Samsung Galaxy A13 5G smartphone review – Modern cellular technology in an otherwise simple package

We reviewed the Samsung Galaxy A13 4G in May 2022 and discovered that it offers subpar performance in a basic case and a bright display with a high resolution. Now, the 5G version of the smartphone is also available at a 60-USD premium over the Galaxy A13 4G . Did the manufacturer successfully create an affordable 5G phone like for example the Poco X4 Pro 5G ? At first glance it seems unlikely, since it uses the same, simple case as its 4G sibling and even omits one camera.

Let us look at the cheap 5G smartphone in detail and determine, whether it does well within its price range or if too many corners were cut. As previously mentioned, the Samsung Galaxy A13 5G is visually very similar to its cheaper 4G sibling. However, the case has a matte texture, making it less susceptible to fingerprints.

The three cameras are arranged in a straight line without any higher design aspirations. Although the case yields slightly under pressure and can be twisted from the corners to a small degree, it offers a good build quality and good handling. At 195 grams (~6.

88 oz) , the smartphone is not exactly a featherweight for its size. While there are there are two storage configurations for the international version, only the lower-end model is available in the US for now: The price difference between the 4G and 5G models is around 60 USD. Unfortunately, Samsung continues to rely on slow eMMC storage, whereas other manufacturers are already able to offer faster storage in the same price range.

Since there is a dedicated microSD card reader, it is possible to use both two SIM cards and a microSD card with a capacity of up to 1 TB. The results with our reference Angelbird V60 microSD card and the Galaxy A13 5G are mixed: While they are fairly good in the CPDT benchmark – albeit with heavy fluctuations – the transfer rates during the copy test are relatively slow. Overall, users should not expect top speeds when it comes to data transfers.

The Samsung Galaxy A13 5G comes with Android 12 and the manufacturer’s own OneUI. While Android 13 will likely be available as a major update eventually for Samsung’s very cheap smartphone, the same will not necessarily be true with Android 14 in the next year. The security patches date back to Semptember 2022, making them fairly recent.

Samsung promises updates for 4 years and delivers them every 3 months currently, which is likely going to change to semi-annually as that is the case with most older Samsung devices. There are many preinstalled apps. Since this includes the manufacturer’s own apps, which copy the functionality of Google’s stock apps, such as the Samsung browser, users may want to first clean up the phone to have more storage.

There are many third-party apps as well, although they can be quickly removed, if desired. Of course, the main draw of the affordable Samsung phone is its 5G capability, which is far from being standard in this price range, as devices such as the Honor X8 or Motorola Moto G42 show. Additionally, the Galaxy A13 5G supports a wide range of 4G frequencies, making it suitable for accessing mobile networking while travelling.

That being said, since there are several bands missing for global use, users should determine whether the phone will work at their destination beforehand. The smartphone supports Wi-Fi standards up to and including Wi-Fi 5. Compared to other phones in its price range, the transfer rates are good and consistent.

We used our reference router Asus ROG Rapture AXE11000 for this test. Outdoors, the A13 5G is able to quickly locate us with an accuracy of within 2 meters. This is an excellent result, particularly after considering the variety of detected satellite networks which even includes the SBAS network for improved precision.

As we will see shortly, however, the smartphone is unfortunately unable to convert its ideal starting point into precise satellite navigation capabilities in practice. For our real-world test, we take the smartphone with us on a bike ride. For comparison purposes, we also take a Garmin Venu 2 smartwatch with us as a reference point.

The result: The Samsung Galaxy A13 5G is not always able to produce convincing results with some noticeable deviations from our route, while the Garmin watch achieves much more accurate results. Although our test device still locates our approximate position, truly precise geolocation is not within its area of expertise. While Samsung uses its own telephony app, other apps can also be installed, if desired.

VoLTE and Wi-Fi calling are supported. Although the signal strength within the 4G network is weaker compared to high-end devices and frequently drops to below 50 percent, it never fully disconnected during our testing. The call quality when using the earpiece is mediocre: Although it can get very loud, everyone in proximity will then be able to listen in on the conversation.

This also results in the voice of our conversational partner droning in our ears and although it still remains distinctly audible, the higher frequency parts become more pronounced. While our voice is captured well by the microphone, the volume could have been slightly higher. Via the speakerphone in hands-free mode, voices sound less present, but still distinct.

Here, we also must not speak too quietly in order for the person at the other end of the line to hear us. Unlike the Galaxy A13 4G , the 5G model does not come with a wide-angle camera and the front camera has fewer pixels. The camera specifications are otherwise identical: The 50-MP main camera comes from Samsung itself and takes 12.

5-MP pictures by default to increase the light yield. Alternatively, the full resolution can be used. Compared to more premium sensors, pictures taken with the main camera are lacking in terms of the details and brightness.

This phenomenon is particularly pronounced in our flower scene, while the city scene in bright daylight seems to be more forgiving. The camera handles very low light and stark contrasts surprisingly well considering the low price of the smartphone: Many areas are brightened well, although there are also noticeable pixel artifacts and the sharpness is worse compared to expensive iPhones. Videos can be recorded at up to 1080p and 30 FPS.

The camera quickly responds to changes in the ambient brightness. Similarly, the autofocus performs well overall, although it sometimes takes a second for it to adjust. The two other cameras on the back only have a resolution of 2 megapixels, each and include a macro lens, which is suitable for snapshots at best due to its low resolution and an auxiliary camera for bokeh effects, which cannot capture pictures on its own.

Meanwhile, a waterdrop-style notch on the front of the Galaxy 5G contains a 5-MP selfie camera. It offers good brightening capabilities and takes solid selfies in daylight. Since the edges of objects tend to become indistinguishable at some point, it is not suitable for high zoom levels.

