Samsung has announced the Galaxy S10 Lite and Galaxy Note 10 Lite, affordable versions of its two flagships of 2019 just in time for annual tech trade show CES 2020, but at the same time it announced the wider release of two other important phones: the Galaxy A51 and A71.
These are the successors to the Samsung Galaxy A50 and Galaxy A70, two of the most popular affordable phones of 2019. Those handsets had mid-range specs but impressively low prices, plus great-looking screens, and lots of people went for them instead of Samsung's pricier higher-end devices.
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These A-series phones had previously been announced for selected regions, but not the US and UK, and we didn't have full specs lists. Samsung's announcement in a blog post confirms the phone for the US, which means it's likely they'll also find their way to the UK.
The Samsung Galaxy A51 and A71 build on the A50 and A70 in a few ways, making them tempting alternatives if you're looking for a new affordable phone. There's no word on a release date or price just yet – the Samsung blog post is curiously quiet in that regard – but we'll update you as soon as we find out.
Samsung Galaxy A51
The Samsung Galaxy A51 has a 6.5-inch screen, a touch bigger than the A50's 6.4 inches, but it's the same Super AMOLED tech as before. This is broken up by a punch-hole cutout in the top center of the screen, as on the Galaxy Note 10, but unlike the A50 which had a small 'teardrop' notch.
There's a noteworthy difference between the two devices in terms of cameras, as while the older phone had a 25MP main camera, the A51 has a 48MP snapper. That's joined by 5MP depth, 5MP macro and 12MP ultra-wide snappers, which is a bit more impressive than the 8MP ultra-wide and 5MP depth cameras of the A50. The front-facing camera is 32MP, an upgrade of 7MP over the A50.
Yes, that means there are four rear cameras here, and they're housed in a fairly large block on the device's rear, another big difference between the old and new devices.
You're getting a 4,000mAh power pack in the Galaxy A51, which is the same capacity as the A51's, and the 15W fast charging is the same here too.
Something we don't know about yet is the chipset – the Galaxy A50 had an Eynos 9610 mid-ranger, but it's possible the Galaxy A51 will have something slightly more advanced.
Overall, the Galaxy A51 is fairly similar to its predecessor, with a few higher-end features. It could be an optional upgrade for anyone considering the Galaxy A50, or a much more preferable device if it's priced competitively enough.
Samsung Galaxy A71
We're a little more excited about the Samsung Galaxy A71, and that's because it's the first Samsung phone to pack a 64MP main camera, which is way more megapixels than the 48MP of the Galaxy A51 or 32MP of the A70.
The rest of the camera specs are the same as those of the A51, with the two 5MP snappers and 12MP ultra-wide, and a 32MP camera on the front.
The screen here is the same size as the Galaxy A70's at 6.7 inches, but it's Super AMOLED Plus rather than Super AMOLED – just how much difference that makes remains to be seen. Again, it has the central punch-hole camera where the A70 had a teardrop notch.
Battery size and charging speed are identical between the Samsung Galaxy A71 and A70, with a 4,500mAh power pack and 25W charging. As for the A51, we don't know the chipset, but the Snapdragon 675 of the A70 was pretty decent for its price tag, so we're expecting something similarly strong.
While this device has much of the same specs as the Samsung Galaxy A70, the 64MP camera is an exciting development – we'll be sure to test it thoroughly when we get both devices in to review.
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