Galaxy A20 review
Our verdict Skip the Galaxy A20 if you need a more reliable phone that doesn't suffer from performance lags. The best feature of this device is long battery life...
02/01/2022
Our Verdict
Skip the Galaxy A20 if you need a more reliable phone that doesn't suffer from performance lags. The best feature of this device is a long battery life, and the price-matched Moto G7 Power tops it.
For
Exceptional autonomy
Low price p>
Good cameras for a budget phone
Impressive Live Focus camera mode
Versus
Slow performance
Easily scratched< /p>
Ho-hum display
Today's best Samsung Galaxy A20 deals
$156.44
on Amazon
$174.40 p>
at Walmart
$249.99
at Samsung
Galaxy A20 Specifications
BONE:
Android 9 Pie / One UI
Screen size:
6.4-inch AMOLED (1560x720)
Refresh rate:
60Hz
CPU:
Samsung Exynos 7904
RAM:
3 GB
Storage / Expandable: p>
32 GB / Yes
Rear cameras:
13MP (f/1.9), 5MP (f/2.2) wide
Front camera:< /p>
8MP (f/2.0)
Video:
1080p at 30fps
Battery:
4000mAh
Battery Life (Hrs:Mins):
13:46
Charge:
15W
Colors:
Black
Cut:
6.24 x 2.94 x 0.3 inches
Weight:
5.86 ounces
Despite your doubts, we encourage you to check out Samsung's budget offerings. Although in the past, the company's inexpensive phones couldn't compete with any of the
best phones
, more recent models, such as the
Samsung Galaxy A51
and this Galaxy A20, adopt some of the elements found in Samsung's more expensive devices. But those features now appear in a more affordable package.
As the Galaxy A20 shows, you're still compromising on performance, design, and screen quality. But Samsung's latest budget phone also takes good photos and packs a long battery life, making this device an intriguing option for budget-conscious buyers.
You might also be tempted by the new
Samsung Galaxy A21
if you are looking for enhanced photography capabilities. Samsung has unveiled the next edition of the A20 with a quad camera including a 16 MP main camera and ultra wide, depth and macro lenses for more creative capture. It will be available this summer starting at $249.99.
Galaxy A20 price and availability
We reviewed a Metro-bound version of the Galaxy A20 from T-Mobile, which once sold the phone for $239. T-Mobile was also selling the Galaxy A20 for $250. Boost Mobile also sold Samsung's budget phone. The phone has been supplanted by the new Galaxy A21.
The black-finished A20 comes in one configuration: 32GB of built-in storage and 3GB of RAM. You can expand the storage up to 512GB with a microSD card.
Galaxy A20 design: disappointing
With its recent A-series releases, Samsung is committed to designing budget phones that look just like the company's more expensive flagships.
(Image credit: Future)
With a 6.4-inch screen, super-thin bezels, and a U-shaped top notch housing a front-facing camera, the Galaxy A20 could be mistaken for a fancier phone. As with the Galaxy A50, it's only after extensive handling of the phone that Samsung's money-saving measures become apparent.
(Image credit: Future)
While it doesn't look cheap, the A20's plastic casing poses potential problems. The back collects more fingerprints than Gorilla Glass. Plastic is also less durable than alternative materials.
(Image credit: Future)
I threw the phone in my bag on the way home, and the device resurfaced with two unsightly scratches on the back. Considering I didn't have keys or various sharp objects in my purse, I was disappointed to learn that the A20 can't protect itself from simple elements. If you want to buy the A20, buy a case.
Galaxy A20 screen: Sufficient but not the sharpest
The Galaxy A20 is the same size as the A50, right down to its 6.4-inch AMOLED display. At 1560 x 720 the resolution isn't quite as sharp as the A50's FHD+ panel, and those missing pixels tend to make their presence known fairly quickly. Text, app icons, and gestures look slightly jagged on the A20's screen. When I watched the trailer for
Top Gun: Maverick
on a stable Wi-Fi network, Tom Cruise's chiseled features looked noticeably less chiseled. The screen's low resolution isn't ideal for video streaming, while the $299 Moto G7's 2270 x 1080 image is near perfect.
(Image credit: Future)
Thankfully, the A20's color reproduction and brightness are solid for a budget phone. The handset covered 100% of the sRGB color space and scored a Delta-E accuracy score of 0.35 in our tests. (Delta-E scores closer to 0 are better.) These numbers are fairly even with the Moto G7 Power results and respectable for a budget smartphone with an AMOLED display.
MORE:
< p>Best cheap phones: Top Android picks under $300You also get a very bright display with the Galaxy A20, which hits 465 nits on a light meter. That falls just below the 488-nit smartphone average, but the screen is bright enough that you can see it on a sunny day. The A20 also has a handy dark mode to relieve tension when using the phone at night.
(Image credit: Future)
I ran into an issue with the A20's Infinity - V-Display, which uses a V-shaped cutout to house the phone's front-facing camera. Samsung's screen eliminates almost all bezels, and I often found that I inadvertently brushed against parts of the screen when trying to use the phone with one hand. It might be something I would get used to as I would be more comfortable with a bezel-less phone.
Galaxy A20 camera: impressive depth
The rear of the Galaxy A20 features a slightly protruding dual-camera module that houses a 13-megapixel lens with an f/1.9 aperture and a 5-megapixel wide-angle shooter with an f/2.2 aperture.
