[Poll] Should Samsung bring wireless charging back to mid-range phones?

Wireless charging is not a feature that is considered important for smartphones. All flagship smartphones tend to support it these days, and every Galaxy flagship since the Galaxy S6 has supported wireless charging as well. And for a couple of years, wireless charging was also available on Samsung’s mid-range Galaxy A series phones.

That was until Chinese manufacturers started eating away at Samsung’s market share and the Korean giant decided to start focusing on more important specs to keep the Galaxy A series relevant. Wireless charging, a feature that made Galaxy A smartphones stand out from the competition at the time, was axed as part of Samsung’s new strategy for its mid-range lineup.

That strategy has worked well for Samsung, but with Apple’s $400 iPhone SE 2 recently announced with wireless charging as one of its key features, we have been wondering: Should wireless charging make a return to non-flagship Galaxy smartphones? Is it an important feature in your eyes, or is it a novelty that you can live without, especially if it means a device can offer better specs in other areas as a result?

We’d love to know what you think, so cast a vote in the poll below then expand on your answer down in the comments section!

Should Samsung bring wireless charging back to mid-range phones?

• Yes!
• Nah, focus on other specs
• I couldn't care either way
• Sure, but only if it can keep pricing sensible

Results

• Yes! 33%, 1 vote
  1 vote 33%

  1 vote - 33% of all votes
• Nah, focus on other specs 33%, 1 vote
  1 vote 33%

  1 vote - 33% of all votes
• I couldn't care either way 33%, 1 vote
  1 vote 33%

  1 vote - 33% of all votes
• Sure, but only if it can keep pricing sensible 0%, 0 votes
  0 votes

  0 votes - 0% of all votes

Total Votes: 3

1 May 2020

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You or your IP had already vote.

• Yes!
• Nah, focus on other specs
• I couldn't care either way
• Sure, but only if it can keep pricing sensible

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Results

The post [Poll] Should Samsung bring wireless charging back to mid-range phones? appeared first on SamMobile.

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Galaxy A51 now available through Xfinity Mobile in the US

Although the Galaxy A51 was unveiled in December last year, the phone was announced for the US market only last month. The mid-range smartphone first became available through AT&T, Samsung, Sprint, and Verizon, and now, the Galaxy A51 can also be purchased through Comcast’s Xfinity Mobile.

If you’re thinking of picking up the Galaxy A51 from Xfinity Mobile in the US, you should know that it is currently available only in one color: Prism Crush Black. It is priced at $399 for the 4GB RAM + 128GB storage variant.

If you opt for a 24-month contract, the phone can be yours for just $12.5 per month, which turns out to a total cost of $300. However, you need to transfer your number or get a new line to get the $100 discount. The estimated delivery date for the Galaxy A51 is listed as May 8.

Galaxy A51 features, specs

The Galaxy A51 features a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED screen with Full HD+ resolution and an under-display fingerprint reader. It runs Android 10 and uses the Exynos 9611 processor, 4GB RAM, 128GB storage, and has a microSD card slot.

The phone has a 32MP selfie camera on the front and a 48MP+12MP+5MP+5MP quad-camera setup on the rear. The Galaxy A51 is powered by a 4,000mAh battery and supports 15W fast charging via a USB Type-C port. If you’re interested in the smartphone, you can read our Galaxy A51 review here.

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Samsung is aware of Galaxy Chromebook’s battery life problem, working on a fix

Samsung launched the Galaxy Chromebook, arguably the best-looking Chrome OS laptop ever, four months ago. It has a beautiful red aluminum body, a 4K Super AMOLED touchscreen with DisplayHDR 400, and an S Pen. However, its battery doesn’t last as long as Samsung’s marketing claims, and the company is aware of this issue.

Most Galaxy Chromebook reviews praised the laptop’s vibrant design and fantastic screen, but they also pointed out its below-par battery life despite the Project Athena certification. Samsung is reportedly fully aware of the Galaxy Chromebook’s battery life issues. The company isn’t sitting idly, and it is working with Google to pinpoint the reason for the laptop’s low battery life.

