Samsung's six-year OS and security update commitment is the longest in the budget Android segment and a class-leading reason to buy at this price.
The 6.7-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED with 120Hz refresh and ~1,900-nit peak HDR brightness punches above the phone's price bracket and is one of the best displays under $400.
Build quality is exemplary for the price — dual Gorilla Glass Victus+ front and back, IP67 dust/water resistance and a thinner, lighter chassis than the A35.
Wired charging has jumped from 25W to 45W, taking the 5,000 mAh battery from 0 to ~60-66% in 30 minutes and a full charge in ~68-70 minutes.
Real-world battery life from the 5,000 mAh cell easily lasts a full day, with reviewers regularly ending with 20-40% remaining.
Pros & Cons
Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
Pros
Samsung's six-year OS and security update commitment is the longest in the budget Android segment and a class-leading reason to buy at this price.
The 6.7-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED with 120Hz refresh and ~1,900-nit peak HDR brightness punches above the phone's price bracket and is one of the best displays under $400.
Build quality is exemplary for the price — dual Gorilla Glass Victus+ front and back, IP67 dust/water resistance and a thinner, lighter chassis than the A35.
Wired charging has jumped from 25W to 45W, taking the 5,000 mAh battery from 0 to ~60-66% in 30 minutes and a full charge in ~68-70 minutes.
Detailed Comparison
Design & Build
Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
Samsung gave the A36 a real glow-up in materials this generation: Gorilla Glass Victus+ on both the front and back, a thinner and lighter chassis than the A35, and IP67 dust/water resistance. The frame is still plastic, which keeps the A36 a step below the A56's aluminium-and-glass build, but reviewers consistently say it doesn't feel cheap. The unified camera island replaces the separate-lens look of the A35 and is divisive — some say it looks dated, others find it sleek and more S-series-like.
Build is dual Gorilla Glass Victus+ front and back with IP67 dust/water resistance, and the phone is now 14 grams lighter at 195g compared to the 209g A35.
The piano-black colorway attracts smudges and dust easily, and next to the Moto G Stylus or Nothing Phone (3a) under $400 the design feels generic and devoid of personality.
The A36's plastic frame and plastic camera surround feel a clear step below the A56's aluminium frame and flat metal camera surround, and the extra $100 for the A56 buys a noticeably more premium feel in hand.
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Awesome Intelligence (Circle to Search, AI Select, Object Eraser, Edit Suggestions, custom filters) brings a meaningful slice of Galaxy AI features down to the A-series without the bloat seen on the S25 line.
Deal Breakers
The Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 is barely an upgrade over 2022's Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 and benchmarks at or below the outgoing Exynos 1380 in the cheaper A35 — multiple reviewers reported stutters, with one Wired test finding the carrier-locked A36 actually slower than the $100-cheaper A26.
Samsung removed the microSD card slot that the A35 still had, so 128 GB or 256 GB is the storage ceiling — repeatedly flagged on Reddit as a deal-breaker for long-term-update buyers.
No wireless charging — competitors like Motorola's Moto G Power and Moto G Stylus 2025 offer it at the same or lower price.
The rear cameras are the exact same hardware as the A35 (50MP main, 8MP ultrawide, 5MP macro) with only a new ISP and Awesome Intelligence software changes; ultrawide and low-light output remain noisy.
USB 2.0 only and Wi-Fi 6 only (no 6 GHz / Wi-Fi 6E) — connectivity is dated for a 2025 phone you're meant to keep for six years.
The optical under-display fingerprint sensor is slow and inconsistent compared to the A26's side-mounted capacitive sensor, requiring multiple taps to unlock.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge
What Reviewers Agree On
At 5.8mm and 163 grams the Edge genuinely feels transformatively lighter and thinner in hand than any other current flagship — picking it up is repeatedly described as a surprise even by reviewers skeptical of thin phones.
Build quality is premium and durable for the form factor — titanium frame, Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 on the front (first phone to use it), Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the back, IP68 rating intact.
The 6.7-inch 1440p LTPO AMOLED is one of the best smartphone displays in 2025 — 2,600-nit peak brightness, 120Hz, sharp and bright in any lighting.
Short-burst performance from the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy + 12GB RAM matches or beats the S25 Ultra in single-shot benchmarks, with no noticeable lag in everyday use.
The 200MP main sensor (inherited from the S25 Ultra) takes genuinely strong photos with crisp detail, and the new wider 12MP selfie camera is a small upgrade for group shots.
Samsung commits seven years of OS and security updates, matching the industry's best long-term support window.
Deal Breakers
The 3,900 mAh battery is the smallest in the entire Galaxy S25 lineup — smaller even than the base S25's cell — and real-world endurance trails the S25+, S25 Ultra and most rivals by a meaningful margin.
There is no telephoto camera at all — only the 200MP main and a 12MP ultrawide — making it the only S25 phone without optical zoom and a hard sell for anyone who shoots distant subjects.
Under sustained 3DMark stress tests Notebookcheck measured GPU performance dropping to roughly half its initial score (46.3% Wild Life stability), confirming the slim chassis can't dissipate enough heat for long gaming sessions.
Wired charging is capped at 25W and wireless at 15W — well behind the OnePlus 13 and Xiaomi rivals, with a full charge taking about 1 hour 20 minutes from the wall.
Samsung skipped the new silicon-carbon battery chemistry already shipping in the OnePlus 13, Xiaomi 15, Vivo X200 and other competitors — the single technology that could have made the thin form factor work, repeatedly flagged by MKBHD, Dave2D and Mrwhosetheboss.
Real-world battery life from the 5,000 mAh cell easily lasts a full day, with reviewers regularly ending with 20-40% remaining.
Awesome Intelligence (Circle to Search, AI Select, Object Eraser, Edit Suggestions, custom filters) brings a meaningful slice of Galaxy AI features down to the A-series without the bloat seen on the S25 line.
Cons
The Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 is barely an upgrade over 2022's Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 and benchmarks at or below the outgoing Exynos 1380 in the cheaper A35 — multiple reviewers reported stutters, with one Wired test finding the carrier-locked A36 actually slower than the $100-cheaper A26.
Samsung removed the microSD card slot that the A35 still had, so 128 GB or 256 GB is the storage ceiling — repeatedly flagged on Reddit as a deal-breaker for long-term-update buyers.
No wireless charging — competitors like Motorola's Moto G Power and Moto G Stylus 2025 offer it at the same or lower price.
The rear cameras are the exact same hardware as the A35 (50MP main, 8MP ultrawide, 5MP macro) with only a new ISP and Awesome Intelligence software changes; ultrawide and low-light output remain noisy.
USB 2.0 only and Wi-Fi 6 only (no 6 GHz / Wi-Fi 6E) — connectivity is dated for a 2025 phone you're meant to keep for six years.
The optical under-display fingerprint sensor is slow and inconsistent compared to the A26's side-mounted capacitive sensor, requiring multiple taps to unlock.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge
Pros
At 5.8mm and 163 grams the Edge genuinely feels transformatively lighter and thinner in hand than any other current flagship — picking it up is repeatedly described as a surprise even by reviewers skeptical of thin phones.
Build quality is premium and durable for the form factor — titanium frame, Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 on the front (first phone to use it), Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the back, IP68 rating intact.
The 6.7-inch 1440p LTPO AMOLED is one of the best smartphone displays in 2025 — 2,600-nit peak brightness, 120Hz, sharp and bright in any lighting.
Short-burst performance from the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy + 12GB RAM matches or beats the S25 Ultra in single-shot benchmarks, with no noticeable lag in everyday use.
The 200MP main sensor (inherited from the S25 Ultra) takes genuinely strong photos with crisp detail, and the new wider 12MP selfie camera is a small upgrade for group shots.
Samsung commits seven years of OS and security updates, matching the industry's best long-term support window.
Cons
The 3,900 mAh battery is the smallest in the entire Galaxy S25 lineup — smaller even than the base S25's cell — and real-world endurance trails the S25+, S25 Ultra and most rivals by a meaningful margin.
There is no telephoto camera at all — only the 200MP main and a 12MP ultrawide — making it the only S25 phone without optical zoom and a hard sell for anyone who shoots distant subjects.
Under sustained 3DMark stress tests Notebookcheck measured GPU performance dropping to roughly half its initial score (46.3% Wild Life stability), confirming the slim chassis can't dissipate enough heat for long gaming sessions.
Wired charging is capped at 25W and wireless at 15W — well behind the OnePlus 13 and Xiaomi rivals, with a full charge taking about 1 hour 20 minutes from the wall.
Samsung skipped the new silicon-carbon battery chemistry already shipping in the OnePlus 13, Xiaomi 15, Vivo X200 and other competitors — the single technology that could have made the thin form factor work, repeatedly flagged by MKBHD, Dave2D and Mrwhosetheboss.
Despite the plastic frame and plastic rear, the A36's build quality is exemplary, gaps are even, and it does not feel cheap.
The three rear lenses have been unified into a single oblong camera island, and the A-series no longer looks like an S-series phone — a draw for some, a downgrade for others.
The Awesome Lavender colorway has a holographic rainbow finish that shifts color depending on the angle and adds genuine character to an otherwise utilitarian design.
Reddit's r/Android sums up the build verdict as 'Superb build, dual Gorilla Glass, IP67' — a rare community pro for a budget Galaxy.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge
At 5.8mm and 163 grams the S25 Edge is the thinnest and lightest Galaxy flagship ever, and nearly every reviewer concedes that picking it up changes their opinion of thin phones — even those who came in skeptical. The frame is grade-5 titanium with Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 (a smartphone first) on the front and Victus 2 on the back, IP68 rating preserved. The camera bump protrudes enough that the phone wobbles noticeably on a flat surface, and several reviewers point out a case immediately negates the thin-phone benefit.
After living with the Edge for two weeks, the lighter weight repeatedly tricked the reviewer into thinking she'd left her phone at home — the slimmer dimensions make a tangible difference in pockets and small bags the way no other modern big phone does.
At 5.8mm it is 2mm thinner than the iPhone 16 Plus and weighs 36 grams less despite the same 6.7-inch screen — picking it up genuinely feels strange and, surprisingly, not cheap.
Samsung kept the titanium frame and IP68 rating, and the Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 panel is a smartphone first — the Edge is undeniably enchanting in sheer feel and aesthetics.
The titanium frame meets the glass at a minutely chamfered edge that banishes the sharp digging-into-the-palm sensation of the S25 Ultra — for an hour straight it never once felt fatiguing.
The Edge ruined the reviewer's previously positive experience with the S25 Ultra in 24 hours — the Ultra suddenly feels thick and noticeably heavy by comparison.
Even on video of his own hands holding it the difference looks subtle, but it is very noticeably thinner to hold — the kind of feel-it-to-believe-it engineering you don't get from a spec sheet.
Picking up the Edge was very reminiscent of his first time picking up a MacBook Air or a new iPad — 30% thinner and 25% lighter doesn't sound transformative on paper but absolutely feels it.
Just under 4mm thick, the camera bump on the back is quite prominent — including the lenses the Edge is almost as thick as the S25+, and on a table it wobbles back and forth considerably.
The phone rocks a lot on a table due to the camera bump and even with a case the Edge won't stop wobbling because case-makers want to preserve as much thinness as possible.
Display
Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
The 6.7-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED at 120Hz is the standout reason to buy this phone for the money. Notebookcheck measured peak HDR brightness above 2,000 cd/m² and GSMArena clocked 1,230 nits in auto mode — better than most rivals in this bracket. The catch is a 120Hz/240Hz low-frequency PWM dimming pattern that can bother PWM-sensitive eyes, and the bezels are still wider than the cheapest competition.
Peak HDR brightness measured over 2,000 cd/m² in lab testing — exceptional for a sub-$400 phone and even brighter than Samsung's claimed 1,900-nit spec.
The display gets nice and bright for sunny-day use, though colors can look slightly washed out at peak auto brightness.
GSMArena measured the panel at 430 nits manual and 1,230 nits auto, up from the A35's roughly 1,000 nits, and the adaptive 120Hz dynamically drops to 60Hz to save battery.
In HDR, Short Circuit's lab not only met Samsung's 1,900-nit claim but exceeded it, making for an excellent HDR viewing experience on an OLED panel.
OLED PWM dimming runs at only 120Hz with a 240Hz secondary frequency — too low for PWM-sensitive users who may experience eye strain or headaches.
The screen looks crisp and large for the money, but there is still no official HDR video support flagged by reviewers as a budget compromise.
After a year of use, the 6.7-inch 120Hz Super AMOLED still feels like a full-flagship display in everyday use — bright, smooth, and great for video.
Notebookcheck and Tech Daily both flag that the bezels — particularly along the lower edge — are still wider than what you get on similarly priced Xiaomi or Nothing phones.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge
The 6.7-inch QHD+ LTPO AMOLED is essentially the same panel as the S25+ — 120Hz, sharp, very bright. Samsung says it skipped the S25 Ultra's anti-reflective Gorilla Armor 2 coating because the coating itself would have added thickness, so the Edge gets the glossier finish back. PWM dimming only reaches 480Hz which Notebookcheck flags as a potential issue for sensitive eyes.
The 6.7-inch panel is just as vibrant and wonderfully colourful as the S25+ — same OLED, same 120Hz refresh rate, no compromise on screen quality.
With auto-brightness enabled the panel exceeded 2,600 nits in HDR content and regularly cleared 1,000 nits, with even the manual SDR brightness boost hitting 700–800 nits in real testing.
Slimmer bezels on an absolutely gorgeous display make the Edge feel like holding a portal — and the 2,600 nit peak brightness is right in line with the S25 Ultra's spec.
The display is also fantastic, and the QHD+ AMOLED is one of the highlights of using the phone — battery aside, the screen alone makes the Edge a treat.
Samsung skipped the Ultra's anti-reflective coating because — and this is on the record — Samsung says the coating itself would have increased the phone's thickness.
Camera
Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
The camera hardware is essentially unchanged from the A35 — 50MP main with OIS, 8MP ultrawide and 5MP macro on the back, with a new 12MP selfie (down from 13MP but with larger pixels). Reviewers agree the new selfie is a genuine improvement; everything else lives or dies by Samsung's image processing and Awesome Intelligence software. Main-camera daylight shots are punchy but sometimes oversaturated, the ultrawide is best avoided in low light, and there's no telephoto — just digital zoom up to 10x.
Main-camera daylight shots have plenty of detail and a nicely wide dynamic range, but exposure and color rendition can be inconsistent and Samsung's processing brightens shadows too much.
Colors can be a little off and you need to stay very still in low light to avoid a blurry image — the usual faults of camera phones in this price bracket.
The new 12MP front camera is a real upgrade over the A35's 13MP unit — selfie image quality has excellent detail and natural skin tones.
Selfie camera looks great with super-natural skin tones — Short Circuit found the front camera the strongest shooter on the phone.
All three rear lenses (50MP main, 8MP ultrawide, 5MP macro) carry over from the A35 — only the ISP and Awesome Intelligence software are new, so don't expect a hardware leap.
The 8MP ultrawide is mostly only useful in broad daylight, and the low-megapixel macro lens isn't worth the bezel space at this point — Nothing managed to fit a 2x telephoto into the Phone (3a) Pro at a similar price.
Compared to the A56, the A36's 1/1.96" main sensor is smaller than the A56's 1/1.56" sensor and pairs with an 8MP ultrawide vs the A56's 12MP — the A56 is the clear pick if camera matters.
Zoom tops out at 10x digital — there's no telephoto lens, so anything beyond 2x relies on crop-from-50MP processing.
Both rear and front cameras can record 4K at 30fps with 10-bit HDR on the selfie cam — solid video specs for the price.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge
Two cameras only — the 200MP main from the S25 Ultra (slightly flattened to fit the chassis) and a 12MP ultrawide. There is no telephoto lens, optical zoom is gone, and the 2x and beyond are pure digital crops from the 200MP sensor. The Verge and Engadget defend the trade and say the high-res crop works at 2x; Wired, Digital Trends and GSMArena call missing zoom the camera's biggest disqualifier on a $1,099 phone.
The Edge inherits the same top-of-the-line 200MP main camera that previously only the Ultra phones got — a real win for image quality on a non-Ultra Galaxy.
Samsung included a top-shelf 200MP main camera to make up for the missing telephoto, and the 2x crop zoom works fine for a little extra reach — colors are punchy as always.
Despite the slim body the Edge still uses a large 1/1.3-inch sensor on the main camera and a 12MP ultrawide — pictures up to 2x crop are sharp and image quality is solid in good light.
