is designed to be able to tackle any kind of terrain or home layout, no matter how awkward. Think of it like a 4x4 for cleaning.

It has some fancy object avoidance tech that means it can duck and dive, weave and jump, remaining completely stable throughout. We're not sure exactly what this is for, but it sure is impressive to watch. This maybe the most that a robovac has looked like a pet – it's got personality, it's useful, and we love it.

Best haircare tech

L'Oréal Light Straight +

• A straightener that uses infrared light tech to straighten effectively at lower temperatures
• Avoids the high temperatures that damage hair
• Read more: L'Oréal exec on why its new glass, infrared-powered hair straightener is so exciting

This innovative hair straightener promises to be three times faster at straightening hair, and yet will leave hair twice as smooth as regular plate straighteners do. And at the same time, it can do this at a lower temperature – always under 320°F / 160°C, compared to 365°F / 185°C for typical models. High temperatures break down hair, so reduction is a long-term good for your hair's health.

We got to try them out on – and this has been the first time we've ever used this phrase – human demo hair, and they certainly seemed to work incredibly well. This could be a huge change for a long-running industry, and that's what CES is all about.

Best smart light

IKEA Varmblixt LED Lamp

• It's a glowing, color-changing donut
• Works with IKEA's smart hub, or a Matter home system
• Read more: IKEA just revealed a new donut-shaped smart light – and it'll look sweet on your tables or walls

Sometimes, you've just got acknowledge when something is charming as hell, and that's what we're talking about with the new IKEA Varmblixt. It's a revamp of an ultra-popular lamp IKEA launched in 2022, but this new version is all about the color options, using an array of LEDs to create a beautiful soft toroidal glow.

It can be controlled with a remote, or you can connect it to IKEA's Dirigea home hub, but it also works with any Matter-ready smart home control option.

We're approaching the time of the year where Samsung traditionally holds a Galaxy Unpacked event to reveal a new generation of Galaxy S-series flagship phones. And going by the naming convention for generations, we'd expect this upcoming line to have the S26 moniker.

However, if you’re expecting big changes over the Galaxy S26 family over the current-gen Samsung Galaxy S25 phones, don’t hold your breath – because the updates look like being incremental rather than revolutionary.

Still, there’s stuff to chew over, so I’ve gathered below what I feel are the most important rumors and information so far about the Samsung Galaxy S26.

1. Same design – but that's not a problem

Most of the rumors and tips so far have pointed towards the Samsung Galaxy S26 series having pretty much exactly the same design as the Galaxy S25 family.

Some minor changes have been suggested, though. For instance, there’s been a hint or two about the phones having more of a camera module, rather than raised lenses on the rear but we’ve seen that before with previous S-series phones; I’d quite like to see a return of the Contour Cut camera module that first arrived in the Galaxy S21 as that was an interesting bit of design.

Keeping the design the same is no bad thing, however. Flagship phones have become rather iterative, which is boring for tech journalists but handy for consumers and brand building as it makes models easily recognizable and sets a standard for what people can expect, especially those on upgrade cycles.

I also think the Galaxy S25 series is one of the most attractively designed smartphones around, with even the large Galaxy S25 Ultra feeling slick and refined, to the point where I think Samsung has nailed the large-phone format better than anyone else.

That said, I’d like some fresher and more dynamic colours for the Galaxy S26 Ultra, as the S25 Ultra’s options were a little underwhelming; I would love to see a British racing green option, for instance.

2. New chips – of course

As sure as night follows day, the Galaxy S26 series will come with a new chipset. Or even two of them.

Last year, the Galaxy S25 phones all used the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 4 for Galaxy chipset, whereas the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ the year before that had Qualcomm chips for the US and China modes, and Exynos chips for the rest of the world.

That split could be back for the S26, only with South Korean models getting the Exynos 2600 chip and other models getting a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, likely customized for Samsung.

Given the performance Apple has been sucking out of its Pro A-series chips, you can place a safe bet that the Snapdragon chip at least will come out swinging, with decent boosts in power and graphics performance over its predecessor. How much this could make a difference in real-world use isn't so clear, but as more AI features come to fruition, on-device performance could be the key to getting smart agents to provide snappy answers.

These chips could also support improved modems and facilitate better satellite connectivity, and I imagine some effort to improve efficiency and thus battery life will have been made by Qualcomm and Samsung.

3. Don’t expect camera hardware upgrades

There were murmurs last year about new camera sensors for the Galaxy S26 range, but the jury is still out on whether that will happen. If it does, then the sensors may be new but there’s no real chatter on them getting a big boost in megapixels.

Some early rumors have suggested the Galaxy S26 and S26+ could get a 50MP ultra-wide camera, but we've not heard much about that lately.

This is no bad thing, as the Galaxy S25 series all have strong cameras, and are worthy contenders for high spots on our best camera phones list. And I think rather than dramatically upgrade the camera hardware, Samsung will likely work more to refine its computational photography and AI-powered photo features with the Galaxy S26 models, as well as polish video capture.

4. Potential bigger batteries

A suite of rumors have hinted at bigger batteries for all the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Ultra, with boosts of 300mAh for the former and 200mAh for the latter. Not exactly big changes, but combined with potential efficiencies brought in with a new chip, those boosts could yield phones that last longer than their predecessors. But it’s looking like the Galaxy S26+ may lose out in the battery upgrade department.

Don’t expect any big boosts in charging either, as there’s no solid hint on improved charging wattage. But that’s not a huge potential disappointment, as the past few generations of Galaxy phones have all charged reasonably quickly without seemingly compromising on battery pack longevity.

5. February launch likely

The past two generations of Galaxy S-series phones launched in January, but all the credible rumors so far point towards a late February launch for the Galaxy S26 series. February 25 has been flagged as the likely day of a Galaxy Unpacked event where we can expect the new phones to make their debut.

Samsung has launched Galaxy phones in February in the past, so this isn’t a huge surprise, but it’s some four to six weeks later than usual. I hope that means we get super-refined flagship phones.

Safely, a price hike is also on the cards, but only between $30 / £22 / AU$45 and $50 / £37 / AU$75, compared to the previous generation. Given the price rises a lot of products are subject to right now, this seems palatable, though hardly ideal.

• Samsung has shown off a crease-free foldable display
• This screen will likely be used by the rumored iPhone Fold
• It might also be used by a Samsung foldable

We’ve been hearing for a while now that Apple intends for its first foldable phone to have a creaseless display, and that this desire might at least be in part why we’re yet to see it, as the tech wasn’t ready yet. But now it seems the tech is ready, as Samsung has shown off just such a screen at CES 2026.

Images of the display have been shared by the likes of SamMobile and @UniverseIce, with Samsung displaying it alongside the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7’s panel, so you can clearly see the difference.

With the Galaxy Z Fold 7, there’s a small but very obvious crease in the display, whereas this new panel appears to have no visible crease at all.

Apple could use it first

That’s actually more relevant for the iPhone Fold than any Samsung phone, as @UniverseIce claims that Apple will incorporate this display technology, so the foldable iPhone might be the first phone to offer this creaseless display.

Of course, Samsung is also expected to launch foldable phones this year, but @UniverseIce – who has a strong track record for tech tips – makes no mention of it appearing on the flagship Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8. However, they do say that there’s a chance it will be used by the Samsung Galaxy Wide Fold – a rumored foldable phone that could have a more tablet-like aspect ratio – if Samsung’s mobile business is prepared to pay for it.

But that also suggests any Samsung phones that do have this display could cost even more than the company’s current foldables.

In any case, the iPhone Fold is somewhat likely to land this September, alongside the iPhone 18 line, while the Samsung Galaxy Wide Fold could launch in July, so there’s likely a good few months before we’ll see any phones equipped with this display panel.

To predict what Android phones will look like in 2026, I don’t look at last year’s phones – I look at the best phones of 2024. Phones generally have an 18-month development cycle, so this year’s new phones will be informed by the best phone from the latter half of 2024 – the iPhone 16 Pro. That iPhone brought us major innovation from Apple, and this is the year I’m hoping to see Android finally steal a huge feature that Apple screwed up.

The iPhone doesn’t change often, so adding or taking away a button is major. Big iPhone redesigns are usually five years apart, at least. The iPhone 4 refined the design. The iPhone X (10) finally did away with the Home button. Then, the iPhone 15 Pro changed the mute switch to an Action Button.

None of those changes got me as excited as the rumors in 2024. The iPhone 16 Pro introduced the Camera Control. I’d been hoping for a proper camera button on a phone for years, even decades – a proper shutter button would be just the thing to improve phone photography.

Unfortunately, what Apple gave us in 2024 did not live up to my expectations. The Camera Control is a flop. I never use it – at least not on purpose. I press it by accident every day. If it worked the way I’d hoped, I’d use it often, but Apple failed to deliver a proper shutter button.

Here's how the Camera Control button would work if Apple did it right

When you use a real camera, here’s how the shutter button works: first you hold that button down halfway, until you feel a bit of resistance. Pressing the button halfway tells your camera to focus. Then you squeeze the rest of the way to take the photo.

That’s how Apple’s Camera Control button should work. It doesn’t, so you don’t get the biggest benefit of a shutter button: stability.

Hands move and shake. Cameras take photos at speeds that are a tiny fraction of a second – 1/30th of a second is a relatively slow camera shutter speed, so a little movement isn’t noticeable. And pressing the on-screen shutter button moves your phone more than a little.

Instead of a shutter button, we get... zoom controls? On an iPhone?!

Back to the iPhone 16 Pro. Rumors spoke of the Camera Control button months in advance, and I hoped it would be a proper shutter button – squeeze to focus, then press a bit more to take the photo. It was not even close to that. At launch, focus wasn’t even one of the Camera Control’s features; it was added later. By then, I’d already given up on Apple’s failed button.

What does Camera Control do instead? Nothing I care about. You can use it to zoom in and out, or adjust exposure settings, or switch between camera lenses. It can tweak the style in weird, Apple-specific ways that are hard to explain. All of those tools are pablum compared to having a real shutter button that helps steady my focus.

I have high hopes that Android phone makers will get this right. Google surprised us this year by adding MagSafe-compatible magnets to its Google Pixel 10. I’d love to see them take further inspiration from Apple and steal the camera button, but do it right. I could also imagine OnePlus making a shutter button a key feature for an upcoming OnePlus 16, though we won’t see that phone until the end of 2026.

Samsung should bring back its storied phone and camera combo devices

I’m even more hopeful that Samsung will get on the camera button train, because Samsung knows how a phone and camera can work together. When Samsung had its own camera division making standalone cameras (it still makes sensors and other camera parts), it made a combo device that slapped a real camera, with great zoom range, onto the back of a Galaxy S phone.

The first of these was the Samsung Galaxy Camera. It was big and clunky, but it was an incredibly innovative way to share digital photos in the early days of social networks. The follow-up was the Galaxy S4 Zoom. It was overpriced, but still a cool concept. It gave Galaxy owners a real zoom camera, with a big extending lens, to carry in our pockets.

Samsung knows how to combine a camera and a phone and do it right – better than Apple. I’d love to see a Galaxy S26 Ultra with a real shutter button – one that I can press halfway to focus and then squeeze to take my photo. I’d be even more excited to see a Galaxy S26 Zoom that brings back the combo concept, using today’s higher-quality Samsung Galaxy phones as a foundation.

The OnePlus 15 is a perfect phone, according to my review score, and I couldn’t ask for more. It beats my best expectations across key criteria like display quality, battery life, and overall performance. Of course, some phones are better in one or two specific metrics, but none in every way.

The Galaxy S26 won’t be Samsung’s best phone ever – nobody would buy the Galaxy S26 Ultra if it were. Still, could the Galaxy S26 Ultra be a perfect phone, with a perfect 5/5 score on TechRadar.com? Well, to reach perfection, Samsung shouldn’t just focus on copying what OnePlus does best, because it's already doing those things pretty well.

OnePlus focused on durability and battery life with OnePlus 15

Both the OnePlus 13 and OnePlus 15 proved to be the most durable mainstream (ie, not for construction or military) smartphones you can buy. They can even withstand jets of hot water during a trip through your dishwasher. Samsung’s phones are nearly as durable, but going the extra mile would help close the design score gap.

Samsung phones may not be as durable as the OnePlus 15, but they are among the most durable devices you can buy. The Galaxy S25 Ultra is water-resistant all the way down to the S Pen, which can be submerged in water, and there’s no problem if the S Pen silo gets flooded. The Ultra can’t survive a dishwasher (presumably), but that’s not how I wash my phones.

Battery life will be harder for Samsung because OnePlus is using a new solid-state battery technology that most of the big phone makers have ignored so far. While Samsung’s phones get great battery life, the OnePlus 15 gets hours more screen time in our Future Labs tests.

OnePlus may be the battery life champ, but Samsung is a close second, and the Galaxy S25 Ultra really impressed me with its longevity. The latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite (and the newer Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5) chipsets have proven to be incredibly efficient.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra lasted for more than 18.5 hours in our battery rundown tests. That’s longer than the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max and almost every other Android phone that came before. It isn’t as mindblowing as the OnePlus 15 with its 26.5 hours of screen time, but it’s still a strong second-place finish – enough to last more than a full day of hardcore phone use.

The OnePlus 15 charges much faster than any Samsung phone, too. With 80W wired charging and incredible 50W wireless charging, the OnePlus 15 can be ready for another day of work while the Galaxy S25 is still grasping to last another few hours before bedtime. If Samsung wants to match the OnePlus 15 battery score, it will need to charge faster than any previous Samsung phone.

Samsung should improve the things Samsung has always needed to improve

Where can Samsung improve, if not durability and battery life? First, the Galaxy S25 design is looking a bit dated; the Galaxy S25 Ultra looks more like the last Galaxy Note than any new smartphone. I’d like to see a big design update on every Galaxy S26.

Samsung will need even bigger improvements for its software. Samsung’s current OneUI software story is a wild tale of highs and lows. Its phones are densely packed with too many features.

This means you get amazing tools like Samsung DeX, which effectively makes your phone interface look like a laptop on the go when you add a monitor and keyboard. You get the best multitasking software and tons of useful productivity tools. You can make apps pop-up, snap to the sides, disappear into a bubble, or float on top of everything.

It also means that Samsung phones can be unwieldy – other features can be hidden, buried deep in submenus, or hard to find altogether. Foundational apps come with duplicate Samsung versions for no obvious reason – Samsung phones have two web browsers, two photo gallery apps, and two app stores, fer cryin’ out loud! That’s too many twos.

Samsung needs to sacrifice some of that ambition in favor of usability. By focusing on hardware design for the next few generations and declaring a moratorium on software bloat, features could be cut by half, and Samsung would still make the most feature-packed phones ever imagined.

Samsung can make a perfect phone, just like OnePlus, but not by doing what OnePlus does best. It already excels at so much; now it needs to pare back and refine its efforts. The perfect phone is already hidden inside the Galaxy S25 Ultra, if Samsung would just take away the fuss and leave the parts I like best.

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 was arguably the best phone of 2025, and it’s truly an engineering marvel. It feels impossibly thin and light, especially when it’s closed, and you know that you’re holding a full-sized mini tablet, even though it feels like a normal big-screen smartphone. The biggest problem - maybe the only big problem - was the price. Thankfully, deals like today’s sale on Samsung.com finally drop the Z Fold to a price that makes perfect sense.

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is on sale right now on Samsung.com with a $400 discount in the US, even if you don’t have a phone to trade. There are huge trade bonuses happening as well, if you have the right phone. In the US, a Galaxy S25 Ultra or Galaxy Z Fold 6 will earn you $1,000 in trade (instead of that $400 discount). In Australia, an iPhone 16 Pro Max will drop the price of a new Fold 7 by AU$1,000.

The perfect price for the Galaxy Z Fold 7 would be the price of a 6.5-inch, flagship smartphone plus the price of an 8-inch tablet. The Galaxy S25 Plus starts at $999 / £999 / AU$1,699, though the Galaxy S25 Edge ($1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,849) is probably a closer comparison, since it’s thinner and it packs the same 200MP camera as the Galaxy Z Fold.

Samsung doesn’t currently make a premium 8-inch tablet, so the Apple iPad mini (2024) is the best 8-inch tablet to consider. The iPad mini costs $499 / £499 / AU$799 for the latest model. Put that price together with a Galaxy S25 Edge, and you’re paying $1,598 / £1,598 / AU$2,648 for both devices.

Why would you want a Galaxy Z Fold 7 instead of just buying a fancy new smartphone and a mini tablet together? That’s a great question! Here are four reasons why I’d prefer a foldable (and one big reason why not):

My Galaxy Z Fold 7 is always connected, unlike my iPad mini

To be fair, you can get an iPad mini for $499 / £499 / AU$799, but you’ll need a Wi-Fi connection to make it surf. You can use your phone as a hotspot, but when your phone is also a tablet - like the Galaxy Z Fold 7 - you don’t need to burn through your data allotment or battery power to connect a second device. Your tablet is your phone, so it’s always connected.

This also means you won’t have to worry about sharing files between devices. If you want to edit a document on a larger display, or even open a web page on your tablet instead of your phone, you don’t have to perform any magic tricks between screens. You just open the small screen, and it becomes a tablet.

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is more durable than any small tablet

You might not think of foldable phones as durable, but the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is one of the most durable mini tablets you can buy. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is water-resistant enough that you can dunk it in a pool or read your email in a bathtub.

There is no iPad you can buy with the same level of durability. Samsung makes water-resistant tablets (that are also more dust-proof), but only the larger Galaxy Tab S11 and Galaxy Tab S10 FE models.

You still have to worry about dust and small particles, so a trip to the sandy beach will require some care. Still, it’s impressive that Samsung’s foldable tablet has better ingress protection than Apple’s most portable iPad.

Samsung’s software is (shockingly) the best for multitasking

Samsung’s software doesn’t get the same accolades as Apple’s iOS 26 and iPadOS 26, but Samsung’s tablet software is the best you’ll find on any tablet - including the iPad. Samsung has done a great job making it easy to open multiple windows, to snap windows where you want them, and to move content between windows and apps.

Multitasking on a Samsung tablet is better than multitasking on any iPad, and it’s even better than multitasking on a Mac desktop with Apple’s macOS 26.

That makes the Galaxy Z Fold 7 a fantastic tablet for productivity and getting things done, much better than an iPad mini. Samsung’s version of Android is packed with useful tools and features, while Apple’s iPadOS tends to get out of the way and let app developers do the heavy lifting in the apps you buy and download.

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 has better cameras than any tablet

Samsung has been using a big 200MP sensor on its best camera phones for a few years, and this year it figured out how to pack that beefy component into its thinnest phones. Both the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and the thin Galaxy S25 Edge got the same camera module as the mighty Galaxy S25 Ultra, instantly vaulting those devices to the front of the class for camera image quality.

