Samsung Galaxy A70 review: A Galaxy Note for the masses

It’s secret that people aren’t buying as many high-end premium phones like y used to, say a couple of years ago. One of biggest reasons why this is happening is because mid-range phones are getting better and better by day – so much so that investing (or rar splurging) in a more expensive phone makes little sense. It’s safe to say that mid-range phones have truly come of , and in some cases, y’re packing invations far more exciting than what ir more premiere counterparts tend to offer. Samsung Galaxy A70 is a classic example. 

Galaxy A70 has a tall 20:9 (6.7-inch) Infinity-U display and it supports 25W fast charging - both of which are a first for any Samsung phone, let alone any Samsung Galaxy A-series phone. re’s a 4,500mAh battery inside Galaxy A70, in case you were wondering. 

w Samsung has me big screen and big battery phones in past. In fact, Samsung has a whole lineup of Galaxy te devices with big screens and big batteries (this year’s Galaxy te 10 is also rumored to pack a 4,500mAh battery inside). thing that makes a mid-range phone like Galaxy A70 stand out is that it tries to offer a similar big screen and big battery experience at a fraction of a cost as say Galaxy te 9 – at Rs 28,990 to be precise. Galaxy A70 is a Galaxy te for masses and while it’s t perfect, it serves its purpose well.  

Photo by Saurabh Singh

Galaxy A70 is a phone designed from ground up for content consumption. For endless binge-watching sessions. For scores of rewarding chicken dinners. You get drift. Galaxy A70 has what it takes to be your go-to Netflix phone, or PUBG phone – without burning a hole in your pocket. 

So, let’s start with that screen. Galaxy A70 comes with a 6.7-inch 1080p+ Super AMOLED display with an unusually tall 20:9 aspect ratio and Infinity-U waterdrop-style tch. While it’s t as ultra-widescreen as Sony’s Xperia 1 (that has a 21:9 display), Galaxy A70 is closest that it can get to showing content recorded in ultra-widescreen format, way that it’s intended.   

Of course, content will be a constraint but both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video w have 21:9 content, that purists will appreciate on Galaxy A70’s 20:9 screen. For layman it will mean, much smaller black bars at top and bottom of screen when viewing content in this format.   

Photo by Saurabh Singh

re are or vants as well. A taller screen will allow you to browse a lot more stuff at once and it will also be better for multi-tasking – sly, Samsung isn’t bundling any software enhancements to make Galaxy A70 any more useful than it alrey is by default. What it has done, and that’s also a first for any mid-range Samsung phone, is that it has greatly reduced bezels on all sides of Galaxy A70 – that includes chin portion. Galaxy A50, which falls below Galaxy A70 in hierarchy, has much more bezels – chin is substantial on that one.  

As for quality, unsurprisingly, Galaxy A70 has one of best displays that you can get on a smartphone at its price point – it offers deep blacks, excellent viewing angles and best in-class outdoor legibility. Pixel-peepers may tice some jagged edges in text on close observation, but that’s expected on a phone as big as this one.  

That AMOLED panel allows Samsung to also outfit Galaxy A70 with an optical in-display fingerprint scanner. As is case with all first-generation tech, Samsung’s in-display fingerprint scanner is far from perfect – re's room for improvement especially when it comes to accuracy but that’s thing that a software update can’t fix. 

Photo by Saurabh Singh

Under hood, Galaxy A70 comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 processor with 6GB RAM and 128GB stor which is expandable by up to 512GB via a dedicated micro-SD card slot. One can argue, Xiaomi’s Redmi te 7 Pro packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 at a rock-bottom price of around Rs 14,000 – but really, it won’t be fair to judge two phones solely on basis of SoC inside. Much like Xiaomi’s phone, Samsung’s Galaxy A70 has its own merits. 

As for all-round performance, Galaxy A70 is generally a fast phone. Unless you’re playing a graphically intensive game like PUBG or Asphalt 9 on it – in comparison to a phone like Qualcomm Snapdragon 710-powered kia 8.1. In Samsung’s defense, Galaxy A70 is a much better performer than similarly priced Vivo V15 Pro with same hardware credentials. What this means is that Galaxy A70 is a capable phone that can handle everything (including high-end games) that you throw at it without breaking a sweat and without losing its cool – but mid-range segment is currently full of excellent performers and even more powerful options like Qualcomm Snapdragon 845-powered Poco F1. Galaxy A70 is a fast phone, but re are faster phones in and around its price.  

biggest reason why Galaxy A70 feels like a fast phone (in 9 out of 10 cases) is because Samsung has been able to well optimize software inside it. Budget and mid-range Samsung phones have always h to make do with a stripped-down version of company’s software – wher it was TouchWiz of yore, or Experience of w. Samsung’s 2019 Galaxy A phones are different. 

Photo by Saurabh Singh

t only does Galaxy A70 run Android 9 Pie, it also gets Samsung’s One UI on top of it - Galaxy A70 is also first Galaxy A phone to fully support Samsung Pay for contactless payments. I can’t stress eugh that One UI is best piece of software that Samsung has ever built – and it makes even more sense on a large-screen phone like Galaxy A70. One UI has been built specifically for large-screen phones like Galaxy A70 after all. Even though Galaxy A70 is a 6.7-inch phone, One UI ensures everything inside it is easy to reach, and easy to work around with. Its large, cartoonish icons will need some time getting used to – but n you can always downlo and install third-party icons, just in case.  

