Samsung Galaxy deals – what you need to know
Samsung Galaxy is the world’s most popular phone brand, thanks in part to its ability to compete with the latest Apple and Huawei models at the premium end of the market while also providing consumers with a variety of budget and mid-range options.
Here, we’ll take a look at Samsung Galaxy phones including the latest models, what makes them what they are and what kind of mobile deals you can find. We’ll even touch on the alternatives.
What are Samsung Galaxy phones?
Samsung Galaxy phones range from the latest and among the most technologically-advanced handsets available to solid, reliable phones that don’t cost the earth. They all run on the Android operating system, so you use Google Play or Samsung’s own Galaxy Store to find your apps, games and such.
Samsung manufactures a lot of phones to help it cater for multiple markets. They are all called Galaxy, with the series to which the phone belongs denoted by a letter or word (like S, A or Note) and the specific model represented by a number. With the S series in particular, the higher the number the newer the phone. There are also Samsung phones for particular working environments like construction or the military, but we will stick with consumer models here.
Galaxy S series
The Galaxy S series is Samsung’s premium line of mobile phones. The Galaxy S with the largest number tends to be Samsung’s current flagship model which in recent years has been numbered according to the year of release (for example the S22 was released in 2022), accompanied by a Plus version with a bigger screen and an Ultra version with a still bigger screen and more expensive features.
It is with the S series that we see Samsung’s most innovative features, like multiple, high quality cameras for different uses, Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with Vision Booster, designed to cut out glare on sunny days. Extra tough Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+, to help protect the screen from knocks and drops and IP68 water resistance, in case you drop it in the loo. There are also plenty of the features you’d expect in a modern smartphone, like fingerprint sensors and 5G.
Galaxy Z series
The Samsung Galaxy Z series is made up of handsets with foldable screens - which open and close like a laptop or make-up compact. The Z Flip, is a flip style phone which opens up to the size of a regular (if large) smartphone. While the Z Fold opens up along its vertical edge to create a square (ish) screen around twice the size of a regular smartphone. At the time of writing , the latest Fold model is the Z Fold 3 which includes S Pen compatibility, allowing the user to take advantage of the larger screen to sketch or take notes. These phones also have the features you would expect to find in a high end smartphone, including fast processors, fingerprint sensor, 5G (in later models) and good cameras.
Galaxy A series
The A series is made up of budget to mid-range phones, some of them pretty high-spec but coming in cheaper than Samsung’s top-of-the-range S series. The latest A series handsets come with features that not long ago would have made them premium devices, like a triple camera, Infinity screen and in-screen face and fingerprint scanner.
The Galaxy A series includes Samsung’s popular Tab A range of tablets, which feature the S pen stylus.
Galaxy Note series
The Galaxy Note seems to have been replaced by new products in the S and Z series. The last model was released in 2020. It was a pen enabled smartphone with a large screen, of the type previously called phablets. This term seems to have fallen by the wayside, since so many phones have 6-inch plus screens now. When the Galaxy Note was still a thing, they tended to be a slightly pricier alternative to the S series, aimed at professionals and those who like to use a pen for sketching or note taking on their phone. At the time of writing, you can still pick up a Note 20 from some suppliers for quite a lot less than it cost on release.
What Samsung Galaxy models are available?
You’ve probably heard good things about Samsung phones and that’s why you’ve found yourself on this page. You may even have had a Samsung phone before. But which model to go for? There is such a wide range of Galaxy phones that there should be one to suit you – so let’s take a quick look at what’s around.
To stop this list getting too long (Samsung make a lot of phones!) we’ve only included models that are still available from UK mobile providers.
- Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, S22+ and S22 – The S22 handsets, comprise Samsung’s flagship models. launched in February 2022, with faster chips, tougher Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus+ on the front and back, and they are water resistant if dropped somewhere wet. The S22 and S22+ both have 3 cameras on the back, wide-angle, zoom and the 50MP main camera, plus a selfie camera on the front.The S22 Ultra features a Samsung S Pen which slots into the body of the phone. The pen is pressure sensitive, allowing thicker or thinner lines to be drawn or painted, depending how hard you press down when drawing.The S22 ultra has a 6.8-inch screen, while the S22+ has a large, 6.6-inch screen and does not feature an S Pen. The standard S22 also has no S Pen compatibility and has a screen size of 6.1-inches. They all come in a range of colours. Security is provided with in screen face and fingerprint scanning.
