Samsung Galaxy A25 5G review: Better than budget

Samsung’s A-series has been one of the best budget Android options if you’re trying to save a buck without sacrificing too much. Based on one of its more recent entries into the market — the Samsung Galaxy A25 5G — the Korean tech firm is keeping the streak alive by providing a stellar smartphone experience at a price that won’t make you recoil in fear.

The Galaxy A25 5G sports a beautiful display and a solid camera array, arguably two of the most important features of any device in 2024. Even better, Samsung has committed to four software updates for the device, which dwarfs promises from its rival manufacturers in this price range. Sure, it suffers the performance issues that are common with even the best budget smartphones, and big bezels mean you don’t get to enjoy every inch of the OLED display, but don’t let a few expected pitfalls ruin a perfectly good phone for the price.

Availability, network, and pricing

Low pricing with some deals to boot

The Samsung Galaxy A25 5G is a solid value device at $299 in the US, and you can buy it at either Amazon, Best Buy, or Samsung itself. To add to that value, the device is often on sale for even cheaper, with all three retailers offering the device for only $264 at the time of writing.

Unfortunately, for US buyers, the device is only available in one color — blue black — although it is available in both light blue and yellow in select regions. You’re also limited to just one storage option, and it’s pretty low at only 128GB along with the only RAM option being 6GB.

Design & display

Sturdy design and beautiful display don’t feel like a budget phone

With this smartphone, Samsung continues the trend of putting out budget devices that do not feel like budget devices in your hand. The Galaxy A25 5G has the hand-feel of a sleek flagship, even if it is sporting a plastic body. Admittedly, it feels a bit bulky with its 8.3mm wide body and flat edges, particularly if you plan on adding a case to it for better protection. But overall, it feels sturdy enough to handle a fall here and there, which is what you want out of a budget device.

In addition to the headphone jack, you’ll find a USB-C port and a single speaker on the bottom of the device, a dual SIM card and microSD port on the left edge, and the volume and power buttons on the right edge, which doubles as the fingerprint sensor. The singular speaker isn’t ideal, providing some fairly unbalanced sound, particularly when holding the device from the bottom.

The display is definitely something to write home about. The 6.5-inch OLED 1080 x 2340 resolution display looks as good as advertised, if not better, and the 120Hz refresh rate makes the overall smartphone experience as smooth as butter. The touch screen is noticeably responsive, and this reviewer is happy to argue that it’s one of the best displays he’s seen on a budget phone in his long and enduring lifetime.

The problem, however, is that you don’t get the most out of it because of the bezels, which are huge, coming in at an 84.2% screen-to-body ratio. Perhaps I’m exaggerating a tad when I say that I could see the large chin bezel from space if I were blindfolded, but honestly, not by much. Even worse, the selfie camera is housed in the dreaded notch, which takes away even more of the best parts of this phone.

Other hardware & what’s in the box

A USB-C cable included is good enough for me

Luckily, the days of budget devices lacking some of the more basic hardware are behind us. The Samsung Galaxy A25 5G provides both major forms of biometric login functionality: a fingerprint sensor on the power button and facial recognition from the selfie camera. In consistent testing, both forms of access were fairly smooth, although the facial recognition did begin to lag a bit after the first few days. The fingerprint scanner was an excellent backup, though, with fast unlocks and virtually no mishaps whatsoever.

Despite the plastic body and headphone jack, the Galaxy A25 5G is water-resistant with an IP67 rating. Not all budget smartphones offer this kind of protection, like the Moto G Stylus, so if you’re expecting a lot of spills and drops near water, this could be your best option.

As for what’s in the box, you’re getting nothing more than the basics: a quick start guide and a USB-C to USB-C cable for charging. That’s right, no brick. Still, the cable does provide some pretty speedy charging at 25W, but we’ll get to whether or not it actually keeps up those speeds on the battery test.

Software & performance

The budget price rears its ugly head

There’s little to worry about when it comes to the software on Samsung budget devices, and the Galaxy A25 5G keeps with tradition on that front. You’ll get Android 14 right out of the box, albeit in Samsung’s dedicated One UI 6 skin that makes some aesthetic changes, but nothing of substance is really that different. You’re still getting the Google Discover page when you scroll to the right from the home page, and it’s naturally preloaded with an array of Google apps, like Gmail, Drive, and YouTube.

You’re also getting a lot of preloaded apps from Samsung, like SmartThings, Smart Switch, and AR Zone, but unless you’re a massive Samsung fan, these are likely going to go unused by the majority of users. While it certainly isn’t the onslaught of bloatware that some budget devices are equipped with, it’s still more than you’ll need, and it comes at a cost towards your fixed amount of storage. You aren’t getting any of the mythical AI features just yet, either, as those are likely going to be reserved for flagship devices and beyond.

Perhaps the biggest boon when it comes to the software of the Samsung Galaxy A25 5G is the fact that it’s going to get a lot of updates over the course of its life. Samsung announced that this device would get four software updates, which is well ahead of other budget devices on the market that typically only get one or two. This should help you save even more money in the long run, as you won’t feel the necessity to buy a new phone in order to get access to freshly released features.

