If you’re looking for a cheap phone that won’t disappoint, the Samsung A30 should be your go-to. It’s pretty popular, so getting your hands on it won’t be that difficult.
Why not give our review a look? Everything you need to know about the device will be run through below.
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The phone’s a fingerprint magnet. It’s made entirely from plastic, and unfortunately, not the good type. It doesn’t do a good job to make the phone look premium.
Sadly, it’s not just fingerprints. The A30 collects scruffs and scratches as well.
The device is quite light. It’s 165g which gives its price tag away. To a lot of users, this is a fair weight.
The A30 comes in 4 colours: black, white, blue and red. Its rear has a gradient effect, but it isn’t as eye-catching as the rainbow one we’ve seen on Samsung’s devices time and time again.
The phone’s edges are curved. We can’t put our finger on how exactly Samsung did it, but it makes one-handed use a dream. Also, the edges give the A30 a more ‘fluid’ look, but this might not mean much to you.
There’s a fingerprint sensor on the back. We have no complaints about it except for one. It’s hard to reach. It’s like Samsung picked the worst spot for it, on purpose!
Although the buttons are tactile, this is true for everything but its power button. Even though we praised the buttons, they’re placed awkwardly.
Before we move onto our next point:
Know that the phone comes with a USB-C port and a headphone jack on the bottom.
It comes with a 6.4-inch display. Its screen comes with a Super AMOLED panel which means the colours pop! Moreover, the device has a pretty sweet screen to body ratio, at 84.9%.
There is a Gorilla Glass 3 on the front. For a phone at this price point, this is good as the glass is very resistant.
Its ratio is great due to its infinity-U display. This means it has a minuscule notch that’s shaped like a water drop. If you hate notches, this makes the A30 worth your while. And if you really want to, you can hide it through the phone’s settings.
The A30’s display gets pretty bright and has great viewing angles. So, for outdoor use, the phone stands its ground.
If you’re wondering, the device’s screen resolution is 1080 x 2340 pixels. This gives it a screen as detailed as the more expensive Samsung A50.
It comes with Android Pie Out of the box. If you want Android 10, be excited as the A30 is getting the update.
The A30 comes with the Exynos 7904 chip. It’s a processor fit for its price point and lets the phone handle day-to-day tasks easily.
The fact that the phone comes with 3 gigs of RAM helps. If you want more, know that there’s an A30 model that comes with 4 Gigs of RAM.
You get a 32 GB storage capacity with it. A lot of users may think this isn’t enough. Don’t fear as you can add a microSD card and expand the space up to 512 GBs. If you’re not a fan of microSD cards, there’s an A30 variant that comes with 4 gigs of RAM, and 64 GBs of space.
Honestly, the GPU isn’t that great. It comes with the Mali G71 MP2. Playing certain games with high graphics is near impossible, like PUBG. This is a major drawback.
The A30 has a 4000 mAh battery. With moderate use, the phone can last up to a day and a half. This is great considering the more expensive S10 has a 4100 mAh battery. Of course, the S10 is optimized to last longer.
It comes with fast charging and can handle a 15 W charger. It takes the phone a little less than 2 hours to go from 0-100%. Considering the device’s price tag, this is great.
Yes, its battery is non-removable, but this is the norm.
Being a mid-ranger on the cheaper side, don’t expect wireless charging.
The A30 has 2 cameras on its rear. It has a 16 MP primary sensor along with a 5 MP wide-angle one.
A feature worth writing home about is its scene optimization. You can adjust saturation and contrast, making your shots pop. This is seen in the S10 too, so the fact that it’s on the cheaper A30 is great.
In well-lit environments, pictures are detailed but tend to be overexposed. Overexposure is something Samsung’s mid-range devices struggle with.
Although detailed, shadows don’t pop.
Low light shots are bad. Its wide-angle camera performs badly in dim settings.
The A30 is pretty solid. It does its job, so what more could you ask for?
Before you take the leap, you might be interested to know about some of the phone’s best alternatives. We’ll be running through them below:
When it comes to phones that are most like the A30, the A30s is your best bet. Both phones come with a plastic body, but the A30s’ looks better. It even rocks the rainbow effect that Samsung loves so much.
The phone comes in more interesting colors, which include violet and green.
The A30 and A30s have a 6.4-inch screen. The two also have Super AMOLED panels, along with an 84.9% screen to body ratio.
You get a 4000 mAh battery and a 15 W fast charger.
This isn’t where the similarities end as the A30s has the same processor and GPU.
That being said, it has a resolution that isn’t as good. It’s 720 x 1560 pixels.
Like the A30, the A30s comes in multiple RAM and storage capacities. It has a variant that has 128 GBs.
Camera-wise, it’s pretty obvious that the A30s outdoes the A30. It comes with a new and improved triple camera set up. The 25 MP primary, 8 MP secondary and 5 MP tertiary sensors provide more depth and detail.
The A40 is smaller than the A30. It has a 5.9-inch screen. In general, this is quite big. It packs a punch as it has a Super AMOLED display, and its screen to body ratio is superior at 85.5%.
Out of the box, the phone comes with Android Pie. No, it won’t be getting the Android 10 update.
It comes in 1 version, which has 64 gigs of storage, and 4 gigs of RAM.
It’s powered by the Exynos 7904 chip, as well.
Its battery is small too. It’s 3100 mAh and comes with a 15 W fast charger. Due to Samsung’s software optimizations, the A40 can last about a day with moderate use, which isn’t bad.
The phone comes in colours that we’ve seen before. They’re blue, white, black and coral.
Yes, it’s plastic, but this isn’t a surprise. It’s not the high-quality type of plastic either as the phone is insanely slippery.
Let’s talk about the cameras. They both have the same back cameras, which means they produce identical shots. However, the A40 has a better selfie cam. It’s larger by 9 MP and performs better in low light. Let’s not forget that it produces more vivid shots, which is what you’d want for Instagram right?
So, what’s the verdict?
We think the A30 is a meh phone.
It’s made entirely from plastic and doesn’t make the device look premium. It’s a fingerprint magnet too, which can be a nuisance. The nail on the coffin is the fact that it’s so light. This easily gives its price tag away.
That being said, its edges are curved. As a result, the phone moulds into your hand.
The A30’s screen is huge and has a Super AMOLED display, which is a plus. Its processor isn’t anything to write home about, especially its GPU. The standard A30 comes with 32 gigs of space, which isn’t enough.
The phone’s battery is good, however. So is its camera.
All in all, it’s what you’d expect from a phone at its price point. It’s quite average. So, if a true mid-ranger is what you’re looking for, the A30 is right up your alley.