There is still no confirmation as to how Google and Samsung will solve this issue, and when a software update would be rolled out. The report states that the South Korean electronics giant is working on the battery life issue as a high priority, so the update should come sooner than later.

To remind you, the Galaxy Chromebook uses the Intel Core i5 10210U processor, which is a U series model with 15W TDP. On the other hand, most other Chromebooks use Intel’s Y-series processors with 5W TDP. Its 4K OLED screen doesn’t help either, consuming a lot of power while churning out over 700 nits of brightness in specific scenarios.

The companies could be working on a newer CPU power governer so that the processor consumes less power while doing lighter tasks. Google and Samsung could also use the laptop’s Ambient EQ sensor to lower the screen brightness in indoor conditions so that the display sips power from the 49.2Wh battery rather than gulping it.

If you’ve purchased the $1,000 Galaxy Chromebook, let us know your experience with the laptop’s performance and battery life via the comments section below.

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Samsung drops price of Galaxy M21 in India

The Galaxy M21 was launched in India in March, and the pricing of the phone started from INR 12,999. However, after the Indian government hiked taxes (GST) on smartphones in the country last month, Samsung had to increase the pricing of its devices accordingly, including the Galaxy M21. Now, the pricing of the mid-range device has been dropped again.

Samsung has dropped the price of the 64GB variant of the Galaxy M21 from INR 14,222 to INR 13,199. The price of the 128GB variant of the phone has been decreased from INR 16,499 to INR 15,499. The phone will be available for purchase from Amazon.in once the COVID-19 lockdown in India ends in the next few days.

The Galaxy M21 features a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED Infinity-U display with Full HD resolution and a 20MP front-facing camera. At the rear, the phone has a 48MP+8MP+5MP triple-camera setup as well as a capacitive fingerprint reader. A 6000mAh battery powers the phone, and there’s support for 15W fast wired charging.

The phone runs Android 10 with One UI 2.0 and is equipped with the Exynos 9611 processor, 4GB/6GB RAM, 64GB/128GB storage, and a microSD card slot. The Galaxy M21 features a dual-SIM card slot, LTE, Wi-Fi b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The phone also features Dolby Atmos audio and Face Unlock, and it comes in two colors: Black and Blue.

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Samsung’s Game Tuner is officially dead, but Game Plugins lives on

Samsung’s Game Tuner app hasn’t been updated since December 2018, so the following information might not surprise anyone, but the company officially terminated Game Tuner yesterday, April 30. The app is still listed on the Galaxy Store and Play Store, but it is no longer available for download and the app’s description has been changed to reflect the termination.

Game Tuner was a mobile gaming-centric app containing features such as an FPS limiter, per-app brightness and texture quality settings, a resolution downscaler and more.

Game Tuner says goodbye, Game Plugins says hello

Samsung’s mobile game-tuning app was quite useful, especially for non-flagship phones and users who may have wanted to boost performance at the expense of graphical fidelity. But since Game Tuner stopped being updated almost two years ago, it’s been slowly phased out in favor of Samsung’s newer game-centric app Game Plugins. The Game Plugins Plus module, in particular, offers per-app graphics settings such as a downscaler and FPS limiters. In other words, it offers more or less the same features as Game Tuner.

For now, Galaxy users who still have Game Tuner installed on their device can continue to use the app, as long as the device runs Android Oreo and not a more recent OS version. Otherwise, if you want to go deeper under the hood of your mobile games and force them to run a certain way, you’ll have to rely on Game Plugins moving forward.

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Fire breaks out at Samsung Display’s Asan factory, A3 line shut down

Operations at Samsung Display’s complex in Asan have been partially halted earlier today after a fire broke out, reports the Korean media. The fire reportedly broke out at some facilities supporting the A3 OLED production line, resulting in a power cut and the A3 line being shut down.

The cause of the fire is unknown but the good news is that there were no casualties. A Samsung Display official cited by the local media revealed that although the A3 line has been temporarily shut down, the rest of the facility remains operational.

Samsung Display believes this won’t affect the supply

According to the official, the extent of the damage caused by the fire at the Asan facility is yet to be determined, but the company believes that the unfortunate event will not disrupt the supply of products to customers.

