Galaxy A15 5G (New) vs A16 5G (Refurbished): Which to Buy?

For most buyers, a refurbished Galaxy A16 5G is a better buy than a brand-new Galaxy A15 5G. In Excellent condition with 128GB it costs £140.00, which is £23.99 less than the sealed A15 5G at £163.99. Samsung UK also lists its security updates until 31 October 2030, about 21 months beyond the A15 5G's 31 January 2029, and promises up to six Android upgrades rather than four.

Choose the new A15 5G if an unopened box, a fresh battery, a headphone jack or a slightly smaller phone matter more to you than those extra years. The A16 5G's main compromise is that it's a used phone: its battery has at least 85% health at dispatch on the defined grades, rather than being new (all prices checked 5 October 2026).

Galaxy A15 5G or Galaxy A16 5G: the quick decision

• Best for most buyers: Galaxy A16 5G, Refurbished, 128GB, Excellent at £140.00 or Very Good at £128.99. It has the longer support (to 31 October 2030), a 6.7-inch screen and an IP54 rating.
• Best if you want it sealed: Galaxy A15 5G, Brand New, 128GB, £163.99, in Blue Black. It comes with a new battery and a 3.5mm headphone jack, but Samsung UK's security updates end on 31 January 2029.
• Consider an alternative when: 5G doesn't matter (the refurbished Galaxy A16 4G starts lower), or you want the longest support of any sealed phone here (the brand-new Galaxy A07 5G at £133.99, with the caveats below).
• Check before buying: both phones are international stock, so box printing and the model code may differ from UK units, and Samsung UK may not carry out warranty repairs on non-UK units (The Tech Gadgets' 12-month warranty is your cover). If you rely on Wi-Fi Calling or 4G Calling (VoLTE) on a particular network, ask the team before ordering. Also check the A16 5G grade and colour (Gold may not be a UK-range colour), and, on 256GB units, the model code and RAM, because Samsung UK doesn't sell a 256GB A16 5G.

Galaxy A15 5G and A16 5G: Samsung's specifications and current listings

Samsung's specifications for the UK versions of both phones. Where a value comes from somewhere other than Samsung UK, the source is named.

What The Tech Gadgets lists, with from-prices checked on 5 October 2026.

Galaxy A15 5G vs A16 5G price: what does each grade save?

Every defined 128GB Galaxy A16 5G grade costs less than the new Galaxy A15 5G 128GB at £163.99. The savings range from £10.00 (Like New) to £35.00 (Very Good). At 256GB, the Like New A16 5G costs £6.00 more than the A15 5G and the Excellent costs £1.00 more. For roughly the same money, you get double the storage and about 21 more months of updates.

The table shows the maths for each refurbished option against the sealed A15 5G.

The £6.00 gap is the closest like-for-like price match. For £169.99 you get a Like New A16 5G with 256GB, no visible marks, a bigger screen and updates to October 2030. For £163.99 you get a sealed A15 5G with 128GB, a new battery and updates to 31 January 2029. If storage and longevity matter, the extra £6.00 is easy to justify. If you'd rather nobody else had owned the phone, it isn't.

How much longer will the Galaxy A16 5G get updates?

Samsung UK lists security updates for the Galaxy A16 5G until 31 October 2030 and for the Galaxy A15 5G until 31 January 2029. The A16 5G also gets six Android upgrades against the A15 5G's four, both counted from Android 14. From 5 October 2026, that's 48.9 months (4.1 years) of security support for the A16 5G and 27.9 months (2.3 years) for the A15 5G.

The Tech Gadgets' A15 5G listing currently says December 2028, a month earlier than Samsung UK; we use Samsung UK's 31 January 2029. The A16 5G's date matches six years from its October 2024 UK launch, so there's no gap to explain there.

Four upgrades from Android 14 cap the A15 5G at Android 18, and six cap the A16 5G at Android 20 (our calculation from Samsung's commitments, not a Samsung schedule). We couldn't verify which version each phone runs today, so check Settings, About phone, Software information when it arrives.

The table divides each phone's from-price by the months of security support left from 5 October 2026 (days ÷ 30.44). Fair grades are left out because their condition isn't defined.

On this measure, even the dearest A16 5G costs about 41% less per month of support than the new A15 5G (£3.48 against £5.88). This doesn't mean a phone stops working when its updates end. It does mean it becomes riskier for banking, payments and email once security patches stop. If you plan to keep this phone until it fails, the A15 5G's shorter window is the main reason not to buy it.

