The Samsung Galaxy A15 is the 4G version of a budget phone. Its 5G sibling is the Galaxy A15 5G. Samsung announced both models on December 11, 2023, in Vietnam. Sales there started on December 16, 2023, at VND 4,990,000 for the 4G model. The phone later reached Europe, the UK, Africa and the Middle East. It was never sold in the US. Samsung has since dropped it from its current lineups, so the Galaxy A15 is now discontinued.
Design and display
The Galaxy A15 has a plastic frame and a plastic back. It measures 160.1 x 76.8 x 8.4 mm and weighs 200 g. Samsung gave it a raised “Key Island” on the right side, which holds the power and volume keys. The fingerprint reader sits in the power key.
The front has a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED panel with a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels. It runs at up to 90 Hz and reaches a peak brightness of 800 nits. Samsung’s Vision Booster feature helps the screen in bright light. There is no official water or dust rating.
Performance
Inside is the MediaTek Helio G99, a 6 nm chip. It has two 2.2 GHz cores and six 2.0 GHz cores. The 5G sibling uses the Dimensity 6100+ instead, and that chip adds 5G. Otherwise, the two phones share the same body, screen, cameras and battery.
Memory options depend on the market. Samsung listed 8 GB of RAM with 128 GB or 256 GB of storage in Vietnam. A version with 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB was also sold. A microSD slot takes cards up to 1 TB, but it shares space with the second SIM.
Cameras
The back holds three cameras. The main camera has 50 MP and an f/1.8 lens with autofocus, but no optical stabilization. A 5 MP ultrawide camera and a 2 MP macro camera complete the set. On the front, there is a 13 MP selfie camera with an f/2.0 lens. Both sides record video at up to 1080p and 30 fps.
Battery and charging
The phone has a 5,000 mAh battery. It supports 25 W wired charging over USB-C, but Samsung sells the charger separately. There is no wireless charging. Samsung rates video playback at up to 20 hours.
Software and updates
The Galaxy A15 shipped with Android 14 and One UI 6. Samsung promised four major Android updates and five years of security updates for this model. That was a long update period for a phone in this price range.
Should you buy the Galaxy A15?
Samsung no longer produces the Galaxy A15, and the Galaxy A16 replaced it. A new unit at a fair price still offers a sharp AMOLED screen and a large battery. It also keeps a headphone jack and a microSD slot. However, it lacks 5G and any water resistance. Its video recording also stops at 1080p. Buyers who want 5G can look at the Galaxy A15 5G instead.
