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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
I review Samsung phones for a living — and the company's Galaxy lineup is starting to look a little crowded
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. I don't know what reaction you had when a report claiming to reveal the camera specs of the Galaxy S25 FE dropped this past week. But I certainly remember what crossed my mind as I read that Samsung would equip this year's FE model with the exact same camera setup as last year's Galaxy S24 FE. "Wait, Samsung's still doing this?" I said to myself. "Didn't they just release a phone?" Indeed, it's been about two weeks since Samsung announced the Galaxy S25 Edge, with that ultra-thin phone going on sale in the U.S. this coming Friday (May 30). It's a good phone, as you can read in our Galaxy S25 Edge review, delivering an incredibly thin design, even if it is at the expense of battery life. Adding the Edge to the Galaxy S25 models released in January, Samsung now has four different Galaxy S flagships to choose from. The Galaxy S25 FE will bring that number to five whenever it comes out. (The rumors say sometime in the fall.) But wait, there's more. In the U.S., Samsung has already released the Galaxy A26 and Galaxy A36, and we're awaiting the U.S. release of the Galaxy A56 that's shipped in other parts of the world. On top of that, this summer figures to bring new versions of Samsung's foldables — at least, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7 and possibly a lower-cost version of the flip phone. All told, that's 11 different phones when you add up the flagships, foldables and midrange models, with prices ranging from $299 for the Galaxy A26 all the way up to whatever four-figure price tag Samsung slaps on the new Fold. (The current model starts at $1,899.) I typically applaud companies that offer consumers a lot of choices, particularly if those choices accommodate a wide range of budgets, so it pains me to say this. I think Samsung needs to consider that it's making too many phones. This is no knock on the FE series, which Samsung positions as a lower-cost way of getting the flagship Galaxy S experience, including a full complement of Galaxy AI features. Indeed, my colleague John Velasco actually recommended the Galaxy S24 FE over some of Samsung's other S24 models, arguing that its lower price and Galaxy AI support made up for the lesser camera specs and shorter battery life compared to Samsung's entry-level flagship. The Galaxy A phones serve their purpose, too, offering solid phones for $500 or less. The phones even have some of the AI capabilities you'll find on the more expensive Samsung flagships, though those features get peeled off as you descend down the Galaxy A lineup. I think the issue is forced by the arrival of the Galaxy S25 Edge, which brings a thin design to the mix, but not much else that you can't get from the rest of the Galaxy S25 offerings. And you could even argue that it's a more compromised experience than even the Galaxy S24 FE delivers. After all, there's no telephoto lens on the Edge like you'll find on the other Galaxy S models, including the FE. Our battery tests had the Galaxy S25 Edge lasting three hours less than the entry-level Galaxy S25. And yet, Samsung charges more for the $1,099 Edge than either the $799 Galaxy S25 and the $999 Galaxy S25 Plus. Presumably, when it comes along in the fall, the Galaxy S25 FE will cost even less. And that presents a dilemma for people trying to find the best Samsung phone for their needs. Do you pay up for the Edge's thin design, or get the standard model or the Plus, which seem more fully featured? And is it worth holding out for the FE or opting for one of the Galaxy A models to save even more? We can probably excuse the foldable phones from this exercise, as these remain niche devices with a self-selecting audience. You could even argue that the addition of a lower-cost Samsung flip phone would help the phone maker take on Motorola, which now offers three different Razr models to choose from for 2025. (And two of those are cheaper than the Galaxy Z Flip 6.) That puts the focus squarely on the increasingly crowded Galaxy S lineup, where Samsung is either going to have to figure out a way to distinguish some of its models or cull the herd. Samsung could be solving this issue on its own, if rumors about next year's lineup are accurate. A report out of Korea suggests that Samsung is considering dropping the Plus from the Galaxy S26 lineup next year, with the Edge taking its place. The move would certainly solve a lot of problems, as the Plus has always been the odd phone out in Samsung's flagship lineup. It's more expensive than the standard model, but really just offers a bigger screen, longer battery life and faster charging speeds. Everything else — including the camera setup — is the same. The Edge would not only offer that bigger screen than the standard Galaxy S phone, but a thinner design, too. Yes, Samsung would have to figure