Samsung Galaxy A25

At Rs. 67,499, the Samsung Galaxy A25 gives you 5G, a 120Hz Super AMOLED screen, stereo speakers, OIS on the main camera and long Samsung support. The compromises are an older Exynos 1280 chip, slow 25W charging with no charger in the box, a dated notch design, average cameras and no IP rating.

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 15 costs Rs. 68,999 and offers a bigger, brighter screen, a 6000 mAh battery and 33W charging, but it is 4G only and has no headphone jack.

Verdict: a sensible buy for streaming, everyday use and long-term ownership, especially if you want 5G. Gamers and camera-first buyers will find better value elsewhere.

The 6.5-inch Super AMOLED panel has a 1080 x 2340 resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate and up to 1000 nits in high brightness mode. With automatic brightness on, it stays easy to read outdoors, and Vivid mode gives punchy colours that suit videos. Widevine L1 support allows full HD streaming.

The weaknesses:

• There is practically no automatic refresh rate switching, which GSMArena also notes. The screen does not lower its refresh rate on its own, so even low frame rate videos run at 120Hz and use extra battery.
• A waterdrop notch, a big chin and thick bezels make the front look old.
• GSMArena lists no HDR support, and there is no in-display fingerprint reader.

The Exynos 1280 (5 nm) has two 2.4 GHz Cortex-A78 cores and six 2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 cores, with a Mali-G68 GPU. It is an older chip, and that shows in heavier use.

• Daily use: nothing feels slow. Multitasking between two or three light apps is smooth, and the 120Hz interface is fairly stable.
• Power users: occasional sluggishness and choppy animations appear in the interface.
• Gaming: demanding titles run at around 30 FPS, and frame rates in games like PUBG trail rivals at this price.

It suits normal users; heavy gamers should look elsewhere.

The rear setup has a 50 MP main camera with OIS, an 8 MP ultrawide and a 2 MP macro, with a 13 MP selfie camera.

• Daylight: vibrant photos with balanced dynamic range, but many lack fine detail and highlight handling is hit or miss.
• Colour accuracy: skin and light can come out harsh or yellowish in the same lighting, so results are inconsistent.
• Indoors and night: the main camera struggles indoors; night mode gives fairly better results for landscapes and buildings.
• Portraits and selfies: background blur is good, and selfies are decent, though results depend on the light.
• Ultrawide: opinions differ, from better than typical 8 MP ultrawides to barely usable.
• Video: up to 4K 30fps from the back and 1080p 30fps from the front. Reports differ on stabilisation: footage can look wobbly despite OIS.

The Galaxy A25 has a 5000 mAh battery. Reports differ on endurance: with heavy photo taking and mobile data, it lasted a full day before needing a charge at bedtime, while others noticed fast drain and blame the fixed 120Hz refresh rate.

Charging is slow. It supports 25W wired charging and takes over 1.5 hours to fill up. There is no charger in the box, only a USB-C cable, so you need to buy a 25W adapter separately to get full speed.

The Galaxy A25 launched with Android 14 and its current listing shows One UI 7. Samsung promises four years of Android updates and five years of security patches, which is a strong commitment at this price.

This is the full One UI, not the cut-down Core version. It is easy to use, with very little bloatware, no ads and no notable bugs. The side-mounted fingerprint reader in the power key is fast and accurate.