Samsung Galaxy A25 Smartphone Review

Samsung Galaxy A25 Smartphone Review – The Samsung Galaxy A25 was launched in December 2023 as the new budget mid-range smartphone. The smartphone will also launch globally and will be available in a majority of countries. Like Samsung’s other budget and mid-range smartphones, the Galaxy A25 also features 5G connectivity for a truly seamless connected lifestyle.

In terms of design, the Samsung Galaxy A25, like many of its 2023 smartphones, follows the design language of its S23 flagship series. That’s a good thing or at least that’s what Samsung believes but we will find out everything about this smartphone. So, let’s begin with a detailed review of the Samsung Galaxy A25 and see if this smartphone is worth purchasing.

Samsung Galaxy A25 Smartphone Review

Highlights

1. The Samsung Galaxy A25 features a 6.5-inches Super AMOLED display with FHD+ resolution, 120Hz high refresh rate, and 1000 nits under peak brightness.
2. The chipset inside the phone is the 5nm Exynos 1280 5G octa-core SoC with clock speeds of 2×2.4 GHz.
3. The smartphone arrives with Android 14 out-of-the-box with One UI 6 for more customization options.
4. The Samsung Galaxy A25 has a 50MP rear camera system, while the selfie camera has a 13MP sensor.
5. The phone has a 5000 mAh battery and supports 25W wired fast charging.

Design and Display

The design of the Samsung Galaxy A25 closely resembles that of Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S23 series and that’s not surprising. Samsung wants all of their smartphones to feature a similar design language to that of the Galaxy S23 series to ensure everybody gets a similar regardless of which smartphone they bought and at what price tag. So with the Samsung Galaxy A25, you get a flat design that is quite grippy and won’t slip out of your hands easily.

It has the same camera arrangement as that of the S23 series and so does its button placement but with a slight twist. There is a bump in the button area called the Key Island where all the buttons are located for easier accessibility. Even though the Galaxy A25 features the same flagship design, it’s not completely the same. The difference is that the Galaxy A25 features a polycarbonate body as opposed to a premium metal and glass combo.

But it is well-built and extremely durable even though it’s just polycarbonate. This allowed Samsung to save costs and use that resource somewhere else such as the display. So, they provided a 6.5-inches Super AMOLED display with FHD+ resolution. You don’t have to settle with sub-par and low-res 720p panels. With Galaxy A25, you get a proper display panel with high-end features such as the 120Hz high refresh rate.

The use of a high refresh rate panel will deliver a smooth user experience. The panel also gets plenty bright at 1000 nits under peak brightness, so you are not going to have any issues under direct sunlight. The Samsung Galaxy A25 is available for purchase in Brave Black, Personality Yellow, Fantasy Blue, and Optimistic Blue color options.

Memory and Internal

Samsung equipped the Galaxy A25 with Exynos 1280 5G chipset. This chipset is a bit older now, but it’s a tried and tested chipset from Samsung that has delivered a great experience previously and will do the same with the Samsung Galaxy A25. It has an octa-core CPU configuration that has a clock speed of 2×2.4 GHz, which has enough raw power to deliver true multitasking performance. However, other smartphone makers are delivering newer and better chipsets at the same price point.

We wish Samsung had done the same, but it is what it is. Maybe their upper mid-range smartphones like the upcoming Galaxy A35 and A55 will get that. But the Exynos 1280 chipset is a capable chipset on its own. Its gaming performance is great. It has the Mali-G68, which can easily handle games like PUBGm, CODm, and Genshin Impact with high graphics settings. For memory and storage, the Samsung Galaxy A25 is available for purchase with up to 6GB/8GB of RAM and 128GB to 256GB of internal storage.

Also, Samsung promises to provide 4 years of Android updates and 5 years of security updates and that will certainly expand the software experience in the long run. The Samsung Galaxy A25 also has support for 5G connectivity and runs on Android 14 with One UI 6, which provides a lot of customization support, especially with GoodLock modules. There’s support for a microSDXC card and a 3.5mm headphone jack as well.

Camera

The Samsung Galaxy A25 has a 50MP triple-camera setup. The 50MP sensor is the main camera, the 8MP sensor is for the ultra-wide camera, and there’s an additional 2MP macro sensor. The main camera’s pictures are excellent with high detail, great dynamic range, superior white balance, and saturated colors. Even if the lighting gets dark, the images captured are quite good with little to no drop in colors and detail levels.

The same goes for the portrait mode as the portrait pictures are quite good. The background bokeh is natural and the edges around the human subject blend in with the background blur perfectly. The ultra-wide camera is capable, but the lower 8MP sensor holds it back, so pictures can appear softer. That’s not to say that the ultra-wide camera is not good. It’s decent but don’t expect a mirage out of it. 

There’s also a selfie camera in the front with a 13MP sensor that can take some decent selfies. The picture quality is good enough to post on social media without needing to apply any filters. When it comes to video recording, the rear camera can shoot videos at 4K@30FPS, while the selfie camera can shoot at a maximum of 1080p@30FPS. The main rear camera also has gyro-EIS support, which is not as good as OIS but it gets you close enough to be generally stable. 

Battery and Others

The Samsung Galaxy A25 has a 5000mAh battery, which is a high-capacity battery that should provide you with more than 2 days’ worth of battery life, that is with lighter usage. But if you are a gamer, then the battery may not even last a full day. Gaming is quite heavy on the system, so the battery drains faster. Other than gaming, the battery will last you a long time.

Downloading movies on 5G and being connected to 5G for too long will also drain the battery faster. But when you do run out of battery, there’s nothing to worry about. That’s because the Samsung Galaxy A25 supports 25W wired fast charging, which can fully charge the smartphone somewhere under 2 hours.

Apart from that, the smartphone has support for dual-band Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.3, a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, NFC, and a USB Type-C connector for charging. The smartphone is available for $240 (Rs 19,990 in India) approx.

Samsung Galaxy A25 Pros and Cons

Samsung Galaxy A25 Specifications Detail

Down below you can see the full specifications of the Samsung Galaxy A25 smartphone.

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy A25 does provide some great value for the money you will pay for. It has 5G connectivity, a flagship-level display, higher brightness, more than a decent chipset, and excellent battery performance. Even the camera is quite good, especially the main camera. Sure there’s no telephoto lens or high-end ultrawide but the superb main camera performance trumps them.

Not to mention, it would be impossible to find a smartphone with a telephoto lens at this price in 2023. On top of that, Samsung’s long-term OS support trumps pretty much every other smartphone in this price range and above. No one beats Samsung when it comes to software support in the Android space. Considering all that it offers, the pricing is okay, and vice versa.

However, not everyone is a fan of Samsung. Some users want a better chipset and while the chipset inside the Samsung Galaxy A25 is more than decent, it’s not the best. Samsung usually doesn’t go for the highest-end chipset. But there are smartphones with better chipsets in the almost same price range. The Xiaomi Redmi K70e, for example, is one such smartphone.

It features a gaming-grade chipset and other high-end specs for the same price range, more or less. The only caveat is its availability. The smartphone is launched only in a few countries and may not be as broadly available as the Samsung Galaxy A25. However, the final decision is up to you, so it is better to choose a smartphone based on your requirements and needs.