Samsung Galaxy A04s Review: The Cheapest Galaxy

The Samsung Galaxy A04s is the first Galaxy A smartphone in the “x4” series. It thus succeeds the Galaxy A03s and becomes the least expensive smartphone from the South Korean manufacturer. It was announced at 179 euros when it was launched in October 2022, but its price has dropped significantly. In the middle of January 2023, you can find a Samsung Galaxy A04s (SM-A047F/DSN) for 135 euros. But what is this entry-level device worth? To find out, I invite you to read the following test.

Aesthetics: A Known Design

The Galaxy A04s is based mainly on the design of the Galaxy A13. The case uses a polycarbonate with a glossy finish, with a decoration imitating fingerprints. This gives an excellent effect on paper, but the smartphone retains fingerprints, especially on the black version used in our test. The Galaxy A04s is also available in white. The 6.5-inch Infinity-V screen takes up 81% of the front face. The display is topped with an earpiece and light and proximity sensors.

The front camera sits in the teardrop notch at the top of the screen. On the other hand, there is no notification LED here. The phone’s upper edge gives way to an ambient microphone, while on the lower edge, we note the presence of a mini-jack socket, a primary microphone input, a USB-C port and the grille of the loudspeaker. On the left side, there is the SIM / micro SD drawer (2 nano SIM or one nano-SIM + 1 micro SD).

The right side hosts the volume key and the power button. The latter incorporates a fingerprint reader. Turn the phone over to discover a photo module integrating three separate sensors placed vertically in the upper left corner. An LED flash accompanies these.

Further down, we notice the Samsung brand, trash, and CE certification logos.

Dimensions: 164.7mm long x 76.7mm wide x 9.1mm thick | Weight: 195 grams
Repairability index: 7.9/10 ( find out more about the repairability index )

Image And Sound: A Dim Screen

The Galaxy A04s has a large 6.5-inch PLS LCD in 20:9 format. At less than 140 euros, you should not expect a Full HD + resolution. We will have to settle for HD+. The good news is that this screen benefits from a variable refresh rate between 60 and 90 Hz, which can be blocked at 60 Hz if necessary.

The colors are beautiful, and the viewing angles are correctly open. Here we have a Delta E of 2.9, which is quite suitable for a smartphone at this price level. The brightness of 407 nits will make it possible to consult the device’s screen outdoors, but it will be limited to direct sunlight.

Mainly thanks to the 20:9 format, it will be rather pleasant to watch videos on the screen of the Samsung Galaxy A04s. The sound delivered by the main speaker is correct and relatively robust (118 dB measured at the output).

The manufacturer had the excellent idea to equip this smartphone with a mini-jack. Listening to headphones also offers good sound quality. On the call, the sound output is entirely satisfactory. We understand his correspondence.

Screen: 6.5 inches (PLS LCD) with a resolution of 720 x 1600 pixels, i.e., a density of 270 pixels per inch.
Sound: Mini-jack socket and mono speaker. Classic earphones.

Performance: Quite Correct

For its Galaxy A04s, Samsung relies on an in-house processor engraved in 8 nm: the Exynos 850. This SoC already equips the Galaxy A13 (4G). It is here associated with 3GB RAM and a Mali-G52 MP1 GPU. Against our usual benchmarks, our test device obtained scores of 128,224 points on Antutu, 164 points on Geekbench 5 in single-core and 800 points in multi-core. Thanks in particular to the Mali-G52, this smartphone is pleasant to use daily and is all in all effective in the field of graphics performance.

If it is not a thunderbolt, our test smartphone displays 29 FPS during our gaming sessions, with 2D and 3D games that consume little resources. For storage, of the 32GB announced, only 19.2GB will be available to the user. However, this memory can easily be expanded by adding a micro SD card (+1 TB) without sacrificing one of the two nano-SIM cards.

Antutu Benchmark (v9.5.2): 128,224 points
Processor: 8 Exynos 850 cores (4 x 2.0GHz + 4 x 2.0GHz) | RAM: 3GB | GPU: Mali-G52 MP1
Storage memory: 32GB of memory which turns into 19.2GB when first started.