That means the Galaxy Z Fold 7 isn’t just the best foldable camera phone you can buy; it also packs a better camera than you’ll find on any tablet, especially an iPad mini. The iPad mini uses a single 12MP rear camera sensor. The photos it captures don’t match what you’ll get from a Z Fold 7.

Best of all, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 uses its cameras in versatile ways. You can take photos with the phone open or closed, using either the smaller or larger display as your viewfinder. You can use the hinge and fold to aim that camera at yourself and see yourself in the outer display, making it a 200MP selfie camera. There’s really no contest; the Galaxy Z Fold 7 blows away the iPad mini in camera capabilities, whether it’s open or closed.

Why would you want two separate devices? Two big (battery) reasons

Having two big batteries in a separate iPad mini and Galaxy smartphone is better than… well, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 technically has two batteries, but they amount to a smaller total capacity than what you’d get in two devices.

It’s not even close. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 has two cells that offer 4,400mAh of total battery power. The iPad mini alone has a battery that is larger than 5,000 mAh. In our battery tests, the iPad mini and the Galaxy Z Fold 7 offered almost the same amount of screen time - just under 11 hours for both. Still, if you carry an iPad plus a phone, you get all that battery life and more.

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 still lasts through a normal day of use, but what’s normal for a phone and tablet combo? If you really need to use both screens all day, and you rely on your devices to get work done, I would recommend buying the two separately to maximize your battery.

Otherwise, it’s easier than ever to make a case for foldable phones. The price has finally dropped to a level that gives you more at once than you’d get buying a phone and a tablet separately.

Black Friday isn’t far off now, and here on the TechRadar Phones desk, we’ve been lining up ideas for which phones might see the best discounts during this year’s sales. I’ve already made my case for why the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is one to watch this year, and now it’s time to talk about the little sibling in Samsung’s foldable lineup, the Galaxy Z Flip 7.

Or, more specifically, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE – the new, cheaper version of Samsung’s flagship flip phone that launched this year alongside the mainline Galaxy Z Flip 7 – and how it might fare during this year’s biggest shopping event.

Despite holding down the title of best flip phone, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip hasn’t really been a reliable bet for Black Friday sales in past years. The best we saw last year was from Samsung itself, which offered a $700 trade-in rebate or a $199 direct discount, both of which were welcome but not quite on the same level as the drastic price cuts given to the Galaxy Z Fold 6 or mainline Galaxy S24 lineup.

However, I’m hopeful that the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE could be a pioneer for Samsung’s seasonal sales – since this is a cheaper flip-folding handset likely built out of parts Samsung already had in-hand, I can see both Samsung and retailers having more of an incentive to cut prices.

In fact, the Galaxy Z Flip FE is already discounted at Amazon at almost as good a price as the mentioned previous discount:

The Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE starts at $899 / £849 / AU$1,499 compared to the standard Z Flip 7 at $1,099 / £1,049 / AU$1,799, which means the former could reach much lower prices after discounts are applied.

That’s compounded by the current deal listed above and the fact we saw the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE discounted to $699 in the US in August 2025, around a month after the handset first launched. It’s clear that there’s some motivation to shift these phones, which customers should be able to cash in on in November.

As well as its namesake hinged design, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE comes with a 6.7-inch folding display, 3.4-inch cover display, and dual-camera system with a 50MP main camera and 12MP ultra-wide camera.

It’s also got the Samsung Exynos 2400 chipset, 8GB of RAM for multitasking and the included Google Gemini and Galaxy AI packages, and a 4000mAh battery. These are decent specs – not flagship-grade, but close. At a discount price, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE is likely to be your best option for an accessible folding phone this Black Friday.

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE hands-on: Price and availability

To understand the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE, you need to know two things. First, it’s a phone for Samsung fans, even if Samsung no longer says FE stands for Fan Edition. Second, it costs only $50 / £50 / AU$100 more than the Apple iPhone 16e, but it gives you so much more that it might be a much better value. There are still questions to be answered (Exynos, really?), but the Galaxy S25 FE makes a lot of sense.

I spent an afternoon with the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE – and the new Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra and Tab S11 tablets – and got a feel for what Samsung is cooking with this new bargain model. Actually, it’s only a bargain if you were wishing for a Galaxy S25. It still costs $649 / £649 / AU$1,099, and Samsung also sells less expensive Galaxy A-series models like the Galaxy A56.

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE hands-on: Galaxy S features

Why pine over a Galaxy S25 when the Galaxy A56 is within reach? First of all, the Galaxy S phones have more advanced software. They will usually get OneUI and Android updates first, and they pack more features, especially Samsung DeX, one of my favorite tricks that Samsung phones can pull.

Enter the Galaxy S25 FE! Like the Galaxy S25, it runs the latest software, and it will even be the debut device for Samsung’s new OneUI 8 version of Android 16. If you’re a Samsung fan, you can check out the latest interface design first on the S25 FE.

Like the Galaxy S24 FE, the S25 FE can also run DeX. That means you can connect the phone to a USB-C hub with a monitor, keyboard and mouse attached and it will turn into a sort of desktop environment, with multiple windows and a real taskbar like you’d expect from a Google Chromebook.

Of course, I didn’t have a monitor and keyboard on hand during my time with the new phones; I mostly got to check out the latest OneUI 8 and the overall design. The Galaxy S25 FE is really more like a Galaxy S25 Plus. The screen is the same size, and this year so is the battery within: a 4,900 mAh cell that should provide excellent longevity. I’ll know more once I’ve reviewed the phone and Future Labs has tested it.

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE hands-on: Design

The Galaxy S25 FE and S25 Plus aren’t exactly the same. The FE is slightly chunkier in every direction, but not so much bigger that it’s cumbersome. It’s only a tenth of a millimeter thicker, according to Samsung. My calipers aren’t so precise.

The colors are… boring. Very, very boring. There is blue, black, blue, and white. Seriously, there are two blue colors: Icyblue and Navy blue. I remember when the FE phones used to be more colorful, but this year’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 FE is glossy black and white, and the flat S25 FE only adds dark and light shades of blue. Sigh.

The Galaxy S25 FE is a nice step down for folks who want to save money on a real Galaxy S device, and it’s also an incredible competitor stacked up against Apple’s latest bargain model, the iPhone 16e. If the iPhone 16e seemed a bit dowdy before, the Galaxy S25 FE puts to rest any question that the iPhone isn’t a serious device.

For just a bit more money, the Galaxy S25 FE gives you a much bigger display – 6.7-inches versus 6.1-inches. The Galaxy display has a higher peak brightness, and it can refresh up to 120Hz. Of course, there’s also a much larger battery inside.

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE hands-on: Cameras and specs

The Galaxy S25 FE gives you three cameras instead of the questionable single-camera setup on the iPhone 16e, and that includes a real telephoto zoom lens with 3X optical zoom. More importantly, the main 50MP camera uses a sensor that is much larger than the paltry sensor on the iPhone 16e’s 48MP camera.

The Galaxy S25 FE charges as fast as the Galaxy S25 Plus – up to 45W wired if you have the right charger. That’s much faster than the iPhone 16e. Usually, an iPhone has an advantage with magnetic wireless charging, but Apple oddly omitted the magnets from the bargain iPhone, so it doesn’t have the MagSafe leg up on Android phones.

The biggest letdown on the Galaxy S25 FE is the processor. It uses a Samsung Exynos 2400 chipset, which isn’t even the latest Exynos processor. I asked Samsung reps why it doesn’t use the Exynos 2500, but they didn’t have a substantive answer.

There’s a big difference between the Exynos 2400 in the Galaxy S25 FE and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset in the Galaxy S25. Even the newer Exynos 2500 doesn’t come close to measuring up. The Snapdragon 8 Elite is more than 50% faster than the Exynos 2400, based on single core test results in Future Labs benchmark testing.

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE: The Exynos question

In battery testing, a phone like the Galaxy S25 Edge with the Snapdragon inside lasted much longer than a phone like the Galaxy Z Flip 7 with an Exynos 2500 inside, even though the S25 Edge has a smaller battery.

The difference between the Apple A18 chipset in the iPhone 16e and the Exynos 2400 in the Galaxy S25 FE is even more stark. In our benchmark tests, the iPhone completely blows away the Exynos in every test – including single- and multi-core processing, graphics, and real-world tasks.

Does that mean the iPhone 16e will be better for gaming and other processor-intensive tasks than the Galaxy S25 FE? Maybe, but I’ll need to spend more time with the phone to compare it against the iPhone’s performance head-to-head. I’m sure Samsung’s phone will be able to run the latest games, but I may need to dial down graphics settings to achieve the highest frame rate and take advantage of the 120Hz display.

I’ll know more soon once I’ve had more time with this phone, but it still feels like Samsung is making the Galaxy S25 FE for its biggest fans. The phone gets the latest OneUI interface and all of Samsung’s best software features. It has a big display and more cameras than the competition. It’s even more colorful – though that’s not a big win when the competition is literally black and white.

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The Samsung Galaxy S25 isn't just one phone; it's a family of four distinct flagships, each vying to be the best Android phone you can buy. With the introduction of the sleek Galaxy S25 Edge, the lineup is more compelling and more confusing than ever.

Which one should you choose? From the surprising Galaxy S25 Plus to the innovative Galaxy S25 Edge and the peerless Galaxy S25 Ultra, I'll break down exactly what makes each device unique, so you can find the perfect Galaxy for you.

Here’s what makes the Galaxy S25 family stand out

Before we dive into what makes each model different, it's important to understand what makes them all part of the best smartphone family on the market. Samsung has packed every S25 with features that set them apart from the competition.

• Unmatched performance: Samsung and Qualcomm created an overclocked version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy. The results are staggering. The base model S25 beats even the iPhone 16 Pro Max in benchmarks, including GeekBench 6.3 multi-core tests and 3DMark Wild Life Unlimited graphics tests.
• Best-in-class displays: Each S25 features a dazzling LTPO AMOLED display with a variable 1-120Hz refresh rate. This allows for a full-color always-on screen that sips power at 1Hz. The screens can all dim at 480Hz PWM, reducing eye strain.
• Premium durability: All four models are rated IP68 for dust and water resistance, so you can get them dirty and wash them in the sink. They all use tough Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the back and durable Gorilla Glass on the front.
• Powerful software: Samsung’s OneUI 7, built on Android 15, is more than just a "skin." It’s a deep, feature-rich interface with countless tools and shortcuts accessible from floating windows, side panels, and – on the Ultra – the S Pen.
• A desktop in your pocket: All models feature Samsung DeX, which transforms your phone into a full-blown desktop when connected to a monitor, mouse, and keyboard. It's a powerful way to stay productive on the go.

Galaxy S25: the lightest powerhouse

• $799 / £699 / $1,349 for 128GB (256GB in Australia) and 12GB of RAM
• Smallest and lightest Galaxy S25 family phone
• Real 3X zoom, unlike iPhone 16 or Pixel 9 rivals

Don’t dismiss the Galaxy S25 as "basic." Starting at $799 / £699 / $1,349, this phone is a powerhouse that challenges competitors at the same price. It's one of my favorite small phones, framed in Armor Aluminum 2, and is the lightest of the family at only 162 grams.

The Galaxy S25 stands out with more camera options than its rivals. While the base iPhone 16 and Pixel 9 have no zoom lens, the Galaxy S25 includes a true 3x optical zoom camera alongside its wide and ultrawide lenses. It even has a larger ultrawide sensor than the iPhone 16. For videographers, it records in stunning 8K resolution at up to 30fps, a feat the iPhone 16 and Pixel 9 can't match.

Best of all, the Galaxy S25 comes in some of Samsung’s best colors, with seven options including online exclusives: Navy, Silver Shadow, Icyblue, Mint, Pinkgold, Blueblack, and Coralred. The only minor drawback is that the base model still starts with 128GB of storage (except in Australia), so an upgrade is recommended if you can afford it.

Galaxy S25 Plus: more Ultra than you’d expect

• $999 / £999 / AU$1,549 for 256GB and 12GB of RAM
• Best battery life of any Galaxy S25 family device
• Higher-resolution display than Galaxy S25

The Galaxy S25 Plus looks like a larger Galaxy S25, but its upgrades are more than skin deep. It gets a major display upgrade to 1440 x 3120 pixels, the same sharp resolution as the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Its real advantage, however, is battery life. With a 4,900mAh cell, the Galaxy S25 Plus pulls off a stunning upset over its Ultra sibling. In our Future Labs tests, it was the longest-lasting Galaxy S phone ever, running for an incredible 18 hours and 46 minutes. The S25 Ultra lasted 18 hours and 35 minutes, while the base Galaxy S25 managed a respectable 15 hours and 51 minutes.

The Galaxy S25 Plus also charges faster than the base model (45W vs. 25W), reaching 70% charge in just 30 minutes in our tests, compared to 57% for the S25.

Galaxy S25 Edge: a little Ultra, a little less

• $1,099 / £1,0999 / $1,449 for 256GB and 12GB of RAM
• Thinnest Galaxy S device ever, with titanium frame
• 200MP main camera just like the Galaxy S25 Ultra

The Galaxy S25 Edge is the most unique phone in the lineup, borrowing the best parts from its siblings. It features a lightweight titanium frame like the Ultra, but is the thinnest Galaxy S phone ever at a mere 5.8mm thick. It anticipates a rumored new direction for phone design, with an Apple iPhone 17 Air rumored to be peering from the stage wings, awaiting a September launch.

To achieve its thinness, the Galaxy S25 Edge uses a smaller 3,900mAh battery, which reduces its runtime to 12 hours and 54 minutes in our tests. It also forgoes a dedicated optical zoom lens. However, Samsung compensates with an impressive 200MP main camera sensor, just like the Ultra's, which is larger than the sensors on the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Plus. This allows for excellent digital zoom and helps the Edge record video in 8K at 30fps or 4K at 120fps.

The Edge has two other surprise advantages. First, its display was the brightest of all S25 models in our Future Labs tests, hitting an impressive 1997 nits. Second, in real-world stress tests, its cooling was exceptional; it was the only phone that did not shut down in hot, direct sunlight in my real-world stress testing.

Galaxy S25 Ultra: née plus ultra superphone

• $1,299 / £1,099 / AU$1,749 for 256GB and 12GB of RAM
• Gorilla Glass Armor 2 features unique anti-glare coating that works well
• Most versatile cameras on any smartphone

The Galaxy S25 Ultra is a flagship not just for Samsung but for the entire smartphone industry. It is a device stuffed with every imaginable feature, refined over generations into the ultimate mobile tool.

Its signature feature is the S Pen, an indispensable stylus for everything from handwriting and drawing to pinpoint-accurate photo editing and even gaming. It is so effective that I have completed an entire home purchase, signing all legal documents, exclusively with my S Pen.

The Ultra stands alone with its unique hardware. It uses a tough titanium frame and Gorilla Glass Armor 2 on the front, a glass co-developed between Samsung and Corning. Armor 2 includes an incredibly effective anti-glare coating that makes a huge difference in direct sunlight.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra's camera system is the most remarkable you can buy. It has four cameras on the back, and every single sensor – including the ultrawide and the two separate telephoto lenses – is bigger and better than those on the other Galaxy S25 models.

The main camera uses a 200MP sensor that produces knockout 12MP images, especially for food, portraits, and night shots. But it’s the zoom system that stuns. It includes both a 3x zoom lens and a remarkable 5x telephoto lens backed by a large 50MP sensor. You can digitally zoom up to 100x, but you can fill the frame with a full moon at around 70x – and your moon photos will leave your iPhone friends speechless.

What’s still missing from the Galaxy S25 family?

As incredible as the Galaxy S25 family is, there's always room for improvement.

• Faster Charging: The OnePlus 13 uses newer silicon carbon battery technology and features 80W charging that can reach 92% in 30 minutes. The Galaxy S lineup could benefit from similar charging speeds.
• Better Biometrics: The fingerprint scanners on the Galaxy S25 series lag behind the competition. Apple's FaceID is so much faster that it feels like Samsung needs an entirely new approach to biometric security.
• Built-in Magnets: While case makers add MagSafe-aligned magnets, it’s time for Samsung to build its own magnetic accessory ecosystem directly into its phones, following the lead of Apple.

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I’ve spent the last two weeks with Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, and when showing the all-new Galaxy S device to my friends and family, the same two comments would always be made. The first: ‘wow, that’s thin’. The second: ‘why?’.

Sadly I’ve been unable to provide a quick answer to the latter. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge doesn’t trim the fat when it comes to being an epic handset – it features the same great user interface that Samsung refined with the S25 launch and, indeed, it looks and feels especially premium. But the feature that justifies its ‘Edge’ namesake hasn’t been demonstrated as particularly useful.

Despite being more expensive than the Galaxy S25 Plus (the edge starts at $1,099.99 / £1,099 / AU$1,849, while the Plus starts at $999 / £999 / AU$1,699), it features a lot of the same specs – and where it doesn't, it's often made sacrifices, including with the camera and battery.

There’s a nice mix of features here that, on the whole, are probably attractive to a user after a particular spec. That being said, the S25 Plus remains the better phone, and if you’re gravitating towards more expensive phones, I’d recommend the S25 Ultra over the Edge.

I don’t really have a lot to say about the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, but if you’re someone who has been craving a thin phone, pay attention to this device. I don’t recommend paying full price but, once Black Friday sales roll around, I’d be more inclined to purchase the Edge at a discount. At full price, however, with the Galaxy S25 Plus now seeing price drops, it's a tough sell.

What are these features?

Ask yourself what you’re willing to sacrifice for a thin phone. Battery size? A camera lens? A stylus? To achieve what is likely the thinnest phone on the market right now, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge has sacrificed all of these things but, at the same time, it has received an interesting mishmash of features from both the S25 Plus and S25 Ultra, along with some features of its own.

The 200MP lens on the Edge, which it carries over from the Ultra, is great in use and captures a lot of color and detail, though the 12MP ultrawide camera from the Plus is also featured, rather than the much more capable 50MP lens on the Ultra. The telephoto lens is nowhere to be seen, removed to achieve the thinness, meaning that zoom capabilities are severely limited.

The battery is only a 3,900mAh capacity pack – smaller than the 4,900mAh battery found in the Plus and the 5,000mAh in the Ultra. This is again due to the thinness. I can confirm that it’s not as devastating as it may read on paper – I’ve been able to yield full-day batteries from the S25 Edge successfully during my time with it; however, I’m left yearning for the gigantic battery in the S25 Ultra, which I could rely on to last me into a second day if I forgot a charge.

My 9-5 workday with the S25 Edge saw the phone run down to about 51% once I got home, and using it casually one morning, the phone dropped from 100% to 87% in just under two hours. No doubt it’d be struggling if I forgot to charge it overnight, or when I got home after work.

A phone of this price might be unconscionable with a battery like this, but I kind of see it as a non-issue. It’s not really intended to be the same exceptionally capable device as the Ultra, after all – this phone is realistically closer to the Z range, as it’s more niche and experimental (albeit no fold).

