Samsung Galaxy A51 review: Perfect in its own reality

The Milky way A51 has large shoes to fill up. Information technology takes the baton from the Galaxy A50, ane of the almost successful smartphones that Samsung released in 2019. Samsung revamped the entire Galaxy A serial last twelvemonth to get more than competitive in the mid-range segment of the market. To that cease, it launched a plethora of new devices, including multiple variants several months apart.

That strategy appears to have worked for Samsung and the company is planning to continue information technology in 2020. Information technology'south boot things off with the Milky way A51, one of its virtually highly anticipated budget handsets of the year. The new handset also carries the Galaxy A50's tradition of beingness the beginning to introduce new features to the budget lineup. The Milky way A50 brought the optical fingerprint sensor, the Milky way A51 introduces the macro camera to Samsung's smartphones.

There's a lot to dissect here so let's get right to information technology. How does the Galaxy A51 stack up confronting its predecessor, and more importantly, where does it stand on its own merits? Is it worthy of your coin? Our Galaxy A51 review volition answer these questions for you lot.

Galaxy A51 design

Information technology'southward quite easy to tell the Galaxy A51 apart from its predecessor. Unlike the Galaxy A50 which had an Infinity-U notched brandish, the Milky way A51 has an Infinity-O display. The centered dial pigsty for the front camera allows for a slimmer elevation bezel. Information technology'southward made from the aforementioned "glasstic" textile as previous Galaxy A devices. It doesn't experience cheap or obviously plasticky and it's not glace either. The subtle curves at the dorsum allow for a comfy grip during prolonged use.

The new L-shaped photographic camera setup dominates the back, which is adorned by a prism-like crisscross pattern. It'southward much more subtle than a gradient end and the low-cal plays off of information technology beautifully. Full marks to Samsung for making it then easy on the eyes. The 3.5mm headphone jack, USB Type-C port and speaker are all positioned at the bottom. Given its position, you'll oft find yourself inadvertently covering the speaker grille with your finger when playing a game or watching a video in landscape mode. It's a slight inconvenience at first but you'll become used to placing your finger appropriately in fourth dimension.

All of the physical buttons – and there are only three of them – are placed on the right side of the frame, like they were on its predecessor. By default, if yous printing and hold the power button when the phone is on, it will launch Bixby. You can change it to bring upwards the power off menu in the Avant-garde features expanse in the Settings app. That'southward also where you can configure which app you lot want to launch past double-pressing the ability key.

Overall, the Galaxy A51 feels really well built, like information technology can withstand being your daily driver for a couple of years without breaking a sweat. We've seen all of the four colors that it'due south offered in and yous'll definitely be spoiled for choice because they all look gorgeous.

Galaxy A51 display

The Galaxy A51 comes with a vi.v-inch Infinity-O Super AMOLED Full Hd+ display, with 1080×2400 pixel resolution and 20:9 aspect ratio. It's marginally taller than the Galaxy A50's 6.4-inch console. The bezels are a bit slimmer than its predecessor just there's no border-to-edge activeness happening here. It's a apartment console that really feels like a refreshing pause if y'all've been using curved displays for a long time. A screen protector comes pre-installed.

Samsung pumps out exceptional OLED displays without breaking a sweat. This patently isn't a flagship-quality panel simply you'd be hard-pressed to discover a competing device with some other supplier'due south OLED display that can claim to exist better. It gets nice and bright with excellent viewing angles, deep blacks and rich colors.

The dial hole for the front camera is less obtrusive than the Infinity-U notch so it's really not going to bother you. Ane improvement we felt that Samsung should make with the Galaxy A50'southward successor was to make the chin below the display smaller. It has washed just that for the Galaxy A51.

An in-display optical fingerprint sensor is also present. We had highlighted in our Galaxy A50 review that its operation was less than ideal. It's much better on the Galaxy A51. It doesn't struggle virtually as much as information technology did on its predecessor. I tried extensively, placing my finger on the sensor at an angle, simply placing it expressionless heart when the screen was off, and just lightly tapping it. The fingerprint sensor works as information technology should for the most office.

There's a noticeable improvement in the sensor'southward ability to recognize the fingerprint. That beingness said, information technology's not equally fast as a physical fingerprint sensor; not fifty-fifty the high-stop ultrasonic sensors tin match those. There's a good 1/ane.5 second lag between the fourth dimension yous place your finger on the sensor and the phone actually unlocking. That's simply how it is for these in-display sensors. You lot'll be cautioned to not use a screen cover when registering fingerprints and then that any fake-positive fiasco can exist avoided.

Galaxy A51 camera

This is where the Milky way A51 really comes into its ain element. The camera setup is the biggest selling point of this smartphone and Samsung is offer an interesting mix. The Galaxy A51 has a 48-megapixel f/2.0 master and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide f/2.2 camera that has a 123-degree field of view. It retains the 5-megapixel f/2.ii depth camera of its predecessor. The Galaxy A51 besides has the distinction of beingness Samsung'southward first smartphone to feature a five-megapixel f/2.iv macro camera.

