Samsung Galaxy A17 5G review

One UI 7 and Android 15

Like the rest of the Galaxy A phones this year, the A17 launches with Android 15-based One UI 7 out of the box, and Samsung promises to deliver 6 timely OS upgrades. However, getting the updates is one thing and having them run well is another, and the latter does not leave us very hopeful as the base version of the A17 5G comes with a measly 4GB RAM and performance is not particularly great as is.

If you've used One UI in the past, you will feel right at home. Although there are quite a few design changes, make sure to check out the new aesthetics in the video below. It's in mobile view format, so it's best viewed on your phone's screen.

Keep in mind that not all features in the video are available on the budget Galaxy A17. Most of the advanced features and AI-related functionalities are limited on this device due to the lack of processing power.

Still, Circle to Search is available, but Don't expect the same level of performance as on the S series, though.

While the One UI itself is one of the best among the custom Android overlays, the Galaxy A17 struggles to keep up with the demanding software. The phone is frustratingly slow, laggy and with choppy animations most of the time. It could be due to the limited 4GB RAM, and the 6GB could very well be better, but we can't confirm.

Benchmark performance

The handset uses an in-house-made Exynos 1330 chipset, which remains unchanged from last year's A16 5G model.

The Exynos 1330 is a 5nm chip with an Octa-core (2x2.4 GHz Cortex-A78 & 6x2.0 GHz Cortex-A55) CPU setup and a Mali-G68 MP2 GPU. The Mediatek Dimensity 6300 is a 6nm chip with an Octa-core (2x2.4 GHz Cortex-A76 & 6x2.0 GHz Cortex-A55) CPU setup and a Mali-G57 MC2 GPU.

For memory, the Galaxy A17 5G comes with either 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage or 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Storage is expandable via a microSD card.

Our review unit is the base 4GB RAM and 128GB model. In our testing, the storage chips used here have speeds which are UFS 2.2 grade, which is not ideal but certainly better than budget eMMC chips.

Those 4GB of RAM have us a bit worried about future-proofing. Still, Samsung has promised up to six major updates, and we have to take that promise for what it is.

There are other available memory configurations - 6GB/128GB, 8GB/128GB and 8GB/256GB. We recommend opting at least for the 6GB/128GB version if you plan to keep this phone around for more than a couple of years.

It's not that the Galaxy A17 doesn't utilize the Exynos 1330 very well, it's just that it's not very competitive in the said price bracket. Most phones in the same class use considerably more powerful Snapdragon and MediaTek chipsets, leaving the Galaxy A17 in the dust.

Sustained performance

Unsurprisingly, the device handles long CPU and GPU stress tests with ease, given that the chipset itself isn't all that powerful and does not require massive cooling in the first place.

CPU and GPU stress test

We observed stable clock speeds throughout the CPU stress test, while the GPU stress test showed 97% stability.

Outer temperatures

The outer temperatures were pretty low too.