- Samsung Galaxy s21 Ultra 5G, S21 5G, S21+ 5G and S21 FE 5G – The S21 was Samsung’s 2021 flagship model, launched in January of that year (the S21 FE launched January 2022). The S21 FE (FE stands for “Fan Edition”) is now a capable, mid range phone with lots of processing power. There are 3 cameras on the back, wide angle, zoom and the main 12MP camera. There is also the selfie camera, which on the S21 FE is 32 MP. The S21 FE has a 6.4-inch screen, compared to the S21 and S21+ which have a screen size of 6.1–inces and 6.7 -inches respectively. The S21 Ultra was released in January 2021 and is similar to the S22 ultra, with S Pen compatibility. However the S21 Ultra does not come with an S Pen and has no silo built into the phone to house it. Available in several different colours.
- Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G – The S20FE 5G is an updated, 2021 version of 2020’s flagship S20 phone. The price was reduced to the mid range level range. It has a larger, 6.5-inch screen (The S20 had a 6.2-inch screen). The S20 FE has 3 cameras on the back and a selfie camera on the front.
- Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G – Released in August 2021, The Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G is a flip phone with a folding screen, harking back to pre-smartphone days and seemingly aimed more at the fashion end of the market, it comes in a range of colours and a Bespoke Edition is available, with some extra design flourishes. When closed, the phone has a small 1.9-inch screen on the outside, so you can see incoming messages and calls. When opened, The folding screen is 6.7 Inches. There are 2 cameras (wide and ultrawide) on the outside of the case and inside is a 10MP selfie camera. It comes in a stylish range of colours.
- Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G – Released in August 2021, The Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G is an interesting hybrid of tablet and a phone, When closed it is much like a smart phone with a 6.2-inch screen, and three cameras on the back. But when opened it comes to life with a square-shaped 7.6 inch folding screen. S Pen compatibility has been added to this version, allowing you to sketch or take notes. The pen is pressure sensitive, allowing thicker or thinner lines to be drawn or painted according to how hard you press down when drawing. Unlike previous models it is also water resistant.
- Samsung Galaxy A72 5G – Cheaper than the S series the A72 has a huge 6.7-inch display, a 64MP camera plus an ultra-wide camera, a telephoto camera and a macro camera. It also features in-screen fingerprint scanner.
- Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G – A very capable mid-range phone with some features previously only found at the top end. It has four back cameras, including a macro camera, an ultra-wide camera and a 64MP main camera, plus a selfie camera on the front. It has a pretty long battery life, biometric authentication, and is water resistant. A range of colours are available. You get 128GB of storage, plus an SD card slot, allowing up to 1TB of extra storage to be added. The screen is 6.5-inches.
- Samsung Galaxy A32 5G – The A52 5G has a 6.5 inch screen and a quad camera arrangement with the same camera layout as the A52s. Though the cameras are lower resolution. The main camera on the A32 is 48MP. There is fingerprint and face scanning for added security,
- Samsung Galaxy A12 – The A12 is the budget model of the crop, but still features a 6.5-inch screen, 4 cameras on the back, with a main camera resolution of 48MP. There are options for either 32GB, 64GB or 128GB of storage, plus it has a long lasting battery and wireless charging. The A12 is the only phone in this list which is not 5G compatible. If you would like more storage, you can add an SD memory card.
- Samsung Galaxy Note 20 – The Galaxy Note 20 was the last Galaxy Note released by Samsung in 2020. The line now seems to have been absorbed into Samsung’s Galaxy S and Galaxy Z fold lines. The Galaxy s22 Ultra 5G now comes with an S-pen and the Fold Z 3 5G has S Pen compatibility. You can still get a refurbished Note 20, or maybe even a new one from some suppliers. It has a 6.9-inch screen, 3 cameras on the back and a selfie camera on the front, plus a powerful processor compared to its contemporaries.
- Camera – The S22 and S22+ have a 10MP selfie camera on the front. On the back of the handset, you will find three cameras, a 12MP ultra-wide camera, the main 50MP wide-angle camera, and a 10MP telephoto camera for long distance shots. The S22 Ultra has upgraded cameras. The Selfie camera on the front is a whopping 40MP, and the back boasts four cameras - a 12MP ultra-wide camera, the main 108MP wide-angle camera, and two 10MP telephoto cameras, which can magnify distant objects up to 100x.
