Content

1. Contents of delivery
2. TECH SPECS
3. Positioning
4. Design, dimensions, controls
5. Display
6. Battery
7. Memory, chipset, performance
8. Communication capabilities
9. Camera
10. Software – features
11. Impressions

Contents of delivery

• Smartphone
• Charger (15 W, microUSB)
• Instructions
• “Paperclip” for SIM-tray

Positioning

The simplification of the line of smartphones led to the fact that both the most budgetary devices and models of a higher class got into the A-series. The simplicity of building the ruler is a big plus, but the minus is that now the ruler is formed by completely different devices. In the lower segment, these are ODM models created by third-party manufacturers for Samsung, and this is exactly what the Galaxy A02 is.

The reason for contacting third-party manufacturers lies on the surface. Corporations such as Samsung cannot save on wages, benefit from this, when many Chinese factories see their advantage in this. The economy of a large company is designed in such a way that, by definition, it cannot produce super-cheap smartphones, for example, Apple cannot produce mass-produced devices with an average cost, let alone budget devices. In Samsung, the segment up to 10 thousand rubles becomes conditionally available. This is a watershed, since it is very difficult for a company of the level of Samsung to make an interesting device worth up to 10 thousand rubles on a shelf. And therefore, considering the Galaxy A02, you need to be aware of what exactly was removed and how you saved it. There are many solutions, typical for budget devices, and an attempt to brighten up the disadvantages due to individual characteristics.

It is my deep conviction that the Galaxy A02 is aimed at those who are not at all interested in smartphones and their characteristics before buying, but just come to the store. This is a grateful audience, since people buy far from optimal models, turn a blind eye to all their shortcomings, and often do not even know about them. For a person who reads this review or other materials, the issue of choice will not be so acute. Therefore, this is an accidental purchase with closed eyes, it is unlikely that anyone will consciously purchase this model. However, we will figure this out in the course of the review.

Design, dimensions, controls

The device is available in three colors – red, black and blue.

The body was made textured, it is pleasant to the touch, although there is not a trace of velvety, ordinary plastic. Abrasion appears on the edges, but it is leveled by the pattern, handprints do not remain here, which is understandable. The plastic is quite practical, but the device itself weighs 206 grams, which is noticeable. The dimensions of the smartphone are 164 x 75.9 x 9,1 mm, it is large, which follows from the size of the screen.

On the left side there is a SIM card slot, it is not combined!

On the right side there is an on / off button and a volume rocker. At the bottom there is a 3.5 mm jack, a microphone and a speaker, as well as a microUSB connector. Despite the fact that for part of the audience, the microUSB connector is still normal, in 2021 it is worth starting to refuse it, the time has come. And it is the old connector that gives out what they tried to save on almost everything.

The device does not have a second microphone and noise cancellation system during a call. This is a noticeable disadvantage compared to the devices that Samsung created for the budget segment.

Another point is the absence of a light indicator, instead, the screen brightness is controlled by the fact that the front camera takes pictures and evaluates the light level. The approach is at least strange and clearly worse than the installation of a conventional light indicator.

The handset lacks a fingerprint sensor, but it also lacks face recognition, which is very strange! It was possible and necessary to implement this function; it is available in almost all devices in this price segment.

The assembly of the device is of high quality, it does not raise any questions, but it cannot be said that other manufacturers have something lower in this price segment. This is the standard level for such models, no worse and no better.

Display

The technical characteristics of the screen are as follows: 6.5 inches, 720×1600 pixels, HD + (20: 9), PLS TFT LCD, 270 ppi, automatic brightness control, Corning Gorilla Glass 3. A very inexpensive screen, the picture fades at almost any tilt, which makes the screen far from perfect.

The screen is readable in the sun, you can see this in the photo. Dull, but readable.

The absence of a normal illumination indicator is noticeable, the brightness is adjusted very smoothly, while the energy consumption is noticeable (the front camera takes photos). I advise you to just set a comfortable brightness level and use it. A budget screen in all its forms, on the Galaxy A12 the screen is noticeably better – brighter, clearer, there is an automatic brightness control.