(Image credit: Future)< /p>
With the second camera, the A20 can capture depth-of-field photographs, giving it a huge advantage over the identically priced Moto G7 Power.
and its unique rear camera.
I'm happy with how the A20's cameras handled this windowsill scene in our New York office. The A20 automatically balanced natural light for a good end product. When zooming in on the details of the plant leaves, the texture is a little blurry, but that's normal.
The A20's camera excels outdoors. An image taken in Bryant Park on a sunny morning provides vibrant contrast that really makes the little red flowers pop. The neutral colors don't rock warm or cold, unlike the G7 Power's attempt, which has a blue tint.
If you're a fan of the portrait mode featured in many flagship phones, you'll benefit from the A20's Live Focus option, which Samsung has brought over from its more expensive handsets. The camera automatically focuses on the subject - in this case my colleague Hunter - allowing me to control the blurring of the background. The edges of Hunter's clothes and hair aren't as defined as they might be on an iPhone, which costs $500-$750 more than the Galaxy A20, but it still looks pretty neat.
The A20's 8- MP selfie camera impressed me the most. The color output was bold and realistic, without oversaturating my face. Also, the depth option blurred my boring desktop background. I prefer my A20 selfie to my G7 Power selfie, but you can take a look for yourself.
Galaxy A20 performance: very average
The Exynos 7904 chipset that powers the Galaxy A20 is a budget mid-range system-on-chip from Samsung. Using a less powerful chip keeps the cost of the A20 lower than the Exynos 9610-powered A50, but you also trade off performance.
The A20 scored 4,174 in Geekbench 4, which measures overall system performance, compared to the A50's score of 5,200. The A20 also trailed the Moto G7 Power and its Snapdragon 632 processor, which scored 4,814 points on Geekbench.
Using one app at a time is the only way to avoid lag on the A20. Once you try to simultaneously launch Instagram, Google Maps, WhatsApp or any other range of apps you use daily, the A20 gets stressed. It will hesitate between apps and slow down each one individually.
MORE:
Best smartphones on the market right now
The A20 isn't made for gaming, but most budget smartphones aren't either. Asphalt 9: Legends, for example, had a choppy frame rate and frustrating lag, and the back of the phone got hot.
Demanding apps aren't the only things running slow on the A20. The phone's rear fingerprint sensor is also suspiciously slow. Enrolling my fingerprint took several seconds, so I mostly opted for the biometric or manual face reader model.
Galaxy A20 battery life and charging: Good as it is
The Galaxy A20 redeems itself by holding the phone's 4,000mAh battery. In Tom's Guide's battery test, in which we have the phone surfing the web continuously on T-Mobile's LTE network until the device ran out of juice, the A20 lasted 13 hours. and 46 minutes. For comparison, the average smartphone dies just after 10 a.m. the
Nokia 7.1
, which costs $100 more than the A20, broke down after just 7:42. The Moto G7 Power still holds the budget crown, clocking in at 15:35, but that phone's 5,000mAh battery makes it bulkier than the A20.
(Image credit: Future)
The Galaxy A20 supports 15-watt charging, which means you can top up the battery in a respectable amount of time. After 30 minutes of charging after battery test, the A20 was about 30% charged; it took less than 2 hours to reach 100% power.
Galaxy A20 Software: Familiar One UI
As with most Samsung phones released in 2019, the Galaxy A20 comes with Android 9 Pie installed. Samsung is polishing this version of Android with the company's One UI interface, which means large app icons and text at the bottom of the screen. It works well for the large screen of the A20.
(Image credit: Future)
Gesture-based navigation is ridiculously simple to understand, and that's coming from the perspective of an iOS user. Moreover, this type of navigation keeps the screen free of extra buttons.
We expect the A20 to get an Android Q update sometime next year, well after the software launch. Samsung has never released Android upgrades urgently, and the mid-range A20 will likely lag behind the S and Note series devices in update priority.
MORE:
Best Samsung phones: Which Galaxy model should you buy?
Although the Galaxy A20 comes with 32GB of storage, only 15GB to 20GB can be used for your photos and apps. This is because of the programs that Metro preloads on the device. You can remove a few, but you'll need to disable others in settings if you want to reclaim some more of that storage.
Summary
All budget smartphones come with trade-offs. And while there are a few frustrations with the Galaxy A20 - namely, a humble screen and a considerable performance lag - the phone's long battery life and above-average cameras impress. How easily it scratched was the biggest issue, but a case easily solves that problem.
Samsung doesn't sell the Galaxy A20 unlocked, so you'll need to buy it through a wireless carrier. Luckily, you can find this device from several different wireless service providers - AT&T looks like the glaring exception - so you'll probably be able to buy the phone from your preferred carrier.
Should you, though? The Galaxy A20 doesn't outperform a more polished budget phone like the Moto G7 Power, but it's a viable contender. If you're looking to save on your next smartphone purchase and don't mind performance lags, the A20's battery life and camera make this Samsung a budget buy.
Kate Kozuch
< p>Kate Kozuch is Senior Writer at Tom's Guide and covers clothing, TVs and all things smart home. When she's not in cyborg mode, you can find her riding an exercise bike or channeling her famous inner boss. She and her army of robots will one day rule the world, but until then contact her atkate.kozuch@futurenet.com
.