Smartphone technologies are becoming increasingly accessible, and Samsung’s Galaxy A04s device stands out among models in the budget-friendly segment. Samsung unveiled the Galaxy A04s on August 31 2022. Samsung Galaxy A04s is aimed at users who are looking for an everyday smartphone on a smaller budget and is presented to users as a budget-friendly option with its stylish and compact design, essential features and affordable price. However, the Samsung Galaxy A04s falls short of its competitors. Its screen, camera, performance and other features lag behind its competitors.
Design
The design of the Samsung Galaxy A04s clearly reflects its status as a budget smartphone. With dimensions of 164.7 mm in length, 76.7 mm in width and 9.1 mm in thickness, you’ll notice that the device feels a bit thick and large in your hand. However, it’s quite light at 195 grams. Unfortunately, the frame and back of the device are made of plastic, which gives it a cheap look. The plastic casing raises concerns about durability and makes it seem vulnerable to drops. In addition, the device offers users some personalization options with three different color choices: Black, Copper and Light Blue, allowing users to customize their device to match their style.
Overall, the design of the Samsung Galaxy A04s is mainly made of low-quality plastic. While this reflects its affordability in the price segment, it clearly doesn’t provide a premium feel. Users should therefore consider other options that offer higher quality materials and design features.
Display
The Samsung Galaxy A04s display offers a satisfying experience for a smartphone in this price range but falls short in some areas. Its 6.5-inch panel with a 90HZ screen refresh rate is sized to meet the needs of most users and provides an adequate experience for media consumption and everyday use. In addition, the color quality of the display is on par with devices in this price range and is adequate for everyday use. However, the use of a PLS LCD panel causes it to fall behind in color saturation compared to its competitors.
The display of the Samsung Galaxy A04s has a resolution of 720×1600 pixels. However, this resolution may not be enough for everyday use, as screens with a resolution of at least 1080 pixels are common in everyday life, and 720 pixels fall short in comparison. The pixel density is 270 PPI (pixels per inch), which is low for a 6.5-inch screen, resulting in text and images losing clarity and detail. It doesn’t provide a satisfying experience for users accustomed to high-resolution screens.
The screen refresh rate is set at 90Hz, which is acceptable for this price range, but it won’t provide a smooth experience compared to phones with higher refresh rates. This is especially important for users who play fast and action-packed games. The PLS LCD panel on this device is not as successful in terms of color and brightness as IPS LCD panels. Furthermore, there are devices in this price range that offer IPS LCD panels. Therefore, it falls short in terms of panel quality.
Compared to its competitors in the same price range, the Samsung Galaxy A04s’s screen performance is inferior. The screen’s resolution, color saturation and brightness levels lag behind those of similarly priced competitors. If screen quality is an important factor for you, it would be better to evaluate other options instead of choosing this smartphone. This way, you can choose the device that best suits your screen performance and preferences.
Camera
The camera features of the Samsung Galaxy A04s are insufficient for everyday photo and video needs. The main camera has a lower resolution than its competitors and doesn’t deliver satisfactory results in low light. The second rear camera is used for portrait mode, but struggles to successfully blur the background. The front camera also has a low resolution and poor low-light performance.
Although the 50 MP resolution of the main camera seems sufficient for everyday shooting, it falls behind its competitors in terms of quality. HDR and Panorama modes also do not perform as expected. The second rear camera has a resolution of 2 MP and is used for macro mode. The third camera is also used for portrait mode with a resolution of 2 MP. However, it does not offer a successful portrait or macro experience due to its low resolution. The front camera has a resolution of 5 MP and is used for selfies and video calls. However, it disappoints with its low resolution and poor low-light performance.
In terms of camera performance, there are devices in the same price range that offer superior features. Especially devices like the Redmi 12C provide higher resolution, AI-enhanced features, and better performance in night shots. If camera quality is an important factor for you, it’s better to explore rival devices to find the best option. The camera performance of the Samsung Galaxy A04s falls short even for everyday needs.
Performance
Even among budget smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy A04s offers low performance and falls short of meeting daily needs. Moreover, some devices offer higher performance in this price range. For users who need higher performance, it seems more reasonable to evaluate alternative models.