The main camera doesn't really output 48MP photos. It uses pixel binning engineering science to output 12MP photos. Without going into too many technical details, pixel binning allows for more accurately exposed and detailed images as it combines 4 pixels into 1 superpixel. This superpixel contains iv times the amount of data compared to a unmarried pixel in a 48MP image.

The resulting images are prissy and abrupt with great color reproduction. Depression-light operation is certainly better than it was on the Galaxy A50. Information technology doesn't tend to overexpose shots as much under bogus lighting. The Milky way A51's primary camera is more than capable of getting the job done when the lighting isn't that corking. It besides allows for 8x digital zoom just the prototype will just get progressively worse with each increase.

The ultra-wide camera was a big talking point for Samsung smartphones concluding year, particularly when the company brought it over to mid-range and affordable budget devices. The 12-megapixel camera on the Galaxy A51 has a higher megapixel count compared to the ultra-wide cameras on recent mid-range smartphones. The increase in resolution does brand a slight difference equally the camera is able to capture more detail and the images turn out sharper, simply it's going to be imperceptible to those who have used the eight-megapixel ultra-wide on the Galaxy A50. It does struggle a chip in the dark compared to the primary camera, which is largely due to its f/2.ii aperture.

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Information technology'south the five-megapixel macro photographic camera that most people will be interested in. That'southward actually what's "new" with this device. For those who are unaware, a macro photographic camera allows you to take incredibly detailed close-up photos of a small field of study equally they can focus closer to the subject compared to conventional lenses. This lets yous fill the frame with the bailiwick and thus capture more detail. Despite its 5-megapixel resolution, the macro camera is capable of taking some skillful close-up shots.

Keep in mind that you'll need to get much closer to the subject area than you think in order to get it into focus. The telephone recommends that yous should hold the camera 3-5 cm away from the subject. However, yous should have incredibly stable hands, because the lack of optical image stabilization means that even the slightest of movement volition result in blurry shots.

As you tin can come across in the samples beneath, the camera is quite capable of capturing the flaky, buttery texture of a croissant in an indoors, low-calorie-free environment. The same goes for closeups of other pocket-sized items. You tin really get some bang-up shots with information technology outdoors, so if yous're a nature vitrify who loves taking closeup photos of flowers, the Milky way A51 is the phone for you. It'south not possible to record videos using the macro camera, though.

Is the macro camera really useful? That depends on how yous normally utilize your smartphone's photographic camera for photography. Macro is no replacement for a telephoto lens and the latter would prove to be much more useful in a wider variety of situations. Samsung had cost considerations with the Milky way A51, which is why it opted for the macro instead. Its usefulness is limited in that it can only take actually closeup shots. The macro camera isn't fifty-fifty that bang-up for photographing your food since about people want to capture the whole aesthetic, not a specific office of whatever'southward on their plate. Information technology's non going to exist something that y'all'll use more than than a couple of times unless super closeups are your matter. Even a cursory glance at social media shows that it'south non for about people.

What doesn't brand sense is why the Macro camera mode isn't visible in the photographic camera UI past default. You have to hit More to admission the full listing of camera modes in order to elevate information technology out from there. It's an unnecessary footstep for a marquee characteristic of this device. A 5-megapixel depth sensor completes the Galaxy A51'due south quad photographic camera setup. Several Samsung smartphones have this sensor already, it's the 1 that allows for Live Focus or bokeh pictures. Information technology works as intended, producing reasonable background mistiness and providing decent separation between the background and the subject area.

The Galaxy A51 has got your selfie needs covered with its 32-megapixel f/2.2 front camera. A light ring glows effectually the Infinity-O punch hole when you lot switch to the front end camera. Selfies come out prissy and sharp, even if a bit overexposed, only that'southward probably by blueprint. Both the front end and rear cameras are capable of recording 4K UHD video.

Information technology's possible to create an AR Putter in your videos. The feature works in the same way that it does on the Galaxy Note 10. Yous can either doodle on someone's face up or anywhere in the frame, and the camera volition remember that position in infinite and show the doodle whenever information technology's panned to that position. This is a peachy piddling add-on to Samsung's mid-range lineup. The other camera modes include Panorama, Nutrient, Pro, Night, Super Slow-Mo, Ho-hum Motion and Hyperlapse. AR Emoji and Bixby Vision are present equally well.

https://www.youtube.com/scout?5=L60bzzN3TQE

Galaxy A51 software

The Milky way A51 is a unique device as information technology a intermission from tradition for Samsung. The company'southward Galaxy South flagships previously used to be the outset devices to come with the latest Android Os version out of the box. Samsung didn't wait for the Galaxy S20 this time effectually. The Galaxy A51 is its start smartphone to transport with Android 10 and 1 UI 2.0, coming out before this year's Galaxy S flagship. It's covered for the next two Android platform updates.

I UI 2.0 feels more natural and visually comfortable than previous iterations. Samsung made a lot of improvements to the software and the Galaxy A51 plainly benefits from them. It does miss out on the built-in screen recorder that Samsung has included in 1 UI ii.0 for some devices as well as the power to take slow motion selfie videos. Bixby Routines and Edge screen are both nowadays, in addition to App Pairs. Android 10 itself brings many new features such equally more than granular privacy and location tools, Focus mode, enhanced parental controls, and Google's navigation gestures.