out a way to improve battery life, and it should seriously consider bumping up the charging speed on future Edge models to 45W, matching the Plus and Ultra. Do that, and the Edge slots in very nicely as a Galaxy S Plus replacement. Samsung's bigger question is whether there's enough difference between its high-end Galaxy A model and the FE version of its Galaxy S phone to satisfy the different audiences for those phones. With the Galaxy A56 offering a more limited array of AI features, I think there is. Budget-minded shoppers can opt for the Galaxy A and not feel like they're getting short-changed, while people who want Galaxy AI can pay a little bit more for the Galaxy S25 FE, should it arrive this year. I'm not as convinced that the Galaxy A36 and Galaxy A26 are doing enough to justify their place in Samsung's midrange lineup. Certainly, our Galaxy A36 review found that there wasn't much to recommend the phone beyond a solid design and low price. Unless you were wed to the Samsung brand, you'd be better off turning to the Pixel 9a or Nothing Phone 3a for a more fully featured design. And if you were insistent upon a midrange Samsung phone, why not just pay a little more for the superior Galaxy A56? So if I were making the decisions at Samsung, I'd make a decision between the Edge and the Plus models for next year's lineup — I might lean toward keeping the former, given that its design seems ot have people excited. And I'd probably pare down my Galaxy A lineup to one $499 and a $299 offering to appeal to people who value a low price over everything else. Of course, Samsung has done pretty well for itself without my advice, so we'll see what shape the company's phone lineup takes very soon. Best Samsung phones How the ultra-thin Galaxy S25 Edge compares to other flagships The Galaxy S25 Edge's thinness is wasted — this other Samsung phone deserves it more
Tom's Guide
4 days ago
- Tom's Guide
Samsung Galaxy S25 FE: All the rumors so far
If you thought the Galaxy S25 Edge put a cap on all the Galaxy S phones Samsung planned on releasing this year, it looks like you're very mistaken. Rumors of a Galaxy S25 FE model are picking up steam, as the phone maker looks to extend its flagship lineup with a lower-cost model to appeal to shoppers who demand premium features. This isn't Samsung's first stab at an FE model, as it's released that kind of phone four times since 2020. (Among Samsung's recent flagships, only the Galaxy S22 went without an FE version.) In fact, my colleague John Velasco argued last year that among the best Samsung phones, the Galaxy S24 FE was the better buy than the regular Galaxy S24, as it offered most of the same features at a lower price. Can Samsung repeat the magic with a Galaxy S25 FE? Based on the rumors that have emerged so far about the new model, it certainly seems eager to try, with early reports painting a picture of a phone that shares a lot in common with its predecessor. Here's what we know about the Galaxy S25 FE ahead of its rumored launch later this year. Samsung's FE release schedule can charitably be called "haphazard." Who can forget the Galaxy S21 FE's 2022 release, happening just a month before the Galaxy S22 rollout? I'm sure Samsung certainly would like to. Since then, though, a more regular cadence for FE releases has emerged. The Galaxy S24 FE arrived in October last year, about nine months after the rest of the Galaxy S24 lineup's debut. Clearly, Samsung likes to keep some distance between when its regular flagships come out and when it releases the FE model as a follow-up. To that end, a lot of the Galaxy S25 FE release date rumors point to an October launch for the phone. It's hard to tell if that's a release window based on concrete evidence or if people are just expecting history to repeat itself. But fall 2025 seems like a respectful enough distance from the Galaxy S25 launch for the S25 FE to make its appearance. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. As for price, there's no firm rumor about what Samsung intends to charge for this phone, though you wouldn't expect details to emerge until we get closer to the launch window. That said, the Galaxy S24 FE sells for $649 — $150 less than Samsung's entry-level flagship phone. That marked a $50 increase over the Galaxy S23 FE. You'd imagine Samsung might try to replicate the S24 FE's price with the new version. Certainly, we'd welcome a return to the $599 price tag of the S23 FE, but with the Galaxy A56 set to cost $499 when it ships in the U.S. later this year, you'd expect Samsung to want to keep some distance between the FE and its midrange Galaxy A devices. Early on, a report about the Galaxy S25 FE claimed that Samsung was looking to make this year's model thinner than the 8mm thick Galaxy S24 FE. That could mean bringing the phone more in line with the Galaxy S25, which measures 7.2mm at its thinnest point; a thinner S25 FE likely wouldn't approach the 5.8mm thin Galaxy S25 Edge, though, as a slender design is that latter phone's calling card. It's worth noting that