Affordable 5G phone packed with gaming power
Introduction
At this time of the situation around us, devices has been an important criteria for all of us, budget and features within the phone is one of the most talked about topic, with the specs as well. Most 5G phones are usually sits at a high price, and today we will review a much budget oriented yet packed some good specs, the Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
Design
The Galaxy A42 5G does not look like a budget phone, looking at the back of the phone, although its a plastic shell, its a shining one under the light which brings in some premium feelings to it. Looking at the camera placement, we see the squarish design with a small camera bump followed by the flash, its a single flash, but it gets the job done for a mid range budget oriented phone. Below the phone you will get the USB Type C charging/data port, a headphone jack and a bottom firing speaker. Over at the front, it has a quite huge 6.6 inch HD+ display with a camera dot on top and the earpiece. Overall the design looks good, practical yet simple. On the color, the Galaxy A42 5G comes in 3, Prism Dot Black, Prism Dot White, Prism Dot Gray.
Display
Over the display side, the Galaxy A42 5G is powered by a 6.5 Inch HD+ Super Amoled screen at 20:9 aspect ratio. Display is decent, colors were display at a fairly accurate level. The camera dot on top is not hindering much the display and touchscreen is responsive with very minimal delay. However streaming playback such as YouTube will be limited to 720P playback.
Camera
Camera side, the Galaxy A42 5G is rear camera consist of one 48MP wide lens, one 8MP ultrawide, and one 5MP depth and one 5MP macro lens. Overall quality is normal, no surprises and high level of noise can still be seen over on night shots. Video recording is limited to 30FPS only. The similar quality can be said over the 20MP selfie camera, with the exception that when on day time selfie, it works absolutely the best. Overall I am ok with the picture, price wise considered.
Performance
Under the hood, the Samsung Galaxy A42 5G is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 750 5G , 128GB of internal storage and 8GB RAM. Call quality is excellent whether its a 3G call or even via VOLTE, WoWIFI option is available as well when enabled, delivering crystal clear voice quality. 5G connectivity will be the highlight of this phone, when any of the local telco launches 5G, the Galaxy A42 5G will get it as well, ensuring blazing fast speed for multimedia and streaming. Over to WiFi, the Galaxy A42 5G has WiFi AC built-in, base on test on a router, speed averages around 600mbps. Overall its excellent so far. Also because of the screen is just HD+, streaming is no issue with close to no buffer at all.
Over to the gaming side, this phone is an average performer, PUBG, Genshin Impact, Mobile Legends all performing OK with some lag and stutter sometime, but nothing is serious at all, you still can game on without interruptions and mostly smooth. Just don’t set the game graphical settings to high and ultra, just set it around low mix medium settings to ensure the best gaming experience you can get.
Battery performance wise, you will get around 10 hours of it, a mix of calls, surfing, email, streaming, and a few Genshin Impact sessions. Turn on the battery saving mode under 20% will get you around extra 2 hours of conservative usage. Charging wise any PD/QC charger will charge up quite fast nearing 3 hours on its 5000MAh battery.
Specifications
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G Octa Core Processor |
| Graphic | Adreno 619 |
| Display | 6.6 inch Super AMOLED, 720 x 1600 |
| Camera | Rear : 48 MP, f/1.8, (wide), 1/2.0″, 0.8µm, PDAF 8 MP, f/2.2, 123˚ (ultrawide) 5 MP, f/2.4, (macro) 5 MP, f/2.4, (depth) Front : 20 MP, f/2.2 (wide) |
| RAM | 8 GB |
| Storage | 128GB UFS 2.1 |
| Battery | 5000mAh with PD/QC3 fast charging |
| OS + UI | Android 10 + ONE UI with GMS |
| Price | RM1599 |
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy A42 5G is a great device for those who is just graduated, on a new job, venturing into the career world with a mix of gaming and entertainment. More over its a 5G ready phone with a good amount of RAM, ensuring all the apps switching and streaming video playback is smooth. With a price tag of RM1,599 , the Galaxy A42 5G is a good purchase choice preparing for the world of 5G and mid entry level of casual gaming on a phone.
Pros
- Great pricing for a 5G phone
- Very decent amount of 8GB RAM
- Good mid range performance
Cons
- No Wireless charging
- 60Hz Refresh Rate Display Only