SAMSUNG Galaxy A25 5G A Series Cell Phone, 128GB Unlocked Android Smartphone, AMOLED Display, Advanced Triple Camera System, Expandable Storage, Stereo Speakers,US Version,2024,Black

Slightly overpowered, but solid, phone.
TL;DR: Nice phone with a few common-sense features, and several issues.I’m an undemanding user, and my old A01 slowed at the end of its support life and storage was lacking. Storage was full and apps wouldn’t be updated because there supposedly wasn’t enough space. Wanting to avoid this, I bought something with more storage and memory this time around.SCREEN:After 2 Galaxy A15’s had phantom screen press issues I decided to give the A25 a try since online resources suggested it had a different screen. Thankfully I’ve yet to have any phantom screen press issues almost 1.5 months since receipt.Unlike the A15’s 800-nit screen (per gsmarena.com), the 1000-nit screen of this A25 is actually usable in sunlight. This is very important, and I feel a huge drawback of the A15.BATTERY:I subjectively feel like the A25 runs down the battery a bit faster than the A15. This does make sense given the hardware. Per nanoreview.net the SOC of this phone is more powerful than that of the A15 with a lower battery life rating. Per gsmarena.com it’s got a 120Hz screen vs. the 90Hz of the A15, while both phones feature 5000 mAh batteries.Neither the A15 or A25 have wireless charging. I don’t care. You might.HARDWARE:I DO care that both have 3.5mm jacks. They make life so much better. Locating it on the bottom, unlike the A01’s top-mounted 3.5mm jack, makes it easier to route a cable when it’s in a pocket or car mount.It supports either dual SIM or one SIM and a microSDXC. This also makes life much better. I wish it could hold 2 SIMs AND a microSDXC at once, but it’s better than nothing I suppose.The cameras are pretty good, but get grainy/pixelated when zooming in. The notch for the front camera is fine. In fact I grew to like the status info (battery, WiFi/cellular, notification icons, etc) being at the top, next to the notch, in the A01, giving more room to apps.The inclusion of stereo loudspeakers is a nice upgrade from the A15. If you hold the phone at an off-angle they can sound strange due to the angle. For best results hold the phone with the screen flat toward your face.It gets a bit warm, moreso than the A15. My guess is it’s likely due to the more powerful SOC.SIZE:The phone’s too big*. The A01 was too big at 5.7″, and the A25 is worse 6.5″. I have long fingers and it’s impossible to reach the top of the screen (where one might find a close or menu button in an app) one-handed without major grip adjustment, risking dropping the phone. The A01 was borderline uncomfortable in the (large) pockets of my pants, the A15/A25 cross the border. Squatting down must be carefully done lest it dig into your hip and cause discomfort or pain. Yes viewing more of web pages is nice. Yes I have to thumb to the next page of ebooks less when there are more words on-screen. Yes, more screen real estate is nice for Google Maps. But I don’t NEED those things. In fact, I’d rather have an easier-to-carry PHONE, not a PHABLET I have to buy military cargo pants or a purse to comfortably carry.SOFTWARE:Mostly stable and as-expected. There are some issues but I’m not sure if I can blame Samsung.1. Expo Go (an app used for mobile app development) doesn’t allow interaction with the app I’m helping develop. Expo Go itself works fine on both the A15 and A25, but the in-development app would appear frozen. The in-development app works perfectly on Expo Go on the A01.2. I set the “side button” (power button) to turn on the flashlight when double-pressed. Using the included camera app before using the side button to turn on the flashlight results in the flashlight not working. This can be fixed by clearing the camera app’s cache every time you want to use the flashlight, or using a different camera app.For all I know there’s a fix for these, but I haven’t found it yet (and I’ve looked).Luckily someone at Google decided to finally build battery charge thresholds into Android, so that should help improve battery lifespan of this phone.Some third-party apps fail to start and require a second screen tap.VALUE:This phone is exiting the budget segment toward mid-range, but you get more for your money. More computing power, more storage and memory, an ultrawide camera, stereo speakers, a better screen than the A15, while retaining a 3.5mm jack.*But “the market” wants big phones (see the Marques Brownlee video “Small Phones are Dead and We Killed Them” video for more).

THREE DEFECTIVE PHONES!! Beware of the A25!!!
My husband & I both got the galaxy A25. After WEEKS of troubleshooting, including completely reseting the phones, we still had connection issues with ALL 3 phones. I’m talking Bluetooth, wifi & cell service connection issues. We were lucky to keep cell service at all, much less 5G. Sometimes I’d get the old busy dial tone when I’d call my husbands phone, even if it was showing I had good cell service. His would do the same when he’d call me, never seen that issue before… My 1st phone had a faulty battery & connection issues within a week or so. We returned it for another one, hoping for the best. Then my husband’s phone started having the same connection issues. My new phone arrived & guess what? Same connection issues right off the bat. It’s for sure not our sim cards/service provider because our old phones work just fine. Thank goodness we still have them. Our wifi isn’t cutting in and out on any of our other devices. My bluetooth headphones work & connect just fine to other devices! These phones are just defective! This has been such a nightmare!!!! We’re switching back to the S series & will be buying elsewhere. Not sure if it’s Amazon selling all the defective ones or if its just the A25 model in general.