the report about a thinner FE surfaced in October, back when rumors about the Galaxy S25 Edge — or the S25 Slim as it was known then — were still taking shape. In other words, it's possible that report is actually about Samsung's ultra-thin model, since at one point, it looked the Edge might be Samsung's new take on the FE model. Regardless of how thin the phone winds up being, most people seem to expect the Galaxy S25 FE to keep its predecessor's larger display. The Galaxy S24 FE got a boost in screen size to 6.7 inches, compared to the 6.4-inch panel on the S23 FE. The current FE also features a 120Hz refresh rate, another feature you'd think that the S25 FE's screen would replicate. Don't look for many changes to the camera setup on the Galaxy S25 FE, as a report claims the new model will adopt the Galaxy S24 FE's camera setup. That means a 50MP main lens, supported by 12MP ultrawide and 8MP telephoto cameras. The zoom lens on the FE uses a lower resolution sensor than the main Galaxy S flagships, but its 3x optical zoom matches what the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Plus offer. It's also worth noting that should the Galaxy S25 FE feature a telephoto camera like its predecessor, it would offer something the Galaxy S25 Edge does not. Samsung's ultra-thin phone is so slender, there's no room for a dedicated telephoto camera. At least the report forecasting an unchanged rear camera array sees a modest bump to the Galaxy S25 FE's front camera. The current FE features a 10MP selfie cam, but that could get bumped to 12MP for the Galaxy S25 FE. At the moment, it's hard to make heads or tails out of what kind of system on a chip the Galaxy S25 FE would use, but I'll do my level best to keep you informed about the leading contenders. Early reports claimed that Samsung would simply re-use the Exynos 2400e chipset featured in the Galaxy S24 FE. That's not necessarily an encouraging rumor since the Exynos 2400e had a hard time keeping pace with 2024's leading silicon, like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, in performance benchmarks. And Android phones have only gotten faster since then thanks to the arrival of the Snapdragon 8 Elite system on a chip that powers devices like the rest of the Galaxy S25 lineup. A subsequent rumor claimed that Samsung might turn to the Mediatek Dimensity 9400 for the Galaxy S25 FE — but only if it couldn't produce enough Exynos chips to meet the S25 FE demand. In May, though, leaked benchmarks show a Galaxy S25 FE running on an Exynos 2400. That's a modest step up from the 2400e that powered last year's phone, so you'd see some improvement to performance even if the S25 FE would still lag behind flagship phones. Still, that's the trade-off you would make to get a lower-cost device that still offers a telephoto lens and full Galaxy AI support. (More on that below.) Battery life could be another area where the Galaxy S25 FE makes compromises, particularly if that rumor of a thinner design pans out. The Galaxy S24 FE featured a 4,700 mAh battery, and if Samsung shrinks the size of this year's model, the size of the battery could drop as a result. When we tested the Galaxy S24 FE last year, it held out for just under 11.5 hours on our Tom's Guide battery test. That's more than an hour better than the average smartphone, but it's well off the pace set by other Galaxy S models. Without a more power efficient processor and potentially smaller battery, the Galaxy S25 FE may be hard-pressed to even match the Galaxy S25 Edge's battery life, which is several hours shy of the other S25 models. By the time the Galaxy S25 FE is released in the fall, Android 16 will be out. We're also expecting Samsung's One UI 8 interface to ship in the summer, so the S25 FE would be in line to run on the latest version of both Android and Samsung's skin. A chief selling point for the Galaxy S24 FE last year was the fact that it didn't skimp on Galaxy AI features — the same AI-powered tools found on the more expensive Samsung flagships also worked here. Given the lack of rumored improvements to the cameras and chipset in the new phone, you'd hope that the Galaxy S25 FE would pick up the Galaxy AI features Samsung introduced with the S25 launch in January. In other words, the reason to get this particular model is the chance to experience Galaxy AI capabilities for less. Like Samsung's other flagships, the Galaxy S24 FE comes with seven years of software and security updates. There's no reason to expect the Galaxy S25 FE to offer anything less. There are many months to go before a Galaxy S25 FE model sees the light of day. And that means more opportunity for rumors to emerge that give us a more definitive idea of the changes Samsung plans to make. However, a pattern seems to be emerging from what we've heard so far. Samsung isn't looking to reinvent the wheel with the Galaxy S25 FE — rather, it seems to be making the Galaxy AI features and low starting price the draw for this model, leaving the rest of the S25 lineup to wow you with superior specs.
