We unbox the Galaxy A20!

After years of watching their budget and mid-range smartphone market share get devoured by their Chinese rivals, Korean giant Samsung is finally making a stand. Leading the way are their new M and A series of devices, kitted and priced to compete against the likes of Xiaomi, Realme, and other rivals.

The Galaxy A20 is one of the most affordable members of the A-series, sporting Samsung’s Super AMOLED panel with a tiny notch, octa-core processor plus a dual rear camera. Does Samsung finally have a phone that can compete with budget manufacturers?

Packaging and contents:

There’s no air of mystery with the Galaxy A20’s box, as you see exactly what the phone you’re getting right from the get-go, A render of the phone graces the outside of the box, along with its name splashed on the bottom.

Inside the box you’ll find the phone itself, a fast charger, USB Type-C cable, a pair of headphones and documentation. Oddly enough we didn’t see a silicone case anywhere, and the phone did not come with a pre-applied screen protector.

Looks and feels as premium as their other phones

If there’s one thing Samsung knows how to do, it is making really solid, premium-looking phones. The Galaxy A20 is no exception, as the phone has a handsome exterior that looks, and feels premium.

But alas as with most phones in its price range, the Galaxy A20’s glass-looking back is actually plastic. Very convincing glass-like plastic, but plastic all the same.

The phone feels hefty and solid, which is always a good thing. The cameras are tucked on the upper left side of the rear, arranged vertically, with the fingerprint scanner on its flank.

Power and volume buttons are on the right side. The phone can accommodate two SIMs and a microSD card on its SIM tray, which means you don’t have to choose between having an extra SIM or extra storage.

Moving on to the bottom of the phone, you’ll see the speaker grille, USB Type-C port (YES!) and a 3.5mm jack.

One of the main features of the Galaxy A20 is its large, vibrant 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display with a small waterdrop notch, and 19.5:9 aspect ratio. Resolution is just HD+ so you will see pixelation once in a while though the vibrant display more than makes up for that.

The cameras are composed of a 13-megapixel main shooter at the rear with an f/1.9 aperture along with a 5-megapixel camera with an f/2.2 aperture wide-angle shooter. The selfie camera meanwhile on that teardrop notch is an 8-megapixel unit with an f/2.0 aperture.

Inside the phone runs Samsung’s own Octa-core Exynos 7884 chipset, paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage.

The Exynos 7884 is essentially an underclocked version of their Exynos 7885 that powered the company’s mid-range A8 and A8+, launched last year. Aside from that, the phone packs a pretty large 4000mAh battery, along with 15W fast charging.

Additional software features include Dolby Atmos technology, as well as Android 9 Pie and Samsung’s OneUI that’s laid on top.

But is the hardware on the Galaxy A20 enough to combat Samsung’s Chinese rivals on the low end of the market? Xiaomi, Realme, and others have been pushing hard in the budget market with their phones, so Samsung has its work cut out for it trying to penetrate that particular price segment with the Galaxy A20.

Samsung’s Galaxy A20 is priced at Php 9,990 and is now available in stores.

Samsung Galaxy A20 specs

• Exynos 7884 octa-core processor
• 3GB RAM
• 6.4-inch HD+ Infinity-V Super AMOLED display
• 32GB of expandable storage (up to 512GB)
• Dual rear cameras: 13-megapixel f/1.9 main camera, 5-megapixel f/2.2 depth camera,
• 8-megapixel f/2.0 front camera
• Dual SIM
• 3G, LTE
• Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS
• Fingerprint scanner, USB-C
• 4000mAh battery with 15w fast charging
• Android Pie