Introduction
In February, we reviewed the Galaxy Note10 Lite, which is actually a great phone that has most of the features from the Note10. However, Samsung actually has also made the Galaxy A71 and A51 available in Malaysia at the same time. Without further ado, this is the Samsung Galaxy A71 review!
Design
Looking at the design, it’s safe to say the Galaxy A71 actually looks quite identical to the Note10 Lite. It has the same Infinity-O screen with no curves on both sides of the screen. Additionally, there’s also an optical in-display fingerprint sensor, the response time was okay. Just like other A series devices, the A71 doesn’t have haptic feedback, guess that’s the way of cost-cutting by Samsung.
Similar to the Note10 Lite, the volume rocker and power button are on the right side, while the SIM slot is on the left. The bottom of the phone houses the 3.5mm audio jack, USB-C port, and mono speaker.
The back is also made of plastic, but it has a rhythmical pattern that looks pretty unique. Like the Note10 Lite, the back is a fingerprint magnet and can get scratched quite easily since it uses a less durable material. Overall, the phone doesn’t have the premium feel as Samsung flagship devices, but you’ll use a protective case anyway, so don’t really need to bother too much on that.
Display
Similar to the Note10 Lite, the A71 has a 6.7-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display with an Infinity-O cutout. The Infinity-O cutout doesn’t really block anything and sometimes I didn’t even notice it. It doesn’t support HDR10+ tech but it still has good color reproduction and deep blacks.
Performance
The Galaxy A71 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 processor with 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. In terms of performance, the phone handles quite well with Call of Duty: Mobile playing in middle graphics settings and high frame rate. Overall, it’s a great phone that can get your daily tasks easily.
Software
In terms of software, the phone runs on One UI 2.0 based on Android 10. The overall user experience is pretty similar to the Note10 Lite we reviewed before, the S Pen features are missing, though. You still get features like Edge Panels and Edge Lighting even though it now has a flat-screen.
Camera
The Galaxy A71 packs a quad-camera setup — 64MP f/1.8 main + 12MP ultra-wide + 5MP macro + 5MP depth. By default, the main camera shoots 12MP photos, you’ll need to change the resolution if you wish to shoot in 64MP resolution. However, after switching to 64MP resolution, the ultra-wide camera switch will be gone, you’ll have to switch back to 12MP in order for the ultra-wide camera toggle to appear again.
You can head over to our Shutterfly page here to check out the photos.
As for the image quality, this phone shoots nice photos. I really enjoy shooting photos with its ultra-wide camera, though the color temperature normally is warmer than the main camera. It also comes with a Night Mode, which captures nice low-light photos with the ultra-wide or main camera. Overall, it has the best camera in its class.
Battery Life
The Galaxy A71 packs a 4,500mAh battery with 25W fast charging support, similar to the Note10 Lite. The phone can last through a day easily with around 5 hours of screen-on-time.
Final Words
Retailing at RM1,799, the Galaxy A71 is actually quite similar to the Note10 Lite minus the S Pen features and different camera setup. If you still think the Note10 Lite is a little bit over budget for you and you don’t really need an S Pen, this is a great phone to choose. Of course, that’s the case if you really want a Samsung phone, since there are quite a few phones at its class offer at a lower price tag. One thing for sure, no smartphone at its class has such an amazing display like the Galaxy A71.