Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy A02s is an incredibly trashy smartphone that retick a lot of central boxes . However , the positives – which include impressive battery life , expandable warehousing and a lovely design – need to be cancel against the negatives . Here , it ’s the camera and general performance that are found lacking .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The Samsung Galaxy A02s is one of the cheapest smartphones in Samsung ’s range . Costing just £ 120 , it offers a large covert , long - lasting battery life and expandable storage ; but there are some notable areas in which it struggles .
The camera is poor and performance can be laggy – but if your budget is bound , the Galaxy A02s is a compelling package .
Design and Screen
The Samsung Galaxy A02s is brightly plan and well fabricate .
The credit card chassis feel soft to the contact yet also substantial and durable , and the subtly textured , multi - toned and diamond - pattern back panel is pleasing on the optic . And since it sport a matt finale , it also does a good job of keeping greasy fingerprint mark at bay tree .
The A02s certainly does n’t look like a sub-£150 phone .
The three rearward cameras sit around within a rectangular module that protrudes pretty , but not so much that it prevents the telephone from lying flat on a tabletop , which is nice .
The tycoon button and book key fruit model along the phone ’s right - manus edge , and both are within easy reach . They ’re a little on the bathetic side but serve reliably ; however , it ’s disappointing that the power button does n’t double - up as a fingermark image scanner .
The Galaxy A02s forgoes a fingerprint reader altogether , but there is biometric scanning in the form of a human face detector , which swear on the selfie television camera that sits within a teardrop - style snick at the top of the display .
It is n’t an adequate substitute , to the extent that you ’ll have to revert to the basic PIN or pattern method most of the meter instead .
On the plus side , it ’s always unspoilt to see a headphone jack and a microSD card slot , while the A02s also bring funding for dual SIMs . A downward - fire mono speaker sit alongside the USB - C port on the bottom edge of the phone .
The Galaxy A02s uses a 6.5 - column inch , 1600 x 720 PLS LCD screen with an facet ratio of 20:9 and a pixel concentration of 270ppi .
Peak brightness is my big beef here . In bright sun you ’ll have to regain a way of life to spew nuance on the Galaxy A02s to stand a chance of being able to see anything on it .
Otherwise , it ’s large and astute enough to meet most people ’s need , and generally excellent deal the price of this phone .
Camera
It is n’t unusual to see triple or even quadruplex photographic camera on a cheap smartphone these days , and it ’s a trio of lenses that the Galaxy A02s settles on for its rearward configuration .
Do n’t get your hopes up too high , though , because the apparatus contain a 13 - megapixel main lens , a 2 - megapixel macro tv camera and a 2 - megapixel deepness detector . That ’s about as canonic as a triple camera gets , and it shows in the resultant .
Photos almost invariably calculate grainy and washed out . Even in good lighting condition , colour tend to look dreary and exanimate , with a noticeable low temperature , puritanic tint casting a muffled shadow over entire tantrum .
In mediocre and dense luminance , the results are worthless still , with extreme noise in drab areas and overexposed highlights , even with HDR switched on . unluckily , there ’s no Night Mode option to improve matter .
portrayal modal value , which have you adjust the depth of field to make your subject brook out , can produce pleasing consequence . Pro mood lets you moil into ISO , blanched balance and exposure , and both hear from and experiment with different photography configurations .
There ’s also a Panorama mood and a Macro mode , the latter of which is neither especially utile nor effective ( as you could see above ) .
An unexpected and frustrating issue with the Galaxy A02s ’s camera is amphetamine .
On legion occasions I ’ve ended up with a blurry heap of a picture because the viewfinder and camera app have designate that my picture has been shoot and economise when , in fact , the camera was still in the process of capturing it . This has happened too many times to simply be put down to unfit luck or a shaky bag . The only path to combat it is by holding your mannerism for recollective than seems necessary .
picture is captured at 1080p at 30fps , and there ’s no image stabilisation to help you out . The 5 - megapixel selfie camera is basic , but improved by the comprehension of Portrait modality .
bewilderingly , the photographic camera app makes it appear as if you’re able to use the selfie photographic camera in Pro , Panorama and Macro modal value , but attempt to do so activates the rear television camera instead .
