Samsung’s next budget phone is turning out to be a bit of a time machine. Early Geekbench numbers for the Galaxy A18 have popped up, and the mix of parts is pretty wild.
The listing (spotted by Alfaturk) shows the LTE version scoring 744 in single-core and 2,064 in multi-core. It’s running a MediaTek Helio G99, the same chip MediaTek launched back in 2022, with 4GB of RAM and, surprisingly, Android 17 with One UI 9 already on board. It’s also the chip used in the 4G variants of the Galaxy A15, A16, and last year’s A17.
That Helio G99 is a 6nm chip with two Cortex-A76 cores at 2.2 GHz, six Cortex-A55s at 2.0 GHz, and a Mali-G57 MC2 GPU. It’s the bare minimum for a smartphone in 2026. The 4GB of RAM feels even older; phones first started shipping with that amount around 2015. It’s still hanging around though, mostly because memory prices have gone crazy thanks to the AI boom.
The real head-turner is the software. Samsung is testing the A18 with One UI 9, which is still only in beta on the flagship Galaxy S26 series. If the brand follows its usual launch schedule, the device should arrive in late Q3 or Q4. A 5G variant is also expected around the same time and, according to a previous leak, could use a Snapdragon chipset instead of the Exynos 1330 found in the A17 (5G).
Basic stuff like calling, messaging, and a little bit of social media should still be fine, but don’t expect the A18 4G to handle modern apps with a ton of features or heavy graphics without noticeable slowdowns or issues. It will also be interesting to see how much of the
Design, cameras, and exact pricing still aren’t public, but this early benchmark already gives a pretty clear picture of what’s under the hood.
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(Source: @Alfaturk16)
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