It was a pretty uneventful week for the US smartphone market – the biggest (and worst) thing that happened is that Samsung hiked up the prices of several of its smartphone and tablet models. It’s not so bad, though, as you don’t actually have to pay the new MSRPs – we have better deals.
Also this week, Samsung is finally launching the Galaxy A37 and A57. Starting with the Galaxy A57, we’re glad to see this one available early – the A56 took forever to launch in the US.
As for the phone itself, it brings a slimmer, lighter frame (6.9mm, 179g vs. 7.4mm, 198g) with better water resistance (IP68 vs. IP67) than its predecessor. It has a faster Exynos 1680 chipset too (up from 1580). The rest isn’t all that different, including the 5,000mAh battery with 45W wired-only charging.
The Samsung Galaxy A37 keeps the plastic frame and it’s essentially the same size as last year’s model (7.4mm, 196g), though it did get the bump up to IPX8 water resistance. It uses an Exynos 1480 chipset (from the Galaxy A55) with faster UFS 3.1 storage (up from UFS 2.2 on the A36).
We have a detailed comparison of the Galaxy A37 and A57 to help you pick between the two. There are reasons to get either model.
But there are reasons to skip them too. The Samsung Galaxy S25 FE is actually cheaper than the A57 – it’s $50 less for both the 128GB and 256GB variants. The FE is clearly the better phone with the high-end Exynos 2400 chipset and dedicated 8MP 3x/75mm telephoto camera. It’s thicker than the A57 (it measures 7.4mm and weighs 190g). It has an IP68-rated aluminum frame.
The S25 FE is one of the phones that were affected by the price hike – the MSRP for the 256GB model went up from $710 to $750. Like we said in the opening paragraph, you don’t have to pay MSRP and here’s the proof.
Meanwhile, a 256GB Samsung Galaxy S25+ can be had for $700. That’s $140 more than the equivalent S25 FE, but you do get a nicer 6.7” display (1440p+ vs. 1080p+, both LTPO) and a Snapdragon 8 Elite from last year instead of an Exynos from 2024. The Plus also features 15W wireless charging in addition to the 45W wired charging.
The Google Pixel 10a costs the same as the A37. It has a smaller display (6.3” vs. 6.7”) but a comparable battery (5,100mAh with 30W/10W charging vs. 5,000mAh with 45W wired-only charging). In our testing, the Pixel 10a achieved an Active Use score of 15:13h, beating A37’s result of 13:49h. And while the Tensor G4 is no speed demon, it is noticeably faster than the Exynos 1480.
You can splurge and spend $100 more on a Google Pixel 10. The non-a model gets the newer Tensor G5 chip, plus a dedicated telephoto camera – 10.8MP 5x/112mm. Both Pixels offer Satellite SOS messaging, which the Galaxys do not.
We’ll also mention the Google Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL, which have been holding steady with $250/$300 discounts. The 10 Pro has several important upgrades over the vanilla 10, including a higher-quality LTPO display, a larger 1/1.31” sensor in the main (vs. 1/2.0”) and a higher resolution 48MP sensor in the 5x/113mm periscope. The Pixel 10 Pro XL is the same except with a larger display (6.8” vs. 6.3”). The Pro and Pro XL batteries are similar enough (12:06h vs. 12:29h Active Use score).
We looked at the S25+, so let’s also have a look at its replacement, the Samsung Galaxy S26+. Last week, it cost $1,000 / $1,200 for a 256GB / 512GB model, this week it’s $75 less. There isn’t much difference between the two except the newer chipset (Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 vs. Snapdragon 8 Elite) and a 5W bump to wireless charging (the 2026 model does 20W Qi 2.2). More importantly, the battery life has improved (16:25h vs. 14:26h) despite battery capacity staying the same (4,900mAh).
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is $20 less than it was seven days ago – if you bought one last week, you didn’t lose much. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S26 price is the same, though now you get a $100 bonus if you trade in an old phone.
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