Samsung Galaxy A04s is powered by Samsung Exynos 850 chipset. This chipset comes with 8x efficiency-oriented Cortex-A55 cores running at 2.0GHz. In addition, the Exynos 850 is built using an 8nm manufacturing process. With these features, the Exynos 850 lags significantly behind its competitors. There are processors like the Helio G85 that are much more powerful than the Exynos 850. It is therefore worth noting that it falls short in terms of performance.
If we talk about the GPU used in this chipset, it is the ARM Mali G52. This GPU is sufficient for basic graphics performance but does not offer a satisfactory experience in visually intensive applications such as games. The device also offers 3GB or 4GB of RAM, which may not be enough for multitasking and similar tasks. Storage options are 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB, expandable up to 1TB with microSD card support. However, for most users, storage below 64GB may not be enough, so it is recommended to opt for at least the 64GB option.
The Samsung Galaxy A04s runs on Samsung’s custom user interface OneUI Core 4.1, which is based on the Android 12 operating system. This interface is a lighter version of Samsung’s OneUI interface designed to work efficiently on lower-end devices. However, even with this streamlined operating system, the Galaxy A04s’ interface falls short. Users may experience lag and freezing.
Looking at the benchmark tests for the Samsung Galaxy A04s, it scored around 124,678 points in the AnTuTu benchmark V9, 180 points in the GeekBench 5 single-core performance test, and 1085 points in the multi-core performance test. This shows that the device is focused on everyday tasks. But it lags significantly behind its competitors. The Galaxy A04s is designed to tackle everyday tasks, but it may still run into problems when performing those tasks.
Battery Performance
Samsung Galaxy A04s offers a long battery life with a battery capacity of 5,000 mAh and lithium polymer battery technology. This large battery is more than enough for everyday use. This device, which can be charged via USB Type-C, can be seen as a disadvantage in that it has 15W fast charging support despite its large battery. However, for a budget-friendly device, this can be considered an acceptable commercial choice. The Galaxy A04s strong battery performance ensures a battery life that meets the requirements of long-term use.
The battery performance of the Samsung Galaxy A04s is satisfactory for everyday use, but may take longer to charge due to the lack of fast charging support. The battery capacity is similar to other devices in this price range and is competitive with its rivals. However, you should keep in mind that the Samsung Exynos 850 processor can consume more power than other devices. As a result, the battery performance of the Galaxy A04s may lag slightly behind some of its competitors. Nevertheless, it will provide enough battery life for most users under everyday usage conditions.
Connectivity Features
Samsung Galaxy A04s is a smartphone that offers multiple connectivity options. With 4.5G LTE support, it provides fast data download and upload speeds, ensuring smooth viewing and loading of online content. Wi-Fi 5 support provides fast Internet connectivity over wireless networks. Bluetooth 5.0 provides seamless connectivity to wireless headphones, speakers, and other Bluetooth devices.
The lack of NFC support may limit NFC-based features such as wireless payments and data sharing. However, the GPS feature enables the use of location-based services and supports the device’s map navigation and positioning capabilities. These connectivity features provide the Galaxy A04s with sufficient and varied options to meet everyday communication needs.
Price
The Samsung Galaxy A04s stands out as an affordable smartphone with different RAM and storage options. The model with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage is priced at $94, while the version with 3GB of RAM and 64GB of storage is available for $149.50. For those who need more storage, the 4GB RAM and 128GB storage model can be purchased for $199.50. These prices make it an attractive choice for users looking for a budget-friendly smartphone.
However, while the Samsung Galaxy A04s is offered as a budget-friendly option, it’s important to note that there are alternatives in the same price range that offer better performance, camera quality and battery life. In particular, competing models such as the Redmi 12C may seem more appealing compared to the Galaxy A04s, thanks to better hardware and features. On the other hand, it should be noted that the Galaxy A04s lags behind in most aspects and may even struggle to meet everyday needs. In this respect, opting for another device instead of the Samsung Galaxy A04s seems to be a more sensible choice.