Tom's Guide
6 days ago
- Business
- Tom's Guide
I review Samsung phones for a living — and the company's Galaxy lineup is starting to look a little crowded
I don't know what reaction you had when a report claiming to reveal the camera specs of the Galaxy S25 FE dropped this past week. But I certainly remember what crossed my mind as I read that Samsung would equip this year's FE model with the exact same camera setup as last year's Galaxy S24 FE. "Wait, Samsung's still doing this?" I said to myself. "Didn't they just release a phone?" Indeed, it's been about two weeks since Samsung announced the Galaxy S25 Edge, with that ultra-thin phone going on sale in the U.S. this coming Friday (May 30). It's a good phone, as you can read in our Galaxy S25 Edge review, delivering an incredibly thin design, even if it is at the expense of battery life. Adding the Edge to the Galaxy S25 models released in January, Samsung now has four different Galaxy S flagships to choose from. The Galaxy S25 FE will bring that number to five whenever it comes out. (The rumors say sometime in the fall.) But wait, there's more. In the U.S., Samsung has already released the Galaxy A26 and Galaxy A36, and we're awaiting the U.S. release of the Galaxy A56 that's shipped in other parts of the world. On top of that, this summer figures to bring new versions of Samsung's foldables — at least, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7 and possibly a lower-cost version of the flip phone. All told, that's 11 different phones when you add up the flagships, foldables and midrange models, with prices ranging from $299 for the Galaxy A26 all the way up to whatever four-figure price tag Samsung slaps on the new Fold. (The current model starts at $1,899.) I typically applaud companies that offer consumers a lot of choices, particularly if those choices accommodate a wide range of budgets, so it pains me to say this. I think Samsung needs to consider that it's making too many phones. This is no knock on the FE series, which Samsung positions as a lower-cost way of getting the flagship Galaxy S experience, including a full complement of Galaxy AI features. Indeed, my colleague John Velasco actually recommended the Galaxy S24 FE over some of Samsung's other S24 models, arguing that its lower price and Galaxy AI support made up for the lesser camera specs and shorter battery life compared to Samsung's entry-level flagship. The Galaxy A phones serve their purpose, too, offering solid phones for $500 or less. The phones even have some of the AI capabilities you'll find on the more expensive Samsung flagships, though those features get peeled off as you descend down the Galaxy A lineup. I think the issue is forced by the arrival of the Galaxy S25 Edge, which brings a thin design to the mix, but not much else that you can't get from the rest of the Galaxy S25 offerings. And you could even argue that it's a more compromised experience than even the Galaxy S24 FE delivers. After all, there's no telephoto lens on the Edge like you'll find on the other Galaxy S models, including the FE. Our battery tests had the Galaxy S25 Edge lasting three hours less than the entry-level Galaxy S25. And yet, Samsung charges more for the $1,099 Edge than either the $799 Galaxy S25 and the $999 Galaxy S25 Plus. Presumably, when it comes along in the fall, the Galaxy S25 FE will cost even less. And that presents a dilemma for people trying to find the best Samsung phone for their needs. Do you pay up for the Edge's thin design, or get the standard model or the Plus, which seem more fully featured? And is it worth holding out for the FE or opting for one of the Galaxy A models to save even more? We can probably excuse the foldable phones from this exercise, as these remain niche devices with a self-selecting audience. You could even argue that the addition of a lower-cost Samsung flip phone would help the phone maker take on Motorola, which now offers three different Razr models to choose from for 2025. (And two of those are cheaper than the Galaxy Z Flip 6.) That puts the focus squarely on the increasingly crowded Galaxy S lineup, where Samsung is either going to have to figure out a way to distinguish some of its models or cull the herd. Samsung could be solving this issue on its own, if rumors about next year's lineup are accurate. A report out of Korea suggests that Samsung is considering dropping the Plus from the Galaxy S26 lineup next year, with the Edge taking its place. The move would certainly solve a lot of problems, as the Plus has always been the odd phone out in Samsung's flagship lineup. It's more expensive than the standard model, but really just offers a bigger screen, longer battery life and faster charging speeds. Everything else — including the camera setup — is the same. The Edge would not only offer that bigger screen than the standard Galaxy S phone, but a thinner design, too. Yes, Samsung