Samsung Galaxy A42 5G Mobile Phone Review, Full
Specfications
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| Samsung Galaxy A42 5G Review |
Samsung Galaxy A42 5G Review
Hey
everyone! Samsung's A-series lineup has always been about well-balanced
mid-rangers. This generation
is no different. The Galaxy A42 is one
of the cheapest 5G phones that you can buy. This elegant device is all about
performance and connectivity at the expense of some other aspects of the mobile
experience. If you're interested in
a 5G phone that won't break the bank, is this the one to get? this is our review of the Samsung Galaxy A42 5G.
Samsung
Galaxy A42 5G Design & Storage
The Samsung Galaxy A42 has an unusual design. While it has rather average
dimensions for a 2020 smartphone, it has four different shaded bars at its
back, which have a unique Prism Dot
look. You have three shades
to choose from: white, gray, and black.
At 193 grams, it's both heavier and larger than the Galaxy A41, in
part due to the huge increase in battery capacity. The plastic back panel curves to the glossy
frame on the sides, which makes it less grippy than we would
like, and it's a fingerprint magnet if
we've ever seen one. Overall
though, it's comfortable in the hand and
you can always put a case on it for a better grip. You'll find clicky keys on the
sides and a card slot that allows
for expanding the generous 128GB you get as base storage.
Samsung
Galaxy A42 5G Display & Sound
Turn
the Galaxy A42 around and you'll find
a 6.6-inch SuperAMOLED screen with a notch at the top. The bezels are a bit thick in
comparison to many phones out these days.
Still, it's an affordable phone so it's not really an
issue. There's a fingerprint
reader under the display and it's
fast and accurate which is great. You
can always use face recognition if that's more your thing. What will be disappointing to some is
the screen resolution. At 720p, it's a
noticeable downgrade from previous A40 series phones. The Samsung Galaxy A42 doesn't support HDR 10 either,
though it does have WideVine L1 DRM support, so you can stream FullHD videos even though
the screen has a lower resolution.
On the more bright side, the display got
a respectable 570nits of maximum brightness, so that is more than enough for good
sunlight legibility. We also found
that the screen has very good color reproduction. This smartphone is a mid-ranger, so it's not
surprising to find a headphone jack and a single downward-facing
speaker. The phone also supports FM
radio, which is a little more unusual.
The speaker had below-average loudness but as far as audio quality was
concerned, it offered a much
richer sound than the Samsung Galaxy A41,
with well-balanced mid and high tones.
Samsung
Galaxy A42 5G Battrey & Charger
One
of the most impressive parts of this phone is the battery
capacity. It has a 5000mAh
battery in comparison to the 3500mAh that we saw on the
A41. Thanks to the huge
battery capacity,
the low-resolution display, and a
power-efficient chipset, we got an
amazing endurance score of 144 hours in our battery life tests. Charging speed was less impressive, but
considering the beefiness of the battery, that doesn't come as a
surprise. The 15W charger
that comes with the phone can refill 27% of the battery in 30 minutes and
78% in 90 minutes. A full charge
requires two hours.
Samsung
Galaxy A42 5G Chipset & Software
The
phone uses the Snapdragon 750G 5G chipset with 4, 6, or 8GB of RAM. It's one of Qualcomm's newest
chipsets. This is the second time that
we've seen this chipset on a smartphone
and it's proven to be quite capable, whether it's in gaming
or day-to-day tasks. The chipset,
in combination with a 720p display that doesn't need so much power, meant the Galaxy A42's gaming
performance was through the roof for a mid-ranger. The Galaxy A42 5G sports Android 10 with One UI 2.5 on
top. Unfortunately, the phone doesn't
support an Always-on display, but
otherwise, the software package is similar to that on other Samsung
phones. There are edge panels you
can access with a single swipe to the side, gesture navigation, and a
dark mode. Interestingly, the
phone doesn't come with Samsung's browser, but it uses Chrome
instead.
Samsung
Galaxy A42 5G Camera Sepcifications
When
it comes to the cameras, the phone has
the same setup as the Galaxy A41, plus a depth sensor. What you're getting is a 48MP main
snapper, an 8MP ultra-wide, a 5MP macro cam, and the new 5MP depth
sensor. The main camera outputs
12MP photos, and in daylight we saw
a lot of resolved detail, high
contrast, low noise, and balanced dynamic range. We saw some minor softness on the
edges but it didn't detract from the overall experience. If you choose to dig in the menu and take a
snap using the full 48MP resolution,
you'll get outstanding photos with even more detail, better contrast, and more accurate
colors. So if high detail is what
you're after, it might be worth
switching to this mode for a photo or two. The 8MP ultra-wide camera was also
respectable. Photos had enough
detail and contrast, noise was low, and the automatic distortion correction did
a great job.
if you're chasing 5G
connectivity, great performance,
and great battery life (not exactly in that order), then this
is one of Samsung's smartphones that you should definitely take a look
at.