Samsung's Galaxy A51 is now widely available in the US

[Shawn Knight]

Bottom line: Just like the iPhone SE, you’re going to make some concessions at this price point. For example, the Exynos chip powering the Galaxy A51 isn’t the greatest. You also don’t get wireless charging or water resistance, but again, you’re paying less than $400 for what is otherwise a very solid smartphone.

Apple’s new second-gen iPhone SE has been the talk of the town ever since it was announced roughly three weeks ago, and for good reason. The mid-ranger starts at just $399, an absolutely critical price point considering the current state of the economy and the timely arrival of stimulus checks. But what’s the alternative for the Android crowd, you ask?

Enter Samsung’s Galaxy A51.

Once a Verizon exclusive, Samsung’s middling Galaxy A51 is now available across most major carriers as well as through Amazon and directly from Samsung. For $399.99, you get a 6.5-inch (2,400 x 1,080 resolution) display mated to Samsung’s own Exynos 9611 octa-core processor alongside 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

Around back, you’ll find no less than four cameras including a 48-megapixel main shooter, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera, a 5-megapixel macro lens and a 5-megapixel depth camera. Up front, you get a single 32-megapixel hole punch-style camera. It all runs Android 10 and is powered by a 4,000mAh battery that’s good for up to 28 hours of talk time between charges.

Other noteworthy features include an in-display fingerprint sensor, a microSD card slot for expanded storage and an elusive 3.5mm headphone jack.

Regardless of if you are an Android user or loyal to iOS, there are currently some great values to be had at this price point.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/85106-samsung-galaxy-a51-now-widely-available-us.html

 

[Squid Surprise]

So Apple releases a “budget” phone with the same top of the line CPU as its flagship... Samsung answers with a phone with a crappier cpu... no thanks...

 

[QuantumPhysics]

“Because it’s a $400 iPhone” is its greatest selling gimmick.

The A51 can’t be that.

 

[Shadowboxer]

You can do a lot better on this if you’re going Android. There’s so many cheap Chinese phones out now that have decent specs and a half decent screen etc. Most of them cost less and won’t be all that different to this if it’s running Android.

 

[Red999]

Mali-G72 MP3 vs a13's gpu???
Come on samsung.

 

[christiangeli]

So Apple releases a “budget” phone with the same top of the line CPU as its flagship... Samsung answers with a phone with a crappier cpu... no thanks...

The new iPhone SE, vs the Samsung a51, lower quality and size screen, lower processor ipc, lower battery performance, lower camera quality.
Use poor product and keep using ios this is the only thing apple have over every other.

 

[Alex Voinica]

In Romania, the A51 costs 1400RON (345euro) and iPhone SE costs 2400RON (500euro).
How are they rivals?

 

[trparky]

There’s so many cheap Chinese phones out now that have decent specs and a half decent screen etc.

That guy goes into an in-depth data packet analysis and reveals some rather interesting (and scary) connections going to Chinese-based IP addresses. That stuff alone makes me never want to touch a Chinese-made phone let alone let myself be within ten miles of one.

Watch that video, you will never want to buy a Chinese-made phone ever again.

 

[Lew Zealand]

I love how they try to hide the punchout hole for the camera in that product photo. There's some designer at Samsung who's very proud of his attempt at misdirection right now.

 

[seeprime]

I bought a Samsung A10e when they came out for $80. I thought it was a US Cellular intro price. It's still $80. The darn thing has only 2-GB of RAM, but with the 1.4-GHz 8-core Exynos processor, it runs much better than I expected, with little to no lag. I'm a cheapskate that uses a phone mostly as a phone. Chrome runs really well on it, which surprised me. The 5.7" screen gets quite bright also. The only thing that will get me to buy a pricier smartphone is if I wanted a better camera.

 

[Joray K Joseph]

The A71 is the real competitor, its better and sell for around $399

 

[rrwards]

From the article:

"Once a Verizon exclusive, Samsung’s middling Galaxy A51 is now available across most major carriers as well as through Amazon and directly from Samsung."

You're thinking of the Galaxy A50. This A51 is different in many ways, including the cameras, processor, and screen.

