Samsung Galaxy A71 review: A premium mid-range smartphone

The premium mid-range smartphone segment of Samsung isn’t dominating the market completely, but there is no doubt, the premium mid-range smartphones by the company are worth purchasing if you are looking for the best value for money, and at the same time, you want to get a reliable service, lest something goes wrong with your smartphone. That said, I recently purchased the Samsung Galaxy A71, and is using it as my daily driver for almost a month now, and seriously speaking, I have mixed reactions about the smartphone. The handset looks great, the camera setup is good, and the performance is also impressive.

So, just like every single time, I am here with a short review of the product. Released in January 2020, Samsung Galaxy A71 is one of the newest models, and I am pretty sure, this handset will keep receiving more updates in the future to make the handset more functional and improve the user experience at the same time. But time will say, what Samsung is going to do. In this review, I will start with the box contents, and then I will proceed with the features, and eventually, what I liked, and disliked about this new beast by Samsung. 

Samsung Galaxy A71 Smartphone review

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So, without any further delay, let’s get started with the box contents.

Box Contents:

• The Samsung Galaxy A71 handset
• A SIM-ejector tool
• A soft and transparent TPU case
• Type-C to Type-C cable
• 25 Watt Super Fast Charger
• A pair of Samsung-branded earphones
• Some basic paperwork – Quick Start Guide, Region Lock Guide, and Warranty Card

So, those are the box contents. I am glad that Samsung has bundled a pair of earphones, and that’s what you typically get in the box of most other modern handsets.

Features:

Let’s now have a look at the features and specifications of the Samsung Galaxy A71 handset, so that you can make your purchasing decision.

• The dimension of the handset is 163.6x76x7.7 mm, and it weighs around 179 grams. The handset has a plastic back, but it looks premium due to the texture, most other modern Samsung handsets have these days.
• The handset is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 SoC, which is based on the 8 nm process, and Adreno 618 GPU. The handset has 8 GB RAM and has 128 GB of UFS 2.1 internal memory.
• Talking about the screen size, the Samsung Galaxy A71 has a 6.7-inch Super-AMOLED display with 1080×2400 pixels screen resolution. It means the aspect ratio is 20:9 with 393 pixels per inch or PPI. The handset also has Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for protection.
• The Samsung Galaxy A71 comes with Android 10.0 out of the box with One UI 2 on top, and talking about the SIM slot, it has dual SIM slot with a dedicated microSDXC slot, which should cater to the requirement of most Indian users.
• Talking about the camera, it has a quad-rear camera setup having 64 MP with f/1.8 aperture, 12 MP with f/2.2 aperture ultrawide lens, 5 MP with f/2.4 macro lens, and a 5 MP with f/2.2 depth sensor. The rear camera has an LED flash and has support for panorama and HDR. The handset is capable of recording 4K at 30 FPS, 1080p at 30 or 240 FPS, and 960 FPS, with gyro-EIS. The selfie camera is a 32 MP shutter with f/2.2 aperture, has the wide mode, and has support for HDR.
• The handset is bundled with the 4,500 mAh battery which has support for 25 Watt super fast-charging. The handset also has NFC with full support for Samsung Pay.
• Talking about the additional features, the Samsung Galaxy A71 has an under-display fingerprint scanner and has all the necessary sensors that should be available at this price point. Talking about the colours, the handset is available at Prism, Pink, Blue, Silver, and Crush Black colours.

So, those are the features of the Samsung Galaxy A71 that you should know about, and should matter to most people.

Galaxy A71 Pros:

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Now, let’s have a look at the pros of the Samsung Galaxy A71 handset, where I will talk about what are the things that I liked in the handset.

