Samsung Galaxy A6 2018 Quick Review
Overview
The Samsung Galaxy A6 2018 is good phone but it could have been better in many respects. It has a vibrant AMOLED screen, trendy aspect ratio, and a premium metal chassis. It has a decent, though far from the best mid-level performance but it can still satisfy average and undemanding users out there — that is until you look at what the competition has been churning lately with their affordable mid-rangers.
(+)Like
- Super AMOLED Display
- Feels premium to hold with metal build
- Looks modern with 18:9 aspect ratio
- Good camera performance in well lit environment
- Dolby Atmos enhances headphone audio experience
- Decent battery life
(-)Dislike
- 720p, HD+ resolution for a mid-range 2018 is still a thing?
- Legacy CPU
- Pictures in low light lacks detail, has trouble focusing on subject
- Lacks Always-On Display of its larger sibling, the A6+
- Still uses micro-USB port instead of USB Type-C
Samsung released the Galaxy A6 as a ‘budget’ device that entices buyer with its premium looking metal frame and sleek design— only to be letdown by the obligatory cost cutting elsewhere. Initially, the A6 was priced way above competing brands in the emerging markets whereas other OEMs offer tremendous value compared to what Samsung has to offer in the price range. Since then it has gone down to a more reasonable price point and merits consideration if you can shrug off few shortcomings.
Design and Construction
The Galaxy A6 has a aluminum frame at the rear which is quite familiar affair for a Samsung mid-ranger. The metal finish attracts copious amount of smudges therefore wrapping it in a case should easily solve it. The U-shaped antenna band, found in last year’s J series is present here at the top and bottom.
It comes with a trendy ‘narrow and tall’ design that makes it easier to reach the other end of the keyboard. However, if you have a small hands, you may need to hyper-extend your thumb to pull down notification on the top. Otherwise, you can enable the fingerprint scanner gesture to swipe down notification.
The phone is pleasant to hold and can be operated in one hand due to its slim 18.5:9 aspect ratio along with a ‘compact’ 5.6-inch display. It is not clear if there is Corning Gorilla glass protection for the screen so we checked the list of Samsung devices through Corning’s website . Unfortunately, the A6 2018 is not included on the list. That is why we suggest to immediately install a screen guard or tempered just to be on the safe side.
The fingerprint at the rear, though not as awful as Galaxy S8’s horizontal placement could have been better. Samsung still insists it should be too darn close to camera that your finger constantly smudges it.
The speaker is located at the upper side, near the power button which is not as weird as you might think. If you are going to watch videos or play games in landscape, you wont easily smother the side speaker with your palm unlike a bottom firing one.
At the bottom there is a micro USB port instead of the faster and future proof USB type-C. But at least Samsung didn’t take away the headphone jack and no adapter needed to listen to your 3.5mm headset.
Display
Samsung touted the A6 has AMOLED ‘infinity display’ but certainly it is not the same curved display found on its other flagships. Nevertheless, in-house Super AMOLED panel produces highly saturated colors that pop-out and images are very pleasing to look at. Though some may not like the seemingly too colorful display, you may also adjust it to your liking. There is blue shifting when the screen is off angle but not really a deal breaker considering its price.
Then there is the resolution that gives pixel peepers a reason to scoff at— the Galaxy A6 has only 720P HD+ plus display which is equivalent to 294 ppi. To be honest, the screen still looks fine as small texts are still readable but full HD resolution are standard these days for a mid-range device. However, set aside the gripes about screen resolution and you’ll appreciate watching videos because it looks stunning with rich and vibrant color reproduction.
When it comes to outdoor visibility, it gets bright enough to use during the day while the sun is out and about. It doesn’t have the distinction of being the best in sunlight legibility, but it not too shabby at all for outdoor viewing.
Performance
Doing the heavy lifting is Samsung’s 14nm Exynos 7870, which is already a two-year old chipset and powered already aged devices such as the J7 2016. It is disappointing that Samsung didn’t opt for latest mid-range chipset that are now prevalent in affordable phones these days. Benchmark result provides a glimpse of the how the Galaxy A6 will perform and unsurprisingly, Antutu scores are on the low side. However, it may look gloom and doom at the this point but in real world use, we are glad to say that the Galaxy A6 performs quite well. Sure there are a animation stutter here and there, scrolling heavy webpage can be jittery at times, but everything else feels zippy. Apps open rather fast and lags when switching apps are still there but not a show stopper. Unless maybe you compare it to other upper midrange and flagships, that is the only time you may feel wanting in the speed department.
The Galaxy A6 runs on Samsung’s very own custom ROM, the Experience UI. Though it is a customized overlay, it is actually quite snappy. Considering it is running on a two year old chipset, the user experience is still surprisingly decent as previously mentioned. If your usage involves keeping up to date with your social media pals or playing a non-demanding games such as Alto’s Odyssey, which by the way runs on a silky smooth framerate, I’d say that you’ll be at home with the A6. However, resource intersive games like PUBG is also serviceable provided it is on a lower setting.
It the Android version is Oreo 8.0 with plans to upgrade to latest Pie version in the near future. Unfortunately, it seems security update won’t be done on monthly basis, instead you’ll see patches rolling out on a quarterly interval. At the moment, the device is still stuck on July security patch.
Camera
The single main camera, on paper sounds impressive with 16 MP lens, a wide aperture of f/1.7 and should take photos like a mid range champ. Unfortunately, that is not the case. The main camera takes good photos in day light with well balanced and natural looking colors but sometimes it has a tendency for highlights to be blown-out. Another main gripe about the camera is the it is easy to blur images with the slightest of movement especially under a more dimmer settings.
HDR works well in bringing out details in shady portion of the subject. It takes a little while for the camera to process multiple layer of images, but the result is pretty impressive. On the left is an images of a plant using only Auto Mode. You can see that the shaded part lost details while the HDR mode illuminated those dark areas quite well.
There is also a Pro mode that allows you to tinker with camera settings such as white balance and ISO. Another sample of shots taken shows a more natural looking images captured using Auto Mode. While the right image has warmer tone to it achieved by choosing ‘Daylight’ setting among others.
Meanwhile, the Galaxy A6’s selfie game is not going to please those who are into taking self photography. The images are quite blurry and there is obvious lack of detail and images seems a bit off for a 16MP camera. There is also a ‘Selfie Focus’ mode which is a software assisted background effect.
Battery Life
The 3000 mAh capacity may not be much these days but do consider that there are less power hungry aspect of the device. First off, Super AMOLED screen is power efficient display coupled with a less demanding HD panel . Then there is the power efficient 14 nm Exynos chipset means it doesn’t consume as much battery as other higher end processor to perform. I would say that the battery life is decent but I am getting pretty much varied result, depending on how frequent and apps that I use on that day. On average, I usually get around more than 5 hour screen time which means you may need to top up the phone at the end of the day. Of course, you milage may vary especially if you are a power user but overall, battery on the Galaxy A6 is considerably good.
Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy A6 is not for everyone, particularly those who look to squeeze every value they can get from their hard earned money. It is held back by – first and foremost – Samsung’s habit of pricing their phone higher than what the competition has to offer. Though price has come down significantly in other territories at this point but to be honest, there are other worthy options out there to first consider in this price range. But if you are not too keen on taking good selfies or looking for Full HD screen, this phone is just good enough. Otherwise, its vibrant Super AMOLED screen and quite pleasing aesthetics are just a few reasons to choose this phone over competing brands.
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