Not long ago, Samsung released a 5G version of its Galaxy A51. The South Korean manufacturer’s goal: to ensure that the technology is adopted by a wider audience, and that it is not reserved for those who can afford a high-end smartphone. Samsung does it again this time with a new model, the Galaxy A42 5G. Sold for less than 400 €, the device benefits from all the know-how of the brand, which offers it no less than 4 sensors on the back, a most pleasant design, a powerful SoC for a mid-range (a Snapdragon 750G) and a good big battery. So what more can you ask for? While there are a few things to review, this smartphone has some nice surprises in store for us. We tested it for almost a full week, so here are all our conclusions.
Prices and Availability
The Samsung Galaxy A42 5G is priced at € 379 on the official Samsung website. You can also find it on all e-commerce sites in these 3 colors: Prism Gray, Prism White and Prism Black. A single storage capacity of 128 GB is available.
Design and Connectivity
Before moving on to the smartphone itself, let’s quickly talk about the contents of the box. In addition to the A42 5G, you will have the pleasure of finding a power adapter equipped with a USB-A socket and being able to deliver up to 15W, a USB-A to USB-C cable for charging and data transfer, as well as a very basic hands-free kit, but small spoil for the rest of the test, equipped with a 3.5 mm jack.
If you’ve ever seen a Samsung smartphone from 2019-2020, you shouldn’t be lost. We find here a simple design, but effective. In terms of dimensions, the smartphone is 164.4 millimeters high, 75.9 millimeters and 8.6 millimeters thick. As for the weight, it is 193 grams.
The device is available in three colors: Gray, white or black, all three “prismatic” according to Samsung. The back is in fact a set of dotted gradients, from the darkest gray on the upper part of the phone, to the lighter one at the bottom, with the device also offering iridescent reflections. An original graphic choice, although the quality of the plastic chosen for the back does not inspire much confidence. It is very likely that the latter is very sensitive to scratches. The outline of the smartphone is also made of gray plastic. This choice of materials is understandable given the price charged, but somewhat affects the handling which removes any feeling of “premium” on this smartphone.
At the rear of the device, the photo module houses 4 sensors that we will come back to a little later, positioned in a square and protruding from the entire shell by a small millimeter. On the right edge are arranged the volume control buttons, but also the lock / unlock button. The left edge, on the other hand, only houses the Sim / micro SD card carriage offering to accommodate either two Sim cards or a Sim card + a Micro-SD card to expand the available storage.
On the underside of the device, we have the right to a speaker, a microphone, a USB-C port for charging and information transfer, and a 3.5mm mini-jack to connect to it. a headset or hands-free kit.
Finally, the display surface offers a 6.6-inch Super AMOLED panel surrounded by 2.5mm borders, the lower border being the most imposing and measuring 6mm thick. While this may seem substantial at first, it is quickly forgotten during use. As for the selfie sensor, it is integrated in a “water drop” type notch on the top edge of it. It is much less forgotten, the margin between the edge of the sensor and the edge of the notch being one and a half millimeters, this one could have been reduced in order to make the drop of water more discreet.
Overall the design is quite successful and original, even if the plastic chosen on the back seems fragile. Especially since the shiny back will obviously make even the slightest fingerprint visible. The grip is satisfactory and the smartphone well balanced, so that even during long sessions of use, its weight is not tiring on the hands.
Audio
The Samsung Galaxy A42 5G doesn’t offer stereo sound, but its single speaker on the bottom edge delivers a sound that’s convincing, if you don’t turn up the volume too loud. Obviously, as usual with the built-in speakers, the sound lacks bass, but still allows for pleasant listening and overall benefits from a well-balanced frequency level.
For analog enthusiasts, a 3.5mm mini-jack is available. It allows you to plug in your headphones or earphones. Since the standard supplied is poor, we tested the device using a Sennheiser HD25. The sound rendering delivered by this smartphone is totally convincing. And it goes without saying that you can also sync your Bluetooth headphones to it for wireless listening, but is it really necessary to clarify?
Screen
The Samsung Galaxy A42 5G’s display is undoubtedly its strong point. Samsung offers us here a 6.6-inch Super AMOLED HD + screen with a 20: 9 ratio and offering a definition of 1600 × 720 pixels for a density of 399 pixels per inch. The whole benefits from a contrast ratio of 1,000,000: 1 (usual on this type of screen), and maximum brightness which, although less powerful than the brand’s high-end smartphones, remains very satisfactory and readable even in full sun.
Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
Last point to address, the refresh rate of this panel: it remains limited to 60Hz. If you have not yet tasted 120Hz on a smartphone screen, this point may seem trivial, but in game for example, the difference is obvious.
Despite everything, this screen delivers very good performance. The quality of the display offered by the Galaxy A42 5G when it is first switched on is impressive, especially for a smartphone priced at less than € 400. The calibration is very correct, the details are crisp, the colors vivid. This screen is really pleasant to use.
Hardware and Performance
Unlike its big brother, the Galaxy A51 5G which was equipped with an Exynos processor, the Samsung Galaxy A42 5G is equipped with the very recent Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G supported by 4GB of RAM. Smaller and cheaper, but no less efficient since the benchmarks show more than convincing results. This is the same processor found elsewhere on the Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite and which we tested recently.
