Samsung Galaxy A01: nostalgia or complete failure?

Many users, turning to reviews of equipment before buying, have not been waiting for intelligible criticism and clear recommendations from sites for a long time. They were replaced by laudatory praises and paid advertising, but our team is not ready to deceive readers and give out a dummy for an incredible breakthrough, so the guest of today's review will have a bad time. Or, after all, no?

The controversial smartphone Samsung Galaxy A01 of the Korean brand has become the subject of controversy in more than one forum. What kind of animal is this, a retrospective on the past decade, or a complete failure for $ 80, which the company is trying to hide in every possible way? Let's figure it out!

About the brand's affairs at the moment

Even an uninterested user knows and remembers the great confrontation between the Korean brand Samsung and the American company Apple.Meanwhile, time does not flow, but runs, former opponents no longer clash in the techno arena, giving this opportunity to bright newcomers: Xiaomi, Huawei, Oppo and others. The roads diverged, some believe: “the more cameras, the better!”, while others say: “the future is in touch clamshells.” Who is right?

South Korea's latest creation Galaxy Fold, with a foldable screen, made a lot of noise in 2019 without paying off at all. It seems that now the creators are experiencing a real creative crisis, and only the reputation gained over the years saves them from complete collapse. Ordinary phones are already tired, folding ones are not sold out, so where is the golden mean?

Perhaps the answer will be found already this year, because the developers are hard at work on creating a unique AI for the next generation of flagships. It's time for us to return to the past and remember the long forgotten.

Appearance and equipment

The little son came to his father, and the baby asked: “Samsung Galaxy A01 - is it good or, nevertheless, bad?”. Probably, the father will not find something to answer, and the developers even more so.

The basis of the smartphone is a classic monolithic block, with parameters of 146.3 x 70.9 x 8.3 mm. Compared to the flagships of the outgoing 2019, which do not even fit in the hand, this model is truly miniature. The screen size was 5.7 inches. Using the gadget does not cause discomfort, because of the small width, the phone does not need to be intercepted with the second hand and be nervous all the time, no matter how it flies onto the tile. Probably, with the expectation of the accuracy of buyers, Samsung saved on the famous oleophobic coating and additional protective glass.

And on that note, we end all the good things about the 2020 novelty.The body of the smartphone is made of matte plastic, which is neither durable nor presentable. In the upper left corner is a rectangular block of two cameras and an LED flash.

“Where is the android fingerprint?” you ask, and we will honestly answer that we don’t know ourselves, but we dare to assume that it will turn out to be touch-sensitive, and not fingerprinting. True or not, it will become clear in January 2020, when the full details of the Galaxy A01 will see the light of day.

There were only three colors: black, red and blue. Not thick, Samsung, not thick.

If A01 already fell into your hands, then do not have false hopes, but run for a case and a protective glass. Fortunately, the form is standard, without folds and 10 cameras.

The only hope is that the brand will become generous with factory covers that have recently become fashionable. Without it, the back of the device will turn into empty cheap stuff, without waiting for midnight. The face of the device is also quite easily soiled, while at a stretch it meets the requirements of a frameless screen. Below is an impressive “chin”, the buttons are touch-sensitive. Top drop-shaped front camera. It does not spoil the appearance much, so that designers can sleep peacefully. However, not for long! After all, we are in a hurry to an even more distant past, where manufacturers placed a speaker on the cover of the phone. Thanks to Steve Jobs, they have been hidden on the side frames for several years now. Why Samsung suddenly decided to return to 2013 is not clear to us.

As we have already said, nothing remarkable was added in terms of color combinations, neither northern lights, nor emerald green, even a highlight in the shape of the letter “S” was added. In a word, minimalism. The rest of the package is standard: a ticket, certificates, a charger, an adapter, a usb cord, a paper clip and a transparent case.

Characteristics

Screen

Get ready for real conspiracy theories that we have to figure out together. So one source claims that the screen of the Galaxy A01 is based on one of the latest technologies that was used in bending smartphones, Infinity V. It is resistant to shock, while producing richer colors. The other leans towards an ordinary liquid crystal screen (IPS), which is more like the truth. Loyal Samsung fans were perplexed, how the vaunted Amoled, its own development, is available and, unexpectedly, the brand opts for a budget matrix, which is generally good both in color reproduction (about 16 million shades) and in brightness, but where is this bar "king of smartphones"?