The display is also fairly nice, though it’s identical to the 6.7-inch, 3,440 x 1,440 resolution screen featured on the Plus – apart from the new Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 protective layer. I would have liked the screen to have similar squared dimensions to the Ultra, along with the flagship phone’s premium anti-glare glass to make it a more competitive handset (and more different to the Plus), but that’s just me.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite processor is the exact same as the one that’s in the Plus and Ultra, and the AI feature set (which Samsung still hasn’t indicated the future pricing of) remains identical.

And that naturally leads up to the thinness – yeah, it’s thin. I don’t really know what to say: Samsung made a thin phone. Cool. It’s still as thick as a standard phone when you put a case on it, something that I would highly recommend as, although it looks quite nice, I was not confident in holding the phone without a case by the side of the road or when on a balcony. The camera housing also adds a bit of chunkiness, protruding far from the phone's back.

What was I expecting?

The Galaxy S25 Edge feels like a stumble more than anything else, which is a shame considering Samsung’s recent track record: the hugely impressive Galaxy Ring, the epic Galaxy S25 Ultra refresh and awesome-value Galaxy A56 are all brilliant examples of the Korean tech giant’s ability to read the room and understand what its customers actually want.

While I don’t deny the existence of folks looking for a thin phone, the S25 Edge fails to carve out a unique niche among the Galaxy S family of devices. Simultaneously, the Edge feels too close to the S25 Plus to feel unique on its own, and too feature-stripped to justify buying at full price.

There are places that Samsung could take the Edge idea to make it more appealing. As I alluded earlier, bringing it closer in spec and aesthetic to the Ultra, offering its anti-glare layer and more squared shape while also being thinner, smaller and cheaper is one place where the Edge might be justifiable.

Another is the opposite: reckoning with the fact that it’s going to be feature-limited to begin with, instead positioning it closer to the base-model Galaxy S25, offering a similar set of cameras and size, along with the incredible thinness with a slightly higher price.

It’s close to the issues encountered by the Galaxy Z Flip. That phone has similar battery and camera limitations as the Edge, along with a high price, but the Flip gets a pass as it’s really cool to treat your phone like a classic flip phone and it has an additional screen. The Edge is just thin.

For now, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge feels just a little too niche for mass-market appeal, which explains why the company has only chosen three color options (one being exclusive to Samsung’s online store). It’s a good phone and I recommend purchasing it – just not over the other phones in the S25 range and certainly not for the full price.

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• Samsung's next Galaxy Unpacked is a virtual-only affair on May 12, 2025
• The invite teases an ultra-thin phone with the text "Beyond slim"
• All signs are pointing to a formal reveal of the Galaxy S25 Edge, which will feature a 200MP wide lens

Ever since Samsung teased its ultra-slim variant of the Galaxy S25 family at its January 2025 Unpacked, and since then brought the Galaxy S25 Edge on a bit of a world tour with a stop at MWC, we’ve all been wondering when the tech giant would share more. Well, now we know.

Samsung’s just dropped invites for its next Galaxy Unpacked, and it’s an entirely virtual affair with a clear focus – the Galaxy S25 Edge. Even with its ultra-thin design that will land at under the Galaxy S25's 7.2-milimeters, it's still poking its way through the center of the invite.

The invite image reveals, under a cloth of some kind, the super slim silhouette. It’s accompanied by “Beyond slim” on the left and “May 12, 2025 Live on samsung.com” on the right.

That basically gives it away, and Samsung will stream this Galaxy Unpacked at 8pm ET/5pm PT/1am BST/ (10am AEST on May 13, 2025 in Australia) live on its site and on YouTube.

A shared blog post from Samsung details much more on this addition to the Galaxy S lineup and actually names the Galaxy S25 Edge, writing, “This is more than a slim smartphone.” It teases that the Galaxy S25 Edge will offer flagship-level performance with ‘superior portability’ without compromising on any of it, seemingly.

It also confirms a key spec for the Edge that’s been rummored alongside many others. “Even with its slim form, Galaxy S25 Edge’s 200MP wide lens continues Galaxy’s iconic camera experience, delivering pro-grade capabilities to intuitively capture the world around you,” thus confirming the ultra-slim phone will have a very sharp main shooter. It will also match the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which has the same sensor for the primary lens.

Samsung’s really highlighting that it took a lot of engineering work to make the Galaxy S25 Edge a reality and that it didn’t have any shortcomings that would have dropped it from the mainline Galaxy S family of phones. Much of the May 12 Galaxy Unpacked will likely delve into how this device came to be.

We still expect the Galaxy S25 Edge to arrive at a premium price, somewhere above $999 / £999 / AU$1,699. It should feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy inside, considering that’s powering the rest of the lineup. We also expect it to match 12GB of RAM, which should make it a speedy and efficient phone, but we also don’t yet know what size battery Samsung’s been able to squeeze inside the svelte frame.

The latest rumors point to the Galaxy S25 Edge having a titanium frame, weighing only 163 grams, and only 5.85 millimeters thick. That same report claims the Galaxy S25 Edge will have a 6.7-inch AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, which aligns with previous reports.

The best news is that we’re just days away from this being official and Samsung telling us all about the Galaxy S25 Edge. It’s also the start of a new category of sorts – ultra-slim, premium smartphones for the masses, and Samsung will, in turn, be beating Apple to the punch before the much-rumored iPhone 17 Air sees the light of day.

Now, if you’re already sold on the Galaxy S25 Edge – maybe you’ve been holding out on getting an S25, S25 Plus, or S25 Ultra – Samsung is rolling out an early offer. You can sign up to reserve the next Galaxy, with no commitment to purchasing or strings attached, and score a $50 Samsung Credit towards the S25 Edge.

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• A tipster has claimed the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra may come with shrunken bezels
• This could allow for a 7-inch display on the rumored flagship phone
• The tipster also suggests the Galaxy S26 Ultra won't get an under-display camera

It’s been a busy year for Samsung already, with the release of the flagship Samsung Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus, and Galaxy S25 Ultra, a refreshed lineup of mid-range handsets, and the reveal of the still-mysterious Galaxy S25 Edge.

However, that’s not stopped speculation about the future of Samsung’s mobile portfolio, not least regarding next year’s rumored highest-end model, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. In fact, a new rumor suggests that one of the most impressive aspects of the Galaxy S25 Ultra could be getting even better with its next iteration.

According to tipster PandaFlash, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra could feature even thinner bezels than its current-gen counterpart. The bezels of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra were already visibly reduced from the Galaxy S24 Ultra, allowing the newer phone to attain a display size of 6.9 inches without a noticeable change to its overall dimensions.

If Samsung is able to achieve a similar improvement this year, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra could be the first modern flagship slab phone to feature a 7-inch display.

As SammyFans notes, PandaFlash hinted at the bezel reduction in the reply section of a post concerning the rumored Galaxy S26’s selfie camera.

Though other rumors had pointed to the chance of an under-display camera (UDC) for the Galaxy S26 Ultra, PandaFlash seems adamant this won't be happening.

As the post (and our Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 review) notes, a UDC can’t offer the same performance as a regular punch-hole selfie camera, which is as good a reason as any to hold off on implementing one.

PandaFlash didn’t offer much in the way of context or sources for these claims – we have reported on their tips before during the build-up to the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s release, but these weren’t quite on the money. It’s worth taking these new rumors with a healthy does of skepticism.

With that all said, there’s nothing too outlandish about suggesting Samsung may be able to reduce the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s bezels and fit it with a regular selfie camera – we’re not talking about a drastic redesign or internal overhaul here, and it’s still likely to be one of the best Samsung phones at launch.

What would you like to see from the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra? Would a thinner bezel be reason enough to upgrade? Let us know in the comments.

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After a year of speculation, months of rumors, and weeks of post-announcement waiting, the Samsung Galaxy S25 series is finally here – the first Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus, and Galaxy S25 Ultra units have hit store shelves and customer’s doorsteps. The wait is finally over.

If you’re like me, though, and always on the lookout for a great tech deal, then you may have been waiting for a piece of news about a different Galaxy smartphone – for the past few weeks, I’ve been holding out hope that we might see an official price reduction for the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra in the wake of the Galaxy S25 Ultra going on sale.

It’s standard practice for phone makers to reduce the price of their older models as new flagships take center stage, in recognition that these erstwhile pack-leaders are no longer at the cutting edge of technology or the company’s smartphone lineup.

However, at the time of writing, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra remains on sale from Samsung directly at full price in the US and UK.

Personally, I’m a little confused by this decision. Is Samsung suggesting the Galaxy S25 Ultra and Galaxy S24 Ultra are of equal value? That wouldn’t make much sense if it wants people to see the Galaxy S25 Ultra as the shiny, new, bucket-of-AI device that it is.

Perhaps Samsung is banking on more selective customers, who prefer the sharper design and exclusive colors of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, being willing to shell out to get these features. But that doesn’t quite add up either, as Samsung is now drastically undercut on the Galaxy S24 Ultra by third-party retailers.

I hate to say it, but the continued listing of the Galaxy S24 Ultra at full price could also just be a last minute cash grab as stocks dwindle. Though Samsung doesn’t leave any signs of this on the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s various international landing pages, the absence of certain storage configurations suggests a “while stocks last” situation is afoot.

From this perspective, I have to raise some concerns about Samsung’s approach. Is leaving the Galaxy S24 Ultra up at full price really the fairest thing to do for those who may not be up-to-date on the latest tech releases? On the phone’s UK landing page, there’s no mention of its successor being available. I’m not sure that’s the most considerate way to do things.

Is it just the S Pen?

As we previously covered, the Galaxy S24 Ultra does have a stylus-shaped ace up its sleeve over the Galaxy S25 Ultra – a Bluetooth-enabled S Pen.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra’s stylus is able to function as a remote control for One UI, the camera app, and other gesture-based commands – but the Galaxy S25 Ultra cut this connectivity, leaving many Samsung fans dismayed.

A petition to bring back Bluetooth connectivity to the S Pen was signed thousands of times in its first few days online.

I’m not seriously suggesting that Samsung is charging a premium for the Bluetooth S Pen by keeping the Galaxy S24 Ultra at full price, but this sole example of the older phone having a hardware advantage does highlight the feature disparity between the two evenly-priced devices.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra comes equipped with the blazing-fast Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset, gets a new 50MP ultra-wide camera, and has the new Personal Data Engine hardware core for AI and security.

In comparison, the Galaxy S24 Ultra has the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chipset, a 12MP ultra-wide camera, and no such core. The phones are otherwise very similar hardware wise.

In any case, if the “while stocks last” theory holds, we may not have to worry about this conundrum for much longer – though if you are looking to buy a top-end handset directly from Samsung, be sure to take a look at our Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review and our Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review to make sure you’re really getting the one you want.

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• A new 'Circle to Search' trick is available on Samsung's latest Galaxy phones
• It lets you sing or hum songs that you want to identify
• The feature worked well in our early hands-on demos

Sure, Shazam and the Google Assistant, or even Gemini, can help you identify a song that’s playing in a coffee shop or while you’re out and about. But what about that tune you have stuck in your head that you’re desperate to put a name to?

Suffice it to say, that’s not a problem I have for anything by Springsteen, but it does happen for other songs, and Samsung’s latest and greatest – the Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Ultra – might just be able to cure this. It’s courtesy of the latest expansion of Google’s Circle to Search on devices.

Launched on the Galaxy S24 last year and then expanded to other devices like Google’s own family of Pixel phones, you can long press at the bottom and then circle something on the screen to figure out what it is or find out more.

For instance, it could be a fun hat within a TikTok or Instagram Reel video, a snazzy button down, or even more info on a concert happening or a location like San Jose – where Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked took place.

Circle to Search for songs

Now, though, when you long-press the home button – or engage the assistant in another way – you’ll see a music note icon.

From there, you can just start singing as Google will tell you it is listening. I as well as my colleague, TechRadar’s Editor-at-Large Lance UIanoff, then hummed two tracks – “Hot To Go” by Chapell Roan, which the Galaxy S25 Ultra took tries to identify it properly – and then it got “Fly Me To The Moon” (a classic) on its first try.

While Lance did have to hum a good bit, it did in fact figure out what that song inside our head was, and this could make the latest facet of Circle to Search a pretty handy function. It will, of course, also do the job of Shazam and listen to whatever is playing when you select it via the microphone built into your device as well.

Further, you can use it to circle a video on screen and figure out what was playing – as you can see in the hands-on embed below, it was able to do this for a TikTok. That ultimately doesn’t seem quite as helpful given a video on TikTok – or an Instagram Reel – will note the audio it is using. But this could be particularly useful for a long YouTube video that uses a variety of background music or if you’re streaming a title and can’t figure out the song.

Google’s latest tool expansion for Circle to Search will be available from day one on the Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus, and Galaxy S25 Ultra, but it’s worth pointing out that the search giant – turned AI giant – has been teasing this feature for a bit, and some even found it hiding in existing code. After our demo of it on the S25 Ultra, we had a hunch it would arrive elsewhere and it should be arriving on other devices with Circle to Search.

As for when it will arrive on the Galaxy S24, Z Flip 6, or Z Fold 6, that remains to be seen, and we’re also wondering that same question for Samsung’s other new Galaxy AI features. And if you’re keen to learn more about the Galaxy S25 family, check out our hands-on and our Galaxy S25 live blog for the event.

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Samsung has just unveiled its new Galaxy S25 series smartphones at its Galaxy Unpacked event, alongside a slew of brand-new AI features coming to its devices, such as the handy Now Brief. You can check out our coverage here at TechRadar.com including our hands-on thoughts with the new Samsung Galaxy S25, Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus, and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, and find out more about everything announced via our Galaxy Unpack event liveblog.

But if you want us to truly unpack everything Samsung just revealed, as well as what we think this event means for Samsung as a whole in 2025, then you’ll need to watch our brand-new Samsung Unpacked January 2025 special episode of the TechRadar podcast.

In it, Josie Watson and I are joined by phone expert Axel Metz, fitness tech guru Matt Evans, and as always the wonderfully wise Lance Ulanoff to break down everything we saw so you can get to grips with the latest tech news.

We take a deep dive into the new phones and AI features, give you our thoughts on Samsung’s continued efforts to build an interconnected internet of things ecosystem – which goes beyond anything Apple is currently capable of – and discuss what Samsung needs for Project Moohan and its XR efforts to succeed where others have failed.

You can catch our latest podcast episode via our YouTube channel – or the embedded video above – and you can also check it out on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. You can find all our other episodes there too, including our CES 2025 special.

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• Now Brief looks like a daily personal briefing to help you face the day
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Samsung's next Galaxy Unpacked showcase is set for January 22, and it’s there that we’ll find out everything there is to know about its 2025 smartphone flagships (perhaps even the much-rumored Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim). We’re expecting a slew of upgrades to the hardware, but also to the phone’s software – specifically in the AI department – and new leaks are teasing just that.

The new details come via Brazilian tech outlet Tecnoblog (translated from Portuguese), which claims to have received official Samsung assets highlighting new Gemini integration and a feature called “Now Brief.” This follows previous Samsung Galaxy S25 teasers which highlighted several impressive AI tricks which could be on the way to the next-gen Samsung devices.

Take the following with a pinch of salt as always, but here are three Samsung Galaxy S25 AI features we could soon have our hands on.

Now Brief

Now Brief, according to the leaked info, appears to be a sort of personalized morning briefing that your phone’s AI presents to you, containing various handy stats – like today’s weather and your Energy score based on how well rested you are (presumably measured by a smart ring or fitness tracker) – as well as useful reminders for the day ahead. For example, in the leaked image Now Brief is reminding us to use that coupon for coffee before it expires in the next few days.

It also appears that your Now Brief doesn’t have to come in the morning, the final part of the leaked image shows us a recap of the day we’ve just had with “memorable moments” to relive and an overview of how we did achieving our daily activity goal. So whether you’d rather have a retrospective recap or a guide to help you navigate the day ahead it looks like this could be a nifty AI tool.

Bye, bye Bixby?

As we noted on the recent CES special episode of our podcast Samsung has a few too many named AI assistants. There’s the Galaxy AI, classic Bixby, and also Google’s Gemini, which it uses via the Android OS. Another AI leak suggests the new phones will try to simplify things by making Gemini more front and center.

It’s not clear whether Bixby is being phased out, but one leaked image suggests Gemini will at least have a more integrated role on the new Samsung phones – with it suggesting users will be able to more easily call on the Google assistant to help them with tasks across various Android and Galaxy apps (such as YouTube and Samsung Notes).

A smarter, more understanding assistant

That same leak which teased better Gemini integration also hints at Galaxy AI being able to perform tasks across multiple apps with one prompt, and that the new Galaxy AI will have a better understanding of what’s happening on your phone. The teaser image example shows us a request for the AI to save a summary in Samsung Notes of what was said in a YouTube video playing on the phone – highlighting both cross-app integration, and the ability for Gemini to understand it needs to pay attention to on-device media.

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The next generation of Samsung flagships is nearly here – we’re expecting to hear official news of the Samsung Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Ultra by the end of the month – and I suspect that this year's most consequential Galaxy upgrade will have nothing to do with the new phones' appearance.

It’s easy to get excited about the prospect of cutting-edge tech whenever a phone maker announces a new flagship model, but in reality, we’ve generally seen year-on-year progress slow down when it comes to the major components and functions of modern smartphones – at least those that you can see.

The Samsung Galaxy series, for its part, has inhabited roughly the same form factor for half a decade; the Google Pixel series has focused on stabilizing performance with each version; and the iPhone 16 is the first truly new-feeling handset from Apple in years.

We’re again expecting to see a slew of marginally improved specs for the S25 lineup this January, particularly so on the base-model S25 and its identically-specced big sibling, the S25 Plus; both will miss out on the highest-end upgrades destined for the S25 Ultra. For the two ‘standard’ models, the latest S25 specs predictions suggest a bit more RAM, a slightly larger screen, and maybe some bumped-up storage options. Cameras and battery sizes are due to stay the same. It's hardly Christmas, is it?

There is, however, one category where we’re expecting to see much more of an improvement this year, and it’s not one you can see – not without ripping your phone in half, anyway (which TechRadar famously advises against).

Each and every Galaxy S25 model is tipped to launch with the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, the latest in Qualcomm’s line of class-leading mobile chipsets. Put simply, this could be a game-changer for performance and instantly rocket Samsung to pole position in the performance race with Apple. Allow me to explain why.

Elite by name, elite by nature

For those not in the know, the Snapdragon 8 Elite follows up the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 – already one of the most powerful mobile chipsets ever produced – and improves (by Qualcomm’s own metrics) on that chipset's single and multi-core performance by 45%; it also offers vastly improved power efficiency.

When TechRadar’s US Mobiles Editor Philip Berne ran preliminary benchmarks on the 8 Elite, he found that Qualcomm's latest effort almost doubled the scores attained by the A18 Pro in the iPhone 16 Pro.