Performance is a real sore spot for the Samsung Galaxy A25 5G, though. There was a noticeable lag in the device compared to my standard Pixel 7 experience at home. Even right out of the box, it lagged during setup to remind me exactly where those saved dollars really go. As someone who reviews a lot of budget smartphones, though, it’s worth noting that it wasn’t any worse than competitors at this price. Simply put, if you want to avoid the lag, you’re going to have to pay more than an Exynos 1280 processor with 6GB of RAM.

Battery life & charging

The standard budget experience at 5000 mAh

Samsung has been pretty committed to keeping big batteries in its budget phones, and the Galaxy A25 5G is, of course, no different. You’ll be getting a hulking 5,000 mAh battery, which has become fairly standard over the years. It was able to give me more than the full two days promised without a charge on light to moderate use. That’s likely due to the lower-end processor, which doesn’t require as much power, but that kind of battery life is not to be scoffed at.

Even better, Samsung did not skimp on the charging capabilities when it comes to the Galaxy A25 5G. You’re getting a USB-C to USB-C cable out of the box, so you know there’s at least a chance you’re getting faster than usual charging, listed at 25W wired. In testing, the provided cable and my own USB-C fast charger were able to get the device from 50% to 100% in a little over an hour, which isn’t nearly as fast as some flagships but gets the job done for such a low price.

As we mentioned earlier, though, the Galaxy A25 5G does not come with a charging brick, so you’ll have to purchase one that is compatible with 25W wired charging to get these kinds of speeds. Still, if you don’t already have one, it shouldn’t cost too much more money, and the fast speeds with a big battery like this can make life a lot easier.

Camera

Fine for the price, with a bit of flair

The Samsung Galaxy A25 5G is equipped with the standard camera array for a budget device. The 50MP main camera is on pretty much every phone at this point, and it performs admirably for the price. The quality of the shots relies heavily on the lighting, as it isn’t equipped with the software power of the Google Pixel 8, for example. The details are definitely crisp and clear, but you aren’t getting that additional pop that comes from a bit of AI-powered editing, you know?

The 13MP selfie camera didn’t disappoint too much, either. The basic portrait shots came in with great detail — maybe a little too much given my advancing age — and the Portrait Mode photos had crisp, clean edges that didn’t blur to reveal an obviously doctored image. Even more exciting, there is the “Fun” feature in the Samsung camera app, which essentially houses an array of Snapchat filters that can make your pictures extra weird. Heads up, though, you will need an internet connection to access the features, as it’s not a fully built-in feature with the camera.

For zoom, you’re getting a solid range on the Samsung Galaxy A25 5G. The device is naturally equipped with an 8MP ultrawide lens so that you can get everything into the shot wherever you’re standing. Beyond that, though, the main camera can digitally zoom up to 10x, which is pretty good considering the iPhone 14 has 10x zoom. Obviously, the zoom is a bit on the blurry side because the Galaxy A25 5G isn’t equipped with a telephoto lens, but if you need to catch Bigfoot in a crowded forest, you know where to turn.

Let’s see, did we forget anything? Oh yeah, the 2MP macro lens is the most forgettable lens on any smartphone. This doesn’t impress much either, but when do these kinds of camera features ever really come in handy? The close-up shots look a bit better, but if you’re buying a smartphone based on how good the macro lens looks, you should probably stray away from the word “budget.”

Competition

Plenty of options at this price, but are they as good?

Sure, it’s been mentioned a few times already, but it’s worth saying again: Samsung has great budget smartphones. If the Galaxy A25 5G isn’t for you, we’d understand, as it’s definitely on the higher end of the A Series in terms of price. For a cheaper option that still impresses, the Samsung Galaxy A15 is a full $100 less than the Galaxy A25 for a very similar experience. It drops to 4GB of RAM, a 90Hz OLED display, and a slightly worse camera array, but keeps much of the core experience identical.

For the same $300, you can score Motorola’s new Moto G Power 5G (2024). It has a larger 6.7-inch LCD 120Hz display and swaps out the Exynos chip for a Dimensity 7020. Throw in fast-charging — wired and wireless — more RAM, and a striking faux-leather design, and you might find yourself swayed by Moto’s experience. But the display just isn’t as good, performance is pretty hit or miss, and the software support is abysmal. Throw in a ton of pre-installed adware, and it just doesn’t deliver the way this phone can.

Should you buy it?

Samsung’s budget phones are an obvious recommend

It’s hard to argue that Samsung makes some of the better options when it comes to budget smartphones, so if you’ve got limited funds to work with, we’d definitely recommend checking out the Samsung Galaxy A25 5G. The display alone impresses enough to make it worth the mild investment, and the commitment to so many software updates means you won’t be forced to swap it for a new device for a while, adding even more to the value.

If you’re coming over from an older flagship, though, the performance issues are going to bother you. The lag is noticeable, although you shouldn’t have any serious problems when it actually matters. Plus, the limited storage options could be frustrating for a heavy user, though considering you can always increase it with a microSD card, that’s far from a deal-breaker. All that to say, we feel more than comfortable recommending the Samsung A25 5G as a budget phone, but if you find a few extra hundred dollars under the couch, upgrading to a flagship — even a midrange one like the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE — is likely to be a better decision.