Galaxy A51 5G review: Samsung’s cheapest 5G phone is a solid buy

Samsung knew that the Galaxy A51 had to be a worthy successor to the Galaxy A50. The latter was one of its best-selling devices in 2019 and it would only be in Samsung’s interests to replicate that success in 2020. The Galaxy A51 was able to do that for the most part. It lived up to its expectation of being a great mid-range device.

However, Samsung had an ace up its sleeve in the form of a 5G variant. The Galaxy A51 5G is the cheapest 5G smartphone that Samsung sells. In some markets, it’s one of the very few and often the only 5G device available in that price bracket. 5G compatibility on a device that’s already proven to be a mid-ranger worthy of your money. What’s not to like?

There aren’t many noticeable differences between the LTE Galaxy A51 and its 5G sibling but the few that exist warrant a fresh review of the device. Let’s dive into our Galaxy A51 5G review.

Galaxy A51 5G design

The Galaxy A51 5G looks just like the LTE variant, no surprises there, but there is a subtle change. Since this is a more “upmarket” version of the device, Samsung has swapped out plastic from the frame for aluminum. This makes the device feel more premium in the hand and it’s a welcome change.

That’s just about it, though. Samsung hasn’t swapped out the plastic material covering the back for glass so you can forget about that. It has altered the prism-like crisscross pattern on the back panel to favor clean lines for a more solid color profile. The L-shaped camera setup occupies the same place at the back while the speaker, USB Type-C port and the 3.5mm headphone jack are all placed at the bottom.

There are only three physical buttons and all of them are placed on the right side of the frame. There’s no dedicated Bixby key but if you press and hold the power button, it will fire up the assistant. This behavior can be changed and the button can be configured to bring up the power menu instead through the Advanced features menu in the Settings app.

Measuring 158.9 x 73.6 x 8.7mm, the Galaxy A51 5G is 0.8mm thicker than the LTE variant because of the upgraded internals. It’s also heavier at 187g so you’ll definitely notice its heft, particularly if you’ve used the LTE one before. That being said, the Galaxy A51 5G feels very well built. It’s fully capable of withstanding the rigors of daily use.

Galaxy A51 5G display

Both variants of the Galaxy A51 5G have exactly the same display. It’s a 6.5-inch Infinity-O Super AMOLED 1080×2400 pixel resolution 20:9 aspect ratio display with slim bezels. The viewing angles are excellent and the panel gets nice and bright even under direct sunlight. Colors are vibrant and rich with deep blacks attesting to the quality of this panel.

An optical fingerprint sensor is embedded in the display. The performance has improved by leaps and bounds over the Galaxy A50. We didn’t experience the same struggles with fingerprint recognition as we did on its predecessor. It’s great to see that Samsung has made great progress here and it gives us hope that these sensors will continue to get better in future models.

Galaxy A51 5G camera

The camera department also maintains complete parity between the two Galaxy A51 variants. There’s a 48-megapixel f/2.0 primary sensor at the back alongside a 12-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide and a 5-megapixel f/2.2 depth camera. The Galaxy A51 was the first Samsung device to come with a macro camera. That 5-megapixel f/2.4 sensor is present on the 5G variant as well. A 32-megapixel f/2.2 front camera handles selfie duties.

We have already tested this camera setup in great detail so check out our Galaxy A51 review to learn more. TL;DR: The primary camera can capture nice, sharp photos with accurate color reproduction and does a good job in low-light conditions as well. Ultra-wide images have more detail but can end up looking softer in the dark. The macro camera is good at what it does, but since its fixed focus, you have to nail the distance to the subject in order to get a good photo.

Galaxy A51 5G software

The handset runs Android 10 out of the box with the latest iteration of Samsung’s One UI custom skin. It brings several new features such as Bixby Routines, App Pairs and Edge screen. Bixby Voice is present as well. Focus mode, improved parental controls and Google’s navigation gestures are part and parcel of Android 10.

Samsung has brought many of the Galaxy S20’s best camera features to the Galaxy A51 lineup with One UI 2.1, including a full-fledged Pro mode with shutter speed control and manual focus. Features like Quick Share, Music Share, Night Hyperlapse and My Filters are included. It all works as it’s supposed to and the software itself is quite stable overall with no issues with apps crashing or freezing.

