In The Fight To Conquer The Budget Market, Samsung’s Betting On A Top-Notch Display

• The Samsung Galaxy A30 is a higher-end budget smartphone in the new Galaxy A series of smartphones.
• Key features include a really nice 6.4 inch Super AMOLED display and Samsung’s new One UI operating system.
• The Galaxy A30 is priced at RM799 in Malaysia and SGD298 in Singapore.

Samsung have been busy releasing a slew of new phones under its Galaxy A banner recently, with the A80 in particular grabbing the headlines with its motorised rotating camera.

As a result, you’d be forgiven for forgetting the other devices within the same family, which are all geared towards providing a solid social media experience at competitive prices.

Recently, we were given the opportunity to play around with the Galaxy A30. As the middle child of the family. The A30 is positioned as an upper-end budget phone with a price tag of RM799.

From first looks, it seems to hit a sweet spot that should probably merit it more attention that it’s currently getting.

Specs:

Hardware

In the hand the feel is premium, and the glossy finish on the back conceals the fact that the enclosure of the device is made out of plastic rather than glass.

In the front, Samsung have included an excellent 6.4 inch Super AMOLED display that’s only slightly obstructed by a teardrop notch—something that’s become increasingly common among newer phone releases these days—and a slight chin at the bottom.

Pretty much all around the A30, you’ll find that Samsung has included everything you’ll require for daily use, but not much in the way of luxury utility, which is understandable considering what you pay for.

There isn’t an under-display fingerprint scanner, there isn’t wireless charging, there are no notification LEDs, and there’s still only a dual-camera setup instead of the trending triple setup of today.

But what the A30 has, it uses well, and everything seems to work pretty much as smoothly as you’d want.

Running on the new One UI operating system, the A30’s performance in terms of everyday apps was very satisfactory, with there now hardly any of the clutter that was present with their old Experience OS.

It must be said that for all the flak Samsung have received for the amount of bloat on their old OS, their new one has really represented an about face by streamlining the user interface and making everything slightly more resource friendly.

Using apps like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter was was an experience I’d describe as par for the course, and especially when it came to things like watching Netflix and YouTube, the 6.4inch display really did punch above its weight, and will prove to be a deciding factor for those thinking of getting this particular model.

Conversely, the only slowdowns I tangibly felt was during prolonged gaming sessions and app-switching, and here it shows the A30’s limitations in processing speed. I’d recommend that for gaming sessions, you should turn down your graphics qualities to low for a smoother experience.

Rounding up everyday performance was the pretty sizeable 4,000 mAh battery that was able to provide well over a day’s worth of mileage under medium to heavy load. This combined with the inclusion of a 15W fast charger ultimately meant that I was almost never wanting in the battery department.

Camera

When it came to photography, the A30 showed that it was a capable point-and-shoot performer. Detail on daytime shots were quick, with the autofocus quick to function and shutter lag virtually non-existent.

Photos turned out well-exposed and detailed, with the Samsung’s scene optimiser able to identify the types of settings required for each shot more often than not.

This phone also includes an ultrawide camera—something that’s commonplace in today’s higher end smartphones. Actually having it on a device at this price point was a nice bonus, especially with it also performing quite decently in terms of exposure, shutter speed, and stability.

But again, the quality of photography began to deteriorate during low-light sessions, with some noise apparent and light levels becoming a bit of a problem.

Verdict

Summing up the entire experience of using the A30, I’d have to say that Samsung have introduced a very compelling option for those in the market for a higher-end budget smartphone. Considering how it’s priced, I feel that the A30 offers just enough with its user-friendly interface and stunning display to warrant at least a consideration.

• You can find out more about the Samsung Galaxy A30 here.

VP Verdict is a series where we personally try and test out products, services, fads, and apps. Want to suggest something else for us to try? Leave a comment here or send the suggestion into our Facebook page.