Keep in mind that, at a predicted price of $799 / £799 / AU$1,399, the baseline S25 will compete with the iPhone 16 and its less powerful A18 chipset, rather than with the iPhone 16 Pro. Should these benchmarks translate into real-world performance, the race between Apple and Samsung could end up resembling me chasing after a Dodge Charger on foot (as per our Google Pixel 9 Pro review, Google’s Tensor chipsets aren’t quite in the conversation yet).

What does this mean for the average user? Essentially, an even faster Galaxy handset – speedier load times, smoother app switching, and expanded AI possibilities. "Benchmarks aren’t everything," Qualcomm told us at Snapdragon Summit last year, and even though, as mentioned, the 8 Elite's benchmark scores are indeed mightily impressive, Qualcomm is equally keen to shout about the tangible, real-world benefits of its latest chipset.

With rumors swirling of a massive AI push from Samsung this year, we could see the S25 lineup enter our list of the best AI phones thanks to this increased hardware power, which should empower users to make better use of Samsung’s productivity and generative AI alike. What’s more, the S25 and S25 Plus are tipped to launch with 12GB of RAM, 4GB more than the previous generation, giving these new phones even more headroom for AI and multitasking.

We don’t even need to wait for the S25 series to launch to see the Snapdragon 8 Elite in action – the first globally available phones to sport the new chipset landed in December 2024 in the form of the Asus Rog Phone 9 and Rog Phone 9 Pro gaming phones. In our Asus Rog Phone 9 Pro review, the latter attained a 5/5 score for performance thanks to its exceptional consistency, improved gaming, and excellent graphical performance. It’ll be up to Samsung to optimize around the needs of the everyday user with the S25 series.

Samsung has never been a slouch when it comes to performance – in our Galaxy S24 review, we found the company’s most recent baseline flagship to be hot on the heels of the S24 Ultra in the power department – but the gains brought about by the Snapdragon 8 Elite could prove truly superlative, and may even offer S24 users a compelling reason to upgrade this year.

All that being said, most of the above is still based on rumors for the time being, so be sure to keep up with our Samsung phones coverage for the latest official information as wear hear it from Samsung.

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It’s almost time for Samsung’s annual Galaxy Unpacked event, where we’ll almost certainly see the Samsung Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Ultra revealed.

Alongside other upgrades and improvements, we’re expecting the S25 Ultra to replace the S24 Ultra as the only flagship phone on the market to ship with a stylus, specifically the S-Pen. However, a new rumor suggests that the S25 Ultra’s S Pen may not be as powerful as the one included with Samsung’s current-generation Ultra phone.

Tipster Ishan Agarwal has shared a post on X (formerly Twitter) saying that the S25 Ultra’s S Pen will lose the Bluetooth connectivity of the stylus supplied with the S24 Ultra, citing unspecified “retail sources”.

As Agarwal notes, a lack of Bluetooth support would mean the S Pen loses gesture support and the ability to remotely control phone functions. The S24 Ultra allows you to take photos and videos, open apps, and navigate through the UI with S Pen gestures.

Dropping Bluetooth may signal that the S Pen is becoming less of a priority for Samsung, which would certainly be a shame to some. With the release of the S23 Ultra just two years ago, TechRadar’s US phones editor Philip Berne wrote that the S Pen had “finally distinguished itself enough to earn its moniker”.

Personally, I think the S Pen’s Bluetooth support helps to justify its inclusion with the Ultra series. Sure, by slotting into the phone's chassis, the S Pen takes up a lot of internal space that could otherwise be used for cooling or for a larger battery, but Bluetooth allows the average user to get some use out of the S Pen through the supported gestures.

This latest rumor is unlike most of the latest Samsung Galaxy S25 specs predictions in that it supposes a straight-up downgrade, albeit a niche one, for Samsung’s new premium handset. Without Bluetooth, the S Pen would only function as a drawing or writing tool (which may, of course, be fine for some users), but having that extra gesture support gives the average user something to do with Samsung's stylus.

Other S25 Ultra rumors have focused on hardware upgrades – we've heard, for instance, that the phone may launch with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, an improved camera system with a 50MP ultra-wide camera, and a slightly larger display than its predecessor.

With Galaxy Unpacked scheduled for January 22, we don't have long to wait before we hear official information about Samsung’s new phones. Be sure to keep up with our Samsung phones coverage to catch the latest updates.

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The Samsung Galaxy S25 is here, and it's all too easy to overlook what Samsung has achieved with its compact flagship line.

Here is a phone that's downright tiny by modern standards, but which refuses to compromise on any of its hardware features. It might be small, but it's extremely fast, lasts a full day and change, and packs a comprehensive camera system that won't let you down.

Of course, the very same thing could be said about last year's Samsung Galaxy S24, which now has the benefit of being heavily discounted. So which of these two pocket powerhouses is the better buy?

We've spent a lot of time with both phones, and awarded them both highly respectable 4 out of 5 reviews (check out our Samsung Galaxy S25 review and Samsung Galaxy S24 review). Here's our expert opinion on how the two phones compare and which you should be buying in 2025.

Samsung Galaxy S25 vs Samsung Galaxy S24: specs comparison

Here’s an overview of how the Samsung Galaxy S25 and the Galaxy S24 match up, spec for spec:

Samsung Galaxy S25 vs Samsung Galaxy S24: price and availability

The Samsung Galaxy S25 arrived in shops on February 3, 2025, a solid year after the Galaxy S24, which landed on January 24, 2024.

Launch pricing was nigh-on identical between the two. Both phones started at $799 / £799 / AU $1,399 for the 128GB entry model. The 256GB models arrived at $859 / £859 / AU$1,399, while the range-topping 512GB variants hit the UK and Australia at £959 / AU$1,599. The latter wasn't made available in the US for either generation.

Of course, what with the Samsung Galaxy S24 no longer being the top dog, you can now find it for significantly cheaper. Samsung is still selling the phone brand new, but for a new starting price of $759.99 / £699 / AU$949.

Given Samsung's seven year software support promise, and the inherent similarities that we'll go on to discuss, there's a strong argument to be made that the Galaxy S24 represents a smarter purchase than the Galaxy S25.

Samsung Galaxy S25 vs Samsung Galaxy S24: design

Samsung hasn't changed up its core design all that much in several years. The Galaxy S25 looks and feels very much like the Galaxy S24, which is to say that it looks quite a lot like an iPhone.

You have the same flat aluminum frame on both phones, the same Gorilla Glass Victus 2 to the front and back, and the same IP68 water and dust resistance.

There's a slight cosmetic difference to the Galaxy S25's camera modules, which have a darker frame, but we wouldn't say that it's any better looking than the Galaxy S24's take.

Where the Galaxy S25 does improve is in the way it whittles down the already compact body of the Galaxy S24. At 7.2mm thick, and weighing just 162g, it's a tad smaller than the Galaxy S24, which is 7.6mm and 167g respectively.

The newer phone also features a fractionally (and we do mean fractionally) smaller display bezel. This all makes the Galaxy S25 one of the most compact phones on the market.

Even so, the lack of meaningful design improvements is a point of criticism for the Galaxy S25, and we expect something drastic for the Galaxy S26. On the other hand, it makes the prospect of buying the Galaxy S24 instead all the more appealing, as it hasn't aged at all.

Samsung Galaxy S25 vs Samsung Galaxy S24: display

There's been absolutely no change to the display of the Galaxy S25 as far as we can see. It's the exact same 6.2-inch AMOLED as can be found on the Galaxy S24.

Thankfully, it's still a solid spec, with a 1 to 120Hz variable refresh rate (thanks to LTPO technology), an FHD+ (1080 x 2340) resolution, and a peak brightness of 2,600 nits in limited HDR scenarios.

Samsung gets that display nice and snug with the cover glass, which – together with Samsung's punchy color calibration – makes images and text appear to be printed on the surface.

The under-display fingerprint sensor could use a little improvement, as it failed our reviewer just a few too many times for comfort. Your mileage will likely vary on that one.

As with the design, we'd like to see Samsung improving its display for next year's model. It's of a decent standard, but it offers no reason to opt for the newer Galaxy S25 over the Galaxy S24.

Samsung Galaxy S25 vs Samsung Galaxy S24: privacy and security

Both the Samsung Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S24 are excellent choices for security-focused users. Samsung's KNOX security platform is so good that Google adopted parts of it for the Android system software that underpins Samsung's OneUI. The security on both of these phones starts at the hardware level, and this makes them so secure that even government agencies with high security information have approved these devices for use by employees.

In my testing and experience with both the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S25, I enjoyed the ability to create a Secure Folder to keep private documents or photos locked behind a password-protected wall. I also appreciate the way the Galaxy S25 integrates perfectly with my work security, but still keeps my private life separate so that I can carry one single phone for work and personal use.

The Galaxy S25 doesn't offer massive security updates over the Galaxy S24, but it didn't need to upgrade much. The Galaxy S24 was already one of the most secure Android phones you can buy, and the Galaxy S25 did not lose any features.

The most significant consideration will be the seven years of security updates coming to both phones. If you plan on keeping your phone for the full seven years, you will want to buy the newer Galaxy S25 because it will get updates until 2032, while the Galaxy S24 will stop getting security patches in 2031.

Samsung Galaxy S25 vs Samsung Galaxy S24: cameras

At the risk of repeating ourselves, the Samsung Galaxy S25's camera set-up is identical to that of the Galaxy S24.

You have the same 50MP f/1.8 main camera, the same 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide, and the same 10MP f/2.4 3x telephoto. Of course, the latter provision remains quite the rarity in a phone of this size and price, so all props to Samsung.

We also can't deny that both phones take good photographs in a range of conditions. Samsung's oversaturated color science is a bit of an acquired taste, cranking up the vibrancy to slightly unnatural levels. But enough people have acquired that taste to make our mild objections feel a little churlish.

Samsung Galaxy S25 camera samples

In staying the same for several consecutive years, Samsung's base flagship phones have been overtaken by similarly priced rivals. The OnePlus 13 and the Google Pixel 9, for example, are capable of taking better pictures, especially in more challenging (ie. low light) conditions.

This isn't a comparison with those rivals, however. In a straight shoot-out between the two, the Galaxy S25 offers a slightly improved shooting experience thanks to its far superior processor, but the difference is negligible.

Samsung Galaxy S24 camera samples

Samsung's AI image editing prowess has certainly improved over the past year, but again, any major improvements present in the Galaxy S25 are coming to the Galaxy 24, if they haven't arrived already.

Samsung Galaxy S25 vs Samsung Galaxy S24: performance and software

The one big area where the Samsung Galaxy S25 justifies its current premium over the Galaxy S24 is performance.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite chip offers a larger-than-usual boost over the Galaxy S24; especially so when you consider that last year's model was an unsatisfactory split offering. Depending on your region, you might have got the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 or the slower and less efficient Exynos 2400. The Galaxy S25 does away with such divisions, and it's all the better for it.

The Galaxy S25 isn't just much faster than the Galaxy S24 (whatever the variant), it's one of the fastest phones on the market. All this packed into such petite body feels almost magical at times.

Not that you're likely to notice the difference when running the two phones normally. Nothing you can do on a modern smartphone really makes last year's model sweat, even with high-end games and rapid switching between multiple apps.

Where the Galaxy S25 does sneak ahead is with the option to perform more AI tasks on-device rather than in the cloud. Does this make for a notably better quality of life, though? Not really.

It should pay off as we near the four or five-year mark, when the Galaxy S25 will likely feel a lot snappier than its older brother (especially as it has 12GB of RAM rather than 8GB), and more demanding AI features will likely have come to market. But in the here and now, there's a whole lot of head room that neither phone is really exploiting.

When it comes to software, it should come as no surprise to learn that you get the exact same experience on both phones – or will eventually, at any rate. Samsung's somewhat busy buts sharp-looking One UI 7 layered on top of Android 15 is only available on the Galaxy S25 at the time of writing, but will make its way to the Galaxy S24 before too long.

Samsung's AI focus is similarly pronounced on both. You get the same photo-editing tools, writing assistance, and AI transcriptions for phone calls and voice memos. On One UI 7 you also get Samsung's new Now Brief, which pulls together contextual rundowns of your day, including weather, calendar appointments, health data, and more.

Samsung needs to do a lot more to streamline its UI, as well as to better integrate and explain its AI provisions. But that's a problem that both of these phones share. Even Samsung's seven year promise nullifies any age-based advantages the Galaxy S25 might have.

The effect of the latter is that you'll almost certainly be receiving fresh software and security updates for your entire time with either phone. That's a very good thing, but it also makes it a little tougher to upsell you on the Galaxy 25.

Samsung Galaxy S25 vs Samsung Galaxy S24: battery

In terms of battery capacity, it's a dead heat, with both Galaxy S model packing a 4,000mAh cell. However, the newer phone has a clear advantage when it comes to everyday stamina.

Indeed, we found the Galaxy S25 to have the best battery life of any smaller flagship phone. With a regular intensive day to day workload, it would routinely last a full day without making us worry.

This was borne out in our Future Labs tests, where the Galaxy S25 lasted almost 16 hours in its 60Hz display mode, which is a good four hours longer than the iPhone 16 and the Google Pixel 9. In its default 'Adaptive' refresh rate mode, the Galaxy S25 lasted 15 hours and 22 minutes.

The Galaxy S24 doesn't fall too far short of its successor, achieving 14 hours of battery life in our lab testing, and represents another small phone that will reliably last you a full day of normal usage. In its Adaptive mode, it'll last 13 hours and 28 minutes. As such, the switch to that Snapdragon 8 Elite processor has evidently imbued the Galaxy S25 with extra staying power.

Charging up is equally underwhelming with both phones, however. You get the same meagre 25W wired charging support, which will get you from empty to full in about an hour. There's no charging brick supplied in the box of either phone.

Both support 15W wireless charging, but while the Galaxy S25 is listed as 'Qi2 Ready', there's no magnetic fastening system at play. It's a draw in this respect.

Samsung Galaxy S25 vs Samsung Galaxy S24: verdict

Samsung hasn't done enough to differentiate the Galaxy S25 from the Galaxy S24. It's undoubtedly the better phone, with a slightly smaller body, significantly more power (especially for those outside of the US), and superior battery life.

However, the design and display are nigh-on identical, as is the triple camera system and charging provision. Samsung's busy, AI-heavy software, meanwhile, is broadly similar on both phones.

When you factor in Samsung's excellent seven-year software update promise and the significantly lower price for the Galaxy S24, it makes recommending the Galaxy S25 rather trickier than it should be.

The latest model is the best Galaxy S that Samsung has made, and one of the best phones on the market today – especially if you prefer your phones small. But if you spot a good deal on a brand new Galaxy S24, you'll be getting much the same experience for significantly less money.

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• Leak teases Samsung's version of Google's Audio Magic Editor
• Would make it easier to clean up noise in your video's audio
• Could launch with the Galaxy S25 early next year

We've seen a barrage of AI tools and features arrive on our phones this year, with one of the coolest being an upgrade to a standout Pixel 8 feature, Audio Magic Eraser, debuting on the Google Pixel 9 – and now it seems that Samsung wants to copy Google’s homework.

Audio Magic Eraser is an AI tool which, as the name suggests, is an audio version of Google’s Magic Eraser for photos. Instead of removing or moving elements of your picture, it allows you to adjust the audio track of a recorded video by modulating the volume of speech from different subjects, wind noise, and background noise.

Now prolific Samsung leaker Ice Universe has posted to Weibo (spotted by Android Authority, and translated from Chinese) saying that the next version of One UI 7 will include Samsung’s version of Google’s Audio Eraser – sharing a screenshot which shows how you can adjust the audio of a video shot at a concert.

As with all leaks we should take this one with a pinch of salt, not least because Ice Universe doesn’t share precisely where their knowledge and access to the feature comes from, explaining in their post that there’s “No need to look for it in Beta1, it's not there. Only I have it.”

What else do the Galaxy S25s have in store for us?

Though if Audio Eraser is indeed on the way, the big question is when will we get the next version of Samsung’s One UI? Ideally the Audio Magic Eraser would drop when the Samsung Galaxy S25 flagships debut early next year, with rumors and Samsung’s traditional release schedule suggesting a launch in January.

However, as has been the case with phone releases, it’s possible that new tools will first be S25-exclusive before making their way to older compatible devices – so those of you rocking a Samsung Galaxy S24 or Galaxy Z Flip 6 might need to hold out for Samsung’s Audio Eraser appear on your device.

Beyond an AI Audio Editor, leaks tease a few other updates for the soon-to-launch phones: the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra could instead launch as the Samsung Galaxy S25 Note, the new phones might each use a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, and the base S25 model could have 12GB of RAM to facilitate more and better onboard AI features.

As soon as we know more about the new Samsung handsets we’ll be sure to update you with all the latest info, and once they’ve launched we'll be posting our in-depth reviews, to help you decide whether any of the S25 phones are the next best smartphone for you.

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The world's best camera phones have improved their telephoto cameras greatly in the past few years, but Samsung has just revealed a new technology that could boost their performance while keeping its phones acceptably slim.

Announced in a blog post on Samsung's Semiconductor website (spotted by Android Authority), the so-called 'ALoP' technology reshuffles the layout of Samsung's current periscope camera design.

The main benefit is creating space for lenses with brighter maximum apertures (which theoretically means less noise in low light) without increasing the size of the camera bump. Currently, the lenses inside Samsung's 'folded' telephoto camera module sit vertically in line with the phone's body. The downside of this setup is that adding a wider lens makes the camera bump thicker.

Instead, the 'ALoP' (or 'All Lenses on Prism') system places the lenses horizontally (much like a traditional camera lens) to the rear of the phone, with the prism then reflecting that light up to the camera sensor. This means a wider, brighter lens could be added without making the phone feel like a ridiculous Energizer phone.

Still, while that is a promising development, we shouldn't expect physics-busting miracles. Samsung says the 'ALoP' system creates enough room for an f/2.58 aperture at a focal length of 80mm.

That's a 3x telephoto camera and a fairly bright one at that, beating the f/2.8 aperture of Apple's 77mm telephoto in the iPhone 15, but still well short of the finest f/1.2 portrait lenses seen on the best professional cameras. Still, as Samsung says, the system would still promise "low-noise portrait images in night shots", which is one of the most popular photographic genres for smartphones.

Room for two periscopes?

Given the apparent space savings of Samsung's 'ALoP' design, a more radical improvement could be the inclusion of two periscope telephoto cameras in a future Galaxy phone.

Earlier this year, the Oppo Find X7 Ultra became the first phone to offer dual periscope cameras – and while the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is expected to pack in both a 3x telephoto and 5x telephoto, this new design could create enough space for some even more impressive optics.

There's a strong argument that a good 3x telephoto camera is more useful for most people than the 5x or 10x options we've seen in recent years. A 3x lens has a focal length that's somewhere in the 75mm-80mm range, which is where a lot of pros shoot portraits – the focal length creates natural bokeh while still being relatively flattering to subjects.

