Samsung launched the Galaxy A17 5G smartphone recently as the successor to the Galaxy A16 5G last month. This retains the display, camera and battery, but replaces the Dimensity 6300 with the company’s own Exynos 1330 SoC. The price has also increased a bit since this now starts from 6GB + 128GB model, but you get a charger in the box. Is this a good phone under the Rs. 20,000 segment? Let us dive into the review to find out.
| Box Contents |
| Camera |
| Battery Life |
| Conclusion |
Box Contents
- Samsung Galaxy A17 5G 6GB RAM, 128GB storage version in Blue colour
- USB Type-C to C Cable
- 25W Type-C adapter
- SIM ejector tool
- Quick Start Guide and Warranty information
Display, Hardware and Design
The Galaxy A17 5G comes with a 6.7-inch Full HD+ Infinity-U Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1080×2340 pixels at about 384PPI. The display looks bright, thanks to 1000 nits peak brightness, It offers good color reproduction and the sunlight legibility is good as well. Since it has an AMOLED panel, it offers true blacks. The screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection that you don’t see in the phones in the price range.
It has a 90Hz refresh rate screen that offers a fluid user experience with smoother animations, scrolling and gaming. Similar to the other Samsung phones, there is an Eye comfort shield that limit blue light emitted by the screen. There is also dark mode, which looks great on the AMOLED screen. You can choose from Vivid or Natural screen modes based on your preference, or set the white balance manually.
The phone doesn’t have DC dimming or low brightness anti-flicker mode that is present in some AMOLED screen phones in the price range. I didn’t notice any screen flicker issues in low brightness on the phone. It doesn’t have notification LED, but there is Always on display.
On the top, there is an 13-megapixel camera in the notch, same as the predecessor. The earpiece is present on the top edge, but it doesn’t double up as a secondary speaker. There is a small chin below the screen.
Coming to the button placements, the power button that houses the fingerprint scanner and the volume rockers are present on the right side. The hybrid dual SIM slot is present on the left. The primary microphone, USB Type-C port and the loudspeaker grill are on the bottom. The secondary microphone is on the top.
The sides have a plastic frame with a matte finish, so it doesn’t attract fingerprints easily, and the grip is also good since the phone has a sharp frame.
On the back, there is a triple camera module inside the camera deco, along with a flash next to it. The phone is just 7.5mm thick, making it 0.4mm thinner than the A16, and weighs 192 grams, the same as the predecessor.
The back uses a Glass Fiber reinforced polymer, which looks and feels premium, but it is prone to fingerprints and smudges with day-to-day use, so it is recommended to use a case, which is not included in the box.
In addition to the Blue colour variant that we have, the phone also comes in Black and Grey colours. The phone has IP54 ratings for dust and splash resistance.
Camera
- 50MP rear camera with f/1.8 aperture, OIS
- 5MP ultra-wide angle camera with f/2.2 aperture
- 2MP macro sensor with f/2.4 aperture
- 13MP front camera with f/2.0 aperture
You can choose 50MP option from the aspect ratio settings on the top. It also has scene optimizer, Pro mode, Pro video, Night, Macro, Panorama, Food, Super Slow-mo, Slow motion, Hyperlapse and single take. There is also a wide-angle option for the front camera.
Coming to the image quality, daylight shots are good, and the camera captures a good amount of detail, creates well exposed photos with good dynamic range and detailing, and dynamic range can further be improved enabling HDR mode from the settings, which automatically turns on HDR when needed. Even though the phone has a 50-megapixel sensor, the final output has 12-megapixel resolution. Autofocus speeds are fast and accurate. Ultra-wide shots from the 5MP camera are avearge.
Macro shots from the main camera is good, but the dedicated macro camera mode is not useful since the resolution is low. Portrait shots are good, thanks to Samsung’s algorithm in detecting the edges. Low-light performance is decent, but you can’t expect much, it can be improved further with Night mode that offers more details, but you need to keep your hand steady, since it takes two to three seconds to process.
The 13-megapixel front camera is decent in most cases. Software blur has good edge detection in portrait shots.
Check out some camera samples.
It can record videos at maximum 1080p resolution at 30 fps from front, main rear and ultra-wide camera, even though the processor is capable of recording 4K videos. The normal stabilization works with both ultra-wide and main camera, but only the main camera has OIS.
Software, UI and Apps
Coming to the software, the phone runs on Android 15, and it got September 2025 update recently. On the top of Android 15, it has the Samsung One UI 7, which brings several new features. Similar to the other latest Samsung devices, the company has confirmed 6 OS updates and 6 years of security updates for the A17 5G, same as the A16. The company has already confirmed that Android 16-based One UI 8 update, which should roll out soon.
Unlike the AI features in the flagship S series phones, the A17 5G only gets has generative wallpapers. The Device maintenance option lets you manage your device’s battery life, storage, RAM usage, and security all in one place. Out of 128GB (UFS 2.2) storage in our unit, 103.8GB is free. Out of 6GB LPDDR4x RAM, about 5.4GB is usable and 2.2GB is free when default apps are running in the background. There is also a RAM Plus feature, which uses the internal memory of the phone to expand the RAM by an extra 6GB, in addition to the existing 6GB of RAM. This is enabled automatically, but it can be disabled.