It ’s hard to complain too much about a phone that cost this little , and a photo editing app can improve the spirit of all but the forged pictures . Nevertheless , what ’s frustrating is that the quotation of a triple camera feel like a cheap selling ploy that ’s design to make the tv camera appear more in advance than it is .
Performance
The Galaxy A02s is a sluggish phone , but that does n’t relay the whole tarradiddle ; there are gamey points , too .
It runs on a Snapdragon 450 buffalo chip , which invites a brief misstep down store lane – it ’s the same hardware that powered theHTC Desire 12 PlusandMotorola Moto G6all the way back in 2018 .
First impressions are poor . Even the simplest interactions are blighted by meantime , which make type a less than pleasant experience , plus you always have to wait a fraction of a irregular for apps to plunge . It is n’t as cripplingly speculative as the MediaTek Helios MT6765 - poweredSamsung Galaxy A12 , which is without doubt the slowest phone I ’ve ever used , but it ’s a long way from glossy .
The Galaxy A02s often lose itself in its own system of rules animations , which are , without fail , juddery and painful to watch out . Turning animations off at least draw less attention to its speed woefulness . Multi - tasking is a root of true frustration , since apps incline to get press out of the phone ’s memory passing quickly .
For instance , when running Google Chrome and Spotify at the same prison term , the screen momentarily freezes whenever I tack between the two apps , as though it demand a second to find its carriage before it let you practice either of them . These are n’t long delays , but after a while they can become annoying .
My review unit is the 3 GB model , and it ’s potential that the 4 GB version is adequate to of delivering a dependable substance abuser experience .
out of the blue , the Galaxy A02s plays games and watercourse picture without a rub . Asphalt 8 present no signaling of lag whatsoever , with gameplay as smooth as you ’d like it to be . In addition , streaming apps such as Netflix , YouTube and BBC iPlayer work just as they should .
Test Data
The Galaxy A02s runsAndroid 11under Samsung ’s One UI hide , which means it comes pre - tight with lots of apps that most substance abuser probably would n’t use – the Samsung internet browser , Galaxy Store , Samsung ’s own calendar app , and TikTok , for example . Some of these can be uninstalled ; but others ca n’t .
The skilful thing about the Galaxy A02s ’s software system is that it ’s hereafter - proofed for at least the next yoke of age . It ’s in line for the Android 12 and One UI 4.0 upgrades .
Battery Life
Battery life is a serious return , especially with mellow - end phones , so the Galaxy A02s ’s impressive stamen is one of its central selling points .
Unfortunately , it was n’t able to head for the hills the 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test , which is one of Trusted Reviews ’ go - to bombardment life benchmarks , but real - sprightliness use bring forth impressive consequence .
It lost 11 % of its battery after an hour of swarm Netflix ; half - an - hour of intensive gambling ( Asphalt 8) used up 6 % ; and half - an - hour of light gaming ( Threes ) consumed only 2 % . you could also stream music for hour without a concern . An hour of online music streaming used up 4 % of the Galaxy A02s stamp battery , and an hour of offline euphony streaming used up 3 % .
you’re able to well get a day of use , sometimes two days , from a single guardianship – which think you ’ll seldom face the prospect of the phone running matte before you get house after work or an evening out . It ’s concentrated to put a value on peace of judgement .
On the scarce social occasion that the battery does run flat , you ’ll want to insure you have plenty of time to buck it . A full 0 - 100 % charge take away a whopping 3hrs 45mins , while getting it from savorless to 50 % call for 1hr 35mins of charge .
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Should you buy it?
that looks gracious and offer expectant battery life .
and performance leaves a routine to be desire .
Final Thoughts
If £ 120 is as far as your budget will elongate , you could do far bad than the Samsung Galaxy A02s – a fairly ordinary smartphone that render extraordinary value for money . barrage aliveness is splendid , it runs on a recent build of Android and One UI , and it ’s a looker too .
If you’re able to yield to pass a little more , theMotorola Moto G8is another sub-£200 French telephone that we deal to be one of the near cheap sound on the market right now . It ’s a notable upgrade , both in the performance and camera department – which are the Galaxy A02s ’s problem areas .
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