Michael Murtaugh/NYT WirecutterTop pickThe latest addition to Samsung’s budget A-series line offers a vivid display and lengthy battery life. Samsung promises software and security support through 2031, longer than most of the competition.The Samsung Galaxy A17 5G is the best phone to buy if you want a phone that will last for years to come and don’t want to spend much. Samsung promises six years of security updates, which is significantly longer than any of the other phones we tested, which could help the Galaxy A17 last you into 2031.It also has an AMOLED screen (a rare feature in the budget category), a 5,000 mAh battery that should last more than a day’s use, and convenient features like NFC for tap-to-pay and a fingerprint sensor.You won’t have to think about getting a new phone for a while. Six years of security support is a lot. That’s about twice as long as most people hang on to the average smartphone, so if you’re looking for a device you can buy and forget about for a while, this is it. The Galaxy A17 will also see six years of Android software updates, so your version of Android shouldn’t lag behind either.It has the screen of a much more expensive phone. The Galaxy A17’s 6.7-inch AMOLED screen with a 90 Hz refresh rate is a top-shelf offering for a budget phone. Most phones in this price category still offer LCD screens, which don’t have as high a contrast ratio but can seem brighter. I watched a few different shows and movies on this screen and was impressed; Bridgerton’s unnaturally bright pastels and jewel tones popped beautifully, and The West Wing’s nostalgic glow shone through like candlelight. Games looked good, too, and though it’s not a gaming powerhouse I was able to play Diablo Immortal on the Galaxy A17 with no problems. Michael Murtaugh/NYT Wirecutter Michael Murtaugh/NYT Wirecutter Michael Murtaugh/NYT WirecutterYou can’t go wrong with the price. Paying $200 for a smartphone that will perform all the basic functions you need and look good in the process is a steal, especially when you take into account how long you could conceivably use it. It has a fingerprint scanner, NFC, expandable memory, and an IP54 rating against dust and splashes; you could spend a lot more than $200 and get a lot less.Its battery is a beast. Over the course of a few days, I used the Galaxy A17 to play hours of YouTube videos and podcasts, navigate with Google Maps to lunch with a friend, text constantly, catch up on my Netflix, and play demanding mobile games. I never needed to plug it in during the day, and the fast-charging feature worked nicely at night, powering the device back up to full strength in a little over an hour.Flaws but not dealbreakersIt was sometimes slow or laggy. Though the Galaxy A17 is a great option for people who don’t want to spend a lot or just need a basic smartphone, we think it might frustrate smartphone superusers in the future. The Galaxy A17 occasionally took a second for an app to open or close or for a tap to register, which can be frustrating if you’re used to a very prompt response or if you’re multitasking in multiple windows.The Galaxy A17 has 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage, and it kept up with my daily tasks just fine. However, the Galaxy A17’s initial slow performance in spots makes me concerned that responsiveness and loading times will get worse over the next six years as the storage fills up with updates.It doesn’t have a headphone jack. The Galaxy A17 doesn’t have a headphone jack, and the speakers aren’t stereo and have a slightly tinny quality to them. Budget phones aren’t known for their speakers so the latter isn’t a dealbreaker, but no headphone jack limits you to Bluetooth devices or a USB-C–to–3.5 mm adapter, which is inconvenient.
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