So if Samsung can improve the quality of its 3x periscope systems with this new 'ALoP' system, while leaving enough room for the inclusion of those longer 5x or 10x telephoto cameras, it could create a well-rounded camera phone with few weaknesses.

Samsung calls ALoP a "future telephoto camera solution" with no hints of an expected launch date, but the publication of the info suggests we could see it in a 2025 phone.

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• The Samsung Galaxy S25 lineup is rumored to launch at the same price as the current-gen S24 family
• Another leak points to the entire lineup launching with 12GB of RAM
• Samsung has yet to officially announce any details of the S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Ultra

New rumors suggest that the next generation of flagship Samsung phones could receive a major spec boost without commanding higher price tags.

In a now-deleted post, noted leaker Jukanlosreve (via Sammy Fans) shared that the Samsung Galaxy S25 family will cost the same as the current-generation S24 lineup. That would mean starting prices of $799 / £799 / AU$1,399 for the S25, $999 / £999 / AU$1,699 for the S25 Plus, and $1,299 / £1,249 / AU$2,199 for the S25 Ultra.

Sammy Fans also suggests that the Galaxy S25 could start with 128GB of storage, with the S25 Plus and S25 Ultra each starting with 256GB of storage – again, that's the same as the current lineup.

Though not yet confirmed, it’s always nice to see phone makers keep their product prices stable, especially given the multiple factors that typically push manufacturers to increase them, such as inflation, changing production costs, and popular expectations of new features.

As for what new upgrade Samsung fans will reportedly get for those same-as-last-year prices, a Geekbench report publicized by GSMArena records the base model Galaxy S25 as sporting 12GB of RAM, suggesting the rest of the lineup will come equipped with at least this much memory, too.

And, as with the current lineup, we expect to see a top-tier variant of the Galaxy S25 Ultra with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.

More RAM is always a welcome addition for multitasking and AI, and Galaxy AI now forms a core part of Samsung’s mobile platform. It’s reasonable to suggest an additional 4GB of RAM could offer noticeable improvements in both departments.

Additional RAM could also make Samsung Dex – the desktop mode that activates when certain Samsung Galaxy phones are linked to a monitor – a more appealing proposition.

For the moment, the above remains steeped in rumors and speculation – we’ve not heard anything on the Galaxy S25 lineup from Samsung directly – but with a January release date tipped by leakers, we'd expect to hear the first murmurs soon.

Until then, we’ve got our eyes on the latest Samsung Galaxy S25 rumors. For all the official updates as we hear them, be sure to keep up with our Samsung phones coverage.

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• A newly publicized patent shows Samsung had created a design for a tri-fold device in 2021
• This adds to recent rumors that the company is exploring new phone form factors
• There is still no confirmation from Samsung regarding a tri-fold device

The long-rumored Samsung Galaxy tri-fold might not be entirely mythological after all, if a newly-published patent is anything to go by.

The US Patent and Trademark Office has publicized a patent document that details design specifications for a tri-fold device alongside a conventional booklet-style foldable device.

The patent document, originally filed by Samsung in 2021, depicts a tri-fold device with a Z-shaped hinge, similar to the Huawei Mate XT.

The Mate XT became the world’s first tri-fold device when it launched in September, but it remains a China-exclusive device at the time of writing – leaving global markets open for Samsung or another competitor.

As MSPowerUser reports, the Samsung patent details new screen technology such as a strengthened barrier layer to protect the inner display with openings to reduce strain at the hinges. The design also includes an anti-reflective coating made of synthetic resin or another unspecified material.

Other construction materials mentioned include glass and stainless steel.

Samsung has long been tipped as the likely leader in the race to release a globally available tri-fold phone, which would sit alongside the company's Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6. Indeed, we recently reported on claims from Korea that Samsung is looking into new phone form factors.

Prior to this, we reported that a leaked codename for a new foldable model with no analog in the current Samsung lineup may refer to a potential tri-fold device.

Though this new (or rather, newly discovered) patent doesn’t confirm that the proposed Samsung tri-fold is due for release, or even in the works, it does tell us that Samsung has given serious consideration to the tri-fold concept.

With how much we’re hearing about a Samsung tri-fold at the moment, it’s hard not to take this as an encouraging sign – though it’s important to remember that most of the above is based on rumors for the time being.

It’ll be up to Samsung to confirm the development of a tri-fold Galaxy device, if and when it sees fit, so be sure to keep up with our Samsung phones coverage to catch the latest updates.

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Samsung could be working on a pared-down, cheaper version of its iconic Galaxy Z Flip folding phone, according to new rumors.

Korean blogger yeux1122 (via Android Police) hinted in a blog post that a potential Samsung Galaxy Z Flip FE could be released simultaneously with the rumored Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7.

Should this suggested Galaxy Z Flip FE follow the trend of other Samsung FE products, we’d likely see the phone offer a slightly reduced specs sheet at a solid discount compared to the flagship device on which it's based.

For example, the recently launched Samsung Galaxy S24 FE launched with a slightly slower processor and lower-resolution camera system than the standard Samsung Galaxy S24, at a price of $649 / £649 / AU$1,099 – a solid offer considering the $799 / £799 / AU$1,399 price tag of the latter model.

The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is our pick for the best flip folding phone, and holds a spot on our list of the best Samsung phones, too, so a more affordable way to experience Samsung’s class-leading flip phone form factor would be most welcome.

The blog post, which is light on details, also lists a tentatively named Galaxy S25 Slim and Galaxy Z Fold 7 as possible upcoming models, which suggests Samsung's other flagship lineups could also see a shakeup this year.

According to a separate X post from noted tipster Jukanlosreve, a recent Samsung conference call saw executives speak about ways to lower barriers to entry for folding phones while working on “new form factors”.

These rumors track with previously reported tipoffs from Jukanlosreve that suggest Samsung is working on a cheaper Z Flip phone alongside a possible tri-fold model in the style of the China-exclusive Huawei Mate XT.

Overall, then, rumors continue to point to a selection of new Samsung foldables being a real possibility. However, Samsung itself recently declared that it has no plans to issue a cheaper folding phone, so we can’t really say for sure how much weight these rumors have.

Until Samsung chooses to reveal official details, all of the above is subject to change – for the latest official updates as we hear them, be sure to check out our dedicated Samsung coverage.

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The Samsung Galaxy S24 FE has barely been out for a month, but we’re already hearing the first murmurs about its follow up – ostensibly named the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE.

These first rumors concern the chipset the phone will ship with, potentially marking another chapter in Samsung’s long struggle to implement its own Exynos chipset across its smartphone lineup.

According to a post on X (formerly Twitter) by tipster Jukanlosreve, the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE could come equipped with Samsung’s proprietary Exynos 2400 chipset.

This apparently follows failed negotiations between Samsung and MediaTek, which first aimed to equip the Samsung Galaxy S25 series with a MediaTek Dimensity-series chipset, before shifting focus to the S25 FE.

This corroborates an earlier post from notable phone tipster Ice Universe (via Wccftech), who recently suggested that the Samsung Galaxy S25 series will use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, rather than the Exynos 2500 or Dimensity 9400.

Some comments on Jukanlosreve’s post ask why the Galaxy S25 FE would receive the Exynos 2400 rather than the rumored flagship Exynos 2500 chipset. In response, Jukanlosreve suggests that the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE will launch in April 2025 to directly challenge the rumored iPhone SE 4, which we expect will launch in early 2025 also.

This would apparently preclude the S25 FE from using the Exynos 2500, which Jukanlosreve implies could debut with the Galaxy Z Flip 7, rumored to launch in summer 2025.

This is in contrast to the usual fall release schedule of the Galaxy S FE series, not to mention very close to the release of the latest model – in fact, we’ve only just published our Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review.

We’d suggest taking this part of the rumor with a particularly large pinch of salt for the time being, as Samsung very rarely changes its release schedules and doesn’t tend to time releases in sync with competitors.

And the rest of these rumors – though a touch more substantial – are all totally unofficial at the moment, so be sure to keep up with our Samsung coverage and phones coverage for the latest official updates as we hear them.

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Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition, which is thinner and lighter than the Galaxy Z Fold 6 while sporting larger displays and an improved camera system.

The Z Fold Special Edition also comes with 16GB of RAM to support a “‘Galaxy AI’ experience optimized for foldables” and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chipset. We’ve yet to hear about how much storage the unit ships with.

The Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition will only be available in South Korea when it launches on October 25, and the sole Black Shadow color option will cost 2,789,600 won (or roughly $2,000 / £1,550 / AU$3,000).

Leaks have pointed to a South Korea release for months, but the rumored China launch remains unconfirmed. There are currently no signs of a wider global release.

The official announcement includes comments from Sung-Taek Lim, executive vice president of Samsung Korea, who called the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition a “gesture of gratitude to domestic consumers who are leading the foldable market”.

We hope the upgrades given to the Z Fold Special Edition will make their way to the next globally released Z Fold phone – but the Z Fold 6 was just released back in August, so we might be waiting a while to find out.

With that in mind, here’s a rundown of the major upgrades coming to the Z Fold Special Edition.

Larger, wider displays

The Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition has a 6.5-inch outer display and 8-inch inner display, as compared to the 6.3-inch outer and 7.6-inch inner displays of the Galaxy Z Fold 6.

These enlargements bring Samsung back in line with its competitors, as the Z Fold 6 didn't quite catch up to rival phones like the OnePlus Open and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold when it comes to display size. And with an aspect ratio of 21:9, the outer display on the Special Edition is proportionally wider than the skinny 22:9 cover screen of the Z Fold 6.

The Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition marks the first increase in inner display size since the Z Fold 2 released in 2020, and boasts the same almost-square 20:18 aspect ratio as the inner display on the Z Fold 6.

A properly flagship camera

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition may mark a turning point for the Z Fold series by finally offering a comparable photography experience to Samsung’s flagship slab phones.

The Z Fold Special Edition comes equipped with a 200MP main wide camera, the same resolution as the main camera on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. This is a major step up from the 50MP main camera affixed to the Z Fold 6; at least on paper.

Our Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 review found its 50MP camera to be a frustrating oversight. So we’re glad to see steps towards parity with Samsung’s other ultra-premium phone and hope to see the same steps taken with the next global Z Fold release.

Thinner and lighter

Though the race to produce thinner slab phones has been over for years, in the foldable world it’s just heating up.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition boasts a folded thickness of 10.6mm, shaving off an impressive 1.5mm as compared to the Z Fold 6.

At 236g, it’s also 3g lighter than the Z Fold 6 – a modest improvement, but still a welcome boost for one handed use.

This means the Z Fold Special Edition is both thinner and lighter than most other flagship folding phones, slimmer than both the OnePlus Open or Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold but still beaten by the Honor Magic V3.

We’d like to see Samsung keep the same competitive spirit when it comes to the design of the next global Z Fold phone, too.

As mentioned, we aren’t likely to see a global release for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition, but we’d otherwise have expected to see this new phone land a spot on our lists of the best Samsung phones and best folding phones.

And as ever, for the latest updates be sure to check in with our Samsung phones coverage.

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Samsung has released a new video teaser, which we think hints at an impending launch for the long-rumored Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 SE.

The video shows a person carrying an envelope through a hallway before revealing a tablet-sized device with the words “You’re Invited” displayed on the screen – we think this device has a solid chance of being the Galaxy Z Fold 6 SE, previously known as the Galaxy Z Fold Slim.

Confusingly, the translated press release that accompanies this video states a reveal date of October 21, while the video itself suggests an event on October 24. It’s possible that these are sequential reveal and release dates, but we can’t say for sure.

The main selling point of the Z Fold 6 SE is expected to be its design – even the earliest rumors referred to it as a thinner version of the flagship Galaxy Z Fold 6. We’ve seen estimates for folded thickness that vary from 7.7mm to 11.5mm, and the latest rumor from GSMArena points to an impressive unfolded thickness of 4.9mm.

More recently, we’ve seen suggestions that the Z Fold 6 SE will feature a less prominent crease through the center of the inner display, which would allay one of our last remaining complaints with Samsung’s Z Fold devices.

And yet more rumors claim the Z Fold SE will have larger displays than its predecessor, with Korean news outlet Financial News (via 9to5Google) suggesting a 6.5-inch cover display and 8-inch inner display.

The Galaxy Z Fold 6 was released on July 24, meaning it’s far too soon for a fully-fledged sequel. As for other clues in the teaser, the envelope could hint at the device’s thinness, and the “You’re Invited” wording certainly feels exclusive enough for a ‘special edition’.

The 11-second teaser was uploaded to Samsung’s Korean-language Samsung Newsroom YouTube channel, but is conspicuously absent from the equivalent US or UK channels.

This tracks with prior rumors: as we previously reported, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 SE will likely be exclusive to Korea and China when it finally launches.

For now, much of the above is based on rumors, but it seems like we won’t have to wait long for official details. It’s very unlikely that the Samsung Galaxy Fold 6 SE will launch worldwide, but this is otherwise poised to be one of the best folding phones on release.

For the latest official updates as we hear them, be sure to keep up with our Samsung phones coverage.

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A supposed leak may have detailed the internal specs of the rumored Samsung Galaxy A36 5G, the sequel to our favorite cheap Samsung phone, the Galaxy A35.

The leak, courtesy of 91mobiles, suggests the follow-up to our beloved A35 could use a years-old Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chipset. It comprises a report from benchmarking service Geekbench which lists the chipset as “parrot”, which PhoneArena reports is a likely codename for the two-year-old Snapdragon Gen 1.

The phone used for this test carries the model number SM-A366B and runs Android 15, scoring 314 in Geekbench’s single core test and 1,279 in the multi-core test.

We rely more on real-world experience than benchmarks in our testing, but this really isn’t a good score. However, we have to allow a large margin of error for what could be a prototype device or unreliable information.

For reference, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 launched in September 2022, and wasn’t exactly a flagship-level chipset at the time, so two years later we’re not sure if it’ll keep up with more demanding tasks.

Our Samsung Galaxy A35 review saw the phone pick up points for its “snappy” performance and surprising gaming ability. So while we don’t expect flagship-tier performance from its midrange follow up, we’d like to see the Galaxy A36 keep pace with the ever-increasing demands of everyday phone use.

However, a closer look at the leaked Geekbench report reveals that the chipset has two sets of cores, clocked at 1.8GHz and 2.4GHz respectively, which aligns more closely with the power of this year’s Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chipset.

A more modern Snapdragon chipset would almost certainly improve on the Samsung-made Exynos 1380 chipset found within the Galaxy A35, but we’re still too light on details to offer any serious predictions.

For now, the above remains based entirely on rumor, so be sure to keep up with our Samsung phones coverage for the latest updates.

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A new update has reportedly bricked older Samsung Galaxy models, according to reports from owners.

Samsung users on Reddit and X (formerly Twitter) have suggested that a recent update has caused the Galaxy S10, Galaxy Note 10, Galaxy S10e to begin bootlooping. Android Authority reports the Galaxy M51 may also be affected.

According to X user negativeonehero, a tech news aggregator who rejects the title “tipster”, the issue seems to be caused by an update to Samsung’s SmartThings smart-home connection service and is affecting phones running Android 12 or lower.

Thankfully, owners of Samsung’s newer phones – such as the Galaxy S24, S24 Plus, S24 Ultra, and any other units running newer versions of Android – seem to be in the clear.

A thread by user rthompsonv on the r/samsunggalaxy subreddit detailing the issues has garnered more than 300 responses in less than 24 hours – many of them corroborating complaints of a forced update and subsequent bricking.

“I work at a cell phone store and I’ve had 5+ people come in with S10s in boot loop today – we haven’t even been open for an hour yet,” replied user MightyJoeTYoung.

For those not familiar, bootlooping refers to an uncontrollable cycle of restarts. It’s a known symptom of data corruption, operating system failure, or hardware breakdown, so the worry from Samsung owners about this latest bug is more than understandable.

Other users have shared concerns to X, where at the time of writing a search for “Samsung S10” returns a long list of user complaints.

User themboderg complained about their Galaxy S10 and received a response from Samsung Australia suggesting they book in at a Samsung service center. themboderg’s subsequent response implies that they were advised to factory reset their device.

Luckily, it looks like a fix is on the way – Samsung hasn’t made any announcements, but negativeonehero has noticed an incoming patch to Samsung SmartThings Framework, which may be intended to fix the bootlooping.

Of course, it’s not clear whether those with phones stuck in a bootloop will be able to access the update, given that their handset may have been rendered unusable.

Some social media users report that a factory reset of the affected device fixes the issue, but we’d advise Galaxy users to wait for an official announcement from Samsung before doing this and permanently erasing their data.

Until then, be sure to keep up with our Samsung phones coverage for the latest updates.

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Images of the rumored Samsung Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition have apparently been leaked, giving us a first look at the supposedly slimmed-down foldable. 

The pictures, shared by Android Headlines, show a device that looks similar overall to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, with the same rounded square profile, tall cover screen, and three vertically stacked rear cameras.

The camera module is more prominent than on the Galaxy Z Fold 6, though, which would suggest the rest of the Z Fold Special Edition is indeed thinner if the cameras are the same size on both models.

Some rumors have pointed to a 200MP main camera on this new slimmed-down Z Fold, an upgrade to the 50MP camera on the Z Fold 6.

Sources are divided on exactly how much thickness Samsung is shaving off for this supposed new model. We’ve heard that it could be as thin as 7.7mm, though Android Headlines previously suggested a folded thickness of 10.5mm, and 9to5Google proposed 11.5mm in July.

If any of these suggestions turn out to be correct, the special edition will be thinner than the Z Fold 6, which measures 12.1mm when folded.

Prior rumors have pointed to an external screen size of 6.5 inches and an internal screen size of 8 inches for this new entry in Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold lineup, though the images give us no frame of reference with which to check this claim.

The leaked images also display a brushed metal rear cover, which previous rumors suggest may be made of titanium.

If true, this switch would bring the Special Edition closer to the flagship Galaxy S24 Ultra than the Z Fold 6 construction-wise.

Slim, Ultra, or Special Edition?

We have previously reported on rumors of a thinner Samsung foldable as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold Slim. Suggestions of a spec-boosted Galaxy Z Fold Ultra have also circulated online. 

Notable leaker Evan Blass recently claimed that the device is likely to be called the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition. 

This could be because the term ‘slim’ rarely indicates upgraded specs in the tech world apart from a device’s dimensions. And, as mentioned, the Special Edition is rumored to receive some design and camera upgrades. 

As the Special Edition is rumored to only be getting a release in China and South Korea, Samsung may want to avoid using its “Ultra” branding on a regional product. 

Of course, all of the above is based on rumors at this point in time, so be sure to keep up with our phones coverage for the latest updates. 

And if you’re looking to pick up a foldable for yourself, check out our guide to the best folding phones. 