However, the long-term damage will ultimately be determined by the time it takes for the A3 line to resume normal operations. Some of the products that were being pushed through the A3 line at the time of shut-down will also be lost, and Samsung Display will inevitably suffer some financial casualties as a result.

The A3 line at the Asan complex in the South Chungcheong Province manufactures small and medium-sized OLED panels for smartphones.

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Cloud White Galaxy S20 Ultra pre-orders begin in Europe, already on sale in China

The Cloud White variant of the Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G can be purchased from Samsung China as of today, just as expected. Priced at the equivalent of about $1,400 (€1,300), the new color option is only available with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of flash storage. This unique-looking addition to the flagship series comes at the heels of Cloud White Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S20+ models which already made their way to Samsung’s home country.

The Cloud White Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G previously debuted in Switzerland at a price point that’s near-identical to the one in China – €1,349. The very same device variant will soon be available in Germany where it’s already up for pre-orders. At the same time, Samsung Spain is now accepting advanced orders for the Cloud White version of the Galaxy S20+ 5G. There’s also evidence to suggest that Samsung will soon start offering this color option in a lot more countries across Europe.

Cloud White means “5G-ready”

Between Samsung’s latest launch in China and other recent appearances of the Cloud White finish, it appears the company’s positioning this color as an alternative “5G-enabled” label within its newest smartphone series. Adding more credence to that theory is the incoming arrival of the Galaxy S20 bound for Verizon‘s delayed sub-6Ghz 5G network. Unsurprisingly, that device will also be available in Cloud White, with Verizon reportedly securing it as a domestic exclusive, at that.

Samsung is positioning 5G connectivity as a major part of its smartphone strategy moving forward. However, following the Galaxy S20 series’ weak initial sales, that plan is now shifting toward the mid-range price segment as the company hopes affordable 5G devices will help it navigate these troublesome times more easily.

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Samsung’s tablet business holds steady as markets crumble in Q1 2020

Samsung’s tablet market share improved in Q1 2020 while the industry as a whole crumbled under the pressure of recent developments. Preliminary data puts the company’s quarterly shipments at 4.7 million, almost unchanged compared to the same three-month period in 2019. As a result, that minor 2% decline is a win in the context of a quarter that erased 12% of the global tablet market’s value.

Perhaps more importantly for Samsung, its latest achievement comes at a time when its closest rival in the segment saw a catastrophic drop-off. The coronavirus pandemic hence eliminated 15% of Huawei’s shipments, furthering its gap from Samsung.

Tablets are dying but Samsung didn’t get the memo

As reported by Strategy Analytics, Samsung’s now estimated to hold 14.6% of the slate segment by worldwide shipments, a 1.4-point improvement compared to the same period last year. Naturally, Apple is still the definitive market leader in nearly every respect as iPads remain the world’s most popular tablet series. The research firm’s medium-term predictions for the industry, including those concerning Samsung, are a mixed bag. Regarding Q2 2020 in particular, it appears the increasing global focus on working from home may actually benefit some tablet suppliers. The market as a whole should still continue declining in the long term, especially as foldable smartphones begin maturing, doing everything tablets can but better by virtue of the fact they can fit in one’s pocket when needed.

These latest analyst estimates are arguably even better news for Samsung than its Q1 2020 smartphone performance is. In short, while the ongoing global pandemic is certainly taking its toll on countless markets, particularly non-essential and already declining ones, Samsung is doing a better job than most with how it’s been handling the crisis so far. As for its tablet business in particular, the firm is now turning its focus toward the Galaxy Tab S7 series expected to launch in the second half of the year.

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Samsung to benefit from a hundredfold surge in foldable display demand

Although foldable smartphones remain a relatively rare sight, they don’t seem to be just a passing fad. Market researchers cited by The Korea Times now expect demand for foldable OLED displays to increase a hundredfold over the next 5 years compared to 2019.

Meanwhile, demand for foldable OLED panels is likely to soar high enough to the point where the market will ship a total of 3.9 million foldable displays by the end of 2020, up from 700,000 in 2019. But by the end of 2025, shipments for foldable displays should top 73.1 million units, according to the research firm.

