I’m a fan of Samsung Galaxy telephones. My frustrations with the Galaxy S25 Extremely come from disappointment as a result of I do know the corporate has a wealthy historical past of innovating with its smartphones. The Galaxy Observe 4 and Observe 9 are a few of my favourite units, and the Galaxy S10+ continues to be peak Samsung design.
Nevertheless, when Samsung releases as many telephones because it does, a number of duds will make it to retailer cabinets. You’ll discover a distinguished exclusion from this listing: I’m not together with the Galaxy Observe 7. Whereas its battery had a deadly flaw, the Observe 7 was a monster and possibly would rank alongside the Observe 4 and Observe 9 if not for the recall debacle. As for the remaining, these are 5 telephones I felt Samsung ought to’ve by no means launched or wanted a lot extra time in growth.
Learn our evaluate
5
Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
Lag monster for $450
In my profession of reviewing units, I’ve solely hated a number of telephones, however the Galaxy A53 is one among them. I often attempt to discover the positives in every cellphone I evaluate, however I wished to throw the Galaxy A53 towards a wall. Once I noticed the spec sheet, I believed the cellphone had loads of promise. I regarded ahead to its improbable show and large battery, anticipating it to be a midrange winner and a less expensive entry level to get pleasure from Samsung’s One UI software program. I used to be fallacious.
Sadly, the Galaxy A53’s issues might be traced to its chipset. The Galaxy A52 5G used a Snapdragon 750G chipset, which supplied glorious midrange efficiency. The A52 was profitable, and we anticipated extra of the identical with the Galaxy A53. As an alternative, we acquired the Exynos 1280 chipset from Samsung. I’m not a blanket Exynos hater, and the more moderen 1480 featured within the Galaxy A55 is superb. Nevertheless, the Exynos 1280 couldn’t multitask easily, with fixed lags and slowdowns. Even receiving a number of notifications without delay was sufficient to bottleneck the Galaxy A53, and I couldn’t pull my SIM out of it quick sufficient as soon as the evaluate interval was over.
4
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold
The primary one wasn’t prepared
Samsung deserves credit score for releasing the primary Galaxy Z Fold, and we all know the corporate is starved for {hardware} innovation in 2025. Nevertheless, a number of elements and design flaws on the primary Galaxy Fold counsel it ought to’ve been left within the oven a bit of longer to bake. Sadly, the hinge let in mud and particles too simply, resulting in a number of display screen failures on the evaluate models despatched out for testing. Footage began popping up inside days of the telephones being despatched out, displaying ruined shows with noticeable bumps from particles beneath.
Samsung recalled the early models and delayed the launch till it discovered an answer. Ultimately, the corporate used a cap to dam off the highest elements of the inside folding show, stopping objects from getting beneath. The answer labored, and I had no points with my Galaxy Z Fold 2, which was launched the next yr.
Malfunctioning shows weren’t the one difficulty with the unique Galaxy Z Fold. Its outer show was small and barely usable, and the inner display screen was mushy and simply broken by a fingernail. The Galaxy Z Fold was mandatory as a proof of idea, and I cherished a few of the telephones that adopted, however the authentic left a lot to be desired for its hefty price ticket.
3
Samsung Galaxy S5
The ugliest flagship I can keep in mind
I don’t have sufficient area on this listing to cowl the Galaxy S5’s shortcomings. Its design didn’t dwell as much as its price ticket, as for a similar $650, Apple and HTC have been providing aluminium builds on their telephones. The Galaxy S5’s plastic building made it really feel low cost, and the now-infamous bandaid sample on the again didn’t assist. It was an unsightly cellphone, however that wasn’t its solely downfall.
The Galaxy S5 didn’t carry out nicely. Though it had flagship specs, Samsung’s TouchWiz software program lagged horribly for customers. The cellphone featured Samsung’s first fingerprint reader within the dwelling button, however the implementation was wonky. Customers have been required to swipe throughout the sensor like they might on a laptop computer. Between the awkward movement and unreliable perform, the fingerprint reader wasn’t successful on the Galaxy S5, resulting in its place on my listing.
2
Samsung Galaxy J1
Funds customers didn’t deserve this
Till the Galaxy A sequence gained recognition, Samsung customers on a funds often had a Galaxy J cellphone of their pocket. Regardless of their cheap value, most grew to become dependable workhorses, doing simply nicely sufficient that customers didn’t want way more. Nevertheless, it didn’t begin that manner. The unique Galaxy J1 was a catastrophe, and Samsung realized you could go too low on efficiency, particularly since Samsung’s software program wasn’t nicely optimized in 2015.
The Galaxy J1 featured a low-end chipset with solely 512MB (sure, MB) of RAM, resulting in terrible efficiency. TouchWiz didn’t run nicely on flagship units with way more RAM, so you possibly can think about how painful it was to fireplace up a Galaxy J1 with the TouchWiz of the period. It didn’t assist that the Galaxy J1 by no means acquired a software program replace, leaving it caught on Android 4.4 without end.
1
Samsung Galaxy S20 Extremely
An unpleasant, costly mistake
The Galaxy S20 Extremely was a disappointing model downgrade from the improbable Galaxy S10+. The S10+ was glossy, mild, and highly effective, however Samsung didn’t proceed that pattern in 2020 with the Galaxy S20 Extremely. The gadget was big and regarded like somebody had put a Galaxy Observe 20 Extremely within the microwave, because the design lacked definition. Samsung additionally raised the value, with a base mannequin S20 Extremely working you $1,400, and in case you wished upgraded storage or extra RAM, your pockets could be punished for $1,600.
The excessive value apart, the Galaxy S20 Extremely had different points. Samsung’s marketed 100x Area Zoom was a blurry mess, and the cellphone had quite a few autofocus issues that led to terrible photographs till the corporate lastly devised a repair. The cellphone’s battery life wasn’t good, regardless of its huge 5,000mAh battery, and prospects have been left sad.
No less than Samsung was attempting
Whereas these units drew my ire, I’d nonetheless take this era of Samsung over the corporate we presently have. Any firm will make errors alongside the best way; it means they’re attempting. And whereas at this time’s Samsung is targeted on Galaxy AI and unoffensive designs just like the Galaxy S25 Extremely, the Samsung of the mid-2010s was all about {hardware} innovation and throwing as many telephones into {the marketplace} as attainable to see what would stick. I didn’t all the time agree with the outcomes, however I miss the dedication to progress.