- Dynamic AMOLED 2X with Vision Booster – The s22 and s22+ both have flat screens which don’t curve around the edge of the device. The S22 screen is 6.1-inces and the s22+ has a 6.6-inch screen. The S22 Ultra has a larger 6.6-inch screen which curves around the edge of the handset. All of the screens feature Vision Booster, which is a brighter screen designed to eliminate glare in sunny weather. The s22+ and s22 Ultra are capable of more brightness than the standard S22.
- S Pen – The s22 Ultra comes with a Samsung S Pen which slots into a silo in the body of the handset. The pen is useful if you like to take notes or enjoy sketching on your phone. The pen has useful features for artists and designers, such as pressure sensitivity.
- Biometric Authentication – inside the screens on all the S22 models is a biometric scanner, which uses ultrasound to scan your fingerprint and face, ensuring it is you accessing your phone.
- 5G – Like many of Samsung’s current crop of Galaxy phones, The S22 range are all 5G capable.
- Charging – Wireless charging is faster than on older Galaxy models but more exciting is the fact that you can wirelessly charge other phones or earbuds using the S22, S22+ or S22 Ultra. Just place the device on top of your phone and make sure you’ve got at least 30% charge to start with.
- Memory – The S22 and S22+ come with 8GB of RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of internal storage. The S22 Ultra is available with 8GB RAM if you opt for the version with 128GB storage, or 12GB RAM if you go for a version with 256GB or more. Options are available with 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB of storage.
- Durability – Samsaung have made much of the durability of the S22 range. All three handsets feature Corning Gorilla glass Victus + to help protect the screen from drops and scuffs. The S22, s22+ and S22 Ultra are all water resistant (though don’t go swimming with them). Samsung also claims to have used its toughest aluminium yet in the frames for these phones.
- Colours – The S22 and S22 + are both available in Phantom Black, Phantom White, Green and Pink Gold. Plus if you order online from the Samsung website, four additional colours are available, which are: Graphite, Cream, Sky Blue and Violet. The S22 Ultra has different colour options. It is available in Burgundy, Green, Phantom White and Phantom Black, plus Samsung online exclusive colours: Sky Blue, Graphite and Red.
- Apple – The obvious alternative to Samsung, Apple rivals it for innovation and features. The launch of a new iPhone is always a big event but older iPhones also remain a decent prospect as they keep their value pretty well and are a bit more budget-friendly. If you are looking at used iPhones, avoid anything with 16GB of storage. A 16GB phone will work, but you won’t be able to use most of the popular apps, as there won’t be enough storage left to run them.
- Huawei – Huawei’s market share has grown enormously over the last few years. It offers handsets with lots of premium features, often at more affordable prices than Samsung and Apple.
- Google – Now established in the smartphone market, Google only makes the Pixel and its variants (currently the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 pro) and they’re known for having one of the best smartphone cameras around.
- Sony – Like Samsung, Sony caters for every section of the smartphone market, pricewise. The Sony Xperia PR0-1 features a fancy Zeiss camera.
- OnePlus – Previously only available on O2, you can now also get OnePlus handsets from the likes of Vodafone, EE and Three. OnePlus makes premium phones but often they’re available for a bit less than you’d pay for the latest Samsung Galaxy or iPhone.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, S22 and S22+ features
The S22 is Samsung’s current flagship phone so it’d be remiss of us not to look a little closer at its specifications, as well as those of the S22+ and the S22 Ultra.
Samsung Galaxy 5G phones
The 2019, Samsung Galaxy S10 5G was the company’s first 5G phone. Since then 5G has become more of a standard feature in mid and top-range devices. Pretty much all of Samsung’s currently available S, Z and A range models are 5G ready, with the exception of some phones in its A range.
Samsung’s 5G phones can of course connect to 5G networks, which continue to be rolled-out by the UK’s four mobile networks (EE, O2, Three and Vodafone) throughout 2019 and 2020.
Rather than replacing existing 4G and 3G networks, 5G is currently used in addition to the more widely available 4G, offering more capacity, increased speeds and more reliable coverage in the busiest parts of the country. As things currently stand, 5G is available in (parts of) most large towns and cities in the UK.
Most handset manufacturers are now offering 5G phones as part of, or all of their range.
Alternative phone brands
If you’re not completely sold on getting a Samsung Galaxy phone, these are the brands that we’d consider to be genuine alternatives, especially at the top end of the market.
