Samsung Galaxy A04s review

Samsung makes a number of the finest, and costliest, cell phones on this planet. Even their semi-expensive mid-range telephones are largely top quality and extremely popular.

However one thing appears to be occurring when the Korean producer is compelled to show the tables on the funds class. Then Samsung doesn’t do almost as properly.

Final yr I examined the mediocre Galaxy A13. This yr I couldn’t pay money for the sequel Galaxy A14, however as an alternative had to take a look at its little sibling Galaxy A04s. I don’t know what the S stands for, and there’s no “common” Galaxy A04 doesn’t exist.

It’s no less than a small step beneath the Galaxy A13, and most different funds mobiles I’ve examined, with a beneficial worth slightly below £140, although yow will discover it for much less in the event you store round.

However is it a superb deal, even at that worth? I’m sceptical. It’s a heavy and broad cell phone, constructed completely in shiny black plastic, which attracts grease, mud and fingerprints. Thick display screen edges round a 6.5-inch display screen make it impractical to grip. However its quantity buttons and energy button with built-in fingerprint reader are properly positioned, have clear mechanics and are simple to seek out. A slot on the facet for twin sims additionally homes a separate micro SD card slot.

Outdated and funds on the within

The Galaxy A04S relies on Samsung’s personal Exynos 850 chipset, which wasn’t very spectacular when it arrived in 2020. It’s the identical chip that disenchanted me within the Galaxy A13, and it doesn’t fare any higher right here. Particularly because you solely get 3GB RAM within the fundamental mannequin.

I can’t even run Geekbench benchmark measurements on it, as that app has 4GB RAM as a system requirement. And the measurements I can run don’t give me dependable numbers.

You additionally solely get 32GB of storage, with each low learn and write speeds. Giant apps can take a very long time to launch due to that, to not point out the time taken with a system boot of your entire cellphone.

Searching heavy internet pages is uneven and there are mini-delays all over the place within the interface, like citing a keyboard and beginning to kind textual content. It could be a matter of behavior, however when there are mobiles within the worth vary that may keep away from most of this, I feel Samsung ought to undoubtedly be capable to do higher.

Pluses and minuses for image and sound

The display screen is a 720p panel that’s sharp sufficient for many issues, however some advantageous textual content might be pixelated to learn. The 90Hz body charge may have made scrolling and navigation smoother, if the cellphone’s efficiency didn’t stop it.

And sure, typically there may be an enchancment. It has a PLS-type LCD panel, which implies that it has clear and unwelcome shifts in distinction at viewing angles round 45 levels, however in return it has greater distinction from the entrance than most IPS LCD screens. And a bit further distinction could also be wanted, on condition that it has mediocre brightness of about 380cd/m2 at finest. You’ll battle to see something on the display screen if it’s vivid exterior.

Auto brightness does nothing to spice up the sunshine additional, and makes use of the selfie digicam as an alternative of a separate mild sensor, which drains the battery. The display screen’s colors are near SRGB-grade, however not rather more, and though I discover the colors to be impartial and pure, there aren’t any apparent blue or crimson spots within the picture.

You solely get one mono speaker on the backside. It sounds clear for voices, however is something however pleasing for music and movie. However, I don’t anticipate rather more within the funds class, though Samsung is normally good at sound. If you wish to join headphones, you are able to do so with a conventional analogue plug, as the three.5mm headphone jack is positioned subsequent to the speaker on the backside.

Mattias Inghe

Android 13, these days

When the Galaxy A04s was launched, it had Android 12. Now it ships with Android 13 and Samsung’s personal One UI 5.1, however which means one among its two promised Android variations is “used up”. You’ll get Android 14 quickly sufficient, however whether or not you’ll get extra updates after that’s much less clear. That is fairly regular within the funds class, however since Samsung has the very best replace coverage on its costlier mobiles, it might have been welcome to see the identical right here.