would have to figure out a way to improve battery life, and it should seriously consider bumping up the charging speed on future Edge models to 45W, matching the Plus and Ultra. Do that, and the Edge slots in very nicely as a Galaxy S Plus replacement. Samsung's bigger question is whether there's enough difference between its high-end Galaxy A model and the FE version of its Galaxy S phone to satisfy the different audiences for those phones. With the Galaxy A56 offering a more limited array of AI features, I think there is. Budget-minded shoppers can opt for the Galaxy A and not feel like they're getting short-changed, while people who want Galaxy AI can pay a little bit more for the Galaxy S25 FE, should it arrive this year. I'm not as convinced that the Galaxy A36 and Galaxy A26 are doing enough to justify their place in Samsung's midrange lineup. Certainly, our Galaxy A36 review found that there wasn't much to recommend the phone beyond a solid design and low price. Unless you were wed to the Samsung brand, you'd be better off turning to the Pixel 9a or Nothing Phone 3a for a more fully featured design. And if you were insistent upon a midrange Samsung phone, why not just pay a little more for the superior Galaxy A56? So if I were making the decisions at Samsung, I'd make a decision between the Edge and the Plus models for next year's lineup — I might lean toward keeping the former, given that its design seems ot have people excited. And I'd probably pare down my Galaxy A lineup to one $499 and a $299 offering to appeal to people who value a low price over everything else. Of course, Samsung has done pretty well for itself without my advice, so we'll see what shape the company's phone lineup takes very soon.
Tom's Guide
24-05-2025
- Automotive
- Tom's Guide
I borrowed the EV Hummer to visit my mom - and the drive almost ruined Mother's Day
I love cars, so when the folks at GMC offered me an opportunity to take their new Hummer EV out for a spin by driving it ~800 miles on one of California's biggest highways, I jumped at the chance. That's how I wound up preparing for Mother's Day weekend by doing my laundry, shopping for flowers and taking delivery of a hulking 2025 GMC Hummer EV 3X SUV ($104,650 to start) at my tiny Oakland apartment. See, my family lives roughly 400 miles south in Orange County, and in the fifteen years since I left home I've made the drive down to see them dozens of times. So I know the routes well, and I've spent hundreds of dollars at truck stops and gas stations all along the way. I love driving so making the 8-hour haul every other month isn't too bad, but I do feel guilty about how much I'm contributing to pollution by burning so much gas — and I don't love how much it costs to fill my Civic's 12-gallon tank. That's why I was excited to take one of GMC's newest EVs for a test drive. I've been EV-curious for ages, but despite living in one of the tech hubs of the world I still don't trust that I'll be able to drive an EV everywhere I want to with reliable access to charging stations. So as I set out to drive down the I-5 to L.A. Friday morning, I was anxious and excited to see how I'd fare scouting for charging stations in the California desert. Luckily, GMC makes it fairly easy via the free myGMC app, which lets you control the car remotely and can also show you a live map of available charging stations across 15+ charging networks in the U.S. and Canada. Nearly all the networks allow you to charge the 2025 Hummer EV by just pulling up, plugging in and paying your fee, but they often require you to download a proprietary app and the Tesla chargers require a special adapter to use (which GMC kindly provided for my test drive). That app saved me being stranded in the desert night on Mother's Day weekend, which I'm grateful for. But if I'd read my colleague John Velasco's report of driving the 2025 Hummer EV for a week a little more closely I'd have been more careful on the road, because it turns out that as fun as this EV Hummer is to drive, it's awfully inefficient — and that added a palpable thrill of danger to the range anxiety I felt driving an EV 400 miles across the desert and back. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. John spent more time with the 2025 Hummer EV than I did and has a keener eye for EV performance, so I should have paid more attention when he said it had the worst efficiency (1.6 mi/kWh) of any EV he's tested in the past year. But I'm still pretty new to driving an EV, so when I climbed into the Hummer EV (and it was a climb, even for 6'4" me) and saw it had just under 300 miles' worth of juice I figured I could easily make it over halfway to L.A. before stopping to charge. That might have proved true if I'd been brave enough to run the engine down to near-empty, but it seemed like the miles remaining counter dropped a little faster than I expected on the first leg of the drive. So I pulled off the road early in Santa Nella, about 100 miles into my trip, to charge at a Shell EV ReCharge station. As fun as this EV Hummer is to drive, it's awfully inefficient with power—and that added a palpable thrill of danger to the range anxiety I felt driving an EV 400 miles across the desert and back." This turned out to be the worst charging experience of the whole trip, which was a rough way to start out. I thought it would be a quick stop because the myGMC app showed me an open and functional Shell charging station rated to deliver 100 kW/hour. The car was at roughly 40% charge and I wanted to get it up to at least 80% before setting back out, so I figured i could probably do that in an hour or less at 100kWh/hour since the Hummer comes with a 170kWh battery by default (though you can upgrade it for an additional fee). But as it turns out, once I downloaded the requisite app, paid my money and got the charging station going it wasn't delivering power nearly as fast as I'd hoped. Perhaps the 100 kWh/hour rating is more of an ideal than a reality, but I sure didn't know that until I came back to the car an hour into the charge and found the battery capacity had increased by 20% or so, forcing me to hang around in the hot desert for another hour so I could feel safe getting back on the road. I considered setting off earlier and finding a different charging station since the Shell one wasn't doing a great job, but the myGMC app showed there weren't any non-Tesla charging stations within 200 miles — and the next ideal charging stop (at an In-N-Out where I hoped to eat dinner) was about 245 miles down the freeway. So I resigned myself to sitting in the Hummer for another hour or so as I waited for it to charge enough to make it 250 miles down the road. When the mileage remaining meter climbed up to 290 miles or so I started to plot the next leg of my journey in the myGMC app, but to my horror it kept telling me I'd never make it 250 miles — even though the car itself said I would. This is probably old news to veteran EV drivers, but to a newbie like me it was incomprehensible. How could the car think I could make it almost 300 miles, but the car app estimated I'd be at -3% battery after 250? I decided to chance the app being mistaken and hit the road — nearly stranding myself in the process. See, what I didn't appreciate until this trip is how much EV range is determined not just by engine efficiency but by how you're using the engine on the road. So not only does my lead foot probably cause the Hummer EV to chew through battery power faster than if I'd just left the thing in Super Cruise Control mode the whole drive, the steep climb over the California Grapevine did a number on my maximum mileage. Before I got there I had to make a 20-minute detour to a second charging station in Avenal, because the Hummer EV started running low on juice about 200 miles into that leg of the drive. So rather than risk not making it 50 miles to the next charger, I pulled off the highway in Kettleman City and drove 8-10 miles out of the way to a dark, deserted gas station with an EVConnect station where I spent another hour and change charging the Hummer up to 50-60% battery. At this point it was nearly midnight. I'd been on the road almost 8 hours and I still had at least two hours to go until I could rest. I couldn't help feeling a little disappointed because if I'd taken my gas-guzzling Civic I'd have been in bed by that point, and it wouldn't even have been more expensive since the total cost of charging the Hummer's battery multiple times ended up being about as pricey as two 12-gallon tanks of premium unleaded. But as comfortable as the spacious interior of the 2025 Hummer EV 3X is, I couldn't manage to contort my lanky frame into a position comfortable enough to sleep well. So after dozing for an hour, I unplugged the car and set off for my final charging stop, at an In-N-Out just outside L.A. where I would need to charge up again before driving the final 45 minutes to my destination. Despite the fact that the Hummer said I had enough range to make it to my parents' house, the myGMC app told me I'd be lucky to make it halfway before running out of juice. As it turns out this was absolutely spot on, because as soon as the Hummer started climbing the steep grade that leads you roughly 4,000 feet up and over the Grapevine, the miles remaining counter started dropping precipitously. When I started going over the pass, I had roughly 100 or so miles remaining on the gauge, but before I'd gone 20 up the steep, winding road the mileage counter had dropped to roughly 40-50 miles remaining, spooking me again since that gave me barely enough charge to get to my final charging stop. Luckily, regenerative braking and the lack of engine drain when going downhill on the south side of the pass helped me preserve some mileage and arrive at the