When it comes to Samsung’s mid-rangers, you know they’ll be good. The company dominates the price-range after all. Let’s discuss if the A40 is worth the purchase. It looks good, though.
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It not a heavy phone; just 140 grams. We’re not huge fans of devices that are light as they don’t feel well-built. Considering that it’s made from plastic, this is something you should consider. The plastic is on its frame too.
Its panel has an iridescence to it. It’s also glossy.
It’s curved well. This is something we’ve seen throughout Samsung’s devices, no matter the price. Expertly curved phones mean that they’ll fit in your palms better.
Moving across its sides, you’ll see a 3.5 mm headphone jack. More handsets are coming without the port, which is disappointing, The A40 has a microSD slot too – you’ll be able to expand its storage.
You’re not looking at a thick phone. Its width is only 7.9 mm. It’s as thin as the Samsung Galaxy S20.
You’ll find a fingerprint sensor on its back. It’s towards the upper corner. It’s easy to reach. Its buttons are easy-to-reach too. We found them quite tactile.
If you have small hands, you might struggle with it. It stretches 5.9 inches across. The fact that it’s glossy makes it slippery too.
You don’t get to pick it up in many colours, sadly. The only options available are black, white, coral, and blue. The rainbow effect on it works the best on the black version. At certain angles, it looks like an oil spill. But we’re fans of the A40’s coral variant more. You usually don’t find phones rocking the shade.
It has a Super AMOLED screen. Samsung places it even in their cheaper phones. The panel is an OLED, meaning it produces a lot of vibrant colours. The fact that it has a 5.9-inch screen is good. You’re getting enough canvas for colours to shine on.
When you look at its screen, you’ll realize that there are no bezels. This makes for a seamless, immersive viewing experience. Its screen-to-body ratio is an impressive 85.5%. The phone doesn’t even have a noticeable notch. It’s tear dropped shaped. You can hide it through its settings if you’re not a fan.
Although it’s made from plastic, it has a durable front. It consists of Gorilla Glass 3.
It is vibrant as well as sharp. You are met with a 1080 x 2340 pixel resolution. You’ll have to look close to notice any pixelation.
The battery is not very powerful. It is 3100 mAh. It results in it lasting around a day. As its battery is not the largest and its screen is so powerful, you don’t get the perfect match. Thankfully, there are many power-saving modes.
To charge it, you’ll be utilizing a 15 W fast charger. The A40 will take around 2 hours to go from 0-100%.
As its back is plastic, you may be wondering if you can snap its battery out. The answer is no. In terms of the port you’ll be charging with, a USB-C one has your back.
You are met with an Exynos chip. The company is known for them. To be more specific, the Exynos 7904 is present. How good of a processor is it? It’s perfect for a mid-ranger, and it can handle everyday tasks with ease.
Its storage options are good too. You can pick it up with 64 GB of space and 4 GB of RAM. We have to say, 4 gigs of RAM is very impressive. It’s one of the reasons the handset is so snappy. It also lets you run many things in the background.
It runs Android 9 out of the box. If you’re wondering about Android 10, know that the update is in the works. Of course, it runs Samsung’s One UI. It’s really good-looking. We think it’s one of the better Android operating systems around.
In terms of its camera, a dual set-up is available. Its primary sensor is a 16 MP wide lens while its secondary sensor is a 5 MP ultra-wide lens. The phone does not take the most colour accurate shots. That being said, it’s relatively vibrant. In low light, it struggles. You can see quite a bit of noise, but this isn’t surprising – the A40’s a mid-ranger.
What about its front camera? Well, there’s a pretty massive 25 MP wide lens. We think it performs quite well. It leaves you Instagram ready.
Now that you know everything about it, we discussed some alternatives. They’ll help you figure out if the Samsung A40 is worth it or not.
The Nova 3i is much heavier than its counterpart. It comes in at 169 grams. As it’s heavier, it feels more premium. This is especially true as its plastic is glossier. You’ll think it was glass. However, as it’s so glossy, it’s slippery.