One UI 5.1 is a feature-rich interface, however it’s been scaled again barely for this low-performance cellphone, so that you don’t have the facet menu enabled for fast entry to split-screen and twin apps, for instance. I assume Samsung needs to keep away from engaging individuals to utilise it given how little RAM the cellphone has.

Struggling within the night

The cameras on the again are three in quantity, a 50Mp major digicam, a 2Mp macro and a assist sensor for depth notion. You’ll must do with out ultrawide-angle pictures, however the digicam app’s 2x zoom mode offers simple digital zooming that also delivers good picture high quality. In daylight, the digicam performs properly, with pure color steadiness and good dynamics and element in each shadows and highlights.

It may be troublesome to take fast motion photographs, as the main target is a bit sluggish, however with a gradual hand and persistence, photographs might be sharp. Portraits and self-portraits each prove properly because of AI-based face detection, however with something that’s not a human, it struggles with edge detection. At finest, you’re capturing in 1080p and 30fps, with shaky autofocus and never a lot stabilisation.

Taking pictures at night time and in darkish indoor environments just isn’t an incredible expertise. Right here, autofocus simply loses the final 5 or ten per cent of advantageous tuning, which implies that particulars are rapidly blurred, though a panorama picture nonetheless seems to be okay. There are additionally some issues holding the white steadiness impartial and darkish surfaces can typically grow to be mottled.

Mattias Inghe

With average efficiency, a power-efficient PLS display screen and a 5,000 milliamp-hour battery, battery life ought to no less than be good. And sure, I can stream movies nonstop from breakfast to dinner at full brightness, or electronic mail and surf even longer if I dim the display screen barely. In accordance with the specs, it helps 15W USB-C charging, however no charger is included. With a 20W Samsung charger I had mendacity round, I went from zero to 30% battery in half an hour, and you may anticipate properly over two hours to succeed in a full cost. Not precisely quick, however alternatively, you don’t must cost it on the drop of a hat.

You get Wi-Fi 5 assist and 4G connectivity, and each appear quick and secure. I don’t assume I want greater than that in a funds cellphone. Some smartphones on this worth vary stubbornly attempt to supply 5G, after which they must compromise on different issues to maintain the worth down. However I don’t know what Samsung may have in the reduction of on the Galaxy A04s and nonetheless be viable, so it’s in all probability a superb factor they’ve reined you in on that time.

It is a cellphone that’s simply barely usable, and there are clearly higher choices. In the event you actually wish to get monetary savings and discover it even cheaper than the usual worth of £140, you would possibly take into account it, in any other case I might suggest that you just try the competitors.

Specs

Product title: Samsung Galaxy A04s
Examined: August 2023
System chipset: Samsung Exynos 850
Processor: 8pcs Cortex A55 2 GHz
Graphics: ARM Mali-G52 MC1
Reminiscence: 3 GB
Storage: 32 GB, micro SD slot
Show: 6.5 inch pls, 720×1200 pixels, 90 Hz
Cameras: 50 megapixel + 2 megapixel macro + depth sensor with led, 5 megapixel entrance
Connections: usb 2 kind c, 3.5mm headset
Communications: 2g, 3g, 4g, wifi 5, bluetooth 5.0, gps, galileo, nfc
Working system: Android 13 with One UI
Different: Twin sim, fingerprint scanner on facet
Battery: 5,000 mAh, 12 hours 20 min on-line video (wifi, excessive brightness), about 17 hours blended use (4g, low brightness), about 31 hours calls
Battery charging: 15 W usb c, charger not included
Dimension: 16.47 x 7.67 x 0.91 cm
Weight: 195 grams
Rec. worth: 1 980 SEK
Present worth: 1 745 at Telefonshoppen

Efficiency

Antutu Benchmark: 132,091 factors
Geekbench 6: Not measured
Geekbench 6 single core: Not measured
3dmark Wild Life: 494 factors
Storage, learn: 225 MB/s
Storage, write: 147.1 MB/s