What does 85% battery health mean on a refurbished Galaxy A16 5G?

Battery health is the share of its original design capacity a battery can still hold. At the 85% minimum at dispatch, a Galaxy A16 5G's 5,000mAh (typical) battery would hold roughly 4,250mAh, or about 4,130mAh on Samsung's 4,860mAh rated figure. Both are estimates, and real-world battery life also depends on use and software. The sealed A15 5G starts at full capacity.

To put that into daily terms, imagine a day of your normal use takes 70% of a new battery's charge. The same day would take about 82% of an 85% battery (70 ÷ 85), leaving roughly 18% at bedtime instead of 30%. That's a hypothetical illustration, not a test result. Some may arrive above the minimum, but you can't choose a figure when you order.

The 85% minimum applies to Like New, Excellent and Very Good. A Fair option is listed, but the grading page doesn't define it, so ask the team about its condition before ordering, including the battery. The warranty policy's battery exclusions list battery defects and reduced capacity, so check battery health in the first few days. A faulty battery within 30 days is still covered by your Consumer Rights Act right to reject.

Screen and size: is the A16 5G's 6.7-inch display a real upgrade?

It's bigger, not better. Both are FHD+ Super AMOLED panels at 90Hz with an 800-nit high-brightness mode, so resolution, refresh rate and peak brightness are listed as the same. The A16 5G's 6.7-inch screen is 0.2 inches larger than the A15 5G's 6.5-inch screen, and the phone is 4.3mm taller, 1.1mm wider and 0.5mm thinner. Both weigh 200g.

That makes this a matter of preference rather than a spec win. If you watch a lot of video or prefer larger text, the A16 5G's extra screen is useful every day. If you use your phone one-handed or want it to fit a smaller pocket, the A15 5G is the more compact of two large phones. Neither is small: both are around 77mm wide.

Performance and cameras: closer than the model numbers suggest

Both phones have 4GB of RAM and similar budget chips. Samsung UK lists the A16 5G's CPU at 2.4GHz, against 2.2GHz on the A15 5G's Dimensity 6100+. Samsung confirms the Exynos 1330 for the Brazilian A16 5G, and GSMArena says the chip varies by market. The cameras list identical resolutions. The Tech Gadgets hasn't benchmarked either phone, so expect a small difference on paper, not a different class of phone.

Both suit messaging, calls, maps, streaming, social media and video calls. Neither is built for demanding games. The cameras share a 50MP main sensor, a 5MP ultra-wide and a 2MP macro, plus a 13MP selfie camera, and none of the sources we used lists optical stabilisation for either. If steady handheld video matters, the refurbished Galaxy A17 5G is the next step up, because Samsung UK lists OIS on its main camera.

Headphone jack, water resistance and the smaller differences

The A15 5G has a 3.5mm headphone jack and the A16 5G doesn't, which matters if you use wired earphones or a car's aux cable. The A16 5G is rated IP54 for dust and splashes, while Samsung UK states no IP rating for the A15 5G. Both have NFC for contactless payments, dual nano-SIM with a shared microSD slot, and no eSIM.

IP54 is a design specification for a new phone. A refurbished A16 5G has had a previous owner, and seals can age or be disturbed by repair, so don't rely on factory water resistance. Liquid damage is excluded from the warranty on both phones. Colour choice also differs. The A15 5G comes in Blue Black only. The A16 5G is listed in Black, Gold, Light Gray and Light Green. The listing notes that Samsung UK sells the A16 5G in Blue Black, Light Grey and Light Green, so Gold isn't part of Samsung's UK range. Message the team before ordering Gold.

128GB or 256GB: when the £169.99 Galaxy A16 5G makes sense

Go for 256GB if you keep years of photos and videos on the phone or want to avoid relying on a memory card. On the A16 5G, 256GB adds £16.00 at Like New (£169.99 − £153.99), £24.99 at Excellent (£164.99 − £140.00), £23.00 at Very Good (£151.99 − £128.99) and £22.00 at Fair (£141.99 − £119.99).

The A15 5G is only listed in 128GB, so if you want more built-in storage, the A16 5G is the only choice in this comparison. Both phones take microSD cards (up to 1TB on the A15 5G and 1.5TB on the A16 5G), but the card uses the second SIM position, so you can't run two SIMs and a card together. Samsung UK lists 4GB of RAM for the 128GB A16 5G and doesn't sell a 256GB A16 5G, so ask about the model code, RAM and 4G Calling on your network before ordering one.

