Samsung's $200 Galaxy A17: A Closer Look at the Essentials-Only Phone

Samsung's Galaxy A17 5G is the lowest-cost option in the company's 2026 phone lineup. The phone runs Android 16 and Samsung's One UI 8, bringing lots of features from more expensive Galaxy phones to a less powerful, lower-cost device.

The back of the phone is plastic, and available in black (pictured) or blue. The cameras available include a 50-megapixel wide-angle, a 5-megapixel ultrawide and a 2-megapixel macro lens.

The Galaxy A17 has a 13-megapixel front-facing camera housed in a small display notch.

Samsung's $200 phone no longer comes with a headphone jack, having been initially omitted from last year's Galaxy A16 but appearing on the prior Galaxy A15.

The Galaxy A17's bright 1,080p display is a highlight, and it does make streaming videos look good. 

The Galaxy A17's 6.7-inch display provides plenty of space for YouTube videos, though the less-powerful Exynos 1330 processor struggles with some games.

I'm generally able to get the Galaxy A17 to play games at low settings -- here's a photo of me playing Asphalt Xtreme. However, a gaming phone this is not. It struggled with Duolingo until I turned off the app's animations.

Samsung Wallet is among the services that have made its way to the Galaxy A17, with support for both NFC payments and boarding passes.

Google's Circle to Search is available, activated by pressing and holding the home icon.

Like other phones with the feature, you can circle the subject you want to know more about.

The Galaxy A17's Now bar feature supports dynamic notifications, which can include media controls, timers and boarding pass information.

Samsung's Weather app is here, and it includes an animated person reacting to the weather.