Bixby Vocalization is onboard equally well. There's really nothing to say about it other than the fact that it exists on this device. It doesn't exercise anything out of the ordinary and you probably won't be using it much anyway. In that location's likewise a whole smattering of other features like a system-wide Night fashion, Dual Messenger, Game Launcher, Secure Folder, Always On Display, Blue light filter, Link to Windows, Scan QR lawmaking and more.

Galaxy A51 performance

The Galaxy A51 is powered by Samsung'southward Exynos 9611 processor, the very same scrap inside the Galaxy A50s. It'southward just a college-clocked version of the Galaxy A50's Exynos 9610. Don't exist confused, what this only ways for y'all is that the Galaxy A51's performance is marginally better than its predecessor.

It's an adequate setup, coupled with 6GB RAM on the variant we tested. The Galaxy A51 packs enough punch to handle any you can reasonably throw at a smartphone in this segment. Given that it has four two.3GHz Cortex-A73 cores to exercise the heavy lifting, the Galaxy A51 will be able to back up your PUBG habit at the highest graphics setting without breaking a sweat.

There are plenty of reminders about this being a mid-range device, though. There's some lag and the odd stutter fifty-fifty on our 6GB variant; in some markets Samsung will offering 4GB RAM on the base model, on which the lag and stutter might exist even more than noticeable. This didn't actually come as a surprise equally nosotros're quite used to seeing this on Samsung'due south mid-range smartphones. Information technology just comes with the territory. Its functioning is not disappointing by any stretch of the imagination, simply as long equally you have the right expectations from it.

Galaxy A51 sound and telephone call quality

I wasn't that impressed by the Galaxy A51's unmarried bottom-firing speaker. The audio sounds flat and there really isn't any oomph (bass) to it. It'due south actually quite similar to its predecessor and I think this was a missed opportunity and Samsung should have improved the speaker. Your standard Samsung wired earphones come in the box, they're nothing out of the ordinary. The handset has Dolby Atmos back up for both wired and Bluetooth sound which does help improve the sound feel a bit. I faced no network reception issues on the Galaxy A51 so it'due south pretty solid in this department. The phone call audio is generally loud and well-baked so it ticks all the right boxes.

Galaxy A51 battery life

The Galaxy A51 has the same iv,000mAh bombardment with 15W fast wired charging as the Galaxy A50. Information technology's a pretty chunky battery, one that'south easily going to get y'all through the day with substantial usage. If your usage isn't as intense, the battery can easily last you just under 2 days, particularly if you have simply one SIM in the phone.

I wish Samsung had enabled 25W fast wired charging on the device. It would accept made sense for the Galaxy A51 to get that upgrade. Then again, the company does accept to maintain some differences between the Milky way A series models. That's probable ane of the reasons why the Galaxy A51 sticks with 15W. Look the battery to accuse completely from 0-100 percent in around 2 hours.

Milky way A51 verdict

I of the biggest reasons why the Galaxy A50 turned out to exist such a roaring success is non that information technology was exceptional in every manner, it'due south that the device offered keen value for money for the asking toll. Samsung'due south only job with the Milky way A51 was to preserve that legacy and build on it.

In my stance, Samsung has been able to practise that very well. You're getting a lot for ~$350. A faultless AMOLED brandish, cameras better than what you'd detect on the competition, and solid build quality with a striking finish. Add to that the fact that information technology ships with the latest version of Android, and customers will sit up and accept notice. Even if you lot own the Galaxy A50, the camera improvements alone might make you want to consider the upgrade.

That existence said, the macro camera is a very niche thing. Information technology'southward not something that virtually users will actively be using, and I feel but those who truly feel the need for information technology would think about upgrading from its predecessor. The Galaxy A51 doesn't face up competition from within the Samsung family like the Milky way A50 did when it arrived (the Milky way A71 won't be coming out for at least a month). In markets like India, customers who wanted a slightly less capable device at a relative bargain could skip the Galaxy A50 in favor of the Galaxy M20 and the M30 which were new at that time terminal year.

Merely Samsung has timed the Galaxy A51 launch just right. There'southward lilliputian competition for it from within the family and at its $350 price tag, it's a pretty compelling pick for customers looking to buy a new mid-range smartphone, regardless of how they experience about the macro camera.

No device will e'er be perfect, and there'southward always going to be room for comeback. I would have loved to see a beefier processor, faster charging for the battery, a meliorate loudspeaker, and even a telephoto camera. But these devices have to be within their own realities and to that extent, the Galaxy A51 is quite perhaps one of the best smartphones in its category.

Pros	Cons
Solid build, neat cease	Express usability for the macro camera
Android 10 and 1 UI 2.0 pre-installed	No increment in battery size or charging speeds over Galaxy A50
First-class Infinity-O AMOLED display	Some 1 UI 2.0 features missing
Improved main and ultra-wide cameras	Some stutter and lag here and at that place
3.5mm headphone jack	Speaker could have been better
Can handle loftier-end games like PUBG well