A couple of months gack, Samsung Display was reportedly working on quadrupling the production of foldable displays for smartphones by the end of 2020 in anticipation of higher demand. These panels will serve Samsung’s mobile division as well as other clients.

Samsung Electronics might benefit the most from this boost in foldable display output

For now, Samsung Electronics remains the most relevant foldable smartphone manufacturer in the world, and if this trend continues, the company will benefit the most from the surge in foldable display manufacturing over the next 5 years. Huawei seemed to be a threat to Samsung’s foldable lineup at first, but the OEM appears to have been left behind by the Korean giant. Meanwhile, Royole – another foldable device manufacturer from China – doesn’t seem to be going nowhere for the time being.

Samsung, on the other hand, already released two foldable smartphone models – the Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Z Flip. The company is now gearing up for the release of the Galaxy Fold 2 in August, and it’s almost a certainty that more foldable models will be coming out of Samsung’s factory gates next year.

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Daily Deal: 19% off Samsung 7.1.4-Channel Soundbar System

This Soundbar System by Samsung is one of the best available. With integrated speakers it’s able to give you a full Dolby Atmos experience, with sounds coming from all directions. It includes two rear speakers and a subwoofer as well to guarantee an immersive experience while watching shows, movies or when you’re listening to music. This Soundbar System works with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth so there’s no need to drag cables across the room. This renewed set comes with a 90-day warranty meaning you don’t have to worry about returning it. Now available at 19%, this is the perfect opportunity to upgrade your sound system!

Hit the Buy Now button below to order one before they’re out of stock!

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USA residents can now buy the Galaxy A51 from AT&T

AT&T has joined the country’s other two major carriers in offering the Galaxy A51 to customers. The phone was launched on AT&T’s network today – May 1 – for the full retail price of $399. Alternatively, AT&T customers can buy the Galaxy A51 with an Installment Plan of $13.34 a month. The phone is available with 128GB of built-in storage in Prism Crush Black.

The Galaxy A51 was first released in the USA a few weeks ago through Sprint and Verizon, however, we’ve known for some time that the mid-range device should arrive in the country through all major carriers. This means that U.S. Cellular and T-Mobile should eventually offer the Galaxy A51 as well, but they don’t at the time of writing. Nevertheless, customers who have bought the Galaxy A51 from Sprint can take advantage of T-Mobile’s network infrastructure now that the two carriers have merged.

AT&T’s special offer gets you a $150 Visa Reward Card

AT&T has a limited time offer whereby customers get a $150 AT&T Visa Reward Card when they buy a new smartphone online along with a qualifying Installment Plan. The Galaxy A51 appears to be eligible too.

The Galaxy A51 is a very competent mid-range phone equipped with a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display with a pixel count of 2400 by 1080, an under-display fingerprint scanner, an Exynos 9611 SoC, 4GB of RAM, a quad-camera setup including a 5MP macro lens, a 32MP selfie shooter, and a 4,000mAh battery with 15W fast charging. Check the links below for more details.

Galaxy A51 Review

• Buy the Galaxy A51 from AT&T
• Buy the AT&T Galaxy A51 from Samsung USA

Galaxy A51

• Model: SM-A515F
• Dimensions: Bar: 158.5 x 73.6 x 7.9 mm
  
• Display: 6.5 inch / 165.10 mm Super AMOLED Display
• CPU: Exynos 9611
• Camera: 48MP

More specifications

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Galaxy Z Flip camera on par with 2018 flagships in DxOMark review

The camera performance of Samsung’s second foldable smartphone, the Galaxy Z Flip, is on par with 2018 flagships. That’s according to imaging experts at DxOMark who awarded the Galaxy Z Flip 105 points on their non-finite scale in their latest review. The rating puts Samsung’s futuristic flip phone in the ballpark of the Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy S9 Plus, and the Huawei P20 Pro, further underlining the compromises Samsung had to make in order to make foldable handsets more affordable.

