Samsung Galaxy A37 review: A solid deal even in this economy

With the price of damn near everything going up these days, finding a good deal is harder than ever, especially when you're shopping for electronics. However, after refreshing its midrange phone lineup for 2026, Samsung has a new contender for the best phone under $500 in the Galaxy A37 5G. It's not the fastest or flashiest device around, but for anyone who just wants a solid Android handset for a decent price, this is it. And in a time when every dollar counts, this phone feels like a small blessing for budget-conscious buyers.

One of the biggest differences between the Galaxy A37 and its more expensive sibling — the A57 — is that it features a full plastic chassis instead of an aluminum frame. That said, Samsung made sure the phone doesn't feel cheap. Unless you're really paying attention, you may not even notice. I had to tap a quarter on its back and sides to confirm. There's also another plus to the A37's less luxurious design, as it's available in way more colors — white, lavender, charcoal and graygreen (depending on retailer) — compared to the A57, which only comes in navy.

Aside from its frame, Samsung kept things super simple. You get a volume rocker and lock/power button, stereo speakers and an assortment of cameras. The one small quirk to the A37's design is that the bezel below its screen is a tiny bit thicker than it is anywhere else, which may bother folks with OCD tendencies. Unfortunately, because Samsung removed the microSD card slot on its predecessor, that means the A37 doesn't have one either. On the bright side, Samsung has upgraded the new model's water resistance, so now you get an IP68 rating instead of IP67 like on the A36.

While the Exynos 1480 chip in the A37 is a couple years old, it gets the job done. Its base 6GB of RAM isn't all that impressive either. Thankfully, there are higher-end models with 8GB along with the choice of either 128GB or 256GB of storage (but no microSD card slot). I did notice a little stuttering during the phone's initial setup, but like a lot of Android handsets, once you give it a day to update apps, optimize software and download things in the background, that went away. Regardless, for doomscrolling, playing casual mobile games and even using some light AI apps, the A37 feels pretty snappy. Another small bonus for this generation is new support for Google's Circle to Search along with enhanced transcription features and the ability to use the Object Eraser tool (which Samsung borrowed from the flagship Galaxy S line) in the Camera and Gallery apps.

The one component that felt a little hit or m