Valencia In-N-Out EVGo charging station at roughly 2 AM with ~40 miles still in the battery. So I charged there for another hour, chatted with some other EV owners who for some reason were also there at 2 AM, then got back on the road for the final leg. By the time I made it to my parents' house it was past 3 in the morning, and I'd been traveling for just over 12 hours. Admittedly it was the most comfortable 12 hours I'd ever spent on the road, but I was still pretty bummed about it. You may have noticed that I never mentioned stopping at a Tesla Supercharger station on the first leg of my journey despite the fact that GMC gave me the adapter to use them. I did end up stopping at Tesla stations on the return trip, and since they're both numerous in California and rated to be more capable (up to 450 kW/H) than many of the other chargers I encountered, I do think the Tesla adapter is a worthy splurge for folks who plan to drive an EV long distances across regions with Tesla chargers. Because without access to Tesla's network, at least in California, there are long stretches of road where you will find no usable charging station for 100-200 miles or more — and that can leave you stranded without careful planning. However, even when I did stop at Tesla's charging stations I was frustrated by the experience. The first one I used down in Fullerton worked seamlessly, and it did give me a faster charge than any other station I tried, charging the Hummer roughly 60% in about 30 minutes. If I could count on having that kind of charger available at regular intervals, I could drive an EV anywhere in the country without worry. If I didn't feel safe driving 400 miles in California, which has more EV charging stations than any state in the country, it's hard to see range anxiety in the U.S. being a thing of the past anytime soon." But the next Tesla Supercharger station I stopped at (in Kettleman City) almost stranded me again because I didn't leave much juice in the battery, as I was counting on the station having available working chargers. The myGMC app told me it had 48 charging stations, 30+ of which were available, but despite trying 8 or 9 of them I couldn't get any to successfully connect to the Hummer and charge it. That really flummoxed me, since not 8 hours prior I had been successfully using the Fullerton Tesla Supercharger to charge the Hummer without trouble. But I was slowly draining the Hummer's already-low battery by driving it around the Kettleman City Tesla lot trying out different chargers, and when it started to tick down below 8% (told you I'd left charging until the last minute) I began to panic. So once again I had to pull off the highway and drive ~15 minutes out to Avenal to charge at the same EVConnect charger I'd last seen by the light of the moon on the first leg of my trip. This time around I had a nicer visit since the gas station wasn't deserted and the attached supermarket was open, but it was still a less-than-ideal experience which shook my faith in Tesla Superchargers. But after charging up in Avenal for an hour or so I managed to make it up to a Tesla Supercharger station in Santa Nella which worked just fine, so perhaps I just had a bad experience (or was simply too dumb to figure out the machines) at the Kettleman City Tesla station. I really enjoyed my time driving the 2025 GMC Hummer EV (for the most part) because it's a very spacious, comfortable vehicle that comes with a lot of useful safety systems and features, including Super Cruise Control, a spacious frunk and a rear-view camera with a wide view that helps cut down on blind spots around the massive machine. I also love that I don't feel bad about how inefficient it is because it's not burning gasoline or contributing to the continued depletion of the planet's oil and gas reserves. But I have to say, the inefficiency of the 2025 Hummer EV and the poor, inconsistent performance of the charging stations I encountered along the way caused me to have a much worse trip than if I'd just taken my Civic. And while I could never afford this $100,000 EV on a journalist's salary, I'm disappointed that the dream of being able to replace my gas guzzler with an EV and still drive where I like, when I like remains a dream. Even if I had the luxury of being able to charge it at home (which I highly recommend if you're going to buy an EV), the inefficiency of the engine and the unreliable charging network handicapped my range and forced me to drive conservatively, adding hours to my driving time in the process. So while I loved my time behind the wheel of the 2025 Hummer EV 3X, I can't recommend it for anything other than local commuting and short (100-200 mile) weekend jaunts. If I didn't feel safe driving 400 miles in California, which has more EV charging stations than any state in the country, it's hard to see range anxiety in the U.S. being a thing of the past anytime soon.
