By KBC Associate 
This week we had several new arrivals and exciting news on the upcoming Android 16 update.
The Samsung Galaxy A56 sure took its sweet time in coming to market, but it was worth the wait – especially since it has a €100 discount. Compared to the A36, it has an aluminum frame and a faster Exynos 1580 chipset, plus slightly better camera hardware. A few weeks ago you could find the Galaxy S24 FE (128GB) for around €500, but those deals are now gone to make room for the A56.
Despite having a smaller discount, both versions of the Galaxy A36 (128GB and 256GB) are under €400. The Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chipset lags behind the Exynos in terms of performance and you will have to settle for a plastic frame – both A36 and A56 use GG Victus+ on the front and back, though, and have IP67 ratings (which is not as impressive on a mid-ranger as it used to be). Both have 6.7” 120Hz 1080p+ OLED displays and 5,000mAh batteries with 45W wired-only charging. They come with the revamped One UI 7 out of the box and will receive 6 major OS updates.
The Motorola Edge 60 Fusion was on pre-order last week and is now available for €50 less than a Galaxy A36 with the same memory configuration (8/256GB). You get a better display, a curved 6.67” 10-bit panel with 1220p+ resolution, and a comparable Dimensity 7300 chipset with a microSD slot.
The camera has better hardware on paper and it does provide good image quality, but Motorola needs to fix up the camera app. The battery is a bit larger and faster with 5,200mAh capacity and 68W wired-only charging. This phone may only use Gorilla Glass 7i, but it has an IP69 rating – see what we mean about IP67 no longer being impressive?
Xiaomi released Android 16 Developer Preview earlier this week with ROMs available for two phones: the Xiaomi 15 and Xiaomi 14T Pro. Note that these ROMs are not suitable for a daily driver, but they clearly show that Xiaomi is ahead of much of the competition.
The Xiaomi 14T Pro is an interesting one – with its current discounts, it can be had for €580. It’s a late 2024 model, so it launched with Android 14 and was updated to Android 15 in November.
This phone is powered by a Dimensity 9300+ chipset, packs a 6.67” 12-bit 144Hz OLED display and a triple camera system with a 50MP 1/1.31” main, 50MP 2.6x (60mm) telephoto and 12MP ultra wide cameras, plus a 5,000mAh battery with 120W wired and 50W wireless charging. It has an aluminum frame and an IP68 rating, so it doesn’t lack for much despite its relatively low price.
The Xiaomi 15 is a small-ish flagship with a 6.36” 12-bit 120Hz LTPO display. It runs on the Snapdragon 8 Elite and has an even more capable camera system: the 50MP 1/1.31” main and 50MP 2.6x (60mm, tele macro) telephoto cameras are joined by a 50MP ultra-wide. The battery is bigger than that of the 14T Pro thanks to Si/C tech with 5,240mAh capacity and it supports 90W wired and 50W wireless charging.
Another phone on its way to Android 16 is the OnePlus 13, which got its second beta earlier this week. The phone also uses the Snapdragon 8 Elite but is on the other end of the size scale with a 6.82” 10-bit 120Hz LTPO display. It also has a triple 50MP camera, this one with a 1/1.43” main and a longer 3x (73mm) periscope telephoto. The battery is suitably bigger too with 6,000mAh capacity, 100W wired and 50W wireless charging.
The Nothing Phone (3a) and (3a) Pro launched in March but availability has been spotty for the last couple of weeks. They are back in stock on Amazon, though with no discounts at the moment, so let’s just do a quick recap. Both use the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, have 6.77” 10-bit 120Hz 1080p+ OLED displays and 5,000mAh batteries with 50W wired-only charging. Both have 50MP main cameras and 8MP ultra-wides, the difference lies in the telephoto modules – 50MP 2x (50mm) on the regular model and 50MP 3x (70mm) on the Pro.
Samsung unveiled new FE tablets and they are now available. Both are powered by the new Exynos 1580, which is also on the Galaxy A56, and they have 90Hz IPS LCDs. Note that both tablets have discounts at checkout, which we have reflected in the price below. Also, 5G models are available for €100 more than the Wi-Fi only ones.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE has a 10.9” 1440p+ display and an 8,000mAh battery with 45W charging. This generation is thinner and lighter than the Tab S9 FE (6.0mm, 497g vs. 6.5mm, 523g). The 128GB model is out of stock at the moment, but it is worth keeping an eye on. You may want to get the 256GB variant because it has more RAM (12GB instead of 8GB).
The Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ is larger than before with a 13.1” 1800p+ panel, while the battery remains at 10,090mAh (same as the Tab S9 FE+). This generation drops the ultra-wide camera, but has an updated 13MP main camera on the back. Note that both tablets come with an S Pen in the retail package and have expandable storage.
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