Galaxy A51 5G performance

The Galaxy A51 has the same processor as the Galaxy A50s. The Exynos 9611 is just a higher-clocked version of the Exynos 9610 found in the Galaxy A50. So we already had a good idea of what to expect performance-wise when reviewing the LTE variant of this device.

Things are a bit different for the Galaxy A51 5G. That’s because it’s powered by the Exynos 980 instead. This is Samsung’s very own mid-range 8nm chipset with an integrated 5G modem. The CPU is configured with two 2.2GHz Cortex-A77 cores and six 1.8GHz Cortex-A55 cores. The handset is available with 6/8GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage. It actually gets faster UFS2.1 storage compared to UFS2.0 on the LTE model. The unit we tested has 6GB RAM.

Having tested both the LTE and 5G variants, we can say that there’s definitely a noticeable performance difference. It certainly feels more snappy, jumping in and out of apps feels faster and the occasional animation stutter or lag we experienced on the LTE model isn’t that frequent. Resource intensive games like Call of Duty or PUBG can run on the highest graphics settings without any problems. The LTE model wasn’t a slouch but we’ve got to hand it to the Exynos 980, it just makes the Galaxy A51 5G a bit faster, and nobody’s going to find fault with that.

Galaxy A51 5G audio and call quality

There’s nothing new to report here, either, as the single bottom-firing speaker on the Galaxy A51 5G is as unimpressive as it was on the LTE model. The audio is flat and it’ll leave you wishing for more bass. The speaker clearly wasn’t on Samsung’s list of priorities for the Galaxy A51. This seems like a missed opportunity because Samsung could have improved it on the 5G variant but it chose not to.

You do get basic wired headphones in the box which will get the job done. There’s Dolby Atmos support for Bluetooth and wired audio which helps improve the audio experience marginally. There are no complaints about the call audio. Calls come in nice and crisp with sufficient volume at the top end.

Galaxy A51 5G battery life

Given that it has support for 5G and that requires more power, the Galaxy A51 5G has a larger 4,500mAh battery compared to the LTE variant’s 4,000mAh. Both have support for 15W wired fast charging. You can expect a full charge from 0 to take just over two hours.

The Galaxy A51 5G can easily squeeze out a full day’s worth of use from its battery. It usually lasts up to an hour or so more than the Galaxy A51. You’ll obviously notice faster battery drain when connected to a 5G network. These networks are still not ubiquitous in most markets so the phone often has to jump between 5G and legacy networks. That can take its toll on battery life but Samsung made the sensible decision of increased capacity so that Galaxy A51 5G owners can make it through the day.

Galaxy A51 5G verdict

We concluded in our review of the LTE variant that the device was perfect in its own reality. There’s a lot that you get for its $399 price tag. The AMOLED display is exceptional, cameras exceed expectations and the device looks great as well. None of that has been taken away from the 5G variant. If anything, it has become more refined.

The aluminum frame and the clean lines at the back make it feel more premium. The Exynos 980 chip improves performance and support for 5G allows you to experience the next-gen network standard without burning a hole in your pocket.

The $499 Galaxy A51 5G is meant for a very specific niche and it’s obviously only going to be sold in markets where 5G networks are available. A customer who has the option to pick either variant would only pay the $100 premium for the Galaxy A51 5G because they want to experience the faster mobile network.

If you’re that customer, you’re unlikely to find a smartphone that’s as capable as the Galaxy A51 5G in this price range. That’s really what Samsung was counting on when it decided to bring 5G compatibility to one of its most popular devices. For customers in most markets, the Galaxy A51 5G might be the cheapest point of entry into the world of 5G.

The Galaxy A51 quickly cemented its position as a phone that you can’t really go wrong with. It’s a great mid-range phone and with all of the improvements that the 5G variant brings, it has become even better. At this price, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t buy the Galaxy A51 5G.

