Samsung unveils low-cost Galaxy A-Series phones to reverse U.S. smartphone slump

Premium features for pennies on the dollar.

Credit: Samsung

While its thousand-dollar-plus flagship phones might get all the attention, Samsung’s best-selling phone of 2019 wasn’t the Galaxy S10 or the Note 10+, it was the $350 A50. Now, with a global smartphone slump that has hit the Galaxy S20 hard, Samsung is doubling down on that strategy.

Make that sextupling down. On Wednesday, Samsung announced six new Galaxy A phones coming to the U.S., ranging from the ultra-cheap $110 Galaxy A01 to the $600 Galaxy A71 5G. The handsets have an array of different features and specs, but they all have three things in common, which Samsung calls “everyday essentials.”

That means you’ll get premium-grade displays, cameras, and batteries, and lots of storage at an affordable price. All six phones also have dual, triple- and quad-camera systems with ultra-wide, depth, and macro lenses, big screens, and larger batteries to keep them powered all day.

The rollout begins Thursday, April 9 with the A01, which will be exclusive to Verizon stores for a limited time, and the A51, the successor to the A50. The rest of the A-Series phones will expand to “select carriers” as the launch continues throughout the summer. Here’s what we know about how the lineup breaks down:

A01

  • Display: 5.7-inch HD+ Infinity-V LCD
  • Camera (Dual): 13MP Wide + 2MP Depth
  • Battery: 3,000mAh
  • RAM: 2GB
  • Storage: 16GB
  • Price: $110

A11

  • Display: 6.4-inch HD+ Infinity-O LCD
  • Camera (Triple): 13MP Wide + 5MP Ultra-wide + 2MP Depth
  • Battery: 4,000mAh
  • RAM: 2GB
  • Storage: 32GB
  • Price: $180
galaxy a series cameras Samsung

Samsung has loaded up its new A Series phones with dual, triple, and quad cameras.

Galaxy A21

  • Display: 6.5-inch HD+ Infinity-O LCD
  • Camera (Quad): 16MP Wide + 8MP Ultra-wide + 2MP Depth + 2MP Macro
  • Battery: 4,000mAh
  • RAM: 3GB
  • Storage: 32GB
  • Price: $250

Galaxy A51 4G/5G

  • Display: 6.5-inch FHD+ Infinity-O Super AMOLED
  • Camera (Quad): 48MP wide + 12MP Ultra-wide + 5MP depth + 5MP macro
  • Battery: 4,000mAh
  • RAM: 4GB
  • Storage: 128GB
  • Price: $400/$500

A71 5G

  • Display: 6.7-inch FHD+ Infinity-O  Super AMOLED Plus
  • Camera (Quad): 64MP wide + ultra-wide + depth + macro
  • Price: $600

The most intriguing of the six phones are the two 5G models, which will likely use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 765 or Samsung’s own Exynos 980 processor, both of which offer integrated 5G modems for superior power efficiency. With most 5G phones costing at least thousand-dollars, the A51 and A71 could lead the way for speedy U.S. adoption of the next-gen network, especially as phone buyers tighten their purse strings.

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Michael Simon

Michael Simon

PC World (US online)
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