Samsung Galaxy A16 is coming to the US for $200, with 6 years of updates

Samsung is bringing the $200 Galaxy A16 phone and $60 Galaxy Fit 3 fitness tracker to the US, with the A16 receiving six years of updates. This makes the Galaxy A16 one of the most affordable phones that has a software and security update commitment of more than five years, which could be beneficial for someone looking to buy a basic phone that needs to be updated.

The Samsung Galaxy A16 has already been launched in other territories, but sales in the US are scheduled to begin from January 9th to the company’s announcement on Thursday. The phone costs £129 in the UK and AU$349 in Australia. This year’s phone gets a slight refresh over last year’s A15, including a larger 6.7-inch display (compared to the A15’s 6.5-inch display) with a 90Hz refresh rate. It also gets Samsung’s own Exynos 1330 Processor used instead of a Mediatek processor as was included in the Galaxy A15.

The Galaxy A16 appears to have a similar camera system to the A15, including a 50-megapixel wide-angle lens, a 5-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens, a 2-megapixel macro lens, and a 13-megapixel front camera. Also carried over from last year are a 25W wired charging speed, a 5,000mAh battery and 128GB of storage and 4GB of RAM. A microSD card slot allows storage expansion up to 1.5TB.

The Galaxy A16 continues Samsung’s line of entry-level phones that are among the most popular phones sold in the United States. According to a research firm, last year’s Galaxy A15 was the fifth best-selling smartphone in the US in September 2024 Counterpoint researchbehind four of Apple’s iPhone models. In mine Galaxy A15 reviewI was particularly impressed by the promise of four years of software updates and five years of security updates, but I found the phone to run slowly. We’ll have to test the Galaxy A16 to see if its new Exynos 1330 processor can speed things up, but the promise of a longer software and security update window sets a new standard of support for phones in the $200 price range.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy Fit 3 fitness tracker is touted as a cheaper and easier way to monitor fitness and health $300 Galaxy Watch 7 or $650 Galaxy Watch Ultra. Samsung says the Fit 3 is rated for 13 days of battery life and features exercise and sleep tracking, as well as an always-on display option and 100 digital watch faces.