Samsung Galaxy A51 review - successor to best-selling Android smartphone of 2019

Samsung isGlobal Smartphone Market Share: By Quarter the largest player in the smartphone market, but now the company is having a difficult time: Galaxy S20 flagships are on saleGalaxy S20 sales disappoint for reasons not in Samsung’s control weak, users are not ready to pay 70 thousand rubles for new devices.

Hope for the middle segment, in which the Galaxy A51 is from Samsung. This model for 18 thousand rubles replaced the best-sellingiPhone 11 Second Best Selling Phone of 2019 After Less Than Four Months Android smartphone from last year. But will it be able to repeat the success of the Galaxy A50 and press the Chinese in their home field?

Table of contents

• Specifications
• Design and ergonomics
• Screen
• Software and performance
• Sound and vibration
• Camera
• Autonomy
• Outcome

Specifications

Design and ergonomics

Galaxy A51 - inexpensive smartphone, which affected its appearance. The body is entirely made of plastic, which mimics glass and metal. The back side has received a geometric ornament that sets the device apart from competitors. The model is available in red, black and white.

Despite the abundance of plastic, the smartphone doesn't feel cheap. Build is not worse than Samsung flagship modelsand there are similarities in design. The design of the cameras is almost the same as on the Galaxy S20.

The front side is covered with Gorilla Glass 3 with curved edges and an oleophobic coating. A black plastic edging runs between it and the body, smoothing out the joints.

The indents around the screen are small, so the front camera had to be taken out into a special hole. Also, an optical fingerprint scanner is built into the display, which works in a split second.

Thanks to the rounded corners, the device fits comfortably in the hand, and the plastic back does not slip. Unlike glass-metal competitors, this smartphone is wearable without cover. In addition, the case is not very easily soiled.

On the right side are the volume rocker and the power button. At the bottom are a multimedia speaker, USB Type-C and 3.5mm audio jack. On the left side there is a slot for two SIM cards and microSD.

Screen

Samsung is a pioneer in the creation of AMOLED-matrices, so it is not surprising that the smartphone received a screen made using this technology. Its diagonal is 6.5 inches, and the resolution is 2,400 × 1,080 pixels.

With these characteristics, the pixel density is 405 PPI. The small print shows a slight graininess caused by the structure of the Diamond pixels (there are twice as many green diodes as red and blue). However, this is the only lack of display.

The screen pleases with accurate color reproduction in Natural Colors mode, infinite contrast levels and wide viewing angles. The only thing in which it is still inferior to the flagship matrices in the Galaxy S20 is the brightness margin. Nevertheless, it is sufficient for comfortable outdoor use.

The settings provide a blue light filter, but there is no PWM flicker suppression. It can cause fatigue eye some users.

Software and performance

The Galaxy A51 runs Android 10 with the proprietary One UI 2.1. Samsung replaced system apps with its own counterparts, redesigned the settings panel and gesture control. However, the basic logic of Android has remained intact, so it won't be difficult to navigate the proprietary firmware.

The hardware platform is the Exynos 9611 chipset, made according to the 10-nanometer process technology. It includes four high-performance Cortex ‑ A73 (2.3 GHz) and four energy efficient Cortex ‑ A53 (1.7 GHz) cores, as well as the Mali ‑ G72 MP3 graphics accelerator.

The smartphone has 4 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 64 GB of UFS 2.0 permanent memory. The system interface works smoothly, although the programs do not start very quickly.

World of Tanks: Blitz on medium settings has significant drawdowns in battle scenes. We have to reduce the picture quality to the minimum values ​​so that the frequency does not drop below 30 FPS. In casual time killers like Doodle Jump no problems arise.

Sound and vibration

The multimedia speakers in the Galaxy A51 have clearly been saved. There is no stereo sound, the speaker on the bottom end works in mono mode and is overloaded at maximum volume - the sound becomes harsh and unpleasant.

The presence of a 3.5 mm audio jack is good, but the sound quality in wired headphones is not at all impressive. In conjunction with the Beyerdynamic DT 1350, there is a lack of bass and distortion at high frequencies. Better to have wireless headphones and do not rely on the audio path built into the smartphone.

The vibration motor is quite good by the standards of the budget segment. The response is clear and strong, which is much better than the indistinct rattling of many competitors. The desire to turn off vibration immediately does not arise, and this already says a lot.

Camera

The Galaxy A51 has four rear-facing cameras: a standard 48MP, a wide-angle 12MP, a 5-megapixel macro lens and a depth sensor. Front camera resolution is 32 megapixels.

During the day, the smartphone takes decent photos, but as soon as the lighting gets worse, noise appears. Also, the color rendition is clearly oversaturated. On the one hand, it makes photos more attractive, and on the other, it complicates them. processing.

The video is recorded in 4K resolution with a frame rate of 30 FPS. There is no stabilization, the soundtrack is stereo.

Autonomy

The Galaxy A51 has a 4000 mAh battery inside. Smartphone enough for a day of surfing the web, watching videos and taking photos, and for an hour of playing World of Tanks: Blitz the charge sank by 15%. The included 15W adapter charges the battery in 100 minutes.

Outcome

Samsung Galaxy A51 has an important mission: to consolidate the company's position in the middle price segment. The smartphone offers a striking design, a high-quality screen and a perfectly passable camera, which will be enough for most consumers. However, the performance of the device remained on par with the Galaxy A50. And if a year ago that was enough to compete with Redmi and Honor, the success of the Galaxy A51 is now in question.

Buy

The author thanks Samsung for the device provided for testing. The company had no way to influence the test result.