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frontpageEragorn | Staff posted Feb 10, 2026 10:59 PM
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Item 1 of 2
frontpageEragorn | Staff posted Feb 10, 2026 10:59 PM
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Last year Samsung didn't really have sales on their base model, and they haven't upgraded it much compared to the Ultra (kinda like Apple did until the 17 if that's what you mean). Their last major deal was the S25 Ultra for ~650 back in December. I would just wait for one of those random Walmart sales on the base/plus model since it does not seem like they are discounting those as much as the Ultra.
The SD8 Gen 1 is still a monster chip for daily tasks. My dad is not gaming on his device and it mostly stays indoors near a plug so battery is fine. Most people are outside maybe max 2-3 hours a day, if that, so battery life is really an overblown issue, especially comparing the base S series models since none of them are battery kings. My dad took it to South America recently and rarely ran out of juice because he's back in his hotel after 4-5 hours outside. Heat is also overblown. I personally owned an S22+ a few years ago with the same chip. Never had heat issues. People just read s*** online without ever having used them. My whole family was on the S22 series when it came out and no one ever complained.
The SD8 Gen 1 is still a monster chip for daily tasks. My dad is not gaming on his device and it mostly stays indoors near a plug so battery is fine. Most people are outside maybe max 2-3 hours a day, if that, so battery life is really an overblown issue, especially comparing the base S series models since none of them are battery kings. My dad took it to South America recently and rarely ran out of juice because he's back in his hotel after 4-5 hours outside. Heat is also overblown. I personally owned an S22+ a few years ago with the same chip. Never had heat issues. People just read s*** online without ever having used them. My whole family was on the S22 series when it came out and no one ever complained.
Battery life is important; I upgraded from the S22+ to the S25 Ultra and quite literally doubled my SOT from 6 hours to 12 hours. It's not just an hour or two more, but the difference between scrambling for a charger or always plugging into your car or a charger at work (literal anxiety) just to keep it topped up. With the S25U it's even a factor you just plug in when you feel like it. The battery is not going to age any better in the future. Just because you are outside or don't personally care for it doesn't mean it's not an important factor to the phone's longevity. Regardless of battery considerations, the S22's support life is ending soon.
Edit: Seeing as you edited your post I will too. I used it recently and experienced heat issues with only a few apps open, maybe you got a golden sample, but that doesn't invalidate other people's experiences with some heat and lag in regular use. It's clear that newer software changes the experience, as seen with iOS 26 being much buggier than previous versions. If I put it in your words: some people spew s*** online thinking that everyone has the exact same phone and experience as them. I wasn't expecting this issue and still faced it. Anyway, the point is that yes double the battery life is significant for most people and same with the reduction in lag/heat when multitasking. Not all will have faced this issue with older models and that's great for those who can keep their past devices, but for the rest of us any of these newer models are much better than S21/S22. It will certainly help Samsung get over their reputation of slowing down over time causing people to jump ship to idevices.
As a SDer I feel like the stagnation doesn't affect us as much. Regular people spend $1400 on an S25 Ultra or $800 on an S25 and if I did the same, I would be disappointed. It's like how people feel about the Pixel's mediocre SOC and 128GB storage. The issue is that when the 9 was effectively $120 on release and the 10 Pro was recently around $350 with Mint, compared to MSRP of $800/1000, our expectations are far lower than normal. Like sure the 10 Pro barely improved from the 9 Pro (kinda like the S26 seems to be) but it's also the price of an S25 FE on sale or an A57 off sale. For example, if the S26 base was listed as a deal here for $600 and the S25 was on sale for $500 then sure it would be a pretty worthless upgrade. My new favorite saying for analyzing value is that there is never a bad product, just a bad price.
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