Samsung Galaxy A51 Review: One Year Later | The Technobyte |

Samsung Galaxy A51 Review: One Year Later | The Technobyte |

When the Samsung Galaxy A51 was released back in 2020, it was an awesome deal for the offline segment from Samsung. Usually, a phone with specs like this would be priced around 28 K to 30 K. But Samsung priced this phone below 25 K. I have been using the Samsung Galaxy A51 as my daily driver for more than a year now. I'll go over all the key aspects of the Galaxy A51 in this blog. If you are new here, do subscribe to our blog to receive more awesome content and share this with your friends.

1. Display:

Samsung is known for their best in class Amoled displays. The Galaxy A51 has a 6.5-inch infinity-o panel. This is a super Amoled panel and the colors are vivid and excellent. The viewing angles are also good. 

This was the first time where Samsung introduced their infinity o panels in the midrange segment. But the refresh rate of the display is only 60 Hz. The hole punch mostly remains unnoticeable and the bezels are minimal. This display provides an immersive experience while watching movies and playing games. 

There are no problems in viewing this display even under broad daylight. The display has Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for protection. 

In terms of display, the Galaxy A51 gets an 8.5/10.

2. Battery :

Samsung Galaxy A51 has a 4000 mah battery. The battery life of A51 can be termed as above average. The phone's battery will last a day under light to medium usage. But if you are a heavy user and play graphic-intensive games like PUBG, Call of duty, for a long time, the battery will drain quickly. 

In terms of charging, it has a 15W fast charger included in the box. It takes approximately 1.5 hrs to charge from 0 to 100. The battery optimization of Galaxy A51 could have been better but it is still not a deal-breaker. 

So in terms of battery, the Galaxy A51 scores an 8 / 10

3. Processor :

This is where things take a turn. The Samsung Galaxy A51 hosts the Exynos 9611. This is an octa-core processor and it is built on 10nm architecture.  This chip can handle day-to-day tasks seamlessly and efficiently. Whether you are jumping between apps or doing some casual gaming, the 9611 can handle it easily. 

But when it comes to heavy usages, like video rendering and playing graphic-intensive games, it has some minor stutters. But the Galaxy A51 does not heat up alarmingly even while doing heavy tasks. The overall experience with Exynos 9611 is pleasing. 

In terms of processor, the Galaxy A51 scores a 7.5 / 10

4. Camera :

One of the major highlights of the Galaxy A51 is its cameras. It has a quad-camera setup at the back. The main camera is a 48 MP Sony IMX582 sensor with an f/2.0 aperture. Under good lighting conditions, the A51 captures excellent images with a good dynamic range. The colors were natural and vivid. The image processing of A51 is very impressive. One UI's camera app is much refined and user-friendly when compared to the old Samsung experience UI’s camera app. 

Shot on 48-megapixel primary camera:

In low light, the shots weren't excellent but usable.

The second sensor is a 12 MP ultra-wide-angle camera with an f/2.2 aperture and has a 123-degree field of view. The ultrawide shots were stunning. There was no major color shift between the ultra-wide and normal camera.

Shot on 12-megapixel wide angle camera:

The last two are a 5 MP macro and 5 MP depth sensor. In terms of macro, A51 can shoot some decent macro shots under good lighting conditions.

Shot on 5-megapixel macro camera:

In terms of video, it can support up to 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/120fps. It also has a super stabilization mode, which provides gimbal-like stability. Samsung has its own night mode and it gets the job done. Another highlight of Galaxy A51 is, it has a full-fledged pro mode rather than a toned-down version of pro mode in some of its mid-rangers.

On the front, it has a 32 MP camera with an f/2.2 aperture for selfies. The front also has support for 4K@30fps. The selfies came out crisp and the detail levels were great. The portrait shots were very impressive.

Shot on 32-megapixel front camera:

In outdoor lighting, A51's cameras take some great pictures and videos. But in low light, it only takes somewhat decent images. It also has support for slow motion, super slow motion, hyper-lapse and also has Samsung’s latest Single take. Single take means all the cameras take various pictures and videos at the same time with a single click. 

Overall, the Galaxy A51 offers an impressive camera experience and scores an 8.5/10

5.Build and design:

Galaxy A51 has a polycarbonate back and aluminum sides. A glass back would have been better. Even though it is plastic, it does not feel cheap. It is rigid and sturdy. It has a gradient back and it looks stunning. The advantage of having a plastic back is that the phone does not feel heavy. 

Even though it has a 4000 mah battery, it still weighs under 200 grams. The buttons are clicky and are placed ergonomically. The power and volume buttons are on the right. The sim tray is on the left. Galaxy A51 has a dedicated micro SD card slot. It supports two sim cards and has support for external memory up to 512 GB. On the top, it has a secondary noise cancellation mic. On the bottom, there is a type C port, the primary mic, headphone jack, and speakers. 

In terms of build and design, the Galaxy A51 scores a 7.5 / 10

6.RAM & Storage:

In India, the base variant of the Samsung Galaxy A51 starts at 6GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage and goes up to 8GB RAM and 256 GB internal storage. In some markets, they even offer a 4GB RAM 64GB ROM variant but the 6GB RAM variant is more preferable. The storage type is UFS 2.0 which is much better when compared to some of its midrangers with EMMC 5.1 slow storage.

7.Software:

Galaxy A51 runs on Samsung's latest One UI 3 on top of Android 11. One UI is user-friendly and is feature-rich. It is one the best UI on Android. A few months back, Samsung announced the list of their Galaxy devices that would receive 3 years of software updates which includes the Galaxy A51. 

In android, 3 years of software updates are very uncommon. From being a brand that delayed updates even on their flagship devices, Samsung has stepped up their game in terms of software updates. Samsung has provided timely updates during my usage of the Galaxy A51.

In terms of software, the Galaxy A51 scores a 9 / 10.

8.Security:

Samsung Galaxy A51 has an In-display fingerprint scanner that works perfectly most of the time.  A51 also has face unlock. In both ways, the phone unlocks quickly. 

Additional benefits:

Galaxy A51 has a full-fledged Samsung pay service. We can use our phones to make contactless mobile payments. It replicates a card swipe.

It also has Dolby Atmos support.

Pros:

• Good display.
• Overall camera experience was great.
• In-display fingerprint scanner.
• Timely software updates.
• Lightweight.
• Good battery life.
• Clean UI and no ads.

 Cons:

• Plastic build.
• The processor could have been better.
• No high refresh rate display.

 Conclusion:

The overall experience of using the Samsung A51 was pleasant. Even though it does not offer the best value for money, It is still a great overall device. The display and the cameras are much better than what Samsung previously used to offer in the midrange segment. The up-to-date software and a decent battery make the Galaxy A51 a good overall package especially from a tier-one brand and Samsung also has good after-sales service all over the country. 

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