Looking for cheap Samsung experience? The Galaxy A04s are as low as those in the Samsung rating. But cheap prices don't always mean good value for money, so it's worth a closer look at this popular entry-level device.
Surprisingly, we also found that Samsung also offers another model – the Galaxy M13 – which is almost the same as some of the nuances in the camera part. The Indian version of Galaxy M13 is basically the same as the Galaxy A04s, but has a larger battery capacity. The Galaxy A13 is another phone released earlier this year and is almost fully up to the A04s specifications.
In any case, the Galaxy A04s runs on a low-end Exynos 850 SoC, paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage and a microSD card expansion slot. Obviously, we are talking about a phone that costs around €100, but we were surprised to see that the monitor has a high refresh rate. The 6.5-inch IPS display is 90Hz, although the resolution is 720 x 1600px.
Since the Exynos 850 chipset relies on an energy-efficient CPU with 8 low-power Cortex-A55 cores, we want excellent battery life in testing. The 5,000 mAh battery can keep you running for quite some time, but it also takes over an hour to fully charge.
Finally, the device runs on a lightweight version of the Samsung user interface called One UI Core 4, which in turn is based on Android 12.
Samsung Galaxy A04s unboxing
The device is housed in a small retail box that contains only the pins of the user manual and SIM card tray.
Unfortunately, Samsung does not provide a charger or protective case. However, you do get a USB-C to USB-C cable.
Design and processing
mobile phone design is very simple and minimalist. The Galaxy A04s are made of plastic in one-piece design, with rounded edges providing a comfortable grip. The front panel is also slightly rounded, eliminating any protrusions or gaps. It's like the chassis is made of a whole piece - we like it.
However, the plastic surface on the back is a fingerprint magnet, which is easy to scratch. We got the green, and it seemed to be much darker than we saw on the official product photos. The phone also comes in black, white and copper paint finishes.
Another benefit of this construction is that plastics tend to be less slippery and the smooth surface of A04s can make contact with the skin well. It's definitely slipperier than a regular glass mezzanine phone. However, it is not to say that Samsung has any room for maneuver when it comes to materials. We doubt the price target of the Galaxy A04s can be achieved through glass or metal construction.
Bypassing the side, we found that the power button doubles as a fingerprint reader, which is located in a small dent. It is conveniently placed within the thumb's reach, but you have to stretch a little to get to the volume rocker located directly above the power button. The bottom is equipped with a USB-C connector, speaker grille and a 3.5mm audio jack.
SIM card tray is located on the left side of the frame, close to the upper left edge of the A40s. It has two SIM card slots and a dedicated microSD card slot.
On the front, the Galaxy A04s uses a 6.5-inch display and the front camera has teardrop grooves. The side frame is quite thin, but the lower lip is noticeably thicker. This is the standard for courses within this price range.
Interestingly, the device is a bit bulky for a 6.5-inch smartphone with an all-plastic structure. This is not a big problem, but 195 grams usually forms a larger device or glass structure.
In summary, Galaxy A04s has excellent manufacturing quality and is easy to operate. It doesn't weigh more than it does, but we're not expecting quality materials and innovative designs in this price range anyway.
6.5-inch IPS LCD panel
Samsung Galaxy A04s uses a 6.5-inch IPS LCD panel, which is very common in this price range.LCDs are still common and can often reduce costs. Interestingly, Samsung chose a 90Hz display over 60Hz, which could force the product planning team to settle for a resolution of 720 x 1600 pixels. Most, if not all, phone competitors have higher resolution 1080p screens.
In terms of brightness, this phone cannot reach the 400 nit mark promoted, but it is indeed very close. In our tests, it was shown to reach 389 nits in automatic and manual modes. There is no brightness improvement in automatic mode.
Heart Rate Control
High refresh rate control on Galaxy A04s is very simple – an idle screen means 60Hz, and interaction means 90Hz. All the apps we tried run at 90Hz, including video players and streaming applications. However, once you let the video/movie play for a few seconds without touching the screen, the screen drops to 60Hz.
Battery Life
Galaxy A04s runs on an energy-efficient Exynos 850 chipset and gets power from a large 5,000 mAh battery, so the battery life is expected to be very long. The screen on and off test results are highly commendable. We also expect a similar overall endurance score to the Galaxy A13, as both phones have nearly the same hardware. Either way, the overall endurance level of 14 hours of is a good score.
A UI 4.1 Core
Galaxy A04s may not run the latest version of Android, but it is a low-end phone released in September, so it is unrealistic to expect Android 13. And since the A04s is a low-end Samsung device, the custom One UI has been downgraded to One UI 4.1 Core. This means that the core features and aesthetics of One UI are here, but some advanced features are omitted.