Pros	Cons
Well built, aluminum frame	Macro camera is a niche thing
Faster processor, 5G support	No 25W fast wired charging
Exceptional Infinity-O AMOLED display	A bit on the heavy side
Improved camera experience thanks to new camera modes	Speaker should have been improved
3.5mm headphone jack
Runs high-end games without breaking a sweat

 

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Qualcomm announces Snapdragon 865+ that will power Galaxy Note 20 in some markets

Qualcomm has finally announced the Snapdragon 865+ chipset that will be used in the Galaxy Note 20 and the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra in some markets like China and the US. The new chipset is a slightly faster version of the Snapdragon 865, which has already been used in the Galaxy S20 series. It also brings faster wireless connectivity to the table.

The Snapdragon 865+ is built using the 7nm process and offers clock speeds of as high as 3.1GHz. However, only one CPU core (Kryo 585 Prime) can reach such high clock speeds, while other CPU cores will continue to use the same clock speeds they were using in the Snapdragon 865. It’s an octa-core 64-bit chipset with one Kryo 585 CPU core, three Kryo 585 Gold CPU cores, and four Kryo 585 Silver CPU cores. It supports up to 16GB LPDDR4X or LPDDR5 RAM.

Snapdragon 865+ offers 10% faster gaming performance

The Adreno 650 GPU inside the new chipset is capable of offering 10% higher performance when compared to the Snapdragon 865, thanks to higher clock speeds, so the gaming experience will be slightly better. Qualcomm is also highlighting Snapdragon Elite gaming features like up to 144Hz refresh rate at QHD+ resolution, HDR10 gaming, and 5G connectivity for lower latency for online gaming.

The Snapdragon 865+ comes with the FastConnect 6900 component, which gives access to Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2. These wireless standards have been used in a smartphone chipset for the first time ever. As usual, the new flagship Snapdragon chipset comes with sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G connectivity when paired with the Snapdragon X55 modem.

The chipset also supports up to 200MP camera sensors, up to 8K video recording at 30fps, up to 4K video recording at 120fps, and 720p slow-motion videos at 960fps. The ISP is capable of recording 4K HDR videos in Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG, and real-time bokeh effects for videos are also a part of the package. Other features of the Snapdragon 865+ include dual-SIM support, aptX Adaptive, NFC, Galileo, GLONASS, dual-frequency GPS, NavIC, and QZSS.

The Snapdragon 865+ SoC supports USB 3.1 Type-C port, Quick Charge 4+, and Quick Charge AI. We expect that Samsung will use the new Snapdragon processor inside the Galaxy Z Fold 2, Galaxy Z Flip 5G, Galaxy Tab S7, and the Galaxy Tab S7+ as well.

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Here are some solar eclipse images captured using the Galaxy S10+

The Galaxy S20 Ultra and its 48MP telephoto camera with 10x hybrid zoom have been the talk of the town over the past few months. However, Samsung’s previous-generation flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S10+, is quite capable of capturing images with its telephoto camera as well. Samsung has now published a few photos of July 2019’s solar eclipse that were captured using the Galaxy S10+, and the results are quite good.

The most recent solar eclipse happened on Jun 21, and it was visible in Eastern Europe, Eastern Africa, and parts of Asia. In the wake of this celestial event, Samsung decided to look back at the images of the July 2019 solar eclipse in Chile using the Galaxy S10+. Iván Castro, a photographer who specializes in capturing eclipses, captured Chile’s first total solar eclipse in decades using the Galaxy S10+ from the desert near the remote Chilean town of La Higuera. Another photographer, Tomás Westenenk, captured the eclipse from an airplane.

To remind you, the Galaxy S10+ features a triple-camera setup at its rear. It has a 12MP primary camera which uses a 1/2.55-inch sensor, F1.5-F2.4 dual-aperture, 1.4µm pixels, Dual-Pixel PDAF, and OIS. Its telephoto camera uses a 12MP sensor (1/3.6-inch) with F2.4 aperture, 1.0µm pixels, autofocus, OIS, and a 2x optical zoom lens. There’s a 16MP ultrawide-angle camera (1/3.1 sensor) with an F2.2 aperture, 1.0µm pixels, and a 12mm lens. All three cameras can record 4K videos, and the primary camera can record 4K 60fps videos.

You can have a look at the July 2019 solar eclipse’s images in the gallery below and read our review of the Galaxy S10+ here.