There is no telephoto zoom camera at all — rare for a $1,000-plus phone today, and zoom quality deteriorates quickly past 2x digital, making this an uncomfortable choice for anyone who shoots distance.
Battery & Charging
Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
The 5,000 mAh battery is unchanged from the A35 but the bigger story is charging: 45W wired charging (up from 25W) now hits 60-66% in 30 minutes and full in around 68 minutes — faster than the Galaxy S25 itself. Real-world battery life lands around a full day with 20-40% to spare. The catch: no wireless charging, no charger in the box, and you'll need a separate 45W brick with a 5A-rated cable to hit the advertised speeds.
The 5,000 mAh battery comfortably lasts a day, with Wired regularly ending with 30-40% remaining and occasional heavy-use days dropping to 20% by 11pm.
Samsung's quoted charging math — 30 minutes to 65% and full in 68 minutes — matches what reviewers measured in practice and is faster than the Galaxy S25 itself.
Active-use battery score of 11 hours 38 minutes in GSMArena's standardised test is decent for the class, but actually a touch below last year's A35.
There's no charger in the box, and you'll need a Samsung 45W brick (or compatible USB-PD adapter) with a 5A-rated cable — the 3A cable Samsung ships won't unlock full 45W speed.
No wireless charging at all — Motorola's $300 Moto G Power and $400 Moto G Stylus 2025 both offer it at this price.
After a year of use Dave2D's retrospective measured the A36 charging from 0 to 66% in 30 minutes with no degradation in real-world battery longevity.
The charge bump from 25W to 45W is more about wall-clock time than the spec itself — a full charge is only about 12 minutes faster than the A35 in head-to-head testing.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge
The 3,900 mAh cell is the smallest in the entire S25 family — even smaller than the base S25's 4,000 mAh battery. Engadget's local video rundown clocked 25 hours 59 minutes (about 3.5 hours less than the Ultra and two hours less than the standard S25); Notebookcheck reached almost 18 hours of simulated web browsing. Real-world experience is split: The Verge survived a heavy Google I/O day with 20% left; Wired needed mid-day top-ups; Trusted Reviews hit 5% by midday after only two hours of screen-on time. Wired charging caps at 25W. The single most-flagged complaint is Samsung's decision not to use silicon-carbon battery tech that competitors already ship.
A full day covering Google I/O with three hours of screen time and an hour-ish of hotspot use ended with 20 percent left — not amazing, but fine for a heavy use day if you can plug in by evening.
Engadget's local video rundown lasted 25 hours 59 minutes — about three and a half hours less than the S25 Ultra and two hours less than the base S25.
Almost 18 hours of simulated web browsing and over 25 hours of HD video playback in lab testing — sufficient for a day of intensive use even if it doesn't quite beat similarly priced rivals.
Software & AI
Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
This is the A36's headline strength. Samsung promises six major OS updates and six years of security patches — the longest commitment in the budget Android segment, beating Pixel, iPhone and effectively everything else in this price bracket. The phone ships with Android 15 and One UI 7 (now upgraded to One UI 8 a year in). 'Awesome Intelligence' brings a thoughtful subset of Galaxy AI — Circle to Search, AI Select, Object Eraser, Edit Suggestions, custom filters — without the heavier AI bloat seen on the S25.
Six major Android upgrades and six years of security patches — effectively undercutting Pixel, iPhone and every rival in this price bracket on long-term software support.
Awesome Intelligence is a scaled-down version of Galaxy AI — you get Circle to Search, AI Select, Object Eraser and Edit Suggestions, but not Now Brief or the full S25 suite.
After a year of use the A36 has already been upgraded to One UI 8, confirming Samsung is staying on top of its update promise rather than letting the A-series fall behind.
The A36 has 'almost none of the AI bloat that has honestly just been more annoying than anything else on the Pixel 9a lately' — basic Circle-to-Search and Object Eraser without the heavier S25 features.
Samsung's Knox Vault hardware-secured passcode storage and quarterly security patch supply put the A36 on a security footing few sub-$400 phones can match.
Object Eraser in the native gallery works on this phone but not quite as well as on the flagships — a reasonable compromise for the price.
r/Android calls out 'Android 15 with plenty of AI, 6 major updates incoming' as a top pro alongside build and screen, validating the software pitch from the user side.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge
Same One UI 7 on Android 15 as the rest of the S25 lineup, same Galaxy AI feature suite (Now Brief, generative photo editing, Gemini integration), same seven-year OS and security update commitment. No platform differentiator over the cheaper S25 or S25+ — software is identical, so the Edge's pitch lives entirely on hardware design.