 

[Alex Voinica]

From the article:

"Once a Verizon exclusive, Samsung’s middling Galaxy A51 is now available across most major carriers as well as through Amazon and directly from Samsung."

You're thinking of the Galaxy A50. This A51 is different in many ways, including the cameras, processor, and screen.

Screen and CPU+GPU are 99% the same between A50 and A51.

 

[Shadowboxer]

That guy goes into an in-depth data packet analysis and reveals some rather interesting (and scary) connections going to Chinese-based IP addresses. That stuff alone makes me never want to touch a Chinese-made phone let alone let myself be within ten miles of one.

Watch that video, you will never want to buy a Chinese-made phone ever again.

Oh I don’t need to see that, I completely agree. In fact for me it’s not just Chinese phones. It’s any Android device. Typically most of them are not very secure at all and users are constantly at risk from rogue apps, websites, even messages. The sheer amount of known vulnerabilities is bewildering (google publish it if you’re interested).

I’m an iPhone guy. I know they have vulnerabilities too but there are an awful lot less and I find them more reliable, faster and they have better software support from third parties in general.

 

[Nobina]

Xiaomi Mi 9
- 260 EUR
- 6GB RAM
- Snapdragon 730
- Pop up camera (no notch)
- No expandable storage
- 4000mAh
- One of the best cameras in that price range

Better phone than A51, I use both. I'm sure there are other better phones as well.

As for the SE vs A51 they have nothing in common to be comapared to each other.

 

[GamerNerves]

A51 is not answer to the iPhone SE in any way.

 

[SixTymes]

I love how they try to hide the punchout hole for the camera in that product photo. There's some designer at Samsung who's very proud of his attempt at misdirection right now.

and you are proud to see that. Good on you for doing so, you are Spot On.

 

[PEnnn]

The new iPhone SE, vs the Samsung a51, lower quality and size screen, lower processor ipc, lower battery performance, lower camera quality.
Use poor product and keep using ios this is the only thing apple have over every other.

Yeah, that explains why the SE is getting great reviews everywhere. Maybe they know something you don't!

 

[PEnnn]

Ah yes, the expected Pavlovian response from Samsung....LOL!!

 

[Lew Zealand]

Even since Apple was accused (rightly so) of hiding the notch in PR pics of their first notched phone, I've been watching to see if companies are trying to do the same in their product photography. Some simply don't care so you see the teardrop, punchout hole or notch in all their product photos.

But some seem to be bothered by displaying those "flaws" in their otherwise perfect screens. Apple started this with phones but they hide it less often now. Samsung is clearly trying to hide it in these pics.

 

[bexwhitt]

So Apple releases a “budget” phone with the same top of the line CPU as its flagship... Samsung answers with a phone with a crappier cpu... no thanks...

The Iphone Se is £419 in the UK the Galaxy A51 can be got for £329 sim free. For most people phones have been fast enough for years, the Iphone has the fasted chip ever so what.

 

[toooooot]

I have made a horrible mistake getting note 10. I want this phone!

 

[Shadowboxer]

I have made a horrible mistake getting note 10. I want this phone!

Yeah ouch. Especially as the Note 10 sells for not much more than this this does now. A quick google search sees it sim free for £529 in the U.K. around £130 more than this.

Expensive Android phones always plummet in value within months after they launch.

 

[Peter Farkas]

6.5".... wtf???

currently there is no 4.7"-5" sized, decent android phone from the big manufacturers that could compete with the iphone SE.
We used to have the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact, but that is outdated.
We can even get good budget phones from Nokia, Motorola etc, but all of them are big as a shovel.

What the F*** happened to the designers? Shove these big phones up there folks...

 

[enemys]

The new iPhone SE, vs the Samsung a51, lower quality and size screen, lower processor ipc, lower battery performance, lower camera quality.
Use poor product and keep using ios this is the only thing apple have over every other.

Worse screen, camera, battery - ok, but lower IPC? Nope, Apple thrashes Samsung in this department. Big cores in A13 are faster than ARM A77 cores, clock for clock. This Exynos only sports A73 cores, it doesn't stand a chance.