Samsung Cut Too Many Corners — This Phone Should’ve Been a Circle

[Tohon]

I’ve been a loyal Samsung user for years, but the Galaxy A16 completely shattered my confidence in the brand. Samsung didn’t just take away extra features on this lower-end model — they took away a functioning phone.

This thing lags constantly, freezes on simple tasks, and even cuts out audio when I try to do a basic Google search. I bought it as a backup phone, but honestly, my old Galaxy Note 5 runs better than this new A16. That’s how far backwards this phone feels.

Samsung has cut so many corners that this phone really should be the shape of a circle, not a rectangle. The performance is awful, the battery drains fast, Wi-Fi and touch response are unreliable, and it’s full of bugs that make even simple tasks painful. I literally have to use my wife’s phone just to order a pizza online because this one can’t handle it.

What’s worse — I sent back the S25, because even the flagship felt like corners were being cut. It’s like Samsung is turning into Apple, relying on AI to “optimize” downgraded hardware, and it’s starting to show.

The reviews you see online? Half of them sound like bots, paid influencers, or die-hard fans refusing to admit the truth. But the reality is: Samsung’s quality control has slipped hard.

I’m disappointed, frustrated, and honestly done. I’ve been a Samsung fan for over a decade, but this A16 has made me lose confidence in the entire lineup. If Samsung doesn’t stop chasing profit margins and start building quality phones again, they’re going to bleed loyal customers.

[Susiqz]

I agree 100%!

[Robin621k]

With all due respect, its the budget of all budget phones, $199.

There are things you can do to keep it running smoother because it only has 4gb of RAM and 128gb of storage. You need to continuously clear out cache from apps. Do not have more than 2 or 3 apps running in the background.

After every software update perform a wipe cache partition.

[meself]

Not sure you can compare a16 vs the s25 theres a big difference

[injunwomen]

👏I'm just praying I can find the $ to replace this phone. It goes black every I take my fingers off the keys dor any reason

[Tohon]

P.s. Other $200 phones out perform this one....

[KayBee1128]

I have the S25 Edge and my confidence in Samsung is gone as well. The lagging and audio drives me crazy. I should have kept my Note. I loved my Note.

[Dan2023]

I don't think I've ever had a performance issue with any of my Samsung phones: S10+ 1TB, S23 Ultra 512 GB, and now, the Fold 7 1TB.

[ferdnyc]

Yeah, I can't say I'm really surprised to hear that about the A16. I have an A53, and while it doesn't set the world on fire, it's a perfectly capable phone. But Samsung has always been willing to offer a lowest-end model that's below the threshold of usability. (Anyone remember the Moment? What a crapshow that thing was.) It's usually a bad idea to even consider the devices at the low end of their spectrum.
With the S25, there's at least a fair chance that any issues you were seeing will be patched in a future update, assuming they weren't caused by an installed app. (That can happen, too.) With a device like the A16, I'd bet money its limitations are the hardware, so they'll only get worse instead of better. (Software generally grows to require more resources with each update.)

[Robin621k]

Then buy it!