In Single-Core on Geekbench, the Galaxy A42 5G obtains a score of 657, thus exceeding the performance offered by the Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro and its Snapdragon 855. In multi-core it is a score of almost 1900 points which, this time here, allows it to be placed between the performances offered by a K20 Pro or a Poco F1. The most compelling remains its results on 3DMark’s Slingshot Extreme, where it comes out with performance exceeding 62% of devices on the market.
What must be deduced from these results is that the Snapdragon 750G + 4GB of RAM pair offers slightly better performance than the smartphones usually offered in this price range. On a daily basis, the smartphone is fluid and shows no signs of slowing down. The phone is responsive, even in the most demanding games of the moment, and this is especially where it reveals its potential. Genshin Impact for example runs smoothly and playing on this smartphone is a real pleasure. After several hours of gaming, there is no excessive heating or slowing down of the Galaxy A42 5G. So another good point for Samsung.
On the storage side, the Galaxy A42 5G has 128 GB (106 available taking into account the OS and embedded applications). Its storage capacity can be expandable up to 1 TB via micro SD. A good base capacity with the prospect of interesting extensions: you will have plenty to store your photos and videos, your applications and your files without worrying too much about the remaining space.
Photographie
Let’s move on to the back of the device, and more precisely to the photo part. We have the right here to a module offering 4 sensors. A 48 Mpx main sensor opening at f / 1.8 with an 80 ° field of view, an 8 Mpx ultra-wide-angle sensor opening at f / 2.2 offering a 123 ° field of view, a macro sensor 5 Mpx opening at f / 2.4 and finally a TOF sensor (called by Samsung “portrait” sensor) of 5Mpx also opening at f / 2.4.
No telephoto lens, then. However, it will be possible, via the main 48 Mpx sensor, to crop the image a little without losing too much quality. Note that the smartphone offers a digital zoom of up to x10.
On the video side, although the screen cannot display such a high definition, you will be able to shoot without worries up to 4K UHD at 30 frames per second, and in slow motion up to 240fps in HD. Stabilization is digital and does relatively well to cover weak movements. Be careful, however, not to move too suddenly.
The quality of the photos is very respectable. On the main sensor, despite software processing a little too present, the results are beautiful, clear and precise and the contrasts are striking. As usual with Samsung, however, the result will be a little too saturated, something which, over time, has almost become a hallmark of the Korean firm. Portrait mode is also compelling, delivering clean, crisp shots, although there are still some errors in complex areas like hair or accessories.
The ultra wide angle, however, is clearly not the most convincing on the market. While overall the photos remain respectable, there is a loss of detail and some blurry areas around the edges. The image tends to be smoothed by the software part which makes the shots less striking. There are also some chromatic aberrations at the extreme edges of the image which are only visible if you actually zoom in the image.
The 5 Mpx macro sensor offers good results: the photos are very correct, well detailed and the saturation offers faithful colors without being too accentuated.
Finally, the 20-megapixel front sensor does well in the self-portrait shot. In contrast, portrait mode exhibits the same flaws at the front as it does at the back, as it has some difficulty in cropping at the hair and the tips of the ears, for example. The colors are true to life and the software processing is natural enough not to interfere with the experience. Be careful, however, with “beauty” filters which have a tendency to cruelly distort the photos by smoothing the skin.
Battery, Autonomy and Recharging
The Galaxy A42 5G is equipped with a 5,000 mAh battery which, according to the brand, allows it to last up to 34 hours of local video playback, or up to 21 hours of internet use.
In fact, this drumkit is doing very well. In intensive use in video games, the battery lasted almost 5 hours without problems during our test. In “standard” use of texting, making calls, using various social networking applications, video to VOD and some video games, the Galaxy A42 5G lasted almost 25 hours. So you can, if your use is not too intensive, schedule a recharge after a day and a half. A very respectable autonomy, for a Samsung smartphone at least.
On the charging side, Samsung announces a “fast” 15W recharge which in fact is not that fast. It will take about two hours for a full charge and one hour to recover 50% of the battery. Put in perspective with regard to the autonomy of the smartphone, all this is still very correct.
Connectivity
The Samsung Galaxy A42 5G covers all 5G FDD and TDD Sub 6 frequencies, but also the entire 4G LTE network and earlier. It also supports Bluetooth version 5.0 and NFC, but a small downside, however, on the wifi side since it will be limited to 802.11 AC Wifi (also called Wifi 6). This little detail could have made the smartphone even more attractive. The brand’s high-end models have benefited from it for almost two years (yes, the Galaxy S10 is indeed compatible with Wifi 6), so why not bring the technology to the A42 5G?
Environment
Samsung Oolige, we are here out of the box on a One UI version 2.5, which is based on Android 10. If some time ago, One UI was far from pleasant to use, the interface in its version the most recent has been greatly simplified and refined, which makes it pleasant on a daily basis. In this version, as explained during hardware and performance tests, everything runs smoothly. One UI is fluid and easy to learn if you’ve never tried it before. Finally, note that the A42 5G is one of the smartphones that will benefit from the update to Android 11 / One UI 3.0.