Connectivity: Total… Or Almost

All that is missing is 5G network compatibility for this Samsung Galaxy A04s to have full connectivity. But at 135 euros, you can’t ask for too much! So here we have 4G (Vo)LTE category 7 with all the bands necessary for full use in France and, more widely, Europe.

We also have 2G and 3G+.

Like any smartphone worthy of this name, the Galaxy A04s offers the pack of all the other connections, which are: Bluetooth (5.0), Wi-Fi (a/b/g/n/ac), (A)GPS/ Glonass/BDS/Galileo/QZSS, a mini-jack socket, a USB-C (OTG) port, two nano-SIM slots, a micro SD slot, but also an NFC chip.
The network hooks are good, whether in 2G, 3G, 4G or Wi-Fi.
For the GPS, in the courtyard of an urban condominium, it took 10 seconds for our test smartphone to obtain the first fixed (20 satellites).
In terms of sensors, the Samsung Galaxy A04s has an accelerometer and light and proximity sensors.

This smartphone must therefore do without a compass and gyroscope. Security has been remembered since the Galaxy A04s can be unlocked in 2 ways: via face-unlock (facial recognition) and the fingerprint reader integrated into the power button.

Either way, it’s quick and efficient.

SAR (Specific Absorption Rate): 0.52 W/kg at the head. This is a perfect score for a first-price mobile released at the end of 2022.

Operating System: An Updated System

One UI is one of the favorite interfaces of many smartphone users. Present here in its latest One UI Core 5.0 version. It is based on Android 13. This binomial is very pleasant to use daily. At the application level, in addition to the pack of G-Apps and Samsung applications, there are four Microsoft applications, as well as Spotify and Netflix. In addition to a dark mode and an application drawer, you can replace the three standard Android keys with a gesture system.

Use: Correct Photos

The Galaxy A04s allows you to make calls, check your emails, send SMS, navigate GPS, play 2D and 3D games that are not too greedy, watch videos, play MP3s, etc. However, there are always two aspects in which smartphones can stand out: photo quality and autonomy. The rear photo part of the Galaxy A04s is entrusted to 3 sensors: a 50-megapixel wide-angle prime lens opening at f / 1.8, a 2 MP macro lens opening at f / 2.4 and a 2 MP depth sensor also opening at f /2.4.

The primary sensor of the Samsung Galaxy A04s uses pixel-binning to deliver lighter 12.5-megapixel images. When the light is there, the results delivered by this smartphone are far from catastrophic, at least if we consider the photo as a whole. At night, vital smoothing is perceptible, and the treatment tends to deform the small elements, even to erase the minor details.

The Galaxy A04s offers a portrait mode. The bokeh effect is customizable through a gauge, and it is possible to modify the effect afterward. The primary lens allows you to shoot in Full HD at 30 FPS without stabilization. The device allows you to take 5-megapixel selfies, with a portrait mode but also conceding significant smoothing and lack of sharpness. The Galaxy A04s is equipped with a large 5000 mAh battery that will last two days before requiring a recharge, and this is under reasonable mixed-use.

The battery supports 15W fast charging. Note that Samsung does not provide any charger in the box. Only a USB-C to USB-C cable is present. With a compatible cable and charger, it took 2 hours and 20 minutes for our test smartphone to go from 1 to 100% battery. Finally, a 60-minute video (all connections on, sound at 50%, brightness at 50%, screen refresh rate set to adaptive) will have consumed 11% of the energy contained in the battery.

Back camera: 50 MP + 2 MP + 2 MP.
Front camera: 5 MP.
Battery: Fixed 5000 mAh.

In Conclusion: There Are Plenty Of Assets

For its price, the Samsung Galaxy A04s does not lack advantages. It has a display, certainly not very bright, but whose 90 Hz refresh rate we appreciate, proves capable of running familiar games in good condition and offers excellent autonomy. Entry-level smartphones often need help to provide satisfactory photo results, and this Galaxy A04 is no exception to the rule. The Galaxy A04s allows those reassured by the Samsung label to access it at a lower cost, at the cost of a few compromises.