Apart from the usual set of utility apps and Google Apps, the smartphone comes with Netflix, Truecaller, Snapchat, PhonePe, DailyHunt, Spotify and Microsoft apps such as Microsoft 365, OneDrive, Outlook and LinkedIn. You get the option to install apps when you are setting up the phone, which you can choose not to. It also has Samsung Wallet via NFC. The phone doesn’t have ads, but shows notifications of new Samsung products occasionally.
Fingerprint sensor and Face unlock
Even though the phone an AMOLED screen, it still has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner. You can add up to 3 fingerprints, and adding fingerprint is easy. It has support for Face recognition, which doesn’t work well if the lighting is poor in the room, if you are hats, or use heavy makeup. Both these are protected by Knox security.
Music Player and Multimedia
YouTube Music is the default music player. It has equalizer, Dolby Atmos, UHQ upscaler, and Adapt that can be enabled from the settings. All these improve the audio when listening through earphones, and Dolby Atmos also works with speakers. It doesn’t have FM Radio support. That said, audio through earphones is good. Loudspeaker output from the stereo speakers is decent since the bottom speaker is dominant.
The phone comes with Widevine L1 support out-of-the-box so that you can enjoy HD content on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar and other streaming apps. There is no HDR playback support for YouTube or Netflix.
Dual SIM and Connectivity
It has support for 5G SA and NSA with support for N1, N3, N5, N7, N8, N26, N28, N66, N40, N41, N77, and N78 bands in India. Other connectivity options include, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz), Bluetooth v5.3 and GPS with GLONASS. It has support for USB OTG and NFC that works with supported payment apps. It has 4G connectivity and has Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) and Wi-Fi Calling or Vo-Wi-Fi support for Reliance Jio, Airtel and more, and also has support for LTE-A or Carrier Aggregation.
The Galaxy A17 5G’s head SAR is at 0.64W/Kg which is slightly more than the A16 5G, and is well under the limit in India which is 1.6 W/kg (over 1 g).
Performance and Benchmarks
The Galaxy A17 5G is powered by the tried and tested Exynos 1330 5nm SoC, compared to Dimensity 6300 in the A16. This has 4 x 2.4GHz Cortex-A78 Performance CPUs and 4 x 2GHz Cortex-A55 Efficiency CPUs. I didn’t face any performance issues with normal use, but this might not be the best for gaming.
In 3D Mark wild life stress test, it scored 99.4% which is good, and the temperature shot up from 37 to 39 degrees. That said, check out some synthetic benchmark scores below.
Battery life
The Galaxy A17 5G has a 5000mAh battery, same as the predecessor. I got about 4 hours of screen on time mostly on Wi-Fi and occasionally on 5G with 1 day of use in 90Hz refresh rate. It should last for a day easily, for average use, and less than that for heavy use.
Samsung also offers a 25W PPS charger in the box. With the official fast charger, it takes about 1 and half hours to reach 100%, and 0 to 50% took about 45 minutes.
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy A17 5G presents a compelling, yet specific, value proposition in the competitive sub-Rs. 20,000 segment. Its primary strengths lie in the vibrant 90Hz Super AMOLED display protected by Gorilla Glass Victus, and a capable 50MP main camera with OIS that delivers good daylight photos. However, the phone’s most significant advantage is Samsung’s unparalleled software commitment: an incredible promise of 6 OS updates and 6 years of security patches, a feature unheard of in this price range. The inclusion of a 25W charger in the box is another welcome addition.
On the other hand, it makes clear compromises. The Exynos 1330 processor provides smooth day-to-day performance but falls short for serious gaming. Furthermore, the battery life is merely average, the lack of stereo speakers is a noticeable omission for multimedia consumption, and the Infinity-U notch feels dated compared to the punch-hole designs common in this segment.
Ultimately, if your priority is a reliable device with an excellent display and the peace of mind that comes with long-term software support from a trusted brand, the A17 5G is a strong contender. However, if you are a power user seeking the best performance, or if features like stereo speakers and all-day heavy usage are more important, the competition offers more powerful specifications for a similar price. The Galaxy A17 5G is a purchase for those who value software longevity and a quality viewing experience over raw performance.
Pricing and availability
The Samsung Galaxy A17 5G is priced at Rs. 18,999 for the 6GB + 128GB model, the 8GB + 128GB model costs Rs. Rs 20,499 and the top-end 8GB + 256GB costs Rs. 23,499.
It is available from Amazon, Flipkart and Samsung India online store as well as offline stores.
Pros
- 90Hz AMOLED display is good
- Good camera in daylight, OIS
- Smooth performance
- Promise of 6 OS updates and 6 years of security updates
- 25W charger in the box
Cons
- Infinity-U display without HDR support
- Battery life could be better
- No stereo speakers