Samsung has a huge selection of smartphones, from the top-end Galaxy S21 Ultra and the amazing Galaxy Z Fold 2 to the most basic devices. As an example, I want to cite the new product of the year – Samsung Galaxy A02, which costs less than the psychological mark of ten thousand rubles.

By the way, last year we had a review of the inexpensive Galaxy A01:

Simple and practical body

The body of the Samsung Galaxy A02 is made of matte plastic, no gloss, which is great. On the surface there are no marks and prints, scratches will not appear either. I liked that they chose a corrugated surface, the back of the case turned out to be rough.

The phone, despite its large screen, turned out to be convenient. It is quite narrow, so you can hold it with one hand without fear of dropping it, and it is also not slippery.

Huge screen

The screen is very large: 6.5 inches diagonal, resolution 720 × 1560 pixels. I don’t see the point in complaining about the graininess of the picture, it’s much more important that the IPS screen is bright, not dull, and the backlight supply is enough for comfortable use in sunny weather.

Just in case, I would like to note that the phone has an automatic light control sensor, and it works normally. In my opinion, the display with an oleophobic coating is not of the highest quality, but it’s better than none at all. The cutout for the front camera also remains, everything is in a modern spirit.

Slow

Benchmarks and other power tests are not about the Galaxy A02 at all. Its characteristics are quite modest, the phone received only 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal memory, there is a slot for a microSD memory card.

Loading the phone with games is a so-so idea, although if you don’t chase graphics, but just look for something exciting, you can play solitaire or play chess. In general, to return to a time when the mere presence of a game on the phone was a small holiday.

It’s also not worth looking for super-smooth work in the menu, the phone is slow. According to the first sensations, moving through the menu, everything is fine. But then you start launching applications and you are surprised how slowly the same YouTube works, not to mention the more resource-demanding Instagram. On the other hand, what do you want from a phone with a MediaTek MT6739 processor, made using a 28nm process technology. The chipset was introduced in the fall of 2017, Samsung could have chosen something fresher, but we will leave it to the conscience of the creators of the phone.

It is unusual that there is no fingerprint scanner, the phone cannot recognize the owner by the face either. You can only set a numeric or alphabetic password, or use a graphic to protect your data.

What’s on the options list

Let’s go over other features of the phone. Navigation: sees satellites, searches quickly on the street, determines the location without a miss. You can’t pay for purchases in stores with your phone, it doesn’t have NFC. There are two slots for SIM-cards, and the microSD tray is separate, a handy little thing.

As for the entertainment part, the phone has a mono speaker on the bottom end, there is also a 3.5 mm headphone port. You can listen to FM radio if you connect a wired headset.

But a lot of additional software is preinstalled in addition to the usual set of Google and Microsoft applications. Here’s what I found: My Office, KIS, Public Services, Odnoklassniki, VKontakte, Marusya, ICQ, Mail.Ru News, 2GIS, Yandex.Zen, Mail.Ru Mail “. All this goodness can be deleted if desired, freeing up some memory.

Photo examples

I will not look for details in the photographs and try to describe the shortcomings. This is because the cameras here are just for show, they somehow take pictures, and thanks for that. The main camera in the Samsung Galaxy A02 is 13 MP, here are some examples of photos in different conditions.

Bright sun, even too bright:

Photo in a well-lit room with natural light:

As an add-on, you can use an auxiliary 2-megapixel camera for macro photography, but the quality is downright very low:

The front camera is 5 megapixels, and it does not shine with quality:

Tsar Battery

The smartphone is charged via microUSB, an old-style connector, but you can attribute this to the status of the phone. An entry-level model, so no Type-C is allowed. However, you can rarely charge it: with a 5000 mAh battery, you can count on three days of work. The scenario is something like this: about an hour of watching YouTube videos a day, an hour of music, a little correspondence through instant messengers.

The Galaxy A02 does not support fast charging, the smartphone is equipped with a low-power 7.8 W power supply. Therefore, charging stretches for a long time and it is easiest to do this at night, while the phone is not needed.

Price

The official price is as follows: Samsung Galaxy A02 costs 8990 rubles. Of the closest analogues, I can cite Redmi 9a, also a very simple phone, but still more powerful:

Impression

The example of the Samsung Galaxy A02 clearly shows what budget smartphones have become. Even for minimal money, you can get a large display of good quality, a convenient One UI 2.5 interface, a capacious battery and tolerable cameras.

You can easily find fault with the low performance of the phone, call it slow and sluggish, but it’s strange to want something outstanding from a device with simple characteristics. If you plan to play on a smartphone, then it is better to add money and buy a more powerful model.

The Galaxy A02 is a basic smartphone for those who need calls and entertainment like reading books or watching YouTube videos and who are ready to put up with its leisurely nature.

Specifications

• OS: Android 10;
• Screen: 6.5 inches, 720 × 1600, TFT-PLS;
• Processor: MediaTek MT6739;
• Memory: 2 GB RAM, 32 GB built-in, microSD slot;
• Cameras: main 13 MP (f/1.9), macro 2 MP (f/2.4), front 5 MP (f/2.0);
• Communications: Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n 2.4 GHz, microUSB, 3.5 mm, GPS and GLONASS;
• Battery: 5000mAh, 7.75W charging;
• Dimensions: 164 × 75.9 × 9.1 mm;
• Weight: 206 g.