Same One UI 7 on Android 15 as the rest of the S25 lineup, with the full Galaxy AI feature set including Now Brief, generative editing and Gemini as the default assistant.
Seven years of major Android upgrades and monthly security patches until 2031 — matches the best long-term support in the industry.
Very pleasing and fluid One UI experience, DeX support, seven major OS updates — listed as a pro across the verdict even by reviewers cool on the hardware.
Shout-out to the realtime visual Gemini Live feature — you can be on a video call with the AI and point at an object and have it answer contextual questions, real-world impressive AI even if execution isn't perfect.
Selfie camera supports log video recording — a small but real software differentiator the rest of the S25 series doesn't currently have.
At $1,099 the Edge sits between the cheaper S25+ ($999) and the only-$100-more S25 Ultra ($1,299), and reviewers across The Verge, Wired, GSMArena and Ars Technica agree neither end of that bracket is a comfortable place to land given what you give up.
Wireless charging works through a 'Qi2 Ready' label rather than built-in magnets — you need a separate magnetic case for MagSafe-style accessories, the same issue Engadget called out on the S25 Ultra.
There is no S Pen support and no S Pen slot — the Ultra's signature feature is gone, removing the one reason you'd traditionally pay over $1,000 for a Samsung flagship without compromise.
At $1,099 the Edge sits between the cheaper S25+ ($999) and the only-$100-more S25 Ultra ($1,299), and reviewers across The Verge, Wired, GSMArena and Ars Technica agree neither end of that bracket is a comfortable place to land given what you give up.
Wireless charging works through a 'Qi2 Ready' label rather than built-in magnets — you need a separate magnetic case for MagSafe-style accessories, the same issue Engadget called out on the S25 Ultra.
There is no S Pen support and no S Pen slot — the Ultra's signature feature is gone, removing the one reason you'd traditionally pay over $1,000 for a Samsung flagship without compromise.
The Ultra's anti-reflective glass is missing on the Edge — losing that anti-glare property is genuinely a downgrade if you've used the S25 Ultra outdoors.
The AMOLED flickers at a comparatively low 240Hz at minimum brightness rising to 480Hz at higher levels, and the amplitude isn't particularly flat — PWM-sensitive viewers may notice eye strain.
Missing telephoto is a serious downside even mid-range phones now include — the Edge is essentially banking on its thinness to drag buyers away from rivals that all have one.
The Edge lacks a telephoto camera and low-light photography is suboptimal — listed as a con in the final verdict despite the 200MP headline number.
Samsung flattened the main camera lens structure to keep the phone slim, which makes the output slightly softer than the S25 Ultra — the same shot taken multiple times consistently came out a touch less sharp.
Coming from the S25 Ultra he genuinely missed the periscope zoom while travelling at Computex — for trip photography the missing telephoto is a real loss.
After only four hours of screen-on time the phone hit 15% — only light-to-average use will get you a full day, and travelling I/O coverage required mid-afternoon charging anxiety.
Off a full charge at 3pm, the phone hit 30% by morning and 5% by midday with only two hours of total screen time — Trusted Reviews calls this 'the phone that reintroduces battery anxiety' for the modern era.
Wired charging tops out at 25W and a full charge takes 1 hour 20 minutes — pedestrian numbers for a smartphone in this price category.
The Edge sticks with regular lithium-ion battery tech, not the silicon-carbon anode chemistry rivals like the OnePlus 13, Xiaomi 15, Vivo X200 and several Honor phones already ship — a 15–20% battery boost left on the table.
Skipping silicon-carbon was 'a big miss' — if Samsung had used it, the same thin chassis could have held meaningfully more capacity and the battery debate would have evaporated.
If this were a more energy-dense silicon-carbon battery the conversation would be entirely different — but it isn't, and within a few years as the cell degrades buyers may regret prioritising thinness over capacity.
Wireless charging is 'Qi2 Ready' rather than fully Qi2 compatible — there are no magnets inside the phone, so MagSafe-style accessories require a separate magnetic case or adhesive ring.
