Samsung has quietly put the Galaxy A25 5G mid-ranger on sale in the US alongside the Galaxy S24
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Given that Samsung's best-selling smartphone around the world as of Q2 2023 was a member of the company's non-flagship Galaxy A family, you may have expected the likes of the A15 and A25 to go on sale in key markets like the US with at least a little buzz around them. We're obviously not talking Galaxy S24 series-levels of excitement and glitz, but... something.
Instead, the world's number two smartphone vendor last year essentially buried the US commercial releases of both of these hot new budget-friendly devices under a mountain of exciting news pertaining to the groundbreaking AI-powered S24, S24 Plus, and S24 Ultra.
That's right, the 5G-enabled Galaxy A15 and Galaxy A25 didn't even get their own entry (or entries) on Samsung's official US newsroom portal, simply showing up in a bunch of places around the web with absolutely no fanfare, and yes, already shipping nationwide for the tech giant's most cash-strapped fans.
Where can you buy the Galaxy A25 5G?
Internationally unveiled last month alongside the obviously humbler A15, the 6.5-inch Galaxy A25 is not currently available from any major US carriers, which is almost stranger than the weirdly low-key regional debut itself. The only operator that has the handset up on its website at the time of this writing is Xfinity Mobile, where you can get the A25 5G starting at just $12.49 a month with no upfront payment and your choice of a new line or an upgrade of an existing one.
Multiplied by 24, that amounts to a grand total of around $300, which just so happens to be the US list price of the Galaxy A25 5G. The phone is also available at that price directly from Samsung, as well as Amazon and Best Buy, although the latter two retailers are sweetening the local launch deal (a little) by throwing in a $25 gift card for a presumably limited time.
Only coated in black (or "blue black") stateside, the A25 comes with a decidedly generous 128 gigs of internal storage space and a respectable 6GB RAM count while obviously supporting microSD expansion for digital hoarders in need of that sort of thing.
Samsung is of course offering trade-in discounts that can far exceed the $25 value of Amazon and Best Buy's sweet introductory freebie, but to be perfectly honest with you, these are really not that great, going up to $200... if you're willing to part ways with something like the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, Apple iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, or iPhone 13 Pro Max, which you probably should not do.
Should you buy the Galaxy A25 5G?
That's really something you'll need to decide for yourselves after carefully analyzing the new phone's strengths and weaknesses, as well as those of other devices in the same price bracket. A pretty clear weakness of the 2024 Galaxy A25 is that totally outdated design with far-too-thick screen bezels and a centered notch rather than a more "modern" hole punch.
On the bright side of things (literally and figuratively speaking), this mid-ranger comes with a very premium-looking 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display boasting a resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels (aka FHD+), a peak brightness of 1000 nits, and silky smooth 120Hz refresh rate technology.
The primary 50MP rear-facing camera also sounds great, especially by budget-friendly standards, with optical image stabilization and numerous other tricks up its sleeve. The 8MP secondary shooter and especially the 2MP tertiary sensor on the A25's back are definitely not as impressive, but that's where Samsung's stellar software support and a hefty 5,000mAh battery with 25W charging capabilities come in to offset some of those flaws and wrap up an overall solid value proposition.
Is the Galaxy A25 5G better or at least just as good as the Motorola Edge (2023), which is very frequently marked down by 250 bucks from a "regular" price of $599.99? Definitely not. Can it hold its own against something like the Moto G Power 5G (2023) or OnePlus Nord N30 5G? We certainly think so, although Samsung may want to consider a $50 or so price cut to further improve the competitiveness of the Galaxy A25 5G in a fierce low-cost smartphone market segment.
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