Samsung Galaxy A16 Comes to US at $200, With 6 Years of Updates
Samsung will launch the $200 Galaxy A16 phone and $60 Galaxy Fit 3 fitness tracker in the United States, with the A16 getting six years of updates. This makes the Galaxy A16 one of the lowest-cost phones to get over five years of software and security update commitments, which may be a benefit for those who want to buy a simple phone that will receive updates.
Samsung Galaxy A16 has reportedly been released in other regions, but will go on sale in the US starting January 9 The company’s announcement on Thursday. The phone costs £129 in the UK and AU$349 in Australia. This year’s phone is slightly updated than last year’s A15, including a larger 6.7-inch display (compared to the A15’s 6.5-inch display) and a 90Hz refresh rate. It will also move to Samsung’s own Exynos 1330 processor instead of a MediaTek processor like the Galaxy A15.
The Galaxy A16 appears to have a similar camera system to the A15, including a 50-megapixel wide-angle lens, 5-megapixel ultra-wide-angle, 2-megapixel macro lens, and a 13-megapixel front-facing camera. Carrying over last year’s foundation is 25W wired charging speed, 5,000mAh battery, 128GB storage, and 4GB RAM. A microSD card slot expands storage capacity up to 1.5TB.
The Galaxy A16 continues Samsung’s line of entry-level phones, which are among the best-selling phones in the United States. Last year’s Galaxy A15 ranked fifth among the best-selling smartphones in the U.S. through September 2024, according to the research firm counterpoint studybehind Apple’s four iPhone models. in my Galaxy A15 reviewI was particularly impressed with the promise of four years of software updates and five years of security updates, but I did find the phone to be slow. We’ll have to test the Galaxy A16 to see if its new Exynos 1330 processor can speed things up, but the promise of longer software and security update windows does set a new support standard for phones in the $200 price range.
Meanwhile, the Galaxy Fit 3 fitness tracker is being touted as a $300 Galaxy Watch 7 or $650 Galaxy Watch Ultra. Samsung says the Fit 3 has 13 days of battery life and includes workout and sleep tracking, an always-on display option, and 100 digital watch faces.