Battery

The smartphone has a built-in Li-Pol battery with a capacity of 5000 mAh, it supports fast charging, and such a 15W charger is included in the package.

The officially declared battery performance parameters coincide with what we received in the tests:

• Video playback time at maximum brightness – up to 16 hours;
• Audio playback – up to 78 hours;
• Internet browsing via Wi-Fi – up to 17 hours, LTE – up to 18 hours;
• Talk time in 4G – up to 24 hours.

In everyday life, this device works for about two days with 3-4 hours of screen. With more workload, you get one day of work! The explanation for this phenomenon is in slow memory and an old processor (28 nm!), Many operations are very unhurried, we’ll talk about this later.

The total charging time for the battery is approximately 208 minutes. Every fifteen minutes, charging gives 8%, but starting from 150 minutes, the speed decreases to 6% at the same time.

Memory, chipset, performance

The smartphone used the MediaTek MT6739W chipset (28 nm technology), it has four Cortex A53 cores with a frequency of up to 1.5 GHz, the PowerVR GE8100 graphics system. The chipset, popular in 2018, unexpectedly survived in 2021, but its performance is not enough for normal operations (especially since there is eMMC memory). It turns out that all operations related to the device’s memory are slow, which leads to delays in opening programs, switching between them. And this is one of the few examples when a Samsung smartphone literally slows down in the interface. Slow. Moreover, even by the standards of budget models, there is clearly not enough memory speed, and the amount of RAM is small (2 GB). Hence the poor results in all benchmarks.

A lot could be forgiven for this device if it worked more or less quickly, at the level of its classmates, but this is simply not observed here.

Communication capabilities

The lack of NFC did not allow the implementation of payment services. Single-band Wi-Fi, version Bluetooth 5.0, everything is very simple and straightforward. Navigation slows down, but this is the speed of the smartphone in general, not GPS.

Camera

The camera interface is familiar to other Samsung models, there are no additional options as such. There is a separate “Macro” mode.

Let’s look at some examples of photos and videos, this is a very budget device.

Software – features

The model is based on Android 10 and OneUI 2.0, there is no need to wait for updates to the new version, the performance of the chipset is clearly not enough, but the device receives security updates, improvements in the work of certain functions.

A few words about the multimedia capabilities of the device. It has a built-in radio with the ability to record programs. The headphones act as an antenna.

Standard applications are represented by the file manager and other applications that are necessary for comfortable work out of the box.

Impressions

It is impossible to say that the device has flaws in connection quality, but it catches the network much worse than the original models from Samsung, and the voice transmission is not so good. That is, even in calls, this budget is felt. The device’s performance is rather low, it is slow. Considering the cost of 8 rubles, it is impossible to say that there is nothing alternative on the market. Any C-brand device in this category will win, and it will have NFC, a better screen, comparable operating time, despite a smaller battery. Taken together, everything says one thing – you can choose this model if you simply do not know that there are other offers in this price segment.

The next model in the series, the Galaxy A12, inherits many of the A02’s features on paper, but in real life it’s just heaven and earth.

The Galaxy A12 will be reviewed in the near future, but for now I will say that at a cost of 12 thousand rubles, this model is a cut higher (the difference of 3 rubles in this price segment is very noticeable). The surprise is that last year’s Galaxy A000 turned out to be more interesting than the new product, it was more adequate for its time.

In short, look at Galaxy A02 only if you need Samsung and for minimal money, there is no other reason for buying this device, there are too many compromises and technologies that are absent, but are needed in any device. At the same time, I have no doubts that, like the A01 last year, this model will become noticeable in sales. The price and place in the line give every reason to believe that it will be sold successfully.

Back to content >>>

Related Links

Share: 

we are in social networks:

Anything to add ?! Write … eldar@mobile-review.com