The phone is big. It stretches 6.3 inches across. If you have smaller hands, it’ll be a struggle to hold.
Its screen is an IPS LCD. Compared to Super AMOLEDs, it is not as vibrant. The 3i has a good screen-to-body ratio, but it’s not as impressive as its alternative. It is 82.2%. It is as sharp as it, though. You’re looking at a screen that’s 1080 x 2340 pixels.
Unfortunately, you’re met with a large notch. Yes, you can disable it through the phone’s settings.
The glass on its front is not very durable. You’re getting a regular strengthened glass. If it’s any consolation, Huawei included a screen protector in the box. They do this with all their devices.
You’re getting Android 8.1 when you boot the device. In terms of the Android 10 update, there is no news. The handset runs the company’s EMUI operating system. It’s known to be super customizable – it has a ton of themes too.
The processor inside of it is the Kirin 710. It’s powerful as it outdoes the Exynos 7904 on its rival.
We’re happy to say that it comes with some impressive storage options. You can pick the Nova 3i with 128 GB of space, along with 4 and 6 GB of RAM. The cherry on top is the fact that you can expand its storage.
Inside it is a 3340 mAh battery. Although it’s a bit larger than the unit on the A40, they both last around the same time. It doesn’t utilize fast charge, sadly. You’ll be making use of a 10 W regular charger. This is why it takes over 2 hours to go from 0-100%.
No, you can’t snap its battery off.
There is a dual set-up on its rear. Its primary sensor is 16 MP lens, while its secondary sensor is a 2 MP depth sensor. Front camera wise, a dual set-up is present. You’re met with a 24 MP wide lens and a 2 MP depth sensor.
The handset is built well. You’re looking at a glass device. It rocks Gorilla Glass 5 on its rear, so it’s very durable. However, its frame is plastic. This is why it feels soft.
It’s much heavier than the Samsung A40. It comes in at 200 grams, so it’s a brick.
Not only is it heavier, but it’s larger too. It stretches 6.53 inches across. Having such a large display, it would’ve been great if a Super AMOLED panel was present. You’d get a vibrant, immersive experience. Unfortunately, it’s just an IPS LCD.
It has a screen-to-body ratio that’s as good as its counterpart’s, it’s 84.9%. Its screen resolution is as sharp as its.
We love that it’s HDR rated. This means it can produce a lot of colour and stream HDR content.
Similar to its back, Gorilla Glass 5 is on its front.
Out of the box, it runs Android 9. Just like its alternative, it can be upgraded to Android 10. The processor it utilizes is the Helio G90T. Compared to the Exynos 7904, it’s much better.
You can snag it with quite a few memory options. 64, 128, and 256 GB of space is available. Along with them, 6 and 8 GB of RAM can be grabbed. Compared to the 4 GB of RAM that the A40 offers, we’re more impressed. Yes, you can expand its storage.
Battery wise, you’re met with a large unit. It’s 4500 mAh. It utilizes an 18 W fast charger, taking it around an hour and a half to go from 0-100%.
There is a quad-camera set-up on it. Its primary sensor is a 64 MP wide lens, its secondary sensor is an 8 MP ultrawide lens, its tertiary sensor is a 2 MP macro lens and its fourth sensor is a 2 MP depth sensor. Its front camera rocks a single shooter. It is a 20 MP wide lens.
When it comes to the Samsung handset, it’s a phone that looks good. It’s made from plastic, but its iridescent back makes it eye-catching. This is especially true in its black variant – the rainbow effect really pops. It is a true mid-ranger, and it comes with specs that you’d expect from its price such as its processor and battery. That’s why we compared it with alternatives to see if it’s any good.
Well, we found that its competitors are better. For example, the Redmi Note 8 Pro is a beast compared to it. That being said, they don’t have screens that are as powerful as the Samsung devices. The manufacturer is known to place Super AMOLEDs even in cheaper units.
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