Decision rules for the A15 5G and A16 5G

Choose the refurbished Galaxy A16 5G when you want the longest support for your money, a larger screen, IP54 or 256GB, and you're happy with a used phone graded on cosmetic condition; Excellent 128GB at £140.00 is the sensible middle ground. Choose the brand-new Galaxy A15 5G instead when you want a sealed box and a new battery, use wired headphones, prefer a smaller phone, or will replace it before 31 January 2029.

Who should not buy the A15 5G: anyone planning to keep the phone beyond January 2029, anyone handing it to a child for the whole of secondary school, and anyone who wants splash protection stated by Samsung. Who should not buy the A16 5G: gift buyers who want sealed packaging, anyone who wants a brand-new battery, and wired-headphone users who don't want an adapter.

Alternatives worth comparing at this budget

Galaxy A16 4G, Refurbished. If you don't need 5G, the refurbished Galaxy A16 4G costs £100.99 for 128GB in Very Good condition. That's £28.00 less than the A16 5G in the same grade (£128.99 − £100.99) and £63.00 less than the new A15 5G. It shares the A16 design and 6.7-inch AMOLED screen but uses a MediaTek Helio G99 and has no 5G. Samsung UK lists its updates until 31 August 2031, but six years from its late-2024 launch points to late 2030. Those dates don't line up, so we use the earlier one (31 October 2030).

Galaxy A07 5G, Brand New. If you want a sealed phone with the longest support, the brand-new Galaxy A07 5G costs £133.99 for 64GB, £30.00 less than the A15 5G. It's brand new and sealed, sold unlocked for UK networks by The Tech Gadgets. Samsung doesn't list this model on its UK website, so if you rely on Wi-Fi Calling or 4G Calling with a particular network, check with the team before ordering. Samsung's non-UK specifications list updates to 31 January 2032 and a 6,000mAh battery. The trade-offs are an HD+ (720 x 1600) LCD rather than AMOLED and only 64GB of storage. Samsung doesn't list NFC for it, so it isn't for tap-to-pay users, though it keeps a 3.5mm jack.

Galaxy A17 5G, Refurbished. In Very Good condition with 128GB, it costs £165.99, just £2.00 more than the new A15 5G. It adds OIS on the main camera and Samsung UK updates to 31 August 2031. Our Galaxy A16 vs A17 refurbished comparison sets out what that step up buys over the A16 5G.

Spending more than the A16 5G is justified if you want OIS (the A17 5G). Spending less makes sense if 4G is enough (the A16 4G). Paying £163.99 for the A15 5G is hardest to justify on value alone, so buy it for the sealed box and new battery, knowing what you're giving up.

Sealed A15 5G or graded A16 5G: box contents and first checks

Galaxy A15 5G, Brand New comes sealed in the manufacturer's retail box with the manufacturer's standard contents. Samsung UK sells the 25W charger separately, so you may need your own plug. The A15 5G no longer has a consumer listing on Samsung UK's website, although its specification remains on Samsung's UK business site. It launched in early 2024, so expect to install system updates when you first set it up. Its Samsung UK end date of 31 January 2029 applies whenever you buy it.

Galaxy A16 5G, Refurbished arrives with a free USB-C charging cable, a free SIM ejector pin and protective packaging, but no mains plug. Each phone is tested, cleaned, factory reset and removed from the previous owner's Google and Samsung accounts. The grade describes cosmetic condition only. Like New has no visible marks, Excellent has light signs of use that are hard to spot at arm's length, and Very Good has visible marks on the body with the screen in good shape. The full standard is on the page explaining how The Tech Gadgets tests and grades refurbished phones.

When either phone arrives, check the model number in Settings, under About phone, starts with SM-A156 or SM-A166 and matches the listing. Put in your SIM and make a call, then check battery health before the 30-day mark. Treat the A16 5G's IP54 as a design rating, not a guarantee on a used phone. If a refurbished phone ever asks for a previous owner's account during set-up, contact the team straight away. From 5 October 2026, the A16 5G has 48.9 months of security support left and the A15 5G 27.9 months.

