Samsung Galaxy A15 5G review: Best Android phone under $200

Samsung is arguably the most important manufacturer of Android phones, building some of the most powerful and most desirable models out there. But the company also happens to make some of the best phones for the money — largely through the Galaxy A series. Currently, the cheapest model in the Galaxy A series is the Samsung Galaxy A15 5G (not to be confused with the previous-generation, non-5G mode).

The Galaxy A15 5G obviously cuts corners to hit a lower price compared to Samsung’s higher-end phones. It’s also not sold unlocked, instead being available through carriers like AT&T, which is the company that sent me my review model. But does the Samsung Galaxy A15 5G do enough to justify its $200 price tag? I’ve been using the phone for a while now to find out.

Samsung Galaxy A15 5G specs

What I liked

Solid display

Samsung is known for building excellent displays into its phones, and despite being one of Samsung’s cheapest phones, the Galaxy A15 5G does indeed have a nice-looking screen for the price. The 6.5-inch display is a Super AMOLED screen, and it has a 1080p resolution — but more importantly, it has a 90Hz refresh rate. It’s not as fast as most higher-end phones with a 120Hz screen, but it still feels relatively fluid and responsive.

Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

The screen gets quite bright, too. It easily gets bright enough for use even in direct sunlight, and most of the time, you probably won’t crank it up to full brightness.

Is this the highest-end screen out there? No, but it sure could be for $200 or less.

Great battery life

The phone has a 5,000mAh battery, and that relatively large battery is able to deliver an excellent battery life. In fact, I found the device was easily able to last a full day of use, and well into a second day, even with relatively heavy use. Of course, if you game for hours on end or something, you may find that you have to charge before the end of the day. But the majority of people will easily get a day of use from the Galaxy A15 5G.

Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

The charging options, on the other hand, are only fine. The device can charge at up to 25W with a wired connection, which is solid — but there’s no wireless charging to speak of.

Excellent update promises

The Galaxy A15 5G comes with Android 14, with Samsung’s One UI 6.0 over the top. The software itself is fine — One UI has never been my favorite, however those that like it will find it to work just the same on this phone as on any other Samsung device.

What I do like, however, is the fact that Samsung is promising an impressive four operating system updates and five years of security updates — which, for a phone in this price range, would have been unheard of only a few years ago. Plenty of other phones in this price range won’t get any operating system updates, let alone four years of them.

Performance is good for the price

Under the hood, the Samsung Galaxy A15 5G is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 6100+, coupled with between 4GB and 8GB of RAM. The phone’s performance doesn’t really compare with more expensive phones, but it’s not bad for the price.

Again, if you mobile game a lot, or expect the phone to be able to handle heavy gaming, you may find that you run into stutters and skips.

What I didn’t like

Camera could be better

Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

The camera on the Galaxy A15 5G isn’t bad, but it certainly could be better. The phone comes with a triple camera array, made up of a 50-megapixel main camera, a 5-megapixel ultrawide camera, and a 2-megapixel macro camera.

I was bored of 2-megapixel macro cameras years ago, and it’s very frustrating to see that they’re still here in 2024. They’re basically completely useless, and never capture very good images. Really, they only serve as a way for a company to say that a device has more cameras.

The ultrawide camera is fine, but really nothing to write home about. Edges are pretty distorted, and the colors are a little washed out.

The main camera can produce solid images and good lighting. They’re not the most detailed images, and again, colors aren’t as vibrant as you might find on other devices. But they’re far from terrible.

Plastic build

The overall design of the Samsung Galaxy A15 5G isn’t bad — it has an edge-to-edge display, with a relatively minimalistic look. And, I like the blue color on the model I’m reviewing.

Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

However, the build quality leaves a little to be desired. To be clear, it’s not terrible — but it’s not the most premium-feeling device and much of that comes down to the largely plastic body.

Conclusions

The Samsung Galaxy A15 5G is a great phone for the price. It offers solid performance, a great display, and a promise of years of software updates. It’s far from perfect, and if you can expand your budget, you’ll likely be able to get a much better phone. However, if your budget is restricted to $200, the Samsung Galaxy A15 5G is the way to go.

The competition

In the $200 price range, there aren’t a ton of great alternatives to the Samsung Galaxy A15 5G, and ultimately, the Galaxy A15 5G is the way to go for most people. However, if you’re looking for a longer battery life and slightly better performance, it may be worth going for a device like the Motorola Moto G Power instead.

Should I buy the Samsung Galaxy A15 5G?

Yes. It’s the best phone for $200 or less.