Galaxy A17 trades performance for Android updates, and I don’t think it’s worth it
Published: (February 13, 2026 at 03:15 PM EST)
6 min read
Source: 9to5Google
Source: 9to5Google
One of the first things cut on budget phones is often long‑term software support – [I’m looking at you Motorola](https://9to5google.com/2026/01/31/motorola-android-os-updates-moto-g17/) – but that’s not the case with Samsung’s Galaxy A17, which is promised six years of Android OS updates. But can anyone actually use this $199 phone for that long?
The Galaxy A17 is Samsung’s second‑cheapest mass‑market smartphone and, by all accounts, will end up being one of the best‑selling smartphones globally this year if its predecessors serve as a pattern. On paper it’s not bad: a 6.7‑inch 1080p display, 5,000 mAh battery, 50 MP main rear camera, 128 GB of storage, and a microSD card slot. That’s a lot of boxes to check, especially knowing this thing gets several years of updates.
## The Good
The overall hardware on the Galaxy A17 is pretty solid. The entire thing is plastic, of course, but this is a phone that almost every buyer will be throwing in a case anyway. Even without a case the hardware feels grippy enough. My only real gripe is the power key, which is flat to the phone to accommodate the fingerprint sensor. Samsung has plenty of experience with this design on its foldables, where it works great, but there’s so little tactile feedback on the Galaxy A17’s sensor that I always have a tough time knowing where I’m placing my finger. This isn’t an issue when you’re using a case. The “Key Island” design also feels a little odd at first, but it’s easy enough to get used to.
### Display
A 6.7‑inch 1080p AMOLED panel on a $199 phone is a pretty good selling point, and this one gets the job done well. While it’s far from the best‑looking display I’ve ever seen, it has good colors, gets bright enough for general use (though not perfect outdoors), and lacks the usual shortcomings of a budget‑phone display—there’s no unevenness, one of my biggest gripes on the [Moto G Power (2026) earlier this year](https://9to5google.com/2026/01/13/moto-g-power-2026-hands-on/).
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### Battery & Camera
Battery life, as expected, is very good and it charges quickly. The camera really surprised me because, well, it doesn’t suck. While Samsung still has *plenty* of camera woes, this is a capable shooter. The shot that impressed me most was of my dog, Rey, outside on a snowy day. I’d expect *any* camera to struggle with balancing a dark‑colored animal against a harsh white background on a bright, sunny day, but it got the job done.
## The Bad
To cut right to the chase, the performance on this phone is abysmal—worse than I even expected from a $199 smartphone. The Galaxy A17 is powered by Samsung’s Exynos 1330 chipset, the same chip you’ve been able to find in the 5G versions of the Galaxy A16, A15, and Galaxy A14 5G. In other words, it’s *not* a new chip, and it absolutely feels that way.
Paired with just 4 GB of RAM, the Exynos 1330 simply *cannot* keep up with a modern Android experience, at least in my testing. The phone struggles through literally everything: getting through the lock screen, opening apps, even pulling up the keyboard feels sluggish. Once things are in motion it can perform well for a short while, but it feels like you’re constantly pushing uphill and running out of steam every few seconds. Even opening the notification shade leaves the phone lagging behind.
Every action is delayed.
Scrolling through short‑form videos (Instagram Reels, in my case)—something virtually everyone does on their phones—is a rough experience. Videos always start choppy and never feel like they’re playing properly, and it doesn’t improve over time. This is arguably one of the most common, and least resource‑intensive, “tasks” a modern smartphone has to perform, so it’s *really* not great that the Galaxy A17 struggles to keep up.
And that’s today, with the phone running Android 16 (One UI 8.0) out of the box.
Samsung promises the Galaxy A17 will get *six years* of Android OS updates on top of that, and frankly I just cannot imagine using it for that long. If this phone can barely handle its own OS today, how can anyone hope it will be usable on Android 20 and beyond? Don’t get me wrong—Samsung *should* be updating every phone it sells for this long—but that promise doesn’t align with the reality of using hardware that just isn’t up to par. More memory (RAM) would go a long way toward improvement, but ultimately Samsung needs to upgrade the chip. There’s no reason the same 4‑year‑old chip should *still* be in use here. Those two deficiencies combined make this phone an absolute drag to use.
Of course, the $199 segment is not a place where you expect a phone to perform *well*. It’s a necessary compromise for this price point. I’ve used plenty of cheap Android phones over the years, but the Galaxy A17 might be one of the worst‑performing out‑of‑the‑box devices I’ve used in quite some time. Budget phones shouldn’t have performance to spare, but they should be usable, and the Galaxy A17 just… isn’t.
*If the Galaxy A17 had a stronger chipset and more RAM, its other strengths could have shone brighter. As it stands, it’s a decent-looking budget phone that falls short where it matters most—performance.*Answer:
Will the Galaxy A17 still be good in six years?
“xy A17 doesn’t perform well today, what will it be like in 6 years?”
A better option?
While the lower‑memory configuration of the A17 makes a noticeable difference, the base Moto G (2026) uses the same chipset as the Moto G Power 2026 (see my hands‑on review here). That phone was perfectly acceptable across the board.
You’re trading long‑term updates, sure, but – and I don’t say this lightly – I think that trade‑off might be worthwhile. I’m all for bang‑for‑your‑buck, but not at the expense of a product you actually want to use.
My recommendation:
- Buy a slightly older device instead of the A17.
- A used or refurbished Google Pixel would do nicely.
- Back Market is a solid place to get refurbished phones; they currently list the Galaxy S23 for $199.
That’s a better buy for this money in my book. You’ll get fewer updates over time, but you’ll enjoy better performance while also saving a device from becoming e‑waste—a win‑win.
The A17’s market outlook
As mentioned at the outset, the Galaxy A17 will probably still manage to be one of the best‑selling Android phones of the year. It happens time and time again (see the list of best‑selling Android phones for 2025 here).
So, with that in mind, I’d simply ask that Samsung takes another pass on the software for the A17 and brings some further optimization.
More on Samsung
- Samsung confirms Galaxy S26 launch on February 25, up to $900 off with reservation
- Dirt‑cheap Galaxy A07 has a bigger battery than the Galaxy S26 Ultra
- The Galaxy S26 can’t skate by on minor improvements alone [Video]
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