Warranty, returns and delivery on a refurbished A16 5G or sealed A15 5G

The refurbished A16 5G comes with a 12-month warranty from The Tech Gadgets, starting on delivery and covering faults that develop in normal use (not accidental or liquid damage). For the sealed A15 5G, the product page and returns policy list a 12-month warranty from The Tech Gadgets. The details are in the refund and returns policy.

You can make a change-of-mind return within 30 days if the phone is unused and complete (you pay return postage), and you also have your 14-day right to cancel. Orders placed by 3pm Monday to Friday are dispatched the same day from Manchester, under the dispatch cut-off and delivery terms. Standard delivery takes 1–3 working days and is free over £50. Both phones are listed as unlocked for EE, O2, Vodafone, Three and giffgaff. If you're still unsure about used phones in general, our verdict on whether a refurbished Samsung is worth it covers the pros and risks. To compare other models, browse the Samsung Galaxy phones in stock, checking the condition on each listing.

Galaxy A15 5G vs A16 5G: questions buyers ask

Is the Samsung Galaxy A15 the same as the Galaxy A15 5G?

No. Samsung announced a Galaxy A15 and a Galaxy A15 5G as separate models. The Tech Gadgets lists the Galaxy A15 5G only, brand new and sealed with 128GB in Blue Black, at £163.99 (checked 5 October 2026). Everything in this guide refers to that 5G model. If you've seen a cheaper “Galaxy A15” elsewhere, check the model code before comparing prices, because the specifications won't necessarily match.

Why does a brand-new Galaxy A15 5G have so little support left?

Because of its age. The A15 5G launched in early 2024, and Samsung's five years of security updates run to 31 January 2029 on its UK specification, whenever you buy the phone. A sealed phone bought in October 2026 therefore has 27.9 months of security support left. Being new means you get an unused battery and an untouched body, but it doesn't extend the software support.

I'm upgrading from a Galaxy A12. Which should I choose?

We haven't compared the A12's specifications here, so focus on how long your next phone will last. If you kept your A12 for several years, you'll probably keep this one just as long. On that basis the refurbished A16 5G fits better, with Samsung UK updates to 31 October 2030 against 31 January 2029 for the A15 5G. If you used wired headphones with your A12, though, note that only the A15 5G has a 3.5mm jack.

Is a Fair-grade Galaxy A16 5G at £119.99 a good idea?

It might be, but you'd be buying without a published standard. A Fair option is listed at £119.99 for 128GB and £141.99 for 256GB. The grading page doesn't define Fair, though, and the 85% battery minimum is stated only for Like New, Excellent and Very Good. Ask the team about its cosmetic and battery condition before ordering. If you'd rather know exactly what you're getting, Very Good at £128.99 costs £9.00 more and has a defined standard.

Does either phone come with a charger?

Not a mains plug, as far as the listings show. The refurbished A16 5G comes with a USB-C charging cable but no plug. The sealed A15 5G has the manufacturer's standard contents, and Samsung UK says its 25W charger is sold separately. Both support 25W Super Fast Charging with a compatible charger. Any USB-C plug you already own will charge them, just more slowly if it's a lower-wattage unit.

Which has the better battery life?

On paper they're the same: both have a 5,000mAh typical battery and 25W charging. In practice, the condition of the battery decides it. The sealed A15 5G starts with a new battery. A refurbished A16 5G has at least 85% battery health at dispatch on the defined grades. The A16 5G also has a larger screen to power. The Tech Gadgets hasn't run battery tests on either, so if all-day battery is your top priority and you'd keep the phone for only two years, the new A15 5G has the edge.

Verdict: the refurbished Galaxy A16 5G for most people

Buy the refurbished Galaxy A16 5G. At £140.00 in Excellent condition with 128GB, it costs £23.99 less than the sealed A15 5G and gets security updates for about 21 months longer (31 October 2030 against 31 January 2029). It also has a bigger screen and an IP54 rating. If storage matters, the Like New 256GB at £169.99 costs only £6.00 more than the A15 5G, but Samsung UK doesn't sell a 256GB A16 5G, so ask about the model code and 4G Calling first. Pick a defined grade so you get the 85% battery minimum, and ask before choosing Gold.

Choose the brand-new Galaxy A15 5G instead if a sealed box, a new battery and a headphone jack outweigh support that ends on 31 January 2029, and you'll replace the phone by then. If neither fits, the A17 5G adds OIS for £165.99 and the A16 4G saves money if 4G is enough. Check the Galaxy A16 5G refurbished listing for current grades and colours.