Samsung Galaxy A71 Review: Like a flagship

Recently, Samsung Philippines has launched the Samsung Galaxy A71, the newest mid-range smartphone from the company that packs a quad-camera lens and also a Snapdragon 730G processor. It does have pretty good specifications and a really enticing price. Interested? Check it out in our review below:

Samsung Galaxy A71 Review: Design and hardware

When it comes to build quality, it’s a far cry from the Samsung Galaxy S20 or even the Galaxy Note10 series but that doesn’t mean that the notebook doesn’t have good build quality. Actually, I like the color offerings of Samsung and also the small details at the back of the smartphone.

However, the Samsung Galaxy A71 still uses “glasstic” but that’s not a bad thing as we got here a light design and still does premium for me. I can also say the same for the sides of the smartphone. The ergonomics and grip of the smartphone is pretty good too because again, it’s light and the curves of the smartphone are just good for me.

As expected, the smartphone uses a USB-C port and thankfully, they’ve included a 25W fast charger on the smartphone which is why I can charge the smartphone pretty fast and then there’s the 3.5mm headphone jack too which is a welcome feature as most smartphones have been ditching that already. But it’s 2020 so it would be fine without that already.

The smartphone also comes with an in-display fingerprint scanner which will work fast enough but not as fast as other in-display fingerprint scanners and of course, there’s the speedy face unlock if you want to unlock the Galaxy A71 faster.

The smartphone also comes with a speaker just beside the USB-C port on the smartphone and it works just fine for me. The Samsung Galaxy A71 also comes with a triple card tray and yes, you can place your two sim cards on the smartphone along with a microSD card slot if you need that expandable storage on the smartphone.

Samsung Galaxy A71 Review: Display

The Samsung Galaxy A71 uses a pretty immersive 6.7-inch Full HD+ display with Super AMOLED Plus display which is why the panel of the smartphone is as expected, really good. The colors on the smartphone are really great and it’s pretty sharp and I really love looking at it.

It’s an Infinity-O display which means that the smartphone comes with a punch hole camera and some of you might find it annoying, but in my usage, I barely notice it even though I’m watching a lot of YouTube videos on the smartphone. The display aspect ratio of the smartphone also made it a little taller but also narrower but perfect for playing games as I have more space for the buttons.

Overall, the Samsung Galaxy A71 does have a really good display and it’s really attractive to the eyes. It’s not as good as the Galaxy S20 or even the Galaxy Note10+ but the display will do just fine in most usage.

Samsung Galaxy A71 Review: Battery Life

The Samsung Galaxy A71 got a 4500mAh battery which is already more than enough for most people. In my usage, I was able to last from 10 AM up to 8 PM with 21% left. That’s actually pretty good but if you’re into heavy usage, you might want to get a powerbank with you.

In PC Mark Battery test, we got a score of 12 hours and 2 minutes which is just enough for a mid-range smartphone with these specifications.

Samsung Galaxy A71 Review: Software and performance

The Samsung Galaxy A71 features One UI 2.0 based on Android 10. The good thing in here is that it is fast, it’s very responsive and the user experience of the software of the smartphone is really good. Of course, the UX of the Samsung Galaxy A71 is very much similar to other Samsung Galaxy smartphones including the flagship ones.

There are also some pre-installed applications on the smartphone including Galaxy Store in where you can download apps and games like Epic games for Fortnite and also Samsung members that gives you access to Samsung services and also some benefits like discounts and freebies to Samsung Members users.

The Samsung Galaxy A71 comes with Snapdragon 730G processor along with 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. If you ask me, that’s powerful enough to run most apps and games without problems on the smartphone. The Snapdragon 730G might not be a new processor but it is able to run games at mid to high settings.

In our benchmark, I’m pretty satisfied with the results that we got on the Samsung Galaxy A71. In Antutu, we got a score of 275314 which is powerful enough. Check out the benchmarks scores that we got on the smartphone below:

When it comes to gaming, we were able to run PUBG Mobile on the smartphone in balanced graphics at ultra framerate and also at high settings with max framerate on Call of Duty Mobile. In NBA 2k20 we were able to run the game at maximum settings. Here are the FPS and FPS stability that we got on the smartphone.

Well, it clearly shows that the smartphone’s Snapdragon 730G isn’t a flagship one but it’s definitely capable of playing games high settings which will make the smartphone future-proof.

To know more about GameBench, check out www.gamebench.net.

Samsung Galaxy A71 Review: Camera

The camera is the best thing that I love about this smartphone. Actually, the shots that we took using the camera of the Samsung Galaxy A71 was pretty surprising. For starters, there’s a 64MP main camera with Samsung GW1 sensor on this smartphone that is paired with a 12MP ultrawide camera, 5MP macro camera and also a 5MP depth sensor. Unfortunately, there’s no telephoto on this one nonetheless, the smartphone’s camera exceeded my expectations.

The higher number in megapixel doesn’t mean that it’s a good one but the Samsung Galaxy A71 does have a good camera. Most of the shots that we took were really good including ultra wide-angle lens of the smartphone. It’s not the same level as the flagship-level such as the Galaxy Note and the Galaxy S series smartphones but it does its job really well.

Unfortunately, the smartphone doesn’t have a telephoto lens and they opted for a macro lens instead. There’s a 32MP selfie camera on the smartphone too and it does its job really well and yeah, the selfie camera is placed on the punch hole on the display of the smartphone. Check out the shots that we took using the Samsung Galaxy A71 Review.

Samsung Galaxy A71 Review: Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy A71 is a very attractive mid-range smartphone from Samsung. There’s a large display here that looks really fine and it does have a decent design on the smartphone. Aside from that, the smartphone also features a really good camera on both the selfie and the rear camera of the smartphone.

However, for some people, they might be disappointed with the lack of a telephoto lens on the camera of the smartphone and also the usage of Snapdragon 730G processor in where a lot of smartphones are now shifting to Snapdragon 765G. Nonetheless, the Snapdragon 730G processor can still perform well on gaming and apps.

Overall, it’s one of my favorite Android smartphones out there as this one has a user-friendly UX of Samsung and also a decent camera. Almost all of the features performed well on the smartphone and if you’re looking for a smartphone with a pretty good camera and a really good display then the Samsung Galaxy A71 might be the right one for you.

The Samsung Galaxy A71 is now available for Php22,990.

In case you’re curious, here’s our hands-on and unboxing of the smartphone: