Updated

Updated · GSMArena.com · Jun 20

Amazon Germany Starts Prime Day Phone Deals Before June 23, Cutting Motorola Edge 70 by 50%

Updated

Updated · GSMArena.com · Jun 20

Amazon Germany Starts Prime Day Phone Deals Before June 23, Cutting Motorola Edge 70 by 50%

Q: With its new S26+ using five-year-old cameras, is the older S25 Ultra a smarter buy at the same price?

Yes. At the same deal price, the older Galaxy S25 Ultra looks like the smarter buy than the new S26+. The key reason is the camera gap. The S26+ is still using the same 50MP main, 12MP ultra-wide and 10MP 3x telephoto setup Samsung has carried for years, and reports in the deal coverage describe it as effectively unchanged for half a decade. By contrast, the S25 Ultra offers a much stronger camera system, including a 200MP main sensor and more capable zoom hardware, making it the better choice for photography and video. The S26+ does have some advantages. It offers better battery endurance, a newer chip, and in Europe the Exynos 2600 brings some graphics gains on paper. But that chip has also drawn criticism in real-world testing for higher power draw and overheating versus Snapdragon alternatives, which weakens the value argument. At equal pricing, the S25 Ultra also keeps other premium advantages, including the more “Ultra” feature set and stronger overall hardware package. The S26+ mainly gives you a newer model year and somewhat better battery life, but not enough to offset the weaker cameras. The broader takeaway from these Prime Day deals is that Samsung’s newer non-Ultra models are not always the best value. If camera quality matters and both phones cost the same, the S25 Ultra is the more sensible purchase.

Q: Are on-device AI features worth the upgrade, or just the latest marketing gimmick for 2026's phones?

On-device AI is worth it for some buyers in 2026, but not as a stand-alone reason to upgrade. The real value is practical: faster local processing, better privacy because data stays on the phone, and features that work even with weak connectivity. In current flagships, that means useful tools such as live call translation, transcription and summarization, smarter spam and scam detection, AI-assisted photo and video editing, and battery and performance optimization. These are not just labels; they depend on the newer chips and NPUs now built into phones like the Galaxy S26 Ultra and Poco F8 Ultra. But the Prime Day deals also show why AI should not outweigh basics. The Galaxy S26+ may be newer, yet the discounted S25 Ultra is widely the better buy because its camera system is much stronger. The standard European Galaxy S26 adds AI-ready silicon, but its camera hardware is largely unchanged and the Exynos 2600 has shown weaker battery efficiency than the Snapdragon version in testing. In other words, AI cannot fully compensate for mediocre value, older cameras, or weaker endurance. For buyers already upgrading, on-device AI is a meaningful bonus and increasingly part of the core smartphone experience. For buyers choosing between deals, camera quality, battery life, storage, and price still matter more. If a phone offers strong hardware and useful AI, it is a real upgrade. If AI is being used to justify a weaker overall package, it is mostly marketing.

Q: Why does Samsung's new European phone overheat when the US version with a different chip does not?

Samsung’s new European model overheats mainly because it uses Samsung’s Exynos 2600 chip, while the US version uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, which is markedly more power-efficient under load. Tests cited in recent coverage show the Exynos 2600 drawing much more peak power than the Snapdragon chip—around 30W versus roughly 21W in demanding benchmarks. Higher power draw means more heat, especially during sustained tasks such as 4K video recording, gaming, or heavy AI processing. Real-world battery tests also found the Exynos version draining faster and running hotter, with reports of overheating during 4K capture and lasting nearly 39% less than the Snapdragon version in otherwise identical Galaxy S26 units. The gap appears to come from chip efficiency and manufacturing maturity, not just raw performance. Samsung’s Exynos 2600 is built on Samsung’s new 2nm GAA process, which is technically ambitious but still seems less optimized in practice. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, by contrast, benefits from a more efficient design and manufacturing approach, helping it sustain performance with less wasted energy turned into heat. Phone design can influence temperatures, but the evidence points to the chipset as the main reason for the regional difference. In short, the European phone overheats because its Exynos processor consumes more power and converts more of that power into heat than the Snapdragon chip used in the US model.

3 articles · Updated · GSMArena.com · Jun 20

Amazon Germany opened early Prime Day smartphone offers ahead of the June 23-26 event, with Prime membership or a free trial required to access the discounts.
Samsung’s lineup dominates the sale, but the pricing is uneven: the 512GB Galaxy S26+ matches the 512GB S25 Ultra, while the A57 is effectively priced like the weaker A37.
Poco stands out on value, led by the €650 F8 Ultra with a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, while the F8 Pro sits near €500 and the X8 Pro Max lands around €410-€450.
Motorola’s Edge 70 is the sharpest headline discount at 50% off, though the report says its battery endurance lags despite a thin 6.0mm, 159g design.
The early sale mixes 2025 and 2026 models, with the report generally favoring newer phones or cheap storage upgrades unless older flagships offer clearly better cameras or value.