More specifically, the Galaxy Z Flip’s dual-camera setup just barely beats Samsung’s top 2018 devices. Put through the same series of standardized tests, the Galaxy S9+ and Galaxy Note 9 scored 100 and 103 points, respectively.

Galaxy Z Flip cameras are good enough, just not exceptional

The image benchmarking authority had no major qualms with the Galaxy Z Flip’s camera, deeming it good enough for both photography and video. Perhaps its biggest drawback in capturing stills is slow autofocus, especially in low-light conditions. Truth be told, that’s hardly an area smartphones have been excelling at anyway. As for videography performance, the review lists largely opposite pros and cons, praising autofocusing speeds and criticising the Galaxy Z Flip’s dynamic range.

Curiously enough, DxOMark also found some issues with the Galaxy Z Flip’s handling of colors in outdoor scenes, reporting the device occasionally delivers desaturated images. Not only is that the opposite of what it said about its still photography capabilities but also stands in contrast to the most common points of criticism reviewers had with Samsung’s image processing software in the past.

Ultimately, DxOMark acknowledged the unique circumstances that led to the creation of the Galaxy Z Flip, admitting it would be unfair to compare the device to more conventional smartphones with rigid screens. The whole point of its existence was for Samsung to make bendable mobile screens more accessible to the masses, which it ultimately managed to do, delivering a device that’s $600 cheaper than last year’s Galaxy Fold while sporting only slightly inferior hardware.

None of this is an argument against buying the Galaxy Z Flip but merely a reminder that doing so should primarily be motivated by the appeal of its form factor, not its photography prowess.

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Samsung remains top phone maker as industry hits new lows

Samsung is still the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer, having kept that title even after going through the worst quarter in the mobile industry’s history. Newly compiled data estimates the tech giant’s Q1 shipments amounted to some 58.3 million units, 19% down compared to the same period last year. The decline barely made a dent in Samsung’s overall market share, however. In other words, almost every other handset manufacturer experienced even worse drop-offs during the observed period.

The industry as a whole shrunk by approximately 55.6 million shipments over the first three months of the year. That negative trend almost perfectly correlates with Samsung’s slump, being mere two points ahead.

The worst is yet to come for Samsung

According to Strategy Analytics, Samsung’s now holding 21.2% of the world’s smartphone market by shipments, with its share mostly stagnating year-over-year. Likewise, it’s still followed by Huawei and Apple – in that order. While the global market has been on a decline for some time now, the freefall observed in the three-month period ending March 31st is primarily a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The health crisis forced most electronics manufacturers to temporarily suspend non-essential factory operations, causing a hit to production output and shipments even before the consumer demand for such products started dropping as people began losing jobs.

Earlier this week, Samsung reported its better-than-anticipated financials for the first quarter, suggesting it has yet to weather through the worst effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns. In order to do so, the company is turning its focus toward next-generation wireless technologies, hoping cheap 5G will soften the blow to its smartphone sales.

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Galaxy A21s bags Bluetooth certification, inches one step closer to launch

We exclusively reported about the existence of the Galaxy A21s back in January. A few days later, the smartphone made its appearance on Geekbench. Later, it bagged Wi-Fi Alliance’s as well as FCC’s certifications. Today, the Galaxy A21s has been certified by the Bluetooth SIG, bringing the phone one step closer to the launch.

While recent certifications of the device revealed two model numbers, SM-A217F and SM-A217M, none of them confirmed its name. The Bluetooth SIG certification of the upcoming mid-range smartphone that was spotted earlier today confirms that Samsung will launch it as the Galaxy A21s.

The Galaxy A21s will have four model numbers—SM-A217, SM-A217F/D, SM-A217F/DS, and SM-A217N— apart from two others that we knew already. The Bluetooth certification authority’s documents also reveal that the Galaxy M21s features Bluetooth v5.0 and Wi-Fi b/g/n/ac connectivity, which isn’t a surprise considering most new Samsung smartphones have them.

As far as other Galaxy A21s specs go, it will use the yet-unannounced Exynos 850 chipset, a 2MP macro camera, and a 5000mAh battery. The phone will come in two storage variants, 32GB and 64GB, and it will be available in black, blue, white, and red colors.

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