New Galaxy Club- Samsung wants Galaxy users for life

[Sonora]

Samsung's Galaxy Club: A Leasing Model for Yearly Upgrades

• Samsung's new Galaxy Club program is essentially a phone leasing plan, mirroring carrier financing models, where users upgrade yearly.

• This strategy prioritizes Samsung's profits over significant year-over-year improvements in their devices, potentially hindering innovation.

• While convenient for users, the program aims to lock customers into the Samsung ecosystem and yearly upgrades, potentially sacrificing features and long-term value.

https://www.androidpolice.com/samsungs-new-galaxy-club-doesnt-make-sense/

[Sonora]

The year will soon end, and then we will see whether the writer of this text was right or not.

Samsung promotes OneUI 7 how? Built on AI for the S25 series. Your entire S25 ultra is built on AI. You won't pay for AI? Alright.  You have dumb smartphone than. 

[Joeeye]

It's based in the US and I'm doubtful anyone who buys yearly will take it up. As I've pointed out already, the US get far better trade in values, and most people who buys these yearly know that trade ins, gifts and discounts are typically what make or break the deal. I already stated my personal take and it's really just a forewarned speculative take on the direction Samsung are heading. If it turns out true and Samsung do go ahead with this being their future "hook", I know where I'll be looking to next. Regardless, it's not something that bothers me until it actually happens.

You really buy into the marketing stuff don't you? If you bought an "AI" phone purely because you thought it was what differentiates it from previous phones, then you really should perhaps do further research before buying. I don't think my "dumb" phone is any worse off, AI paid for features or not. The on device AI will always be there, it's not going anywhere. If I do want cloud based AI (the real reason why you will ever be charged), then I will be expected to pay for it. And if you do find you use them and need it, why not?

[BandOfBrothers]

A very interesting thread with insights from all members. 👌

We all have our individual wants and needs at the end of the day.

We buy or not buy into a phone which is the beauty of choice. 

There's plenty of choice out there 📱 😉 

All I've seen from Samsung thus far is true innovation. 

If Samsung do charge for certain features of AI then it's upto the individual whether to purchase or not. 

😎

[GoanGeek]

Love these kinds of posts my self.

Nice to freedom of opinions and different takes.

The way I see it.

There are Tech addicts and there are people who need reliable phones.

I feel Samsung is at at point its capable to cater for both.

Samsung has proved itself its top of the AI game and with close ties with Google its only gonna get better.

Subscription models are the future along with cloud whether we like it or not.

At the end We get to decide how much of an ease of life we need and then pay accordingly.

Its like

I could walk for half hour
Cycle and get there in 20mins
Use the car and get in 10 mins etc.

All I'm saying is Choice is always good for consumers.

I personally am watching so many videos, and reviews from so many phones and some how always end up with Samsung as it fits my style and needs.

Remember: YouTube videos and Articles are more for the creators to make money for themselves no matter how much they say they are non biased etc.
You have to see them and make your own decisions on how a product fits your budget and lifestyle.

[smiley]

Oh Sonora. I dont really know how to respond to you anymore. Your posts used to be fun and energetic, bring some life to the community. However more recently it becomes like the sound of a broken record.

Honestly I think perhaps you are ready for a change to another manufacturer. At least to try the overall user experience of a different flagship device.

There are many other phones on the market that quote higher specifications and really do push their boundaries in the 'specification war' of handsets.

Some have more RAM, faster charging, and claim better cameras. HOWEVER, generally their user experience is not anything like as polished as the Samsung ecosystem and OneUI.

As an analogy, rather like buying a car which has a great engine and a nicer colour, but the part you see every dav when you drive it ... the interior... is plasticky and doesnt look as nice. It creaks when you drive the car and the seats are uncomfortable.

Back to the subject, I think phones have become so good over the past 4 or 5 years that is is VERY HARD to find ways to improve them. You are right that things become incremental small changes but this is because the BASELINE is now so good now from the past 3 or 4 years ago, that it is harder to find ways to improve.

This is not the only industry that has reached a peak... looking at golf club manufacturers their technology is so good that only every 5 years or so they find something unique to change, and yet every year they still make a colour change, or a quote you can get more forgiveness.

As a consumer you can decide if it is worth it or not. Not everything is obvious either... the upgrades 'under the hood' often are more than an hardware specs sheet will show.

As far as AI goes, I have NOT yet subscribed to the premium AI Gemini or likewise, and I am using the AI tools that are in built to the phone without any subscriptions or charges. I do have the offer of 6 months free advanced AI but I am saving that. Sometime I may try this out, but right now I have no limitations to the standard software AI I am using.