Samsung is using lightweight software for Galaxy A04s because the One UI takes up a lot of resources and the Exynos 850 is not the fastest chipset. Even so, with a limited set of features, the One UI user experience may be smoother. The core version of
One UI cuts down on some applications and services to make it easier for the launcher to use system resources. The list of unselected features includes Samsung Payment Services (available with GPay), Easy Mode, Bixby Assistant, Windows Link Services, and Good Lock applications for advanced customization. The security folder is gone, but interestingly, there is Knox on the A04s and even advertises its malware and threat protection on the official specification page.
However, the Android experience of One UI 4.1 Core is quite simple and familiar. App drawer, notification bar, recently used apps, lock screen and home screen, as usual. Even the general settings menu.
Samsung's Music Share and Smart View are also not available. We suspect that few people will miss these on such a basic phone. Nor does Samsung Game Launcher, but Game Booster is part of One UI 4.1 Core. The beautiful object eraser in Samsung smart widgets, edge panels and gallery apps are also not available, but the new palette is here.
Galaxy A04s does not support constant display. Its default lock screen has two shortcuts - the dialer and the camera, but you can choose from different apps. The lock screen has a health widget - you can now track how much time you spend on your phone without even unlocking it.
Unlocking the screen with a side-mounted fingerprint scanner is an easy experience - the reader is always on and has excellent accuracy and speed.
We often find ourselves locked out of the device because we accidentally touched the fingerprint reader with our palms many times. Therefore, we prefer to enable the option to wait for you to press the power button before trying to read the fingerprint.
Overall, One UI remains one of the best and most refined custom Android experiences. It's full of useful features, even in this lighter version of One UI 4.1 Core running on the Galaxy A04s.
However, there are many dissatisfactions in how it works on Galaxy A04s. This is not a smooth and smooth experience. There are a lot of slowdowns and lags everywhere in animation and transitions. Due to limited mobile phone resources, the application loading time is slow, and even application switching and background operation problems occur. The Exynos 850 seems to be really hard to keep up with the otherwise great One UI 4.1 Core.
performance
This is not the first time we have come into contact with Samsung's Exynos 850 chip - after all, it is the hardware of 2020 and is a bit outdated in terms of smartphones. It is based on the company's 8nm LPP process, which is slightly inferior to the current 6nm low-end chips.
CPU encapsulation is very simple because it contains only 8 Cortex-A55 energy-saving cores. In turn, they are not designed for serious numerical operations. All eight clock frequency is 2.0 GHz. The Mali-G52 leads the GPU division, which in most cases struggles to deliver any meaningful performance.
on the back, only one is practical enough
Galaxy A04s comes with three cameras on the back, the main one being the 50MP Tetracell Samsung sensor, which is probably the same as those used in several other Galaxy phones, including the Galaxy A13 and M13. Therefore, it can be safely assumed that the sensor here is ISOCELL JN1 (S5KJN1). The sensor is paired with the f/1.8 aperture and supports PDAF. There is no ultra-wide camera on
, which is in sharp contrast to other phones with similar prices. Still, this is not a big problem, as the ultra-wide camera quality in the field has never been very good.
Instead, Samsung includes two 2MP sensors next to the main sensor—one for macro photography and the other for depth sensor. Needless to say, these two cameras have little use.
selfie camera only has 5MP and provides f/2.2 aperture.
As an entry-level smartphone, Samsung Galaxy A04s has simple hardware for performing simple tasks. There is nothing particularly standout about this phone, but with good lighting conditions and reliable battery life, you can get decent camera performance. Samsung's mature and customizable One UI 4.1 Core is also an advantage, although it's a low-key version of the original One UI.
Popular phone manufacturers don't offer as many entry-level models, so in our comparative market study of this review, we found few worthwhile alternatives. Due to the use of inferior Unisoc chipsets, most competitors at this price, such as the Realme C31, C3 or C25Y, are hard to recommend.
When reviewing, the 32GB/3GB version of Samsung Galaxy A04s retails for about 150 euros. If you want to use your phone’s camera and messaging features frequently, we recommend that you choose the 64GB model, because you will find that the 32GB model has run out of storage before the phone’s warranty expires.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 belongs to the same price category, with a price of about 160 euros, a more powerful Snapdragon 680 chipset and a standard 4GB/64GB memory configuration. It also has stereo speakers, a 90Hz OLED panel with Gorilla Glass 3 on the top, a more versatile camera setup, and of course faster charging and longer battery life. Gorilla Glass 3 and IP53 water splash and dust proof certification are a good bonus. It's a better smartphone, and the only reason you might want to buy the Galaxy A04s is the Samsung brand name.
Galaxy A04s, Galaxy A13 and Galaxy M13 are similar in price, hardware and features, all four products have the same size LCD and the same Exynos 850 chipset.In fact, the Galaxy A13 is slightly cheaper than the European A04s, while the Indian M13 version is cheaper, while also having a larger 6,000 mAh battery.
Samsung Galaxy A04s is a cheap entry-level device – most likely the cheapest Galaxy smartphone you can buy. It has a high refresh rate screen, a nice main camera and very good battery life, so it is a solid upgrade to last year's Galaxy A03s
