Samsung Galaxy A25 review

Introduction

Just when the world is all about the Galaxy S24 series, we bring you our Galaxy A25 review. Not the best timing, granted, but Samsung has been taking its sweet time shipping us any S24 review units, so in the meantime - we have another important device - the Galaxy A25. Important to Samsung and value-oriented users alike. Flagships make the headlines, but midranges and value devices are the bread and butter of the business, and they can make or break a company's bottom line.

The Galaxy A25 is a globally available device too. It is already selling in the US, UK, Europe, and India to name a few. So, it is basically competing on all fronts in the midrange. And Samsung has made sure it has come prepared.

The new Galaxy A25 may be playing things safe and does not deviate too much from the established Galaxy A-series formula so the design has seen few changes but there are a bunch of updates under the hood.

Samsung Galaxy A25 specs at a glance:

• Body: 161.0x76.5x8.3mm, 197g; plastic back and frame, glass front.
• Display: 6.50" Super AMOLED, 120Hz, 1000 nits (HBM), 1080x2340px resolution, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 396ppi.
• Chipset: Exynos 1280 (5 nm): Octa-core (2x2.4 GHz Cortex-A78 & 6x2.0 GHz Cortex-A55); Mali-G68.
• Memory: 128GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM; microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot).
• OS/Software: Android 14, One UI 6.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 120-degree; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4.
• Front camera: 13 MP, f/2.2, (wide).
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
• Battery: 5000mAh; 25W wired.
• Connectivity: 5G; Hybrid Dual SIM; Wi-Fi 5; BT 5.3; NFC; 3.5mm jack.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); stereo speakers; Virtual proximity sensing.

There are some notable hardware upgrades over the A24. For one, it is a 5G headset thanks to an in-house Samsung Exynos 1280 chipset. This actually addresses one of the key criticisms against last year's Galaxy A24, which only ever came in a 4G version. Kind of an odd choice, really, given that the lower-end Galaxy A14 did have a 5G variant.

Samsung is also upgrading the display refresh rate of the familiar 6.5-inch Super AMOLED panel to 120Hz, up from 90Hz on devices like the Galaxy A24 and the Galaxy A15.

While the camera setup on the A25 hasn't changed in a major way, Samsung is introducing an 8MP ultrawide as a replacement for the 5MP one, which should result in better-quality photos and videos. Speaking of videos, thanks to the new chipset, the Galaxy A25 can do 4K@30fps video capture on its main camera. There is gyroscopic EIS support as well. The Galaxy A25 also offers a stereo speaker setup, unlike its predecessor.

All of these upgrades arguably push the A25 closer than ever to the A3X series of devices and the excellent Galaxy A34 in particular. You still don't get a formal IP rating with the Galaxy A25, though and certain elements of its design, like the larger display bezels, continue to give away its more budget nature.

All that being said, we are very interested to see just how well the new Galaxy A25 stacks up against competitors in its highly competitive price bracket, including some other Samsung devices like the Galaxy A34 we mentioned. Join us on the following pages for the answer.

Unboxing

The Galaxy A25 ships in a simple slide-out cardboard box. Nothing too fancy, and we still don't exactly trust how thin the sleeve part of the packaging is. Still, the phone doesn't sit directly underneath that and remains well protected. There is no plastic in the packaging, but you still get a nice little cardboard cradle for the phone itself, which works well enough.

The accessory package is as basic as they get. Samsung only provides a white USB Type-C to Type-C cable with the phone and nothing else. Well, unless you count the SIM ejector tool. If it's good enough for the S series, we guess it is good enough for the A. Though we can't say, we particularly like this reality.