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It’s hard to believe it, but the 2024 Paris Olympic Games will close on August 11, and the Paralympics will finish on September 8. After the medal events, Olympians and Paralympians will head back home … and they’ll all be carrying a new phone with them.

As with previous Olympic Games, Samsung is a sponsor and gave each Olympic and Paralympic Athlete a special edition of its latest folding flip phone. Its aptly named Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 Olympic Edition comes complete with a special edition leather Flip suitcase. It’s also a very limited run, with only about 17,000 of them made.

There is a good chance you’ve seen an unboxing of it on social, especially if you're on Olympic TikTok. If you’ve been watching the games, alongside the tremendous talent of each athlete, there is one thing in common among all who score bronze, silver, or gold. A victory selfie shot with a small, square-looking yellow phone – the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6. 

The Galaxy Z Flip 6 Olympic Edition is much like the one you and I can buy, and you can read our in-depth Z Flip 6 review. It’s the same Yellow shade available to all, with some custom graphics on the back – namely the Olympic and Paralympic logos, noting that Samsung is an official sponsor.

On the device, you’ll find the same Samsung OneUI atop Android, and many pre-loaded apps that would be useful while at the Olympic Village. It also has a custom boot screen with a note from Samsung to Paralympians and Olympians. The case itself displays a custom wallpaper on the front and offers a nice pop of color and some protection between the mix of plastic and leather. You can watch us unbox the Galaxy Z Flip 6 Olympic Edition below.

Aside from that, it’s the same Galaxy Z Flip 6, with a 3.4-inch cover screen and 6.7-inch main screen, both of which are AMOLEDs for a vibrant viewing experience. As far as cameras go, two lenses on the front come in handy when taking a selfie with an Olympic medal or just taking pics on a normal day. The 50-megapixel wide and 12-megapixel ultra wide lenses both use the cover screen as an easy viewfinder.

Above, you can see some promotional photos of athletes using the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 Olympic Edition on the podium to take a selfie on one of the grandest stages in the world. If you’re keen to see the Olympic Edition of this folding phone or own one and aren’t an Olympian or a Paralympian, a few of them have been popping up on resale sites like eBay.

As I write this, I see well over a handful on eBay – some brand-new in the box and others slightly used – for as low as $1,500 (USD), but many with bids at a higher cost. You can see the search results for the phone here; some even call out the included e-sim with data to get started.

Of course, if you want to take a victory selfie yourself, you can get a standard Galaxy Z Flip 6, which boasts many of the same features minus the Paralympic or Olympic logos and no limited-edition case. From Samsung, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 starts at $1,099, but as always, there are several promotions and discounts available.

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Samsung's latest foldable phones officially went on sale only a few days ago, and while I was thoroughly impressed by everything I've seen about the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 in the lead up to their launch, if I’m honest, foldable phones have alway seemed like a bit of a gimmick to me.

Don't get me wrong, I understand the appeal of a big screen, and the additional capabilities that enables versus a regular-sized phone. And I'll never get tired of watching a smartphone unfold.

But I'm an enthusiastic flag bearer in the Phones Are Too Big army, so a phone that folds out to be 7.6-inches seemed like it would be my worst nightmare. I mean, I loved my iPhone 12 mini and I've been calling for that smaller form factor to be brought back. Sure, it's nice to have a bigger display on hand, but if size is really that important, surely pulling a tablet out of your bag isn’t that much more hassle, is it?

Tablets typically come with screens that are at least 10-inches too, and isn't bigger better? They're cheaper too – you could pair almost any one of our regular-sized best phones recommendations with one of the best tablets for less than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6's entry price of $1,899.99 / £1,799 / AU$2,749.

Of course, all of these were the thoughts of a man before he got his hands on a Galaxy Z Fold 6. Now that I've had my hands on it, I'm not sure I can go back to a boring, stiff, regular-sized smartphone.

Phone-use has never been more productive

Before we get into the (more) fun stuff, I want to talk about how the Fold 6 upgraded my daily productivity. Not just in regards to work, but just generally throughout the day. I said before that I didn't see the benefit of a foldable phone over just a phone and tablet combo. That opinion was blown away almost instantly.

It was the phones multitasking ability that really took things to the next level and had me working like Bradley Cooper in Limitless, but it turns out the ability to have a huge screen in the blink of an eye can make a big difference on its own. 

It turns out, not having to pull the tablet or laptop out of your bag for a larger screen is worth the price of admission. From watching YouTube or scrolling through socials on the Fold 6’s cover screen, to unfolding it fully to read books in the Kindle app or catch up on the news in the gloriously roomy web browser, that extra space is a luxury I'm going to struggle to go without. 

When you add work-related matters into the fold (pun intended), there's an even bigger impact on productivity. Reading is a breeze on the Fold 6, whether it's emails, Slack messages or a book, you won't find a better experience without the e-ink of one of our best ereaders, but it's also a breeze to type on. Whether holding it in two hands or typing away with it on a desk, I had no issue whipping up a thousand words with it. Providing the ease of use of a phone and the functionality of a tiny laptop, it makes working on the go a piece of cake.

It's the multi-tasking ability of the Fold 6 that makes it a productivity machine, though. With up to four apps displayed on screen at one time, you can be in a meeting, type up notes, continue watching YouTube and have Slack open all at the same time. Or, if you're feeling naughty, four different forms of entertainment.

That's just the beginning of how the Fold 6 improved my work flow.

I'm against AI, but when it helps me like this…

I'm generally anti-AI. It's scary, confusing and will probably take my job one day. But I have to admit, when it works like it does in the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, it's hard to be too mad.

The AI functionality is funny, because it improves productivity by letting you do less work, rather than helping you do work easier. Samsung Internet's AI summaries, rather than sucking up hours of my day gathering information and reading articles to find a few noteworthy points, I could acquire the required knowledge in seconds, and get on with the important work.

When I was just looking for quick info, or a round-up of major ideas and key points, the time saved by the AI-powered summary is unbelievable. Summarizing thousands of words into a few key dot points is a real life-saver if you're just looking for some general info, are going through various articles on the same subject, or just want to catch up on the latest news. 

It doesn't stop there though. With my screen split in two, I typed up notes while researching… and was left with my usual muddled mess that I have to spend an annoying amount of time formatting and making neat. Galaxy AI took care of that cleanup for me, automatically formatting my notes, as well as correcting any spelling mistakes. It can translate your notes in seconds too.

Fun and games

Those are the features that can upgrade your work, but I found there was plenty of fun to be had with the Z Fold 6 too. We'll get into the embarrassing amount of time I spent adding AI cats into photos, but the first thing I did with the Z Fold 6 was download some of my favorite games and play them on the big screen, and I have no regrets.

A big vibrant display is the best place for games like Marvel Snap or Hearthstone, and being able to unfold my phone, play a game in the best format possible and then just close it up and return to using the Fold 6 like a regular phone was a wonderful feeling. 

OK, now back to those dang AI cats. While I'm sure Samsung’s Galaxy AI photo generation and editing tools will be incredibly helpful for some jobs, using them was a case of pure enjoyment for me, and it didn't get old. Whether I was adding things into photos or turning my terrible sketches into the stuff of nightmares, I was thoroughly impressed by how good it was at picking up what I was attempting to draw. (Well, except for that one time it thought my cat was a miniature rhino.) 

One disappointing thing that I should mention is that videos like YouTube or Aussie streaming platform Kayo Sports don't go full-screen like I had hoped. The result is that while the Fold 6’s main display does make videos slightly larger than viewing them on the cover display, it’s not a huge difference – though it is more comfortable to hold when unfolded. You can optionally zoom in, but the sides of most videos will get cut off, which is decidedly sub-optimal.

Final thoughts

Before my time with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, I never dreamed of using my phone to scroll through Reddit while watching baseball highlights, but I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed being able to do so. I found myself unfolding the Fold 6 basically any time I was sitting down and using it, or standing stationary on the bus and reading.

As for the cover display and its narrower and taller form factor, I had no major issues. And while the Fold 6 is undoubtedly a thick device – basically one-and-a-half phones stacked on top of each other – and I didn't love sliding it in and out of my pocket, it is both relatively sleek and comfortable to hold for its size. 

Now, while I personally won't be shelling out the wad of cash to pick up a Galaxy Z Fold 6 (my membership in the Phones Are Too Big army is far too precious), I'm no longer under any cloud as to why it could be a worthwhile purchase for someone else. And as for the old tablet + phone versus a foldable debate, I’ll happily admit that I'm now in the foldable camp.

You might also like...

• Find out more about this phone in our full Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 review
• Sketching on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is an excellent experience
• Want a smaller foldable? Check out our Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 review

Unfortunately, repairing your Galaxy phone has become more difficult. Best Buy is officially ending a partnership deal with Samsung and will no longer be an authorized service provider (ASP) for Galaxy smartphones. 

In a new report, TheVerge posted a screenshot of an internal document that was sent out to Geek Squad employees informing them of the program’s shutdown with text stating, “Samsung ASP is ending in all SASP locations.” 

Below the announcement is a series of instructions telling employees to start collecting any and all Galaxy phone parts, as they’ll be returned to Samsung. If you weren’t aware, the ASP program allowed technicians at Best Buy to fix Samsung mobile devices. It wasn’t as wide-reaching since repairs could only be done at certain locations, but this change does make things tougher for Galaxy users.

Best Buy is one of the largest electronics retailers in the United States with over 1,000 locations, but with the company ending support, it leaves owners with few options.

On-going shutdown

The program is currently in the process of being shut down, at the time of this writing. Best Buy’s page, where you could previously find every location authorized as a service provider for Galaxy devices, has been wiped clean. All that remains is an error message. 

What’s more, all mentions of Samsung repairs have been scrubbed from their website, according to 9To5Google. Samsung itself has done something similar to its service center locator, as Best Buy stores no longer show up in the listings either.

It’s unknown why the program is ending, and neither company has offered any explanation. We did reach out to both Samsung and Best Buy but have yet to hear back from either side. 

Best Buy spokesperson Katie Klister told TheVerge the brand is working with Samsung to figure out a way to best support their customers moving forward. Mario Renato de Castro, Samsung’s head of mobile customer care, echoed the same sentiment while also adding that the company offers other repair services such as mail-in fixing.

Analysis: Cost-cutting measure

We should mention that Best Buy isn't the first to do this. iFixit terminated its own collaboration with Samsung, stating the tech giant’s “approach towards repairability does not align with [their] mission.” Could this be related to Best Buy’s latest decision? Maybe, but it's hard to say for sure.

At the end of their story, TheVerge references a call from Best Buy CEO Corie Barry, saying the two companies will continue working together closely. In fact, they’re expanding their partnership with Samsung by having experts stationed “in appliances departments across hundreds of stores.” It appears the decision to shut down phone repairs was a cost-cutting measure, and perhaps that side of the business wasn't doing so well.

It is still possible to get a Galaxy phone fixed at a Best Buy although it requires you to meet certain conditions. You must have bought your device at Best Buy and needed to have purchased a Geek Squad Cell Phone Complete Protection insurance plan. 

Alternatively, you can take it to a UBreakiFix location. There are about 700 stores in the United States, and you can find where they are using the UBreakiFix locator.

Be sure to check out TechRadar's list of the best cheap phone for 2024 if you're interested in a low-cost option.

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• We might have just gotten our first look at Samsung's next-gen Galaxy Fold and Flip
• Samsung Galaxy A55 review: mid tier has never looked so high end
• Motorola's 2024 Edge mid-ranger is bigger, better, and more affordable

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 Samsung 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 Samsung Galaxy 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.

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 as too big, though. While I admittedly have large hands and had no issue using the Galaxy A54, I found the A55’s aluminum frame distinctly 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.

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
• Samsung Galaxy A55 launch date: 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.

The Galaxy A55 is available in two storage options – 128GB and 256GB – both with only 8GB of RAM (a 12GB RAM Galaxy A55 exists, but I could only find it on Samsung India, priced at ₹45,999 which directly converts to AU$827 / £434) . However, you won't be restricted by storage, as the Samsung Galaxy A55 5G provides up to 1TB of extra storage with the addition of 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 Samsung Galaxy A55 is almost as durable as it is beautiful.

Unfortunately, that big sleek, glossy glass back cover isn’t without drawbacks, as I discovered 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.

While UK customers will have access to the full gamut of Galaxy A55 colors, there's one design factor that the A55 has retained from its predecessor, Australian customers only get two of four available colorways. 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 personal preference, with Awesome IceBlue and Awesome Lemon added into the fold.

• Design Score: 4.5/5

Samsung Galaxy A55 review: Display

• 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 Galaxy A55's brightness peaks at 1000 nits, and did not say that about the A54, 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.

The Samsung Galaxy A55 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 makes using it in a dark room more than comfortable. 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 Galaxy 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. And, 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

• 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

• 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.

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 good camera, but not much more. 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.

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.

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

• 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 Samsung Galaxy A55 felt excellent during my time with it. From Spotify, Instagram, Reddit, YouTube, Netflix to the camera, the Galaxy 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.

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.

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 Galaxy 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 Galaxy 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.

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 its successor 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 I 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.

Read more about how we test

[First reviewed May 2024]

• Find the best deals on Samsung products with our Samsung promo codes.

Samsung is expanding the availability of OneUI 6.1 to multiple devices across the Galaxy ecosystem. With the latest roll out, AI features that had been exclusive to the Galaxy S24 series will find a home on the best Samsung phones and tablets from 2023. 

The full list of supported devices includes the entire Galaxy S23 family, with the mid-range Galaxy S23 FE, the Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy Z Flip 5, and the Galaxy Tab S9 series.

The update will encompass multiple tools to help people tackle a variety of tasks. Chief among these is Circle to Search. Made in collaboration with Google, this AI tool lets you learn about a subject on screen either by circling what you see. Doing so brings up Google Search results on that subject down at the bottom.

Real-time translation

The OneUI 6.1 update also includes Live Translate. Live Translate “allows for two-way text and voice translation ... in real time”. You can use the Live Translate feature with a phone call, and your Galaxy device will be able to play back only the translation, giving you the closing thing you'll find to a Star Trek universal translator.

The third major feature is Chat Assist. Samsung's Chat Assist is part of the Samsung Keyboard, and it can offer suggestions to improve your messages. It will mostly offer stylistic changes with help from generative AI to create new styles, like a more professional or a more emoji-filled message. It will also clean up your spelling and grammar while it's making these changes. 

Finally, we have Generative Edit for images. Generative Edit can change images significantly, adding or changing the background, or removing pieces entirely. You can move and resize parts of the image, and Generative Edit will create new pieces to fill in gaps as necessary. The feature is very similar to Google's Magic Editor in Google Photos on the Pixel phones, but isn't exactly the same. 

It’s important to mention there are other features coming with One UI 6.1, although it’s unknown if the likes of Browsing Assist or Edit Suggestions will be present. The former can create "comprehensive summaries of news articles” while the latter offers advice on how to beautify photos. Once our phones are updated, we'll know for sure. 

Availability

Keep an eye out for the update as it’ll be releasing soon. Roll out begins Thursday, March 28. There is a way to try out the new features before you download. First, head over to the official Try Galaxy page, then install the app. You’ll be given an on-device demo of the Galaxy S24 UI where you can see the AI features in action.

There is a chance OneUI 6.1 will come to the Galaxy S22 series. At a recent shareholder meeting, TM Roh, President and Head of MX Business at Samsung, teased the “AI features could be coming to older Galaxy phones”, however nothing is set in stone at the moment.

Be sure to check out TechRadar's roundup of the best Samsung phones for 2024 if you're looking to make the jump.

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Samsung has taken the wraps off its latest mid-range Galaxy A series devices, which not only usher in improved photography skills, but also introduce security features never before seen on the A series. 

The Galaxy A55 5G (top, left) and Galaxy A35 5G (top, right) – both of which will be available from March 25 – aim to continue Samsung’s dominance in offering some of the best cheap phones, with features being filtered down from the flagship S24 series but in a more affordable package. 

Chief among these features are Samsung Knox Vault and Samsung Knox. The former, Samsung says, provides protection against hardware and software attacks by “constructing an environment that is physically isolated from the system’s memory.” Knox Vault is also where your most valuable data can be stored, such as passwords and PIN codes, and is only accessible to users who know the lock screen credentials. This means if either of the new Galaxy A series phones are lost or stolen, anyone who finds them won’t be able to access this valuable data. 

Same same, but different

Not only do the Galaxy A55 5G and Galaxy A35 5G share the same suite of security tools, but they also share the same 6.6-inch full HD+ Super AMOLED display with up to 120Hz refresh rate. They both get 5,000mAh batteries, which Samsung claims should comfortably see you through two days of use.

Where the two phones differ is in the camera and memory departments. While they both share the same 50MP main and 5MP macro sensors, the Galaxy A55 5G gets a 12MP ultra-wide camera compared to the A35’s 8MP variant. These camera setups are essentially the same as their predecessors, with the main difference being the A35’s main sensor has been bumped up from 48MP to 50MP. 

Despite having the same camera hardware as the previous models, Samsung claims the A55 5G in particular will be capable of taking, “clearer and more vibrant photos even in poor lighting,” compared to the A54 thanks to new AI Image Signal Processing. There’s no mention as to whether the A35 gets the same capabilities, but both do get optical image stabilisation to help prevent your pictures suffering from motion blur. 

We said in our Samsung Galaxy A54 5G review that the triple-lens camera setup produced good photos at its price point and was also a strong performer in low light. It will be interesting to see how much of an improvement – if any – the A55 5G's new AI smarts will make.

The slightly better-specced Galaxy A55 receives 8GB of RAM compared to the A35’s 6GB, but both get the same 128GB of storage. Interestingly, there’s no mention of expansion via microSD card, which was available on both the A54 and A34 devices. 

The Samsung Galaxy A55 5G will launch in Awesome Navy and Awesome Lilac colours, while the A35 5G will arrive in Awesome Navy and Awesome Ice Blue finishes. Both will be available directly from Samsung for AU$699 and AU$549, respectively. Customers who buy the Galaxy A55 5G directly from Samsung before April 15 will receive a bonus pair of Galaxy Buds FE. 

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• Samsung’s new Galaxy AI features are only free for a limited time
• Five reasons to upgrade to the Samsung Galaxy S24
• Samsung’s big One UI 6.1 update is rolling out soon – here are the 7 best new features

The upcoming Samsung Galaxy S25 series could see Samsung abandoning Snapdragon chips and opting for its own Exynos processors for all models globally. 

According to somewhat-reliable tipster Connor on X the next-generation Galaxy phones could see Samsung once again drop having a range of phones with two different chips. The last time Samsung did this it was with the Samsung Galaxy S23 phones, which all used Qualcomm's Snapdragon silicon. However, 2025's rumored Galaxy phone could flip that and see Samsung go all-in on its own in-house designed Exynos chips. 

While there's precedent for such a move, do take this with a dose of skepticism as Connor noted the tip is “just a rumor I heard.. not my source” without any further explanation. 

