With so many Samsung intermediary phones alike, how do you choose the right one? The Korean's latest bet on the domestic market is the Galaxy A31, which would be the direct successor to the A30 launched in early 2019 if we disregard the A30s that arrived six months later. Its problem is Samsung's lack of notion of asking for the same price as the A51, a phone that is theoretically superior.
Samsung Galaxy A31 Review
let's discuss Samsung Galaxy A31 in detail, A step by step review:
 |
| Samsung Galaxy A31 Review Image Source: gadgets.ndtv.com |
Accessories
The case of the Galaxy A31 is similar to others in the Samsung entry line. What changes is only the image of the device stamped on the cover? In addition to the cell phone, you receive:
- 15W power charger
- USB cable in standard C
- Key to open the SIM / MicroSD drawer
- User manual
- Basic headset
Design
The A31 looks like a fusion of A30 and A51. On the front, we have the old drop notch, different from the more recent intermediaries of the brand that adopt a hole in the screen. At the rear, it is almost identical to the superior models, with a small change in position on the flash.
In addition to the blue option, you can also find the A31 in black or white. They all have the same holographic pattern that we initially saw on the A30s. So nothing new around here.
Samsung stretched the screen to the standard 20: 9, but did not reduce the edges, which makes the A31 bigger than its predecessor with the same inches. It also got heavier because of the battery that grew. The construction quality is the same plastic as always.
The biometric reader is on the screen, as we have in the A30s, and works well, although it is not very agile. Besides, there is nothing new: you have the same inputs, connections, and technologies as before.
Screen and Sound
The Super AMOLED screen was Full HD + on the A30, so Samsung decided to reduce the resolution to HD + on the A30s, and now it's back to Full HD + on the A31. Image quality has evolved, but not to match the A51. Many should not even notice the difference and will be satisfied with the screen of the A31 that delivers good brightness and vibrant colors.
The sound part continues to disappoint for the price charged. As is already common in Korean intermediaries, no stereo sound. There has not been an evolution in the audio quality of the speaker and even the headset that comes with it is the same as the brand entry models.
It's past time for Samsung to take the sonic part of their smartphones more seriously. If you are looking to listen to good quality music you will have to invest in a decent phone. But it may be better to look for other cheaper options that deliver better sound quality than the A31.
Performance
The A30 and A30s came with the same platform as Samsung, the Exynos 7904. Now we finally have a change in the A31 that brings the Helio P65 from MediaTek. Theoretically, it is more powerful than the hardware of the older models, but in our practice test we had a beautiful disappointment. It was slower to open apps and games, taking 1 minute longer than the A30.
How is this possible? We could blame MediaTek's hardware, but as it is a chip that has been on the market for almost a year, there is no excuse for lack of optimization. Samsung needs to adjust the software so that the performance is at least close to the A51 as it happens in benchmark tests seen in AnTuTu.
In games, we have a good evolution compared to the A30, thanks to the more powerful GPU of the A31. All tested games ran smoothly, and you can even play in HD on PUBG with the graphics at the top.
Camera
The number of cameras grew with each update of the line. In the A30 we have only two, which has increased to three in the A30s. Now with the A31, there are four cameras at the rear, as well as the A51 and A71. The resolution has also increased and you have a 48 MP camera as is common in any current intermediary.
The main camera is the same as the A51. Does this mean that we have the same photographic quality? It should, but since MediaTek hardware usually lacks good image processing, we have worse pictures on the A31.
1.Ultra-wide
It is possible to have good photos in open places and with ideal lighting. Just the light falls and the quality goes with it. Photos at dusk are already beginning to make noise. Indoors there is not so much of this problem, but sharpness is compromised.
The A31 does not excite when shooting at night and the lack of a dedicated night mode further complicates it. The wide-angle lens makes it worse. The photos come out even darker, with sacrificed sharpness and full of noise. Even during the day, the inferior quality of the images is noticeable. It is only worth using this camera if it is not really possible to frame everything with the main one.
2.Macro
The macro camera allows you to get close to animals and plants to capture details well. Your focus is fixed and you will have good pictures as long as you respect the distance between 3 and 5 cm from the object. The depth sensor also does a good job and has few flaws. You can adjust the intensity of the effect after the photo is saved.
The front camera had increased resolution but does not record more details than before. The A31 is capable of taking good selfies, even out of the house against the sun. In closed places, it does not suffer from loss of sharpness and at night it does not present as much noise. The portrait mode is more limited and has more flaws, especially in the hair outline. At least it doesn't deactivate HDR, as is common with rival brand intermediaries that have popped selfies.
A major disappointment remains for the camcorder: it still does not record in 4K. Nor is there the same stabilization as the A51 and A71, which results in more shaky videos. The focus is agile in bright places and the audio capture is good, but for the price that Samsung asks for on the A31, we expected a more advanced camcorder with at least slow motion support.
Battery
If performance is disappointing, at least we can't say the same for the battery. With the increase to 5,000 mAh, the A31 easily surpasses its predecessors and is among the best in autonomy considering the recent launches of the A-line.
The downside of the battery increase is that the recharge time has also gone up. Samsung could have put a more powerful charger to prevent the A31 from spending more than 2 hours in the outlet to have its battery fully recharged. With a quick charge of 15 minutes, you recover 13% of the battery and will have half of it with 1 hour in the socket.
Software
Samsung's novelty arrives with Android 10 and One UI 2.0. This version is also available on previous models. The difference is that we can expect the A31 to be upgraded to Android 11 next year, while the old ones may end up dying in the current version.
The features are the same, so if you have the A30 or A30s, don't wait for news on the software side. The curious thing is to see that Samsung removed Digital TV, which was a good differential of the company in the segment. That is, you pay more on the A31 and take less.
Rivals
Is it worth switching from A30 to A31? It would even be valid if the price of the new one was not so high. You lose performance, but you gain in battery and camera. Compared to the A30s it gets more complicated since we haven't seen a jump in the quality of photos and videos. So you basically sacrifice performance to have a battery that yields a few more hours.
The biggest problem is that A51 is cheaper and is a superior phone in almost everything. If you invest a little more you can get the A71 which makes an even bigger difference, being behind the A31 only one battery, but recharges much faster.
If you liked this review, then please share it with your friends and loved ones.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Your feedback is always appreciated