Samsung Galaxy A31 Review
● 6.4inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display
●48MP Camera
●5000mAh Battery
●Media Tek Helio P65
■ Samsung Galaxy A31 Display and Design
Samsung Galaxy A31 looks like a fusion of Galaxy A30 and Galaxy A51. On the front we have the old drop notch different from the most recent mid-rangers of the brand, which adopt a hole in the screen. At the rear, it is almost identical to the superior models with a small change in the flash position. In addition to the blue option, you can also find the galaxy A31 in black or white. They all have the same holographic pattern that we initially saw on the Galaxy A30s, so nothing new around here. Samsung stretched the screen to the 20:9 ratio, but did not reduce the bezels, which makes the galaxy A31 bigger than its predecessor, with the same inches. It also got heavier, because of the bigger battery. The build 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.
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 galaxy A31. It features 6.4inch Super AMOLED Full HD+ Infinity U display. 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.
■ Samsung Galaxy A31 Camera
The number of cameras grew with each update of the line - on the A30 we have only two, which increased to three on the A30S - now with the galaxy 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, and does that mean we have the same photographic quality? It should, but as MediaTek hardware usually lacks good image processing we have worse pictures on the A31. It is possible to have good photos in open places and with ideal lighting, but if the light go out The quality will follow. 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 - 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. 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 three to five centimeters of 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, however, it does not register more details than before.
The samsung galaxy A31 is capable of taking good selfies, even out of the house against the sun. Indoors, it does not struggles with loss of sharpness and at night it does not present as much noise. Portrait mode is more limited and has more flaws, especially in the hair outline. At least it does not disable HDR, as is common with rival brand intermediaries that feature selfies with a bursted background. 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 resulted 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.
■ Samsung Galaxy A31 OS and Hardware
The 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 old models 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 samsung galaxy A31 and take less.
The galaxy A30 and A30S came with the same platform as Samsung, the Exynos 7904. Now, finally, we have a change in the A31, which brings the Helio P65 from MediaTek. Theoretically, it is more powerful than the hardware of older models but in our practice test, we had a big disappointment. It was slower to open applications and games, taking 1 minute longer than the galaxy A31. How is this possible? We could blame MediaTek's hardware, but since it's 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 performance is at least close to the A51, as in benchmark tests seen in AnTuTu.
■ Samsung Galaxy A31 Battery
If samsung galaxy A31's performance is disappointing, at least we can't say the same for the battery. With the increase to 5000 mAh, the A31 easily surpasses its predecessors and is among the best in autonomy considering the recent launches of the Galaxy A series. The downside of the battery increase is that the recharge time has also gone up. Samsung could have put a more powerful charger to keep the A31 from spending more than two hours plugged in to have its battery fully recharged. With a quick charge of 15 minutes, you recover 13% of the battery and you will have half of it with 1 hour in the socket.
■ Samsung Galaxy A31 Gaming Performance
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 HD on PUBG with fluidity at the top.
■ Our Verdict
The Is it worth upgrading from A30 to A31? It would even be worth it if the price of the new one was not so high. You lose performance due to Samsung's lack of optimization but you gain in battery and camera. Compared to the A30S, it gets even 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 the A51 is cheaper and is a superior phone in almost everything if you pay a little more, you can get the A71, which makes an even bigger difference lagging behind the A31 only on battery, however, recharges much faster.
The If you are looking for a good mid-range device, pick the Galaxy A51, which is more worth your money. Samsung Galaxy A31 will only be worth it if its price is equal to or less than the A30S.
■ Samsung Galaxy A31 Full Specifications
| ● Network | |
|---|---|
| 2G bands | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2 |
| 3G bands | HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 |
| 4G bands | LTE band 1(2100), 3(1800), 7(2600), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300), 41(2500) |
| Speed | HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps |
| GPRS | Yes |
| EDGE | Yes |
| ● OS & Hardware | |
| OS | Android 10 Samsung One UI 2.0 |
| Processor | Media Tek Helio P65 |
| Chipset | Octa-core (2x2 GHz & 6x1.7 GHz) |
| GPU | Mali-G72 MP3 |
| ● Design | |
| Dimensions | 159.30×73.10×8.60 mm (6.2×2.93×0.30 in) |
| Weight | 185g |
| Build | Glass front (Gorilla Glass 3),Plastic back,Plastic frame |
| Colors | Prism Crush Black, Blue, Red |
| ● Display | |
| Type | Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
| Screen Size | 6.4"(16.21cm) FHD+ sAMOLED Infinity-U Display |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels (~403 ppi pixel density) |
| Multitouch | Yes |
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| Sensors | Accelerometer, Proximity, Compass |
| ● Memory | |
| Card slot | microSD (dedicated slot), up to 512 GB |
| Internal | 128 GB |
| RAM | 6 GB |
| ● Camera | |
| Rear | 48MP (f/2.0) 8MP (f/2.2) 5MP (f/2.4) 5MP (f/2.4) |
| Front | 20MP (f/2.2) |
| Features | HDR , Face detection |
| Video | 1080p@30fps |
| ● Multimedia | |
| Music play | Yes |
| Radio | FM Radio |
| Games | Yes |
| Alert types | Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones |
| Loudspeaker | Yes |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes |
| ● Battery & Power | |
| Type | Non-removable Li-Ion 5000 mAh battery |
| Charging | 15W Fast charging USB Type C |
| Fast Charge | Yes |
| ● Expected Price | |
| US Dollor | $306 |
| Bangladeshi Taka | BDT 25,999 (For 6/128 GB varient) |
| Indian Rs. | Rs. 20,999 (For 6/128 GB varient) |
Samsung Galaxy A31 review: A good phone for the non-gamers out there
Reviewed by S M Zubair Islam
on
July 15, 2020
Rating:
Reviewed by S M Zubair Islam
on
July 15, 2020
Rating:
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