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

Postado 2026-02-18 14:00:08 · 19 Visualizações

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

The lower-cost Galaxy phone runs Android 16 with One UI, bringing several of Samsung's features and six years of software updates.

Mike Sorrentino is a Senior Editor for Mobile, covering phones, texting apps and smartwatches -- obsessing about how we can make the most of them. Mike also keeps an eye out on the movie and toy industry, and outside of work enjoys biking and pizza making.

See full bio

samsung-galaxy-a17-on-window-cnet-mike-sorrentino

1 of 12Mike Sorrentino/CNET

The $200 Galaxy phone for 2026

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.

2 of 12Joseph Maldonado/CNET

Plastic back in black, or blue

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.

3 of 12Joseph Maldonado/CNET

Selfie camera

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

4 of 12Joseph Maldonado/CNET

USB-C, but no headphone jack

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.

5 of 12Joseph Maldonado/CNET

Samsung Galaxy A17's display

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

6 of 12Mike Sorrentino/CNET

Galaxy A17 playing CNET's What the Future

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.

7 of 12Mike Sorrentino/CNET

Playing Asphalt Xtreme

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.