The display is not additionally protected, so that scratches and cracks are entirely assigned to the direct hands of buyers. Forget about Full HD, 4K and other joys of 2020 right away. A harsh budget segment and a resolution of 720 by 1560 with HD +. Unpretentious users will appreciate even 720p, but only under one condition (weather conditions, to be exact). The screen produces 301 ppi, which is very good, but the brightness is rather weak, the smartphone is defenseless under the sun, but in cloudy weather the image is clear and bright (really, Petersburgers?).

Filling

We are approaching a field where even the most disastrous novelty can be rehabilitated. Did the Samsung Galaxy A01 succeed?

The developers did not call the phone either gaming or blogging. And, it seems, he is unlikely to pull the first title. The performance of the processor corresponds only to the fourth generation of Snapdragon. That is, no 3D games, heavy applications, fast loading. As they say, whoever understands life is in no hurry (we hope that with a purchase). The eight-core chipset is divided into two clusters of 4 cores. The first is responsible for complex processes and gives out a frequency of 1.95 GHz, the other to maintain the system is normal with a frequency of 1.45 GHz. On the plus side, the case almost does not heat up. There is no information about the video processor at all, although as you can see, it will not particularly affect the situation.

Finally, Samsung understood the principle of the time machine, because we are greeted by the brand new Android 10.0 operating system. As you know, it harmoniously combined the beginnings of neural networks that predict user actions, interesting design, convenient factory applications and good speed. It is complemented by a shell with the famous minimalism, reduced notification icons and a “dark theme” function.

As a result, the filling of the Samsung Galaxy A01 is something average for busy people who need a phone to view the time and SMS messages, but it's still the same terry budget.

Autonomy and additional features

Logic has joined the chat.

The South Korean brand hit the mark with a small and remote autonomy, although many manufacturers sin with this. The novelty is not afraid of heavy games, movie marathons, three-hour photo shoots, and loads in general. So 3000 mAh will be more than enough for buyers. Meanwhile, the phone will stay in standby mode for only 72 hours, with active use it will last only a day. As for calls, there are all 30 free hours. The model does not provide fast charging, so the phone can be charged up to 100% in 2-2.5 hours.

Communication in the Galaxy A01 is a dark matter. In the capital, 4G is stable, but in smaller cities you will have to be content with 3G or EDGE, and no wireless headset! The company invites us to remember the days of Bluetooth (4.2) in 2011, with the same fragile connection as the new generation of wireless headphones.

Camera and memory

We got to the point of our review, when it becomes completely clear that the new Samsung is not intended for beautiful photos that are difficult to distinguish from professional shootings.

The main camera consists of a monolithic block of two lenses. The first is 13 MP, with 28 mm focus, to capture more space in the frame. Helped her mediocre f/2.2 aperture. There are no real photos on the camera, but the theory already makes us understand that a really high-quality picture can not be expected. Neither a wide angle nor good lighting will save you from a soapy picture, out of focus and, of course, complete defenselessness at night.The second lens - 2 megapixels, according to experts, was added exclusively for portrait mode (the aperture is even worse in it).

The front camera also does not please us much. Its maximum is only 5 megapixels. For a smartphone in 2020, this is a real disaster, because in the era of social networks, photos are nowhere to be found. So be vigilant and think for what purpose you buy a gadget!

The creators also did not fail with the amount of memory, because if the camera is bad, then a lot of gigabytes will not be needed. The RAM was 2 GB, which is negligible; with such characteristics, it will definitely not be possible to overclock the speed using extraneous methods. External memory, surprisingly, 16 GB. Even somehow a lot for the Galaxy A01, don't you think?

Advantages and disadvantages

• Big screen;
• Low price;
• Advanced operating system;
• Competent approach to the size of the phone;
• Case as a gift;
• Good matrix;
• Dual SIM support.

• Fragile, easily soiled materials;
• Outdated wireless;
• Weak processor;
• Small amount of memory;
• Fades in sunny weather;
• Ordinary autonomy;
• Boring design.

Where to buy and at what price

There is still no exact release date, but it is known for sure that the gadget will definitely reach the CIS. The approximate price for the novelty was 10,000 rubles. How interesting it turns out, the announcement in 2019, the presentation in 2020. Samsung, do you have last year's smartphone, or what?

The model raises many doubts and contradictions. We can assume that the era of push-button phones is gone forever. In 2020 and subsequent years, for SMS, calls and radio, it is touch phones with weak characteristics and, as a result, a reduced price that will be created.