All that optimization also works wonders for battery life. Galaxy A70’s 4,500mAh battery will easily last over a day, even for hardcore users – our battery loop tests gave us close to 15 hours on Galaxy A70 which is thing short of impressive. But what really sets Galaxy A70 apart from any or Samsung phone, or any or phone at its price point for that matter, is that it supports 25W fast charging. Samsung is also bundling a 25W fast charger in box – a complete charge from 0-100 per cent takes nearly 1 hour 50 minutes. 

w that we’ve dissected Galaxy A70’s helining features (and found m to be quite compelling) let’s talk about rest of phone. Particularly cameras, because well, Galaxy A70 has a total of four of m. 

Photo by Saurabh Singh

It comes with three rear cameras consisting of one 32MP sensor with f/1.7 aperture, an 8MP ultra-wide sensor (with 120-degree field-of-view) and a 5MP sensor for depth sensing aka portrait photography. On front, Galaxy A70 comes with a 32MP camera with f/2.0 aperture. 

Samsung is using its 32MP GD1 im sensor in Galaxy A70. GD1 sensor may have tiny 0.8-micron pixels (larger pixels result in greater light sensitivity) but Samsung uses a workaround this caveat, a Qu Bayer arrangement wherein four pixels are grouped under one filter of same color, to supposedly produce photos akin to a much larger sensor with 1.6-micron pixels. 

effective resolution in case of 32MP GD1 is 8MP – same reason why rear and front cameras on-board Galaxy A70 shoot at 8MP by default. One big highlight of this sensor is that it allows phone’s ISP to computationally convert default 8MP array into a 32MP im – which is why it is also possible to shoot native 32MP photos using Galaxy A70. 

So, how good are Galaxy A70’s 32MP cameras? Quite good, especially by Samsung mid-range standards – but right of bat, let me tell you that, Vivo V15 Pro is an all-round better camera phone than Galaxy A70. Although Galaxy A70 photos come out sharp and have colors that look pleasing to eyes, y’re almost always lacking in detail. dynamic range is also thing special to write home about. This is true for both rear and front main cameras – although I do like portrait shots that it takes. 

But it’s t all a lost cause – Galaxy A70 cameras really shine in tricky and low light. Galaxy A70 can capture brighter exposures with higher ISO in such situations – brighter, cleaner and more detailed photos with little or ise. This is when you shoot in 8MP default mode – 32MP mode isn’t visable in such cases since it entails in a soft, mushy mess. re’s dedicated night mode in Galaxy A70 which is a bummer – Vivo V15 Pro has one.    

Photo by Saurabh Singh

 Galaxy A70 also has an 8MP wide-angle camera and a 5MP portrait camera on rear offering a great bit of versatility for a phone that costs south of Rs 30,000. y work well when lighting is ideal, capturing good wide-angle shots (with distortion) and portraits with good-eugh edge detection.   

For videos, Galaxy A70 rear camera can shoot good-quality electronically stabilized 4K videos at 30fps but dynamic range could have been better. 

Almost everything about Galaxy A70 feels new and refreshing - which is a big change from past Samsung Galaxy A phones. This is especially true about specs. But re’s one thing that remains constant across all Galaxy A phones (for w) – design. 

Samsung is calling it ‘glasstic’ design. Galaxy A70 is an all-plastic phone but it doesn’t look or feel like one. In fact, its glossy and light-bending paintjob will give all-glass phones a run for ir money. All its color variants can selectively trigger a rainbow-like effect depending on how light reflects off ir surface. It’s clean and minimalistic, Galaxy A70, but surely re are better looking and better feeling phones in and around its price point. kia 8.1 is one. 

Regardless, Galaxy A70 is built solid, has ample weight to it, and does t feel cheap from any perceivable angle. It is susceptible to scratches every w and n (also, it is prone to smudge and fingerprints) but re’s a clear case inside box which is nice. Also, Galaxy A70 is t a small phone – it will always require attention of both your hands. volume rocker is placed higher up on right – it would have been better h Samsung put it on left.

Photo by Saurabh Singh

Elsewhere, phone calls me with Galaxy A70 are of excellent quality - I did t encounter any odd call drops (beyond usual) on my review unit. mo speaker vent located at bottom of phone can get loud but it’s lacking in all-round sound quality – phone ditionally supports Dolby Atmos over wired hephones. 

Galaxy A70 is a new- Galaxy A phone. reason why I call it new- is because it’s unlike any or Galaxy A phone in past. Yes, it isn’t me of glass or metal and it doesn’t have water-resistance and or tidbits, like past Galaxy A phones, but ne of that is a deal-breaker. If anything, it helps brings down  cost. What’s important is that Galaxy A70 covers all basics – something that t many Samsung budget and mid-range phones were good at once upon a time. 

Galaxy A70 is a breath of fresh air from Samsung and even though it is coming at a time when competition is at an all-time high, it can still hold its ground well. If you’re in market to buy a new mid-range phone, and if you’re into binge watching and PUBG, Samsung Galaxy A70 is  phone to buy.

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