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Galaxy Buds Live move closer to launch, appear in FCC database

Last month, we had exclusively reported that the Galaxy Buds Live and the Galaxy Watch 3 will be launched in July, ahead of the unveiling of the Galaxy Note 20. In line with our report, the Galaxy Buds Live wireless earphones seem to have passed through the FCC certification process and inched closer to the launch.

FCC listing for a device with model number SM-R180 has been discovered, and it is being believed that it corresponds to the Galaxy Buds Live. The filing mentions that the certified device is a Bluetooth headset and that it is too small to include an FCC label, which leads us to believe that it is most probably the Galaxy Buds Live. In comparison, the model number of the Galaxy Buds Plus was SM-R175.

Not much is known about the Galaxy Buds Live except that they’re bean-shaped. They were originally leaked three months ago, and an image asset named ‘buds_live’ was uncovered in the Galaxy Wearable app last month. It is being expected that they feature active noise cancellation and a built-in music player. The upcoming wireless earbuds could be launched in three colors: Black, Copper, and White.

The Galaxy Buds Live could be priced under $150 and could be targeted towards a different set of the audience when compared to the Galaxy Buds Plus.

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Samsung India launches Crystal 4K UHD and Unbox Magic 3.0 TV series

Samsung India today unveiled no fewer than two new lineups of smart TVs: the Unbox Magic 3.0 series and Crystal 4K UHD range. While the former’s name may not be too clear on that, the Unbox Magic 3.0 family consists of devices specifically designed for the new reality wherein working from home is a necessity instead of a mere privilege. The Crystal 4K UHD TVs, on the other hand, are more of a traditional showcase of cutting-edge technology and sleek design you’d come to expect from Samsung.

Both will be hitting online and literal store shelves in India starting this month, with Samsung offering a wide variety of launch promotions including extended warranties, My Samsung My EMI benefits, and up to 10% cashbacks on payments made using Federal Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and SBI Card services.

Bigger, smarter, sharper, and bezel-less

The Unbox Magic 3.0 series comes in two sizes: the basic 32-inch models priced at Rs. 21,900 ($280) and 43-inch variants that will set you back Rs. 41,900 ($560). Moving beyond the entry-level price bracket is where the Crystal 4K UHD line comes into play, starting at Rs. 44,400 ($600) for the 43-inch model and going up to nearly five times that price for the massive 75-inch version. 55- and 65-inch TVs are also part of the same range.

Both series boast Bixby and Alexa integration, with the Unbox Magic 3.0 TVs also coming bundled with subscriptions to Microsoft’s Office 365 service and 5GB of cloud storage. Both are included due to the aforementioned work-from-home perspective which the range is meant to appeal to.

The Crystal 4K UHD family features a more premium-looking design with smaller bezels and natural Dual LED backlighting allowing the TVs to both blend into their requirements and dominate them with vivid colors, as necessary. Intelligent 3D sound optimizations, Multi-View mode, and support for a wide array of automation software (including Samsung’s own SmartThings) are all part of the package as well.

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Galaxy Note 20 Ultra hands-on video leak reveals interesting details

Several live images of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra have been leaked online this week, giving us our first proper look at the new flagship. The same source has now posted a short hands-on video leak of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.

Some interesting details have been revealed in this video. As expected, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is a pretty substantial device. Many of the design changes that we have been hearing about have also been confirmed by this video.

Galaxy Note 20 Ultra video leak leaves little to the imagination

The front of the device is obviously all display. It’s a massive 6.9-inch panel with 120Hz refresh rate. The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra will be instantly distinguishable from the back because of its camera setup. The camera sensors are placed inside circular cutouts while a laser autofocus module can also be seen.

This confirms earlier reports about Samsung ditching ToF on the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra to eliminate focus issues. It’s important to note here that the camera bump appears to be bigger than it was on the Galaxy S20 Ultra. This won’t be encouraging for those that didn’t like the Galaxy S20 Ultra for precisely this reason.

