A Quick Introduction – Samsung Galaxy A50 Review
The latest phone in the Galaxy A series is launched with a bang. For the Galaxy A series phones, the focus is usually on the latest AMOLED screens and the fancy cameras. The Samsung Galaxy A50 boasts of both. This premium mid-range phone has undergone several changes and the final version features ultra-wide-angle cameras and notched AMOLEDs. It also has a full metal body and is completely water-resistant. The Galaxy A50 is slim with a 6.4″ Infinity-U Super AMOLED screen which also houses a fingerprint scanner. It runs on the powerful Exynos chip. The large capacity battery takes care of all your usage needs while the latest Android Pie ensures you have the best experience possible. The One UI is a bonus too. This Samsung Galaxy A50 Review will talk in detail about each aspect of the phone. Let’s take a look.
Other features of the Galaxy A50 include a new Gallery app, an FM radio app, the Bixby Assistant, and the Samsung Health App. You can also set Bixby up to help you with some daily routines, such as getting the weather, news, and traffic.
Design
Samsung’s A series phones are of the 3D Glasstic design, meaning its body is made of both plastic and glass. It is extremely glossy and reflects light like anything! No matter which color you choose to go with – black, white, coral, or blue. One thing you note here is that it is not Gorilla Glass. The triple camera at the back has one primary 25MP camera, a secondary 8MP snapper with 13mm ultra-wide-angle lens, and one 5MP sensor for depth. Although the camera humps out a tiny bit, it doesn’t wobble when laid down.
The screen has tiny bezels on the top and the sides and a bigger chin towards the bottom. The under-display fingerprint scanner is almost similar to the Samsung Galaxy Note10 Plus models of the S10 models. While it is easy to access, it is not very reliable. It is neither very accurate nor does it work every time. Hopefully, Samsung is working on the problem and fixing it. The curved edges give a fancy and premium look to the phone. The screen has a 1080p in resolution with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. The triple-card slot is located on the left side of the phone while the right side houses the volume and power buttons.
Display
The Galaxy A 50 phone and its Super AMOLED screen is a great combination, with a pixel count of 2,340 x 1,080 and an aspect ratio of 19.5:9. The A50 also has the Infinity-U panel which refers to the U-shaped notch you might notice at the top. This houses the selfie camera. Today, Sony remains the only creator of notch-free screens.
The maximum brightness is about 420 nits in manual mode and 550 nits in auto mode. The minimum brightness is 1.8 nits – excellent! Regarding colors and contrast, the display is accurate enough while reproducing different colors. It offers a vivid and vibrant experience. There is also a night mode – a feature awaited by many for quite some time now.
Battery Life and Audio Quality
The Samsung Galaxy A50 comes with a 4,000mAh battery and supports 15W charging. With general browsing, you can get about 12 hours while watching videos can get you about 16 hours of life. The phone can last for over a day with 3G talk time. All great stats! There are three power modes – Optimized, Medium-power saving, and Maximum power saving. While Optimized is the default option, the other two can be enabled to save battery life. The Optimized mode gives the best performance.
Regarding the audio quality of the Galaxy A50, it provides an excellent sound. It is perfectly clear at high volumes and loud enough to satisfy everyone. Unfortunately, headphones lower reproduction accuracy. However, regarding the loudness, it is certainly one of the best ones in the market in this price range. The Galaxy A50 loudspeakers are located on the bottom. While it is loud, it does not offer a great output. The quality could be greatly improved.
One UI and Android Pie
The Galaxy A50 is one of the first phones in this price range to feature the new One UI based on Google’s Android Pie. There are a ton of possible customizations, offered in a simple manner. The regular Samsung UX is pretty easy to use and intuitive as well. However, the recent changes and updates make it better than ever. Although the colorful icons may not be everyone’s cup of tea, you can always switch back to the default or choose a new one. There are also many changes so as to improve one-handed use experience. The toggles on the drop-down panel are found at the bottom of the phone so that users can access them comfortably. One thing that doesn’t help with one-hand use is using the app drawers since it still opens on the top half of the screen.
The Galaxy A50 has implemented Google’s new gesture-based navigation. You can swipe up from the bottom left to see the recent apps and doing the same from the right side will take you back one step. You can also change their positions if you are comfortable the other way. However, the home button will always remain at the center. The phone also features the Always On Display option. While you cannot have wallpapers and change the brightness, you can always change the clock types, the notifications, and the font colors.
The settings menu has undergone a change as well. It has become more compact and you can find almost everything within here. It has been grouped together for easier identification and access. For instance, the ‘Device Care’ has storage and memory management, battery settings, and security features.
Performance
The Galaxy A50 is one of the first phones to be powered by the Exynos 9610 chip. This Samsung-created chip is perfect for mid-range phones and offers good enough performance. The octa-core processor with four A73 cores is good enough for handling all your needs. The A50 can easily handle multiple tasks simultaneously without lagging. It is dependable and works pretty reliably. The Exynos 9610 chip is awesome for gaming as well, in addition to daily use. Chances are that you will not come across any major issues.
Camera Quality
The Samsung Galaxy A50 features a triple camera at the back – the main 25MP with an f/1.7 snapper, an 8MP fixed-focus and f/2.2 ultra-wide one, and a 5MP, fixed-focus, f/2.2 depth sensor. In addition to this, there is also an LED flash. The 5MP option is the depth sensor and is perfect for live focus. The camera app is pretty similar to the ones on other Samsung devices. However, one major difference is the fact that there are plenty of other icons on the viewfinders. These give you greater control over the camera and its many features. The two trees icon refers to the regular camera while the three tree icon refers to the ultra-wide-angle camera.
You can sideswipe to go through different modes. Swiping up or down can let you toggle between the front and rear cameras. There is a Live Focus mode as well as a Pro mode. In the latter, you can choose the exposure compensation, the ISO, and the white balance. The AI-powered Scene optimizer mode is also present, but it doesn’t seem to be very helpful.
Coming to the selfie part of the camera, it offers a pretty good option. If there is plenty of light, then the images are vibrant and the colors are accurately captured. There is also a portrait mode on the selfie camera. Generally, the portraits are softer than the usual selfies, but the details are just as fine. If you want a camera that is absolutely awesome in every way, check out our Samsung Galaxy Note10 Plus Review.
Video Recording
The Samsung Galaxy A50 can record videos of up to 1080p at 30fps. There is no 4K, and no 1080/60. The bit rate of 1080p videos is about 17Mbps and the audio is recorded at 256kbps. While there is electronic stabilization available, you cannot turn it off at all. It will always remain on. The videos captured are generally pretty detailed and very little noise distortion.
The Verdict – Samsung Galaxy A50 Review
Samsung has worked well to release the Samsung Galaxy A50 model. They have got the battery, the performance, the colors, and the basic design right. While the camera could have been better, since the low-light or night time clicks end up fuzzy, the pictures taken during the day or in bright lights is good enough. On the brighter side, the 1080p videos are awesome.
The use of One UI on a mid-range phone is definitely a plus. Another thing to note is that the Galaxy A50 is not as water-resistant as the other phones by the company, but is good enough to do the job. Hope this Samsung Galaxy A50 Review sheds some light on its performance and other factors. For other options by Samsung, check out our Samsung Galaxy S6 Review.
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