Samsung’s midrange phones used to be almost universally bad values that relied on the Samsung name more than anything else. A few years ago, the company revamped its budget offerings under the much improved Galaxy A series. We’ve seen a few of these devices stateside, but a lot more is on the way. The latest generation of A-series phones is now coming to America, starting at about $100 and going as high as $600 for the 5G-equipped A71.
Samsung’s new ultra-budget offering is the A01, which starts at $109. It has a 5.7-inch 720p LCD, a 13/2MP rear-facing camera array, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and a Snapdragon 439 system-on-a-chip (SoC). It won’t offer a great experience, but it’s hard to complain for the price. The A11 is a small step up from that phone, priced at $179. It gets a larger 6.4-inch 720p LCD and an additional ultrawide camera on the back, a fingerprint sensor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and a faster (but unnamed) ARM chip.
The A21 climbs to $249 and incorporates more premium features like 15W fast charging over USB-C and a quad-camera array with a 16MP main with ultrawide, depth, and macro modules. It also has a 6.5-inch 720p LCD. Again, we don’t know which SoC this phone will have, but there will be 3GB of RAM.
The Galaxy A51 builds on the success of the A50, which launched in the US last year. This phone has a 6.5-inch 1080p OLED with an in-display fingerprint sensor. It also starts at 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage with an Exynos 9611 SoC. The first version of the A51 in the US will have 4G LTE and cost $399. Later this summer, Samsung will release a 5G version of the A51 for $100 more.
The $599 A71 is Samsung’s almost-flagship offering with a 6.7-inch 1080p OLED with an in-display fingerprint sensor. It has a similar quad-camera setup to the A51 with a higher-resolution main sensor. Inside you get 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and an Exynos 980 SoC. It also steps up to 25W fast charging. Samsung has only confirmed this device as a 5G phone, so it will launch a bit later than the A51.
Samsung plans to start selling the A51 and A01 tomorrow (April 9th) on its own website and via third-party retailers. AT&T will also offer the A51 starting next month. The other phones, including the 5G devices, will launch over the summer.