The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is wider, taller and beefier than the Galaxy Note 10+ overall. That was to be expected. The new S Pen pointer feature is shown off as well in this video. Speaking of the S Pen, the position has been switched. You will find the S Pen on the left of the charging port on the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. As someone who has been using Note handsets for the past few years, I can already feel that this will take some getting used to. The speaker has also been moved to the left.

As we can see at the start of the video, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra will come with One UI 2.5. The features that it brings haven’t been detailed yet. Seeing as how at least one Note 20 Ultra unit is now out in the wild, it may only be a matter of time before we get to know more about it. Samsung has confirmed its Galaxy Note 20 launch event for August 5.

Are you impressed by the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra after what you’ve seen so far?

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Samsung Galaxy A21s review: Only worth it for outstanding battery life

The Galaxy A21s is one of the cheapest phones in Samsung’s 2020 A series lineup. It’s special for two reasons: It has a 5,000 mAh battery under the hood, and it is powered by the Exynos 850 processor. The Exynos 850 is the first low-end chipset that Samsung has built on its 8nm process node, which was also used for the Galaxy S10’s Exynos 9820 last year. It should be pretty efficient as a result, and pairing it with a massive battery was a smart move.

But battery life is not the only thing one looks for in a smartphone. People also want a beautiful display, good cameras, and fast performance, even in affordable phones. How does the Galaxy A21s fare in all those departments? The answer to that question is already somewhat answered in this review’s title, but you will need to continue reading for the nitty-gritty details.

Galaxy A21s design and display

The A21s has the run-of-the-mill design that we have come to expect from Samsung’s affordable mid-range phones. The phone has a plastic back with a gradient finish that reflects light beautifully. The back is completely plain, with none of the engravings and patterns you see on devices like the Galaxy A51. It’s a classy look, and the phone also feels good in the hand, partly because of the heft that results from the 5,000 mAh battery inside.

Unfortunately, the front side of the phone is a different story. The 6.5-inch Infinity-O display, with its punch hole in the left corner, is an LCD panel and has HD+ resolution, so it’s somewhat drab and not very sharp. The Galaxy A20s had the exact same display, so there’s no upgrade here. I mean, the display gets the job done, but an AMOLED display would have been much better and would have considerably elevated the viewing experience.

The Galaxy A21s has a rear-facing physical fingerprint reader. While Samsung has massively improved the responsiveness and accuracy of its in-display fingerprint sensors this year, I still think the physical reader is an advantage for any phone that has it. It’s not fancy, but it is the fastest and most accurate fingerprint recognition tech out there, except for the obvious disadvantage that it’s placed at the back and requires one to pick the phone up before it can be used.

Galaxy A21s camera

The Galaxy A21s has four rear cameras. But unlike the costlier A series phones, two of them — the depth and macro cameras — have measly 2-megapixel sensors. The depth camera is only used for background blur in bokeh photos and works fine despite the limited resolution, but the macro photos have pretty much no detail to offer. And since it’s a fixed-focus lens, it’s hard to get the distance to the subject just right with the macro camera, and that often means you will end up getting out-of-focus pictures. The macro camera is there if you need it, but its quality leaves much to be desired.

The main camera, which has 48 megapixels to work with, takes photos with excellent detail and vibrant colors in the daytime. Dynamic range is usually pretty good as well. Nighttime performance is underwhelming, however. Detail is lost when you take photos indoors in artificial lighting, and noise creeps in when you take a low-light picture. Like the Galaxy A31 and A41, the A21s has no dedicated Night mode, so there’s no way to manually improve the quality of low-light pics. The phone also lacks other modes such as slow motion and hyperlapse.

The ultra-wide camera is quite useful, though its picture quality is strictly average. Selfies with the 13MP camera have sufficient detail and accurate colors, but there’s plenty of noise in low-light conditions and the detail gets almost completely destroyed. Nothing unique here – it’s just how selfie cameras in this segment tend to perform no matter which phone you might pick up. And yes, you can take bokeh photos with the Live Focus mode on the front camera as well. You can adjust the level of background blur on the fly or after taking a photo, but there are no background effects to choose from.

Below are some regular, ultra-wide, macro, bokeh, and selfie pictures for you to enjoy.

