Samsung introduces an awesome new #GalaxyA51 with an awesome 8GB RAM delivering smooth and efficient performance #AwesomeIsForEveryone pic.twitter.com/UxdnFUIQT7
— Samsung Pakistan (@Samsung_Pak) September 17, 2020
With the middle range market becoming evermore competitive than ever before, we thought it was a good time to evaluate a device that is selling in massive numbers over the world, Samsung’s Galaxy A51. This phone a restrained but stylish design, Samsung's A51 is loaded with quad rear cameras, an AMOLED display with a centrally located punch-hole selfie camera, and a glass-tastick rear back panel.
Samsung's A51 has been for sale in Europe since February while it went on sale in the US during April and is priced at £330/$400.
Styling
Due to the galssticky back panel, the Galaxy A51 does not really feel or look like it's a mid-range phone, the plastic appears forgiving when in your grip because there aren't any sharp edges like you can sometimes get on handsets that have rear panels built out of glass.
This design element on the rear panel is a nice touch and adds a touch of personality to the Galaxy A51. Sometimes the branding on cheaper handsets can be a touch over the top at times, Samsung's brand has been modestly used.
You note a selfie camera setup that, for some reason, is made more noticeable by what looks like a metallic circle that draws eyes.
Audio fans are sure to be pleased that there's an sound jack on the bottom of the handset, with a USB-C port as well as a speaker.
At the top of the handset there's a single microphone while the right side there is a power switch and loudness rocker with the SIM tray on the left edge of the phone.
Overall it is neat and inoffensive looking handset that fits into a normal pants pocket with no problem.
Speed And Performance
The Super AMOLED screen is great as you expect from Samsung}, the colors being vibrant and bright and the phone's viewing angles being a pleasure. There's very little to whine about apart from the device is a bit dull (however it is very legible) even when in direct sunlight and not conducive to viewing, even when you have the brightness at 100%.
Here is where testing top of the line smartphones like Oppo's Find X2 Pro the OnePlus 8 can be not helpful in having a balanced view of a mid-range handset like this device.
The 9611 CPU isn't able to compete with Snapdragon's 865 chipset in any way, and moving from the Exynos to the Snapdragon is a wakeup call then you realise that the Galaxy A51 is a middle of the range handset and these limitations likely need to be given.
You cannot help navigate to this website but notice that, Samsung's Galaxy A51 is laggy at times and I was left to wonder whether the device had registered the touch when attempting to open an app or to to share something.
This is just an amount of lag that I have not seen for a few years, even on cheaper handsets such as the Honor 10 Lite that can be bought for a lowly £140.
And as for the phone's in-display fingerprint sensor, suffice to say that Samsung should have rather put it on the rear as I experienced a success roughly 50% when attempting to unlock the A51 before having to end up typing the pin code in.