Samsung Galaxy A17 Evaluate: Buying and selling efficiency for updates

One of many first issues lower on finances telephones is usually long-term software program assist –I’m you Motorola –, however that’s not the case with Samsung’s Galaxy A17, which is promised six years of Android OS updates. However, can anybody truly use this $199 cellphone for that lengthy?

The Galaxy A17 is Samsung’s second-cheapest mass market smartphone and, by all accounts, will find yourself being one of many best-selling smartphone globally this yr if its predecessors function a sample. And, on paper, it’s not unhealthy. A 6.7-inch 1080p show, 5,000 mAh battery, 50MP fundamental rear digicam, 128GB of storage, and a microSD card slot? That’s quite a lot of bins to test, particularly realizing this factor will get a number of years of updates.

So, let’s begin with the great.

The general {hardware} on Galaxy A17 is fairly strong. Your entire factor is plastic, in fact, however this can be a cellphone that just about each purchaser shall be throwing in a case anyway. However, even outdoors of a case, it really works – the {hardware} is grippy sufficient. My solely actual gripe is the ability key, which is flat to the cellphone to facilitate the fingerprint sensor. That’s one thing Samsung has loads of expertise in with its foldables, the place it really works nice, however there’s so little tactile feeling on the Galaxy A17’s sensor that I all the time have a tricky time realizing the place I’m placing my finger. Once more, one thing you gained’t even discover whereas utilizing a case. The “Key Island” design additionally feels just a little odd, nevertheless it’s straightforward sufficient to get used to.

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Then, there’s the show.

A 6.7-inch 1080p AMOLED panel on a $199 cellphone is a fairly good promoting level, and this one will get the job accomplished effectively. Whereas it’s removed from the best-looking show I’ve ever seen, it has good colours, will get shiny sufficient for basic use – although not excellent outdoors, and lacks the same old shortcomings of a finances cellphone show in that there’s no unevenness to the show, one among my greatest gripes on the Moto G Energy (2026) earlier this yr.

Battery life, expectedly, is excellent and it costs up rapidly. And the digicam actually shocked me as a result of, effectively, it doesn’t suck.

Whereas Samsung nonetheless has lots of digicam woes, this can be a succesful shooter. The shot that impressed me most was of my canine, Rey, outdoors on a snowy day. I’d count on any digicam to battle with balancing a dark-colored animal in opposition to that harsh white background on a shiny and sunny day, nevertheless it obtained the job accomplished.

However actually, that’s the place the “good” issues come to an finish.

To chop proper to the chase, the efficiency on this cellphone is abysmal, and worse than I even anticipated from a $199 smartphone. The Galaxy A17 is powered by Samsung’s Exynos 1330 chipset, the identical chip you’ve been capable of finding within the 5G variations of the Galaxy A16, A15, and Galaxy A14 5G. In different phrases, it’s not a brand new chip, and it completely feels that approach.

Paired with simply 4GB of precise RAM, the Exynos 1330 simply can’t sustain with a contemporary Android expertise, a minimum of in my testing. This cellphone struggles via actually every part. Getting via the lockscreen, opening apps, even pulling up the keyboard appears to pull it down. As soon as issues are in movement it may well carry out effectively for a short while, nevertheless it feels such as you’re always pushing uphill and working out of steam each few seconds. And that is simply fixed. Simply opening the notification shade leaves the cellphone working a bit behind you.

Each motion is simply on a delay.

Even scrolling via short-form movies (Instagram Reels, in my case), one thing that nearly everybody does on their telephones, is a tough expertise. Movies all the time begin uneven and by no means actually really feel like they’re enjoying correctly, and it doesn’t actually get higher over time. However that is arguably one of the crucial widespread, and least resource-intensive “duties” a contemporary smartphone has to carry out, so it’s actually not nice that the Galaxy A17 struggled to maintain up.

And that’s at present, with the cellphone working Android 16 (One UI 8.0) out of the field.

Samsung guarantees the Galaxy A17 will get six years of Android OS updates on prime of that and, frankly, I simply can’t think about utilizing it for that lengthy. If this cellphone can barely deal with its personal OS at present, how can anybody hope will probably be in any respect usable on Android 20 and past. Don’t get me mistaken, Samsung ought to be updating each cellphone it sells for this lengthy, however that promise doesn’t align with the fact of Samsung utilizing {hardware} that simply isn’t as much as par anymore. I’d say that extra reminiscence (RAM) would go a great distance to enhance this, however finally, Samsung must improve this chip. There’s no purpose the identical 4-year-old chip ought to nonetheless be in use right here. These two deficiencies mixed actually simply make this cellphone an absolute drag to make use of.

However, in fact, the $199 section is just not a spot you count on a cellphone to carry out effectively. It’s a needed compromise for this value level. I’ve used loads of low-cost Android telephones through the years, however the Galaxy A17 is perhaps one of many worst-performing out of the field I’ve utilized in fairly a while. Price range telephones shouldn’t have efficiency to spare, however they need to be usable, and the Galaxy A17 simply… isn’t.

So, what’s a greater choice?

Whereas the lesser reminiscence most likely makes an enormous distinction, the bottom Moto G (2026) makes use of the identical chipset because the Moto G Energy I recently went hands-on with, and that phone was perfectly acceptable across the board. You’re trading long-term updates, sure, but – and I don’t say this lightly – I think that might be worthwhile. I’m all for bang-for-your-buck, but not at the expense of a product that you actually want to use. But, really, I’d advocate more for just buying a slightly older device instead. A used or refurbished Google Pixel would do properly, for instance. Again Market, a strong place to get refurbished telephones, has the Galaxy S23 for $199 proper now. That’s a greater purchase for this cash in my e book. You get fewer updates over time, in fact, however with higher efficiency and whereas additionally saving a tool from changing into e-waste. That’s a win-win.

As talked about on the outset, although, the Galaxy A17 will most likely nonetheless handle to be one of many best-selling Android telephones of the yr. It occurs time and time once more. So, with that in thoughts, I’d merely ask that Samsung takes one other go on the software program right here, and brings some additional optimization.

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