Galaxy A21s performance

The Exynos 850 inside the Galaxy A21s is efficient, but its performance is barely satisfactory. I saw lag in everything I tried to do, whether it be opening apps, switching between apps, or going to the home screen. Clicking a link inside an app like Slack would sometimes result in almost a two-second wait before the browser opened, which frustrated me because I felt like it slowed down my work. My review unit had 3GB of RAM, but the variant with 4GB RAM that we have in our office in the Netherlands isn’t any better.

Oddly enough, you can play PUBG and Call of Duty at the minimum graphics settings with a somewhat smooth frame rate. I am guessing the low screen resolution doesn’t tax the GPU too much, but again, you need to be at the lowest graphical settings to get the playable frame rate. Anything above low and the frame rate slows down to a crawl. Simpler games, like Clash of Clans or Monument Valley, run like a charm, as you would expect from any smartphone in this day and age.

To be honest, performance on the A21s isn’t that bad, but you have to consider the fact that Samsung is selling devices like the Galaxy M21 and M31 in the same segment. Both those phones offer considerably better performance and specs. In India, the M21 is considerably cheaper than the A21s and the M31 is also slightly cheaper, making them better options. In many European and Asian markets, the M21 and M31 are barely €10-20 costlier than the A21s, making this A series phone a questionable entry in this price segment (a point I will revisit in the verdict of this review).

Galaxy A21s software

The Galaxy A21s has the distinction of being the first Galaxy phone to run the Core version of One UI 2.1. The Core tag means it only has the most basic of features, similar to the Galaxy M series phones. You don’t get traditional Samsung features like Always On Display or Secure Folder, which are available on Galaxy M phones, nor are there newer features like One UI 2.0’s screen recorder. One UI 2.1’s excellent sharing functionality is included, but it’s a barebones software experience overall, as one expects from Galaxy devices in the lower end of the price scale.

Naturally, Android 10 features like Digital Wellbeing and Google’s navigation gestures are included, and so are Samsung features like theme support, Dual Messenger, Game Launcher, and One-handed mode. The Galaxy A21s should get the Android 11 and One UI 3.0 update at some point, and we can expect it to be updated to Android 12 as well. Samsung will be pushing out new security updates to the device every three months. Security updates should arrive with that frequency for at least three years.

Galaxy A21s audio, call quality

The Galaxy A21s doesn’t come with any earphones in the box, so you’re left with just the phone’s speaker unless you have your own headphones. The speaker is of the usual budget quality, with volume that is only enough for a small quiet room but without any distortion affecting the sound at even maximum volume. There’s Dolby Atmos support, which works over wired and Bluetooth audio and enhances the stereo and surround effect when enabled. Calls went through and came in just fine on the A21s, with no issues with voice quality on either side. Network performance was great as well, with excellent signal strength on both of my SIM cards.

Galaxy A21s battery life

The Exynos 850, as mentioned earlier, is Samsung’s first low-end chip to be built on the company’s 8nm process, and it’s really, really efficient. The A21s lasted for almost two full days after the first full charge, which was mighty impressive. You will find it near impossible to drain the A21s in a single day even with the most heavy use. The epic battery life is easily this phone’s most attractive feature. The A21s lasts longer than the Galaxy M31 does with a 6,000 mAh battery, no doubt because its 5,000 mAh battery has a more efficient processor and a lower screen resolution helping it along.

The Galaxy A21s supports 15W fast charging, and the battery goes from 0 to 100 in a little over two hours. That’s similar to what we see on other budget Galaxy phones with 5,000 mAh batteries and is more than enough considering how the battery life is so awesome.

Galaxy A21s verdict

If battery life is a priority for you, then you may be perfectly happy with the Galaxy A21s. However, if you live in a market where Samsung has either the Galaxy M21 or Galaxy M31 on sale, then the A21s is a phone you should completely ignore. Save some money and go for either of the M series phones, or maybe even take a look at the Galaxy A31 (read our review here) if it’s available in your country. All those phones are much, much better for just a little extra money and make the Galaxy A21s seem like an unnecessary phone.

