Samsung Galaxy A04s review: the cheapest

Even the cheapest range from Samsung has received its “diet”. In fact, the smartphone only comes with the USB-C / USB-C cable. The power supply has thus disappeared even from the box of the cheapest smartphone.

From a design point of view this Galaxy A04s it is a simple smartphone but with the recognizable imprint of Samsung. It is made entirely of plastic, but this is certainly not objectionable to a smartphone in this price range. However, it is not a compact or light smartphone, given its 195 grams of weight, probably mainly due to its battery. In the hand it is used with the right simplicity. Its real drawback is the poor oleophobic coating, which causes the smartphone to fill up with fingerprints very quickly.

There are no surprises in the hardware of this smartphone and indeed perhaps we would have expected something more. The starting point for RAM and internal storage is very low: 3GB and 32GB.

The latter are expandable via microSD but let’s remember that most of the apps will still occupy a large part of its space in the internal memory of the phone. The memory is then eMMC 5.1, not particularly fast. Fair connectivity: 4GWifi B.C and Bluetooth 5.0, as well as chips NFC and also audio jack for headphones. The port is also USB-C. The microUSB is finally dead. The processor chosen is an Exynos 850 octa at 8 nm, with Mali G52 GPU. The performance is sufficient to run some 3D games, but in any case, even in everyday life it will take a little patience to perform various tasks.

The smartphone has full dual nanoSIM support and there is a separate microSD slot. So you won’t have to give up a SIM to expand the memory. The proximity and light sensors are virtual, but still do a decent job.

The main camera is one 50 megapixels ƒ/1.8.

All the other sensors are unfortunately almost negligible: 5 megapixel ƒ/2.2 front camera, 2 megapixel macro and bokeh camera. The main sensor, however, surprised us positively. In this price range, you take home a smartphone that does not leave its photographic part behind, which is a good part of its competitors. The images are sharp, the white balance is decent, and despite the absence of a night mode even in low light, the photos are still more than sufficient. It’s not impossible to get slightly blurry photos, but considering the price range, shooting twice to make sure you’ve got the best picture isn’t difficult. The front camera was rejected, which to shoot well must be carefully cleaned every time to remove the patina of dirt.

The videos are just enough and log into Full HD at 30fps.

The screen is 6.5 inches and has an HD+ resolution (720 x 1600 pixels).

The technology used is the PLS one, therefore the cheapest, but the yield of this panel is still remarkable for a smartphone of this range. Of course, the maximum brightness of 400 nits is certainly not surprising, but this is not too bad in daily use even if you will struggle a bit if the sun outside is very strong. Too bad, however, above all for the poor oleophobic treatment and for the absence of a protective film. Better to buy one to solve both problems. The strong point of this display (in this price range) is the 90 Hz refresh rate. Too bad for the somewhat poor viewing angles.

Samsung Galaxy A04s arrives on the market with Android 12 updated with patches by October 2022 and customized with One UI Core 4.1, a simplified version of the Samsung interface that we find on top-of-the-range smartphones. However, there are still many interesting features, many of which are not found on other smartphones of the same range.

For example, we can force the multi-screen opening for all apps (including Instagram), activate gestures and one-handed mode. In addition, there is the possibility of creating a double account for many social or messaging apps.

Certainly the performance of the entire system is limited by the smartphone hardware, but with a little patience this smartphone can perform all the operations you ask of it.

The battery of this Galaxy A04s is certainly the key point of this device (besides the price). The smartphone in fact, thanks to the battery from 5,000mAh, solidly offers an autonomy that exceeds the working day and is expected over two days with average use. However, recharging is not particularly fast since it only supports up to 15W input.

Samsung Galaxy A04s despite being the cheapest smartphone in the Samsung lineup does not have a bargain price: €179.

However, it is already discounted between 130 and 140€ Amazon. Check the box below for further price drops.