SAMSUNG GALAXY A51 5G:WILL IT BE THE MID-RANGE BEST SELLER?

Samsung Galaxy A51 5G is the upgraded version of the best selling Android phone globally of the first quarter of 2020 i.e the Samsung Galaxy A51.As is evident from the names the difference lies in the fact that the Galaxy A51 5G is 5G enabled whereas the original was only 4G supportive.

To be honest it is a very clever strategy from Samsung.Stats show that the Samsung Galaxy A51 was the largest selling Android smartphone in the first quarter of 2020.With 5G phones slowly becoming the trend Samsung has changed the chipset and renamed or should I say added a term and has launched the Samsung Galaxy A51 5G.

Clever or not this is a very good news for customers as they now can get a Samsung 5G phone at a much lower price.This obviously has been brought up due to the largely increasing competition of midrange 5G smartphones by other companies.Most of them are using the Snapdragon 765G with the integrated 5G modem and Samsung has brought to the market their Exynos980.

With all the hype being created on social media by the upcoming OnePlus Z(aka Nord) this new Samsung phone can give a tough competition.Both are set to release in India at around the same time and time will tell which will be more popular.Till then let’s have at a look at the specs.

DESIGN AND BODY

Samsung Galaxy A51 5G has no difference in terms of looks with the original A51 though it is heavier and thicker.Both sport Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protected front and plastic back with glossy finish.The Galaxy A51 5G is expected to come with an aluminium frame in stead of the plastic frame of the original A51.

Both phone features the quad camera module at the back and a punch hole front camera at the front.3.5mm port is present in both.

The dimensions of the phone are-158.9mm x 73.6mm x 8.7mm.It weighs 187g.The A51 4G is 7.9mm thick and weighs 172g.

DISPLAY

Displays are one of the most important aspects of a smartphone and in terms of displays there is no better one than Samsung.Amoled displays with vibrant colours and a deep black are speciality of Samsung and the Galaxy A51 5G is no exception.

The phone comes with a big 6.5″Super Amoled Infinity O display(o for the punch hole camera).It supports FHD+ resolution of 1080 x 2400 with 20:9 aspect ratio and ~405ppi.It is not HDR10+ supportive.

The big almost cinematic aspect ratio and the big screen calls for immersive video watching or gaming and in terms of colours you don’t need to worry.

OS,PROCESSOR AND STORAGE

Samsung Galaxy A51 5G runs Samsung’s One UI 2.0 slapped over Android 10.One UI 2.0 is quite good and comes with some additional features than stock android.The Knox security mode is one such feature.The Dark Mode is also worthy of mention.

The chipset is where the main difference lies with the A51.The Galaxy A51 5G houses Exynos980 under the hood which runs on 8nm technology and supports 5G.The processor is octa core with 2cores clocking 2.2GHz and 6 cores of 1.8GHz.The GPU is Mali-G76 MP5.In terms of benchmark tests this SoC might lag a little behind Snapdragon 765 5G but in daily use you will surely not feel any difference.

The phone comes with two RAM variants of 6GB and 8GB with 128GB onboard storage.It has a dedicated Micro SD card slot which supports expandable memory upto 1TB.

CAMERA

REAR CAMERA

In this aspect there is no difference with the original Galaxy A51.Here also the same quad rear camera module is present with a primary 48MP f/2.0 wide sensor,a 12MP f/2.2 ultra wide sensor with 123degrees field of view,a 5MP f/2.4 macro lens for your close up shots and a 5MP f/2.2 depth sensor for bokeh effects.

Usual LED flash,HDR and Panorama effects are present with dedicated night mode for low light imaging along with many other features.

4K videos can be captured at 30fps and 1080p @ 30/120fps.Video shooting comes with gyro EIS(electronic image stabilisation) technology.

The absence of a telephoto lens may be of concern to some of you but some things are to be kept for the flagships I suppose.

FRONT CAMERA

Samsung Galaxy A51 5G houses a 32MP f/2.2 wide selfie shooter.HDR is supported and it provides good portrait selfies.1080p videos at 30fps can be shot.

The good display and Samsung’s inherent beautiful image processing ensures excellent images for a phone of this price.

OTHER FEATURES

An under display optical fingerprint sensor is supported which is good but not of the highest standard.Herein lies my question whether a midrange phone is better off having a dedicated fingerprint sensor at the back than an in display one which has more failed attempts?

A single loudspeaker is present and the phone supports 3.5m jack which really is a bonus nowadays.Wi-Fi,Bluetooth5.0 and NFC is supported along with USB Type-C cable.Unlike quite a few phones of the same budget FM radio can also be connected.

BATTERY AND COLOURS

A big 4500mAH battery powers the phone which supports 15W fast charging.Wireless charging is not supported.

Three colour variants are available-Prism Cube Black,Prism Cube White and Prism Cube Pink.

CONCLUSION

Priced at around 430 euros and bound to be lesser price than the converted amount when it launches in India the Samsung Galaxy A51 5G is a very good phone to consider and even better than the already established Galaxy A51.Yes it doesn’t have any IP certification or wireless charging and features 60Hz refresh rate but those are features that one has to compromise when opting for budget smartphones.In my personal opinion there is almost no flaws in the specs sheet barring the absence of a Snapdragon chipset and a telephoto zoom lens.

That said the Exynos980 is a capable SoC and in daily life will just work out more than fine even while gaming.The telephoto lens would have been better but that also is the first thing which many phones compromise with while reducing budget.Optical Image Stabilisation or the more commonly known OIS would have made this phone irreplaceable in my thoughts.

The display,camera and the big battery are the pros of this phone and If it lunches in India around that 30000 mark it will be a very very good deal.What are your thoughts?Please let me know in comments.