Tom's Guide
20-05-2025
- Tom's Guide
The Galaxy S25 Edge shows us what the trade-off is with thinner phones — and it's not one I'd make
With the Galaxy S25 Edge arriving in stores later this month and the iPhone 17 Air rumored to be following it several months from now, it's very clear that 2025 is going to be remembered for the year that gave us super thin phones from really big phone makers. But I'm beginning to worry that in their quest to produce ever thinner devices, phone makers are losing sight of some of the fundamental things consumers look for in their handsets. Before I get into why, a few caveats are in order, as it's early days for these ultra-thin devices. Though my colleagues have had some hands-on time with the Galaxy S25 Edge, Tom's Guide is still wrapping up testing ahead of our full review. The last word on that device is a long ways from being written. As for the iPhone 17 Air, the phone's existence has yet to be confirmed, let alone its strengths and weaknesses assessed. Rumors about the device can give us some idea of what to expect, but they're far from the full picture. That said, some initial Galaxy S25 Edge test results coupled with some iPhone 17 Air rumors give the impression that when you opt for a thin phone, you better be prepared to sacrifice some battery life. And I don't know how many people are willing to make that trade-off. Let's start with the Edge, since we have some concrete numbers on that phone, having put the Galaxy S25 Edge through the Tom's Guide battery test. In that test, we set a phone's screen to 150 nits of brightness and then have it surf the web over cellular until it runs out of power. An average phone lasts for a little more than 10 hours on that test, while the devices with the best phone battery life endure for 16 hours and beyond. The Galaxy S25 Edge turned in a time of 12 hours and 38 minutes. That's more than 2.5 hours better than the average smartphone we test. But it's also much worse than any other Galaxy S25 model. In a sense that's not a surprise. The Galaxy S25 Edge has the smallest battery of any of Samsung's current flagships, relying on a 3,900 mAh power pack. The Galaxy S25, which has a much smaller screen, features a 4,000 mAh cell, while the Galaxy S25 Plus fits in a 4,900 mAh battery. It's worth noting the S25 Edge and S25 Plus have matching screen sizes, but the Edge is 1.5mm thinner — hence the smaller battery. Battery Size (mAh) Battery Life (hrs:mins) Galaxy S25 Edge 3,900 12:38 Galaxy S25 4,000 15:43 Galaxy S25 Plus 4,900 16:55 Galaxy S25 Ultra 5,000 17:14 The Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus posted times just shy of 16 hours and 17 hours, respectively. So you're getting up to 4 hours less battery life with the Galaxy S25 Edge even though you're paying more for Samsung's ultra-thin model. Our battery test numbers reflect performance in a very intensive task, but even in real-world usage, the Galaxy S25 Edge's battery levels drop a lot more noticeably than other Samsung flagships. My colleague John Velasco has been using the Galaxy S25 Edge, and he's noticed the battery percentage dropping when he puts the phone to test. In ordinary use that doesn't involve the kinds of photo-taking and video streaming that device reviewers put phones through, I'd imagine the Galaxy S25 Edge can get through the day on a charge. But I think you're going to need to keep a charging cable handy with that phone just in case. With the iPhone 17 Air still the stuff of rumors, our information about that phone's battery if far less concrete. But what we've heard so far is not terribly encouraging. If the Galaxy S25 Edge is turning to a smaller battery due to a lack of space, the iPhone 17 Air may be even more constrained. Apple's phone is rumored to be even thinner than the Edge — 5.65mm at its thinnest point compared to 5.8mm for the Edge. And Apple as a rule tends to equip its phones with smaller batteries than the competition, as it relies on the power management features of its A series silicon to help iPhones las a long time on a charge. How thin? A new rumor from an online leaker claims that Apple is going to use a 2,800 mAh battery in the iPhone 17 Air. To put that number in context, the iPhone 16 features the smallest power pack of any current iPhone model, and that's a 3,561 mAh battery based on teardowns. The last time an iPhone had a battery as small as what's been rumored for the iPhone 17 Air, it was the 2,815 mAh cell inside the iPhone 12. That particular model faired poorly on our battery test, finishing below the average for smartphones at the time. That had more to do with the fact that the iPhone 12 was Apple's first handset to feature 5G connectivity and early 5G consumed a lot of power, but the small battery size didn't help. That's not to say history will repeat itself with the iPhone 17 Air. Even if the rumored battery size proves to be accurate, additional rumors claim that Apple will turn to silicon carbon battery technology to help squeeze more endurance out of that phone. You're probably not going to get close to what the iPhone 16 Pro Max offers as the longest-lasting iPhone we've ever tested, but there's every reason to assume that the iPhone 17 Air, like the Galaxy S25 Edge, will offer better than average battery life. But is better than average good enough, especially when we're talking about premium devices? All of us value different things in our phones, but one thing that usually cracks the top five demands for most people is a phone that lasts a while on a charge. I can't speak for Apple, but Samsung seems to have concluded that a thin design is enough to make the Galaxy S25 Edge an attractive proposition for people, who will be willing to accept things like less battery life or no telephoto lens if it means their phone is easier to carry around. Perhaps, that's true enough in some cases. But it's not a trade-off I'd want to make.
