By Muskan Mehndiratta
The Galaxy A51 is a very adorable phone. It’s slim, ergonomic and fabulous looking, has a remarkable display, and awesome software. In order to keep them relevant, Samsung refreshed its Galaxy A-series phones for the second time in the last one year. The Galaxy A51, which we will be talking about, is the refresh of Galaxy A50s, which itself was an upgraded version of the popular Galaxy A50. So, what has changed? Just as the last time, Samsung is consolidating the key strengths while tying up a few loose ends. These Galaxy A-series phones have never superseded rivals in terms of specs, but have still managed to stand apart from the competition, thanks to the refined experience they offer. This time, however, the competition is stiffer than ever before. The Galaxy A51 will be up against the big guns including the Realme X2 Pro and Poco X2.
● Design And Build :
Design is where the Galaxy A51 absolutely nails it. The phone is just the right size and shape and looks extremely appealing. Be it the rectangular camera module, the slick two-texture gradient design on the back panel, 7.9mm slim profile or the circular punch hole – the little things add up to make a huge difference. In fact, even with the more premium and expensive Galaxy S10 Lite lying around, we were drawn to the A51 just because it’s so much lighter and so much more comfortable to handle.
The body is still entirely polycarbonate and not real glass or metal. We’d strongly advise that you shouldn’t let that deter you. Samsung bundles a good quality, transparent protective case in the box. The A51 retains 3.5mm audio jack, has a USB Type-C charging port and has a dedicated card slot. The fingerprint sensor is under the screen and it’s optical -type, and it feels faster and more reliable than what we had on the Galaxy A50s. The face unlock is a definite improvement and with options like ‘Lift to wake’ and ‘Double-tap to wake’ enabled by default, it’s quite convenient to trigger – if it doesn’t naturally kick in, that is.
● Display :
The screen is once again awesome. AMOLED displays are no longer a rarity in the affordable and mid-range segment and nor are they exclusive to Samsung, but Samsung’s panels still have an edge when it comes to calibration and quality. The Galaxy A51 has a sharp and agreeable full HD panel. You can opt between ‘Natural’ or ‘Vivid’ color profile and also fine-tune the white point. It also has an awesome dark mode and an awesome always-on display (that also pins select GIFs). Outdoor visibility, under direct sunlight, is fine as well. The bottom line is that when it comes to the display quality, you are getting the very best with the Galaxy A51.
● Performance and Software :
The chipset powering the Galaxy A51 remains the same Exynos 9611 as on Galaxy A50s, but the base variant now starts with 6GB RAM and 128GB of storage.
PUBG and other high-end games we tried were playable, but the performance can’t hold a candle to the aggressive Snapdragon series-7 and series-8 chipsets that are available in the same budget. If you are not into gaming, you will most likely be satisfied with the day-to-day usage experience, but we noticed that UI transitions weren’t always snappy. The refined One UI 2.0 software (based on Android 10) more than makes up, though. In our opinion, it’s the most refined custom interface when compared to the alternatives you’d get in the same budget. And it’s one primary reason why you should consider buying the Galaxy A51 over spectacularly specs-heavy rivals.
● Camera Performace :
Samsung Galaxy A51 has quad-rear cameras and a 32MP selfie camera on the front. The rear camera quartet is steered by a 48MP primary camera and also includes a 12MP wide-angle shooter, a 5MP macro camera and a 5MP depth sensor. Phone cameras in this price range are far from perfect and it must be kept in mind that no matter what you choose, compromises will be involved.
1) The Galaxy A51 can shoot well-metered and well-balanced shots in outdoor lighting.
2) The wide-angle camera can give you a wider perspective, but distortion is often visible around edges.
3) The macro camera is fun to play with and performs quite well in proper lighting.
4) Indoors and under artificial light, the Galaxy A51 doesn’t falter with metering, but the details aren’t all that great.
5) In low light, the images get softer still. The phone has a night mode that you can use to enhance performance.
6) The selfie camera does a fine job outdoors or in properly lit indoor settings.
● Battery :
Phones these days rarely default on battery backup, and the Galaxy A51 doesn’t disappoint when it comes to mileage. The 4000mAh battery on our Galaxy A51 can comfortably last for an entire day. The fast charging is rather too conservative. 15W charging isn’t fast enough in the day and age and for the asking price Samsung’s 25W USB PD charger would have been more appropriate.
These strengths alone make us want to forgive all its flaws, but they need to be addressed as well. Our Main peeve points are the chipset, which stills falls short from a gaming perspective, and the not-so-fast fast charging. Yes, the price seems a bit steep, but it can’t be discounted that the experience that Galaxy A51 offers is quite premium and unique, even compared to the specs-heavy online exclusives. As far as offline-first phones like Vivo S1 Pro and Oppo F15 go, the Galaxy A51 blows them out of water.
So, should you buy it? If you are not into gaming and are willing to make a few compromises for a more refined software experience, you should seriously consider the Galaxy A51 as an option.
The Galaxy A51 isn’t perfect, but it’s surely something ‘different’ and in a pleasant way.
Pros…
• Excellent design
• Gorgeous display
• Awesome software
• Samsung Pay (NFC)
• Dedicated card slot
Cons…
• Mediocre chipset
• Fast charging isn’t all that fast
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