• Talking about how it feels while holding the phone, it really seems great. Even though it doesn’t deliver that premium feels as the back is made from plastic, it’s impressive. As the back is made from plastic it is recommended to use the bundled case, and that doesn’t ruin the look of the handset in any way. The rectangular rear-camera setup also looks premium similar to that of Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite, however, there are 3 cameras on the S10 Lite.
• The big Super-AMOLED Infinity-O display looks stunning, and it is almost bezel-less. This also adds a premium look to the handset, and there’s no doubt the big screen takes the experience of playing games and media consumption to a whole new level. The handset also has Wildvine L1 certification, which means, it will be even better to watch Netflix and Prime Video on the handset.
• Coming to the user interface, which is One UI 2, it is really impressive. The user interface is really snappy and has a number of features that should make the everyday experience of using the handset much better. It has the option to take scrolling screenshots, edge panel, and everything else, along with Bixby Home, which really enhances the user interface, and I really liked it.
• The Samsung Galaxy A71 is a camera-centric device, When it comes to photography, it also impressed me. The 64 MP camera can capture photos with great details, and the low-light performance of the camera also impressed me. I tried capturing some macro shots, and they were really great. The ultra-wide-angle lens also did a great job of capturing photos with great details. The photos captured using live focus are also sharp, and the edges are also nice. You can have a look at some of the photos that I captured with the rear camera module.
• Next, coming to the front camera, the performance of the front selfie camera also impressed me. I tried capturing some photos with live focus mode, and the performance was great. The front camera can also capture wide photos, which can be useful at the time of taking groupfies. You can have a look at the shots captured using the selfie camera below.
• As the Samsung Galaxy A71 is a camera-centric device, it also has support for AR emojis, and the support for super slo-mo videos should also make the TikTokers go crazy about the phone. The videos captured using the Super steady mode are also quite steady, thanks to the gyro-EIS, and the interface of the camera app is also quite functional with a lot of useful features and settings that you can easily configure.
• I played a few of the most modern games intense like PUBG, Fortnite, Call of Duty, and comparatively lighter GTA San Andreas on this handset, and the experience of playing games on the Snapdragon 730 SoC didn’t disappoint me. Though I noticed that Fortnite is only playable at medium graphics settings, and the frame rate was locked to just 30 FPS, which is quite expected, as the handset has the Adreno 618 GPU. So, I must say, the gaming experience isn’t bad at all.
• Talking about multi-tasking on the 8 GB of RAM, the RAM management is quite good, and I can pick up a task after I left it a few hours back. I also tried picking up some heavy games from exactly where I left off, and thus, I must say, the RAM management is really good.
• Connectivity, which is also one of the most important aspects of a smartphone, I must say, the connectivity shouldn’t disappoint you in any way. The call quality was nice, and the internet speeds met my expectations. The handset also comes with support for Wi-Fi calling, just like most other Samsung handsets, and you can take advantage of it if your service provider offers Wi-Fi calling in your area.
• Even though it isn’t a flagship phone by Samsung, the looks, the design, and the software interface look like that of the flagships. The 120 Hz display isn’t there, like it is, in the Samsung Galaxy S20, nor you can change the screen resolution, or get the ultra-premium features, but I must say, the features that you get are really impressive.
• The battery is an important aspect of today’s smartphones. Thankfully, the Samsung Galaxy A71 packs in a massive 4,500 mAh battery, which easily lasts me more than a day, 1 and a half days to be more precise, under moderate usage. So, I must say, the battery on this beast performs expectedly.
• The under-display fingerprint sensor is not the fastest, but it is really fast, and the fact that it doesn’t take up any space on the handset itself, a few more micro-seconds that the fingerprint sensor takes to unlock the handset, doesn’t make a significant difference. The face-unlock feature also works great and is quite accurate. So, you can also use the face unlock, if you don’t want to use the fingerprint sensor at some point in time.

So, those are the pros or things that I liked the Samsung Galaxy A71 handset.

Galaxy A71 Cons:

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Now, let’s have a look at the cons of the Samsung Galaxy A71 handset or the things that should be improved, in the handset.

• There are some things that I disliked, in the first place, in the handset. Long pressing the lock button brings Bixby, which can also be changed, and you can find out how to do that, here. But for a normal user, who isn’t tech-savvy, they will really find it difficult to shut down or restart the handset, as they are habituated with long pressing the lock button to bring the power menu.
• Samsung Galaxy A71 is a premium mid-range handset, and thus, Samsung could have provided a glass or metal back instead of the plastic back that is in the case of this handset. Even though the Samsung Galaxy A71 looks premium, I just wish, it had a metal or glass back, and that would have given the handset a more premium look.
• Just like most other Samsung handsets, it comes with some pre-installed junkware, and also some useful apps like Netflix, Prime Video, or apps that most users like. Most apps can be uninstalled, but there are also some apps like Facebook, which can’t be uninstalled. I myself don’t want to have the Facebook app on my smartphone, and I sure, most users also have the same desire. Samsung should allow users to uninstall apps like Facebook and others, and let the users choose the apps they want to keep on their handset.
• At this price point, Samsung could have used a better or a more premium SoC, instead of Qualcomm Snapdragon 730, which isn’t a bad SoC, but it could have been better, considering the handsets by other brands at this price point. But it is still Samsung, and thus, they are undoubtedly charging a premium for this handset.

As of now, after using it for almost one month, I don’t have any more complaints about this handset. If I find more, I will definitely update that in the cons.

My verdict:

If Samsung is your brand of choice, and you are looking for a handset with decent specs, the Samsung Galaxy A71 is undoubtedly the way to go for. When it comes to Samsung, I don’t think, they will roll out software updates as fast as most other handsets by other brands running stock Android, like Nokia, but as far as Samsung A series handsets are concerned, Samsung should roll out the next version of Android, i.e. Android 11 on this device. How the Samsung Galaxy A71 performance in the long run, after a year or so, is a subject that I can only understand after using the handset that long.

So, that was all about the Samsung Galaxy A71 review. Do you have anything to add to the review, or have anything to say about the smartphone? Feel free to comment on the same below.

Galaxy A71 review ratings