In the current Galaxy S24 models, the standard and Plus variants use Exynos chips outside of the US and Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chips within America. Other nations where Samsung operates tend to use Exynos chips in the latest Galaxy phones, with the exception of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, which gets the Snapdragon part.

The standard thinking has been, and still is, that Qualcomm chips deliver better performance and power efficiency than their Exynos counterparts, which have reportedly suffered from overheating and battery drain problems in the past. 

But the Exynos 2400 chipset used in the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus performed better than many expected, offering significant improvements compared to the previous Exynos 2200, as well as chasing the power of the Snapdragon chip; in practical terms, we reckon you'd have to really go looking to see much practical performance difference between the two chips.  

However, if there's some weight behind the all-Exynos rumor for the Galaxy S25 – and for the record, we think that may be ambitious – it would be an indication that Samsung believes its in-house chip can beat the silicon that powers many of the best Android phones you can buy today. 

Alternatively, Samsung could go down the Exynos route by baking in hardware-specific features that only its chips can run. But we've heard no rumors or hints to back that up. 

And it's early days for Galaxy S25 rumors, so we'll just have to wait and see what platys out. But don't let that stop you from taking a punt on one of our best phones right now as you're not likely to be left disappointed. 

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Samsung was a pioneer of the folding phone, and the Galaxy Z Fold series constantly ranks among the best foldable phones on the market. So we’re excited to see what could be next for the line – and rumored to be on the horizon is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, and possibly a Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra.

It's the Ultra model that's caught our eye here. There's now a lot more competition in the folding phone market, notably in the shape of the OnePlus Open and the Google Pixel Fold. So there's some logic to Samsung potentially looking to stand out from the pack it arguably helped create with a premium version of the Fold.

If legitimate, a Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra would effectively take the Fold 6 as the baseline and integrate in features found in the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: say a built-in S Pen and 200MP camera.

This new model might be about to arrive very soon, so read on for what we know so far about the so-called Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra and what we'd like to see from the phone.

Cut to the chase

•  What is it? A rumored new ultra-premium foldable from Samsung 
•  When is it out? It could be July 10 or maybe not until 2025
•  How much will it cost? Likely more than $1,799 / £1,749 / AU$2,599

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra: potential release date and price

If Samsung does unveil a Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra, it'll likely take place at the next Galaxy Unpacked event, which is now set for July 10 in Paris. The Z Fold 6 Ultra will probably be launched alongside the rumored Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6, as well as the Galaxy Ring. 

However, a model number for a South Korean version of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra has been spotted, and the source claims there's no sign of models for other regions, so it might not be widely available. This was given more weight with battery certification spotted that hints at another Fold model coming, which is expected to take the from of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra. 

There's also a chance it won't come at all, as one leak has pointed to only a standard Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 launching this year, suggesting the Ultra model might have been delayed or canceled.

If and when it does launch, as a Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra would be a more premium version of Samsung’s already expensive folding flagship, we’d expect it to cost a fair bit more than the Galaxy Z Fold 5’s starting price of $1,799.99 / £1,749 / AU$2,599.  

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra: potential design

Rumors website Smartprix partnered with @OnLeaks to produce detailed, 5K renders of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra. They also provide a 360-degree video and possible specs, which give us some idea of what we might be able to expect from an Ultra variant of Samsung’s next Fold.

If the renders are to be believed, Samsung  will shake-up its design for the Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra – and presumably for the ‘standard’ Galaxy Z Fold 6 – moving away from the gentle curves used in the Galaxy S series and the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and adopting the more angular design seen on the Galaxy S24 Ultra and Galaxy S23 Ultra.  

The renders point to the Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra being slightly shorter but wider than the Fold 5, measuring 153.5 x 132.5 x 6.1mm compared to 154.9 x 129.9 x 6.1mm of its predecessor.

The renders also match the look of a prototype Galaxy Z Fold 6 design that leaker IceUniverse posted last year. If both are accurate then the design for the next-generation Fold phones may draw from the aesthetics of the Galaxy S24 Ultra. 

We've also heard talk of a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Slim and a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Slim Pro, though the sources suggest that these devices and the Ultra could all be the same thing.

In any case, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 Slim will reportedly have a bigger screen and a slimmer build than the standard Z Fold 6, but won't support Samsung's S Pen stylus.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra: what we want to see

Improved display and toughness

There are a few things we’d like to see in a Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra, but topping our list is something we’d like to see less of: the crease in the center of the main screen. Samsung has tended to make this less noticeable and distracting with each iteration of the Galaxy Z Fold – so could the Galaxy Z Fold 6, and a potential Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra, be the first phones on which Samsung manages to make it disappear completely? 

Such a move would likely require the use of improved ultra-thin glass, but Samsung's display arm continues to produce impressive foldable and rollable AMOLED screens, so there's certainly scope to further reduce a Fold's crease or get rid of it completely.

Going by the rumors so far, the cover screen would likely keep the narrow 6.2-inch size seen on the Galaxy Z Fold 5, rather than a larger 6.4-inch panel other rumors have mentioned. If that’s the case it could be a wasted opportunity on Samsung’s part, as a wider cover display can make for a more usable foldable phone when it's closed. 

We hope that Samsung would make use of the Corning Gorilla Glass Armor to protect the cover display, as that's being used in the Galaxy S24 Ultra, so sees like a good feature for an phone bearing the Ultra suffix.

And an IP52 rating dust and water resistance rating, as seen in the Motorola Razr Plus, would be appreciated too. That's because while the Galaxy Z Fold 5 had an IPX8 water resistance rating it lacked dust protection, which we feel is important due the the complex moving parts in folding phones that run the risk of being gunked up with dust or grime.  

Proper Ultra-grade cameras

The Galaxy Z Fold 5's camera system was rather good, but it was unchanged from the Galaxy Z Fold 4’s 50MP, f/1.8 wide, 10MP, f/2.4, telephoto, and 12MP, f/2.2 ultra-wide combo. 

We’re hoping that Samsung updates this with something closer to the Galaxy S24 Ultra‘s more impressive camera setup, which features a 200MP, f/1.7 main camera, 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide, 50MP, f/3.4, periscope telephoto with 5x optical zoom, and a 10MP, f/2.4, telephoto offering 3x optical zoom. However, if the specifications in Smartprix's renders are for the Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra and not a standard Z Fold 6 then fans could be very disappointed, as they lack camera specs with an Ultra flavor. 

It's no secret that the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is the best Samsung phone money can buy, but if you're not prepared to spend a small fortune on what is, quite frankly, too much phone for most people, then the Samsung Galaxy S24 and Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus are absolutely worth considering instead.

But which phone is the better of the two? You'll find our full verdict on both handsets in our Samsung Galaxy S24 review and Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus review, but in this guide, we compare the specs, features and performance of the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus directly.

For more head-to-head Samsung content, check out our Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus vs Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra comparison, as well as our Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comparison.

Samsung Galaxy S24 vs Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus: Specs

Before we get more granular, here’s an at-a-glance look at the key Samsung Galaxy S24 specs boasted by the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus.

Samsung Galaxy S24 vs Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus: Price and availability

The Samsung Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus were announced at Samsung’s latest Galaxy Unpacked event on January 17, 2024. Both phones are available to order now in a choice of seven Samsung Galaxy S24 colors (more on these later).

The Galaxy S24 costs $799 / £799 / AU$1,399 for the base configuration (8GB RAM / 128GB storage), and rises to $859 / £859 / AU$1,399 for the model with 8GB RAM / 256GB storage. In Australia, there's also a third Galaxy S24 variant with 8GB RAM / 512GB, which costs AU$1,599.

The Galaxy S24 Plus costs $999.99 / £999 / AU$1,699 for the base configuration (12GB RAM / 256GB storage), and rises to $1,119.99 / £1,099 / AU$1,899 for the model with 12GB RAM / 512GB storage. 

So, if you’re running on a tighter budget in 2024, then the Galaxy S24 has the clear advantage right out of the gate: it’s $200 / £200 / AU$300 cheaper than the Galaxy S24 Plus. If you're interested, you can see our best Galaxy S24 deals page for a roundup of the current best deals.

Samsung Galaxy S24 vs Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus: Design and display

Notwithstanding the latter's larger size, the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus are identical phones – at least in terms of how they look.

Specifically, the Galaxy S24 measures 147 x 70.6 x 7.6mm and weighs 167g, while the Galaxy S24 Plus measures 158.5 x 75.9 x 7.7mm and weighs 196g. The former has a 6.2-inch AMOLED display, while the latter has a larger 6.7-inch AMOLED display.

Both phones have slightly narrower bezels, slightly flatter edges, and more durable Armor Aluminum frames than their respective predecessors, though their design upgrades aren't anywhere near as dramatic as those you'll find on the titanium-clad Galaxy S24 Ultra. For the most part, these are classic-looking Samsung phones, and your preference for one or the other will likely depend on your preference for compact or large-screened devices. 

As for the Samsung Galaxy S24 colors, the Galaxy S24 Plus ships in Onyx Black, Marble Gray, Cobalt Violet, Amber Yellow, Sandstone Orange, Sapphire Blue and Jade Green. The latter three colors are exclusive to the Samsung store.

Where the Galaxy S24 Plus does pull away from its little brother is through the sharpness of its 6.7-inch display. The larger phone has a WQHD+ screen, which brings it closer to the Galaxy S24 Ultra in terms of sharpness and detail. By contrast, the Galaxy S24 uses an FHD+ screen, which is still gloriously colorful and bright, but the Galaxy S24 Plus is objectively better in this regard.

Both phones, however, get the same 2,600-nit peak brightness, as well as improved outdoor visibility thanks to Samsung’s Vision Booster feature. Their refresh rates are the same, too – you’ll get 1-120Hz (instead of the 48-120Hz offered by the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Plus).

Samsung Galaxy S24 vs Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus: Cameras

The cameras (and camera tricks) on the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus are identical. Both devices retain their respective predecessors' 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).

Mind you, that's not necessarily a criticism; both the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus deliver consistently bright, detailed and natural-looking images, even if you'll get much more photographic versatility from the camera-focused Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Both phones share the same AI-powered photography tools, too, which let you re-compose and remaster photos. Generative Edit can fill in parts of an image background with generative AI; Edit Suggestion uses Galaxy AI to suggest suitable photo tweaks; Super HDR reveals lifelike previews before the shutter is ever pressed, and Instant Slow-mo can generate additional frames to add more detail to videos.

In other words, it's a straight draw between the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus when it comes to cameras.

Samsung Galaxy S24 vs Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus: Performance and software

The performance credentials of the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus are similar, but not the same. Both devices boast either Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset or Samsung's own Exynos 2400 chipset, and the chipset you get will depend on the region in which you live. 

In previous years, this chipset discrepancy has led to some regions getting better Samsung phones than others, but in the case of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and Exynos 2400, we think the performance differences are marginal (read: you'll get fantastic performance from both chipsets).

App-based multi-tasking and heavy-duty video recording won't be a problem on either the Galaxy S24 or Galaxy S24 Plus, though the latter does ship with 12GB RAM as standard (rather than 8GB RAM), so the Galaxy S24 Plus is the slightly more powerful of the two phones, if you're comparing base models. In layman's terms, the more RAM a phone has, the better it is at handling resource-intensive applications. 

With regards to gaming, both the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus offer ray tracing support, so neither phone would look out of place on our list of the best gaming phones. Again, though, the superior 12GB RAM capacity of the Galaxy S24 Plus should result in marginally better gaming performance for that device.

Both phones have exactly the same software – namely Android 14 with the latest version of Samsung’s One UI on top. As such, both phones also share the same Galaxy AI features, which range from real-time text and call translation to generative photo editing.

In terms of how long each device is supported, Samsung has committed to seven years of OS updates and seven years of security updates for every phone in the Galaxy S24 line, so it's a draw in that regard, too.

Samsung Galaxy S24 vs Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus: Battery life

The Galaxy S24 has a 4,000mAh battery, while the larger Galaxy S24 Plus has a 4,900mAh battery. Both phones offer objectively impressive battery life – you'll get well over a day's worth of use from either device – but the Galaxy S24 Plus is the undisputed battery life king of the Galaxy S24 range.

In our testing, the Exynos-equipped Galaxy S24 Plus lasted well over a day and a half with moderate use, even with the always-on display enabled, while the Snapdragon-equipped Galaxy S24 Plus registered 16 hours of battery life in two separate rundown tests. Both variants of the Galaxy S24, by contrast, managed around 13 hours of battery life.

The Galaxy S24 Plus has a higher maximum charging capacity, too. The standard Galaxy S24 supports up to 25W wired charging, while the Galaxy S24 Plus supports up to 45W wired charging. Both phones support 15W wireless charging.

So, the Galaxy S24 Plus wins out in both metrics, but its smaller sibling is by no means lacking when it comes to battery life and charging speed.

Samsung Galaxy S24 vs Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus: Verdict

Usually, picking between Samsung’s mainline Galaxy S and Galaxy S Plus models is a pretty simple choice. These phones typically offer nigh-on identical features and designs, with the Plus having a more expansive display and superior battery life. Conversely, the regular Galaxy S is always easier to lug around and cheaper to buy.

Some of those distinctions still ring true for the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus, but for the first time, the Plus pulls away from its smaller brother with a better display and more RAM; and that's on top of the usual battery life and charging speed differences.

Of course, you'll have to pay $200 / £200 / AU$300 more for the privilege of owning the Galaxy S24 Plus, and its 6.7-inch screen won't be for everyone. But there's no denying that the gap between the Galaxy S24 and the Galaxy S24 Plus is larger than the gap between last year's Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Plus.

That said, the Galaxy S24 is still an exceptional phone, and the superior features of the Galaxy S24 Plus will only come to the fore if you decide to push your smartphone to the absolute limit. Most people won't do that, and so, ultimately, the same question remains: do you prefer a small phone, or a large phone?

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The Samsung Galaxy S24 is Samsung's latest entry-level Galaxy S model, which is to say a high but not top-end phone, and it's out now, alongside the pricier Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Among the most excited about this news will be Samsung Galaxy S22 owners, many of whom will be coming to the natural end of their 24-month contracts. That’s right: it’s upgrade time. But just how much of an upgrade can Galaxy S22 owners expect from the Galaxy S24? Based both on the specs and what we found in our Samsung Galaxy S24 review, we can now fully answer that question.

Below then, you'll find a full rundown of how these two phones compare. But if you think you might want something even higher end, take a look at our full Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review and our hands-on Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus review.

Samsung Galaxy S24 vs Samsung Galaxy S22: price and availability

The Samsung Galaxy S24 was announced on January 17, 2024, at Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event, and it's now available to buy.

It starts at $799 / £799 for a 128GB version, rising to $859 / £859 / AU$1,399 for a 256GB model, which is the cheapest model available in Australia. Then there's also a 512GB version in Australia, which costs AU$1,599, and isn't available in the US or the UK. In all cases that's with 8GB of RAM.

As for the Samsung Galaxy S22, this landed in shops on February 25, 2022. Pricing for the 8GB / 128GB model began at $799 / £769 / AU$1,249. In other words, US pricing has remained consistent between the S22 and S24, but non-US territories are slightly more expensive this year.

Of course, the Samsung Galaxy S22 is now significantly cheaper than it was at launch. Prices can vary, but expect to pay a fair bit less than the prices above if buying it today.

Samsung Galaxy S24 vs Samsung Galaxy S22: design and display

The Samsung Galaxy S24 looks broadly similar to the Samsung Galaxy S23, which itself wasn’t a million miles away from the Galaxy S22.

There are a couple of key differences between these two phones, however. One is the camera module, which was raised and heavily stylized in the Galaxy S22, but which is flat and featureless in the Galaxy S24.

Another big difference is the rim of the Galaxy S24, which is much flatter than the slightly rounded Galaxy S22 edge. The display bezels are slightly smaller on the newer phone, too, which makes it appear more premium.

Both phones have an IP68 rating though, and their weights and dimensions are similar, with the Samsung Galaxy S24 being 147 x 70.6 x 7.6mm and 167g, while the Galaxy S22 is 146 x 70.6 x 7.6mm and 167g.

As for the Samsung Galaxy S24 colors, it comes in seven shades: Onyx Black, Marble Gray, Cobalt Violet, Amber Yellow, Sandstone Orange, Sapphire Blue, and Jade Green, with the final three of those being exclusive to Samsung's online store.

The Galaxy S22 is available in nine colors: Phantom Black, Phantom White, Pink Gold, Green, Graphite, Sky Blue, Violet, Cream, and Bora Purple, though not all of these were available on day one. Still, that means you have slightly more colors to choose from with the older phone.

Moving on to the Samsung Galaxy S24 screen size, and this phone has a slightly larger 6.2-inch display to the Galaxy S22 and its 6.1-inch equivalent. Both phones have exactly the same 1080 x 2340 resolution, however.

While the Galaxy S24 shares a 120Hz maximum refresh rate with its older brother, the newer phone has switched to a more advanced LTPO panel, allowing it to drop as low as 1Hz where appropriate, thus saving power. The Galaxy S22 screen can only drop to 48Hz, by comparison.

Another key difference is the brightness. While the Galaxy S22 could hit a peak brightness of 1,300 nits, the Galaxy S24's display is capable of double that, at 2,600 nits.

We noted in our Galaxy S24 review that it has an "excellent display", that's "colorful and bright." However, the Samsung Galaxy S22's screen impressed too back when that launched, with our review of that phone noting that it had a "bright and attractive display." So while the S24's screen is an upgrade, they both have decent displays.

Samsung Galaxy S24 vs Samsung Galaxy S22: cameras

While there are some significant design differences, the Samsung Galaxy S24 cameras are very similar to those of the Galaxy S22.

Once again, we’re talking about a 50MP wide camera, a 12MP ultra-wide, and a 10MP telephoto with a 3x optical zoom. The main hardware difference with this year’s model is a 12MP selfie camera, in place of the 10MP selfie camera on the Galaxy S22.

The big advance to the Galaxy S24’s camera system over older models is Samsung’s focus on AI. Samsung is going big on artificial intelligence with its new phones – and indeed everything else in 2024 – and it packed the Galaxy S24 full of AI tricks.

For example, the Galaxy S24 allows you to move or remove people and objects from photos, as well as expand the background of images. In our Samsung Galaxy S24 review, we found that its AI tools are "surprisingly useful", and that it offers the "most versatile cameras on a phone this price."

Of the Galaxy S22's cameras, we said "you can't help but be pleased" with the photos it takes, but noted that "if you want absolute color fidelity, you might look elsewhere."

Samsung Galaxy S24 vs Samsung Galaxy S22: performance and software

Last year’s Galaxy S23 made great performance strides over the Galaxy S22 by offering the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in all regions. The Galaxy S22 offered a split chip provision, with most territories getting the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, and the UK and Europe getting the less impressive Exynos 2200.