Yes there is a chance that some items that are being added to test the consumers will find a charge next year. But Samsung and other phone manufacturers will know they need to be really careful. They do NOT want millions of users that have invested in their hardware all trading in their phones with competitors and changing to a xiaomi ultra for example. If they are too aggressive in their roadmap focus on AI then people still HAVE A CHOICE to change. I have owned samsung for more than 10 years and I have some faith in them to make the right decisions. If I dont agree with their long term strategy then next time around I AM GONE as well. Nothing is stopping anyone from selling their phone tomorrow... if they dont like the company goals.

I am unsure of what has made you so critical of the Samsung business plan or why you are upset about these things. Perhaps you feel they have left you too long without oneui7, or perhaps it is time to make another choice and try a xiaomi or a oneplus to see their hardware and software ... although some phones will quote bigger specifications , the overall user experience is in the eye of the beholder.

Whatever you decide then good luck. Feel free to post your opinions... but this is a Samsung community and where 95% of members are either samsung owners, fans of samsung technology, or come here to ask for help with their samsung.

I would like to see the happy Sonora back. But you seem too focused on the long term than the NOW time. What will be will be... in the longer term strategy. Just enjoy the phones as they are intended to be. 👌😃

Smiley

[Sonora]

You know, sometime around the time of the S21 series, I read someone's prediction that Android OS would become "lighter" on smartphones year after year precisely because everything would be running in the cloud. So let's look at how much RAM the OS has reserved on phones from 2021 to now. S21 ultra has 1.7 GB reserved. S24 ultra has 1.2 GB reserved. S25 ultra (I saw that in your screenshot) has 1.1 GB reserved... and you really believe that something is running on your phone, and not in the cloud already? Especially AI features. 

If I pay 1800 € ( that's how 1TB storage costs here in EU)  I expect to be able to use what I paid for, I didn't just pay for the hardware but also the software.

This text indicates that Samsung's promises of 7 years is directly opposite to it's plain if this becomes true. This text indicates that actually flagship will stuck on actually OS. I didn't pay this. I paid 7 YEARS OS AND SECURITY UPDATES!!

[Joeeye]

You do realise that what is reserved can vary drastically. Also my S21 Ultra has 16GB of RAM. There isn't any task or apps I've yet to find that pushes my RAM limits so the S21 responds faster than my S25 Ultra. Given how my S25 Ultra does have more AI features and less RAM, I'd say the author of that prediction you read was pretty spot on.

Putting it bluntly, the S21 Ultra had no S-Pen and cost me just as much as any Ultra thereafter, including the S25 Ultra. The pricing hasn't changed since the S20 Ultra. Given how inflation has increased since then, I'd say Samsung has maintained a decent level since there hasn't been ANY feature drops, and yet only added things, such as the S-Pen. I never was promised 7 years OS and security updates either on my S20 Ultra to S23 Ultra and that never cost me extra too. Google only offered 3 years OS updates until the Pixel 8. Samsung offered 4 years for at least 3 years before them. The S24 series literally followed suit with 7 years right after, so I'm not sure why you seem intent on hating Samsung in this department.

[Sonora]

I'm answering you without reading your long post, as soon as you started lecturing me, I gave up reading further. If you don't like how I think, bypass my posts, I don't need your rants and what you think I think. Ignore me, like most Samsung Members Stars ignore me, because you are obviously the smartest and it bothers you when someone expresses their opinion. And the opinion of one engineer from a failed Nokia - what power does it have? You are one of those who failed Nokia because you didn't see the future. And I like to look into the future. I have predicted many things before they happened

[smiley]

Ok our interaction stops here. As soon as things start to move into someones personal life and past career.

I bid you well. But I will not be spoken to like this. What my previous work and past has to do with this is not relevant. 😡

[Sonora]

The S21 ultra doesn't have a built-in S-pen, but the S-pen works flawlessly on it. Both the one from the S22 ultra and mine from the S24 ultra. Yes, mine has 16GB of RAM, which Samsung intentionally didn't optimize properly, but my S21 ultra got everything that the S22 ultra, S23 ultra, and only Circle to Search from the S24 ultra. So, Samsung has fulfilled its promise of 5 years of software upgrades for the S21 ultra. OneUI 7 is the last OS it will get. But until the S24 ultra, my S21 ultra is not deprived of anything software-wise. And the S24 ultra is already stuck in the first year of OS upgrades. I can see where Samsung is going. Money, money, money. And it is probably much more oriented towards developing in other areas, than developing smartphones. The leasing option really gives it the ability to change or add just a little something every year, which the predecessor won't be able to get, but since users have committed to upgrading every year, it won't matter anymore, and only those who are outside of that system will feel, better not to say how. And let's not forget that Samsung's best-selling phone is not from the S series, but the A series. Why did Samsung cancel the A7x series? It was, so to speak, 100% flagship.

I don't even mind this way, if Samsung will offer it worldwide and not just in US or UK. But I'm afraid that it won't, for the rich the S series, for the rest of the world the cheap A series. And that's why the A56 got an AI feature that even the S25 series doesn't have