Pros	Cons
Outstanding battery life	Disappointing performance
Versatile camera setup, main camera excellent in daylight	Camera lacks shooting modes like Night and slow-motion
Pretty, unassuming design	Boring, low-resolution LCD display
Android 10 and One UI 2.1 (Core) out of the box	Low-resolution macro camera
	Core version of One UI misses out on many features
	Priced too close to better phones like Galaxy M21 and M31 in many markets

 

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Boost Mobile now offering Galaxy A21 at $50 off, A11 coming soon

Boost Mobile is expanding its Samsung device lineup with two new budget-friendly smartphones in the form of the Galaxy A21 and Galaxy A11, the carrier announced Tuesday. The Galaxy A21 can already be purchased from the Boost Mobile online store, priced at $199, which is $50 below its MSRP. The Galaxy A11 will become available on similarly favorable terms starting July 21st. More specifically, the former Sprint subsidiary will be offering the $179 handset at a $129 price point.

Both deals are said to be of the time-limited variety, albeit the company has yet to clarify how long either promotional period will last.

Large displays and aggressive pricing

It was only last week that the Galaxy A21 hit U.S. store shelves without much fanfare, whereas its lower-specced counterpart has yet to become available for purchase in the country. Both smartphones were announced as part of an all-encompassing product event Samsung held in May. They’re barely distinguishable in terms of display real estate as the Galaxy A21 features a 6.5-inch (1,600 x 720) screen, whereas the Galaxy A11 uses a 6.4-inch (1,560 x 720) one instead. Performance should be comparable as well, at least when comparing the Galaxy A21 with the 3GB RAM variant of the Galaxy A11.

Boost Mobile has been a pretty reliable prepaid partner to Samsung for many years now. However, it was only last week that the carrier was sold to Dish for $1.4 billion as part of concessions Sprint and T-Mobile negotiated in exchange for their merger getting approval from U.S. antitrust regulators. It’s still too early to tell if the new ownership will be making any radical changes to Boost Mobile’s device strategy, which is unlikely to be high on top of anyone’s priority list anyway due to the minuscule profit margins that non-premium smartphones command.

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Your next Samsung phone may not come with a charger in the box

You can always count on your new smartphone to come with a charger in the box. However, it now seems that we’re moving towards a future where that might not be the case. According to a new report from South Korea, future Samsung phones may not ship with a charger.

Samsung ships hundreds of millions of smartphones every single year. Dropping the charger from even half of its lineup is going to result in major cost reductions for the company. It may also enable the company to price its affordable devices even more aggressively.

Samsung phones may ditch the charger next year

According to the report, Samsung is discussing plans to exclude the charger from the box components for some smartphones. If it decides to go ahead with this, we might see the first Samsung phones to ship without a charger starting next year.

Chargers have been a permanent fixture for as long as we’ve had mobile phones. They’re shipped with the device, even the most affordable of handsets come with one. The world has come a long way, though, from when manufacturers had their proprietary charging slots. You couldn’t use a Nokia charger with a Samsung phone. Android manufacturers all use the standard USB connectors with the Type-C standard now trickling down to even mid-range devices. Now, you can use a Samsung charger with a OnePlus phone.

Chances are that you may have a few unused chargers lying around the house from phones that you no longer use or have since replaced. Charging cables are no longer fixed to the brick so even if the cable is damaged, you can easily swap it out for a new one. Samsung is counting on this ubiquity of chargers, which have been consistently supplied with smartphones for over a decade, to no longer ship them with new devices.

There’s no doubt that Samsung would continue to sell chargers as official accessories even if it makes that decision. As inexpensive as they might be, many customers still don’t prefer using third-party chargers. So Samsung will happily take their money.

Whether or not the benefit of the money saved by excluding chargers is actually passed on to customers through lower phone prices remains to be seen. This could end up being a measure to improve profit margins on smartphones. Excluding accessories to improve margins is something that Samsung already does. Many of its entry-level phones don’t ship with even basic headphones in the box.

You might be surprised to know that it’s not only Samsung that’s considering this. Recent reports suggest that Apple may not include a charger with the iPhone 12 that’s due to launch this year. Look like this will come down to who blinks first. If Apple goes ahead and removes the charger from its new iPhone, we can expect Samsung to make a similar decision next year.

The post Your next Samsung phone may not come with a charger in the box appeared first on SamMobile.

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