Unfortunately, the Galaxy S24 has gone back to the bad old days of split processor offerings, as while the US gets the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, most other places get a Galaxy S24 with Samsung's Exynos 2400 chipset.

As usual, the Snapdragon version appears the most capable, but the gulf doesn't seem as wide as in some generations. With either chipset though, that's still a huge jump over the Galaxy S22's power, with our review of the Snapdragon model noting that the Galaxy S24 delivers "excellent performance, close to the Galaxy S24 Ultra."

Where it doesn't see any real improvement is RAM, as both the Samsung Galaxy S24 and the Galaxy S22 come with 8GB of the stuff. In most regions storage is the same too, with 128GB and 256GB options, but Australia additionally gets a 512GB version of the Galaxy S24, and lacks the 128GB model.

Software is broadly consistent between these two phones, with the Galaxy S22 eventually set to receive an upgrade to the same version of One UI that’s shipped with the Galaxy S24. What the Galaxy S22 probably won’t benefit from, however, is the S24’s new AI smarts.

As already mentioned, Samsung is focusing on AI in a big way in 2024, both in terms of camera features like those mentioned above, and with the likes of live voice call translations, among other things. Many of these features are expected to trickle down to the Samsung Galaxy S23, but not to the Samsung Galaxy S22.

The Galaxy S24 will also be supported for longer, with seven years of software updates promised for the first time on a Samsung phone.

Samsung Galaxy S24 vs Samsung Galaxy S22: battery life

The Samsung Galaxy S24 has a 4,000mAh battery, which makes it a fairly substantial 300mAh bigger than the Galaxy S22's 3,700mAh cell.

In practice, that's seemingly led to a small increase in life, with our Galaxy S24 review stating that it delivers "hours more active screen time" than the Galaxy S23, and that it can last a full day with little trouble.

In our Samsung Galaxy S22 review, we found that phone "got roughly 12 hours of battery life with varied and almost constant use."

However, the Galaxy S24 is stuck with 25W maximum wired charging and 15W wireless charging, just like the Galaxy S22.

Samsung Galaxy S24 vs Samsung Galaxy S22: verdict

The Samsung Galaxy S24 offers a solid, if hardly seismic upgrade for those coming to the end of their Galaxy S22 contracts. It packs a slightly more premium design and a bigger, brighter display.

It also offers the kind of performance boost that comes with the territory when you’re talking about the passing of two smartphone generations, along with a bigger battery.

There hasn't been a huge advance in camera technology, but thanks to AI the Galaxy S24 has at least learnt a few neat new photographic tricks that place clear daylight between it and the Galaxy S22.

With prices being broadly similar, the Galaxy S24 is close to a no-brainer of an upgrade – albeit a relatively unexciting one.

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Samsung Display has shown off a new OLED display that can fold 360 degrees, with the goal of paving the way for foldable phones with new form factors. 

Announced ahead of Samsung's main CES 2024 showcase, the company's display arm revealed the “In&Out Flip” foldable screen. Built around familiar Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 designs, this new display can be both folded inwards and outwards, meaning a single screen can pull double duties as a large inner display and a cover display. 

“In&Out Flip is a technology that can provide a new alternative for consumers who prefer bar-shaped smartphones due to the thickness of foldable products,” said a Samsung Display representative. “When folded outwards, both the front and back of the product can be used as a screen, creating a new user experience.”

While Samsung's foldables have got slimmer and lighter over the past few generations, they are still a fair bit thicker than non-foldable counterparts you'd find on our best Android phones list. 

But by removing the need for a cover display and the components required to form and power one, the In&Out Flip screen could pave the way for notably thinner and lighter foldable phones. 

We've seen such an approach taken with Huawei's folding phones notably the Huawei Mate Xs 2, which has yeilded very thin folding phones. But a lack of a proper western presence has meant such tech hasn't really proliferated the US and UK phone markets. 

There's also an extra feature in that when the In&Out Flip is folded in two it offers front and back screens; how practical these will be or the influence on the durability of phones that adopt this display tech has yet to be seen. 

A question of durability and devices

It's unclear how the 360-folding arc will impact the screen durability and how pronounced any visible fold would be, which could be an issue as some buyers have been put off foldable phones in the past due to the visible crease.

Samsung explained how the durability of the panels was tested using extreme temperatures, bouncing basketballs to test their resilience, as well as more standard tests like immersion in water and rubbing them with sand.

More of the In&Out Flip display will be revealed at Samsung's CES conference alongside "Rollable Flex" display tech, which aims to provide a screen that can be rolled out to five times its original size. So we can expect to see what Samsung has planned for such new screen tech and whether its at the early prototyping stage or nearly ready for use in consumer devices. If it's ready for showtime, maybe is could feature in the rumored Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6.

Other new screen tech from Samsung Display include a microdisplay with ultra-high resolution for immersive extended reality (think a combination of virtual and augmented reality), as well as Samsung’s latest QD-OLED panels among other announcements. 

Check out our CES 2024 hub for all the latest news from the show as it happens. We'll be covering everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI, so stick with us for the big stories.

And don’t forget to follow us on TikTok for the latest from the CES show floor!

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Depending on when you’re reading this, Samsung’s highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S24 phones are either just around the corner or sitting pretty in the window of your local smartphone store. In either case, you’re here because you want to know how to transfer your data to a new Samsung Galaxy phone (S24 or otherwise), and in this guide, we detail the steps required to do just that.

Before we start, it’s worth noting that there are three distinct ways to transfer your data to a new Samsung Galaxy phone – you can do so via Wi-Fi, a USB-C cable, or your computer – but all three methods use Samsung’s proprietary Smart Switch software, which requires Android 4.3 or later (on both devices) to function. 

If you’re currently rocking an iPhone and are keen to move your data from iOS to Android, we’ve got a separate guide on how to switch from iPhone to Android (as well as a guide on how to switch from Android to iPhone). Below, though, we outline how to transfer data to a new Samsung Galaxy phone – from an existing Android phone – using each of those aforementioned methods.

Tools and Requirements

• Two phones (one being a Samsung), both running Android OS 4.3 or later
• The Samsung Smart Switch app
• A stable Wi-Fi connection
• A USB-C cable (optional)
• A PC running Windows 7 or later (optional)

Quick steps for how to transfer data to a new Samsung Galaxy phone

• To transfer data over Wi-Fi, open the Smart Switch app on both devices and follow the on-screen instructions.
• To transfer data via USB-C, connect the two devices using a USB-C cable, then open the Smart Switch app on both devices and follow the on-screen instructions.
• To transfer data using a PC, download Smart Switch on your PC, and connect your old device using a compatible cable. Backup data from your old phone onto your PC, then repeat the process for your new device, but select Restore instead of Backup.

How to transfer data using Wi-Fi

How to transfer data using a USB-C cable

How to transfer data using a PC

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The Samsung Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24 Plus and Galaxy S24 Ultra have all been revealed at the first Samsung Galaxy Unpacked of 2024. And each model comes with display upgrades, and the standard and Plus have also got a boost in screen size. 

For our initial impressions of the phones, check out our hands-on Samsung Galaxy S24 review, hands-on Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus review and hands-on Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review.

But for a deeper look at the Samsung Galaxy S24 screen sizes and specs, read on. 

Samsung Galaxy 24, Galaxy S24 Plus and Galaxy S24 Ultra screen specs

Samsung Galaxy S24 screen sizes and upgrades analyzed

Both the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus have received a 0.1-inch display size upgrade without increasing their respective overall sizes; this is all thanks to slimmer bezels. So the Galaxy S24 has a 6.2-inch display and the Galaxy S24 Plus comes with a 6.7-inch screen. 

The two phones have also been given a bump in brightness and can now hit a peak brightness of 2,600 nits that should make their screens even easier to view on bright days. And unlike the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Plus, the new Galaxy phones can now throttle down from 120Hz to a mere 1Hz, rather than 48Hz, which should help battery life when a high refresh rate isn't needed. As an extra, the Galaxy S24 Plus now has a QHD+ resolution display, up from the FHD+ panel of its predecessor. 

When it comes to the Galaxy S24 Ultra its 6.8-inch screen is largely unchanged in specs, but it now hits 2,600 nits of brightness, a solid upgrade over the 1,750 nits of the Galaxy S23 Ultra. 

However, the big change for the Galaxy S24 Ultra is it's screen is now flat rather than curved. Samsung's logic is that a flatter screen makes for more practical usable space when writing notes and doodling using the S Pen. 

Overall, the screens on the Galaxy S24 are rather impressive from our first impressions and look set to keep the high standards established with previous Galaxy S-series phones. 

Samsung has officially lifted the lid on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus, with the new plus-sized smartphone having been unveiled – alongside the Samsung Galaxy S24 and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra – at the first Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event of 2024. They're also all out now.

You'll find our full verdict on Samsung's latest Plus-sized model in our Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus review, but if you’re after a quick, bird’s-eye overview of the new phone, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we break down everything you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus, from its price and availability to specs and features. 

If you’re interested in learning how the Galaxy S24 Plus stacks up against its siblings, check out our Samsung Galaxy S24 vs Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus vs Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra comparisons.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus: specs

Here’s an at-a-glance look at the key Samsung Galaxy S24 specs boasted by the Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24 Plus and Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus: price and availability

• Out now
• Starts at $999 / £999 / AU$1,699

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus was announced at Samsung’s latest Galaxy Unpacked event on January 17 and all three new devices began shipping on January 31, so they're out now.

Pricing for the Galaxy S24 Plus starts at $999 / £999 / AU$1,699 for the base configuration (12GB RAM / 256GB storage), and rises to $1,119.99 / £1,099 / AU$1,899 for the model with 12GB RAM / 512GB storage.

If you're interested, you can see our best Galaxy S24 deals page for a roundup of the current best deals.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus: colors

• Available in Amber Yellow, Cobalt Violet, Marble Gray and Onyx Black
• Additional color options expected post-release

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus is available in four colors: Amber Yellow, Cobalt Violet, Marble Gray and Onyx Black. Three more color options – Sapphire Blue, Sandstone Orange and Jade Green – will become available for the new phone at a later date through Samsung.com exclusively. 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus: design and display

• More durable Enhanced Armor Aluminum frame
• 6.7-inch QHD+ AMOLED 2X display

On the design front, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus looks a lot like its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus, though it does have slightly flatter edges and narrower bezels (it follows the lead of the Galaxy Z Fold 5 in that respect). 

The new phone’s new QHD+ display is a touch larger, too, measuring 6.7 inches against the Galaxy S23 Plus’ 6.6-inch screen (taking the S24 Plus’ overall measurements to 158.5 x 75.9 x 7.7mm), and it also boasts a (supposedly) more durable Enhanced Armor Aluminum frame.

That new 6.65-inch screen size plays host to a dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a variable 1-120Hz refresh rate. The Galaxy S23 Plus, by contrast, uses a 48-120Hz refresh rate.

The Galaxy S24 Plus also gets a peak brightness of 2,600 nits, which marks a hefty increase over its predecessor’s 1,205-nit peak brightness.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus: cameras

• Similar camera hardware to the S23 Plus
• But offers more AI-powered editing tricks

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus 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) – but it does boast some neat new AI-powered capabilities over the Galaxy S23 Plus.

In a similar manner to Google’s best Pixel phones, the Galaxy S24 Plus lets you move or remove people and objects in photos and instantly make slo-motion videos using AI, with tools like Generative Edit and Instant Slow-Mo also on hand to provide more scope for photographic creativity.

The new Plus gets the same video capabilities as the Galaxy S24 and S24 Ultra – meaning you can shoot in up to 8K at 30fps – and Samsung’s iPhone-beating Portrait mode returns from the S23 Plus, too (as do features including Astrophoto, Astro Hyperlapse and Super HDR selfie video).

For more details, check out our breakout article looking at the Samsung Galaxy S24 cameras. 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus: performance & software

• Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset in the US, Exynos 2400 elsewhere
• Both chipsets facilitate new AI-enhanced assistance

The chipset powering the Galaxy S24 Plus will depend on the region in which you buy the phone. Those in the US will get a Galaxy-tuned version of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, while those in Europe and other regions will get Samsung’s Exynos 2400 chipset.

Given that Samsung’s Exynos-powered Galaxy S22 phones were noticeably less powerful than their Snapdragon-equipped US equivalents, this news might understandably concern anyone who qualifies for the Exynos 2400 instead of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. But fear not! This time around, we’re confident that the gap between the two chips is much slimmer than before. 

Sure, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will inevitably edge the Exynos 2400 when it comes to on-paper benchmark scores. But early results promise similarly impressive real-world performance from the latter chipset, so we don’t suspect there’ll be much in it this year.

Elsewhere on the performance front, a larger vapor chamber means the Galaxy S24 Plus boasts much better heat dissipation than its predecessor, and the new phone also gets ray tracing support (might the Galaxy S24 Plus be one of the best gaming phones of 2024?).

The real ace in the hole for the Galaxy S24 Plus, though, is its AI capabilities. Irrespective of which chipset the phone ships with, the S24 Plus offers a whole host of helpful AI tricks (under the banner term 'Galaxy AI') that Samsung believes give it the edge over comparably priced handsets. 

Among the new features are Live Translate – i.e. real-time two-way call translation – Note Assist, Chat Assist, Tone Tweak and Circle to Search. We’ll be taking these features for a spin as we test the Galaxy S24 Plus for review.

Beyond AI, on the software front the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus runs Android 14 with Samsung's One UI 6.1 overlay at launch. As of April 2025 it has had some small software updates, while One UI 7 with Android 15 is about to roll out for it, but has reportedly been held up due to a bug.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus: battery

• Uses a 4,900mAh battery

The Galaxy S24 Plus uses a 4,900mAh battery, which marks a 200mAh increase over the S23 Plus’ 4,700mAh battery. That said, we’re not expecting the new phone to offer significantly better real-world battery life than its predecessor. 

In our testing, we found that the Galaxy S23 Plus could comfortably last for almost two days, so we’re anticipating something similar from the Galaxy S24 Plus. We’ll confirm as much in our upcoming review of the phone. 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus: outlook

Minor upgrades on paper might not make the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus seem that compelling in the face of others on our best Android phones list. But a tweaked design and an injection of AI abilities could mean the S24 Plus becomes more than the sum of its parts. 

Expect the Galaxy S24 Plus to be the phone to get if you're not into the Galaxy S24 Ultra but want a little more screen space and sharpness over the standard S24. 

So far, the majority of rumors surrounding Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S24 series have concerned the inevitably pricey Galaxy S24 Ultra, but a new leak has seemingly revealed the design of the standard Samsung Galaxy S24, specifically.

Based on detailed renders shared by @OnLeaks and SmartPrix, the Galaxy S24 – which is expected to launch early next year – could arrive boasting flatter sides and markedly thinner bezels than its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S23. The latter phone’s slightly rounded edges will reportedly remain, however, which should make the Galaxy S24 easier to hold and pick up from flat surfaces.

In our book, these are welcome design changes. But there’s a rather large elephant in the room: if these renders prove accurate, then the Galaxy S24 will look an awful lot like Apple’s newly released iPhone 15 Pro. At least one model in the Galaxy S24 lineup is rumored to feature titanium sides, too, so Samsung’s next standard flagship (if not only the S24 Ultra) could also boast similar durability credentials to Apple’s best iPhones.

Luckily (for the anti-Apple brigade), the rear of the Galaxy S24 looks set to remain noticeably Samsung-like. Per these new renders, the phone’s three rear cameras will be arranged in the same way as they are on the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Plus. Rumors suggest that the cameras themselves will remain unchanged, too: so, expect the Galaxy S24 to sport a 50MP wide lens, a 12MP ultra-wide lens and a 10MP f2.4 telephoto lens (with 3x optical zoom).

The phone’s display, however, is reportedly in line for a slight change. According to @OnLeaks, the Galaxy S24’s screen will measure 6.17 inches – up from 6.1 inches on the Galaxy S24 – which will make the phone taller and narrower than its predecessor. Interestingly, we’ve also heard that next year’s iPhone 16 Pro will be taller and narrower than the iPhone 15 Pro, so perhaps Apple and Samsung are not-so-secretly trading upgrades with one another (we’re joking, of course).

Other rumored upgrades for the Galaxy S24 include a faster Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, although we’ve also heard that the phone – like the Galaxy S22 – might ship with an Exynos chipset in certain regions, including Europe. Last year, Samsung was praised for finally bringing Qualcomm chipsets to every Galaxy S23 model, regardless of region. So, we’re hoping that this rumor is bogus, and that the company holds firm by equipping every Galaxy S24 model with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset in 2024 (Samsung’s Exynos chipsets are known for being weaker than their Qualcomm counterparts).

As for when the Galaxy S24 line will launch, rumors suggest that Samsung could hold an announcement event as early as January 18 next year, in a bid to counteract consumer demand for Apple’s new iPhones. Will the tactic work? It remains to be seen, but Samsung is certainly improving its chances by at least making its standard Galaxy S24 look like the mega-popular iPhone 15 Pro.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus has been tipped to get a display upgrade to bring back a WQHD screen for non-Ultra Galaxy phones. 

This comes via reliable tipster Ice Universe, who tweeted that the Galaxy S24 Plus will sport a flat screen with a WQHD display (ie. a 1440p resolution spread across a wide aspect ratio). The tipster also noted that the Plus model will have slim bezels, measuring 2.5mm on the sides and 1mm for the middle frame; going by the rumors so far, these bezels could be slimmer than those on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. 

Ice Universe also tipped a 195g weight for the Galaxy S24 Plus, saying it’ll be 7.7mm thick. For comparison, the iPhone 14 Pro weighs 206g and measures 7.8mm thick.

Resolution retrofit 

Size isn't everything; I tend to like the heft of an iPhone Pro model over its Android rivals. What has caught my eye is the resolution part of this rumor.

Samsung stopped giving its non-Ultra phones a WQHD resolution after the Galaxy S20. The idea here is an FHD+ resolution is less power-hungry than a higher resolution panel, and the likes of the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S23 in their standard and Plus guises lasted longer on a single charge.

But I’ve found that the screens are still large enough, on the Plus models at least, to justify a higher resolution. In day-to-day use, the jump up to WQHD over FHD+ isn’t hugely noticeable, say when you're scrolling through X. However, the bump to WQHD when playing games and watching movies, or zooming into photos, is more noticeable. And by default, I’d ensure an Android phone with WQHD or FHD+ options was set to the former, as I enjoyed that extra sharpness even if battery life took a hit.

So I’ll be glad to see the WQHD resolution return as an option for the Galaxy S24 Plus. With improvements in chip design – the Galaxy S24 range is likely to have access to the rumored Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip – I hope that next-gen Galaxy phones will be more power-efficient and better suited to handle a WQHD display.

Time will tell if this rumor comes to fruition, likely around March 2024 when we expect to see the Galaxy S24 lineup. I’m all for upgrades on the Plus models. Sometimes I feel the Plus can be ignored in the face of the impressive but expensive Ultra phones.

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