There is no charger included in the slim package – instead, the scope of delivery only includes a USB cable and a SIM tool. During our testing, the smartphone at least accepted all the chargers we tried without any issues. Samsung offers a standard one-year limited warrant y in the US.

The entire surface area of the touchscreen on the Samsung Galaxy A13 5G is reliable and precise. The Galaxy phone features a 90-Hz screen, which appears to result in a smoother user experience due to the screen’s higher sampling rate. The physical buttons are limited to a recessed standby button and a volume rocker.

They are easy to find, in a good position for left-handed users, and they offer a distinct actuation point. The fingerprint sensor is integrated into the standby button and responds almost instantaneously to valid prints: The most recently used screen essentially appears on the phone immediately, even from standby. Facial recognition is also available for unlocking the phone, although this requires suitable lighting, which the phone can provide via the screen.

While this authentication method works fairly reliable as well when there are no sunglasses or face masks involved, it is not very secure due to its pure software implementation. The most striking feature of the Galaxy A13 5G’s PLS panel is its low resolution of 1600 x 720 pixels, which is considered outdated even this price range. Devices such as the Moto G42 or the Poco X4 Pro even offer an AMOLED screen with a significantly higher maximum brightness than display of our test device in both cases.

The Galaxy A13 4G ‘s screen also gets significantly brighter. Although the Galaxy A13 5G can be used outdoors, we would advise users to remain in the shade on bright days in order for the screen content to remain visible. The results of our oscilloscope testing show no PWM use.

However, CalMAN and our spectrophotometer reveal severe color deviations and a significant tint in the display. Orange, brown, and red colors stray particularly far from their counterparts in the target color space. This makes judging colors on the display difficult.

When viewed at an angle, the screen’s colors barely shift and the image remains clearly visible overall. The SoC uses the ARM Mali-G57 MP2 GPU. It is sufficient for video playback at 1440p and 30 FPS, although playing 4K videos is not necessarily a stutter-free experience.

That being said, the latter is an unlikely situation for a device with a 720p display, anyway. The low resolution of the screen is also the reason for the GPU’s good onscreen benchmark scores. As the offscreen tests at a fixed resolution show, the overall performance level compared to the competition is still decent.

Our browser benchmarks show that the cheap smartphone can make for a smooth web browsing experience. In practice, pages load quickly, while images are often slightly delayed while scrolling. Unfortunately, users of the Samsung Galaxy A13 5G will have to contend with long copy operations and charging times.

The manufacturer’s cheap phone uses slow eMMC storage. Even within its price category, this is outdated with all competitors being significantly faster during data transfers to and from the storage chip. During our gaming FPS test with the GameBench Software, our test device barely takes advantage of its 90-Hz screen: In Armajet , we also had to manually switch back to 60 Hz, since we would otherwise be limited to a maximum of 30 FPS.

Apart from minor fluctuations, the games we tested were stable with PUBG Mobile reaching up to 40 FPS at low settings. Although enthusiast gamers will not be pleased by this, it will likely be sufficient for casual gaming. Under a prolonged load, the smartphone becomes warm in a very localized area near the top of the phone.

Thankfully, the peak temperature of 42. 3 °C (108. 14 °F) at room temperature is nothing to worry about.

As our 3DMark results show, throttling due to critical temperatures is unlikely to happen even under extreme stress. The small mono speaker reaches a decent maximum volume level, although the sound is nothing to write home about. With thin and treble-heavy characteristics it is not suitable for long-term music or video consumption.

For clearer results, a 3. 5mm audio jack and Bluetooth are available. In terms of the codec support, the latter is somewhat limited, however: Aside from Samsung’s Scalable codec, SBC, LDAC, and AAC, the older standard aptX is also supported, whereas its significantly better and more modern variants are not.

Here, users should choose their headphones or external speakers carefully, in order to ensure a pleasant audio experience. The Galaxy A13 5G is very energy-efficient, particularly during idle and in very undemanding scenarios. While the power draw under load is also acceptable, it is not as impressive, comparatively.

The phone can be charged at up to 15 watts, which results in a fairly long charging time of the large 5000-mAh battery: Fully recharging an empty battery can take up to 3 hours. Charging the smartphone for 10 minutes results in a relatively low change in the battery charge. Here Samsung would do well to keep an eye on the competition: The Xiaomi Poco X4 Pro can be charged at 4x the power or more.

Our test device performs very well in many cases when it comes to the battery life tests and reaches a real-world Wi-Fi runtime of 18:22 hours at a controlled brightness level. This is sufficient for 2 days of normal or even more with moderate use without having to recharge the phone. Surprisingly, the runtimes in demanding scenarios are shorter compared to other phones in this price category despite the low display resolution.

With 5:34 hours, the load runtime is still decent and gamers will not have to constantly be near a power outlet. The Samsung Galaxy A13 5G is a fairly simple smartphone with few highlights. They include the long battery life and the fast fingerprint sensor.

The phone is well suited to normal tasks, provided your standards in terms of responsiveness, speaker quality, and geolocation accuracy are not too high. For future models, we would like to finally see faster charging, a higher-resolution screen with a higher maximum brightness as well as changes to the sluggish eMMC storage, which has become woefully outdated. With the Galaxy A13 5G, Samsung has created a smartphone that supports a modern cellular communication standard and is suitable for users with tempered expectations.

However, in some regards it is outdated. There are strong competitors in the world of smartphones for around 250 USD such as the Xiaomi Poco X4 Pro , which comes with a more attractive case, faster performance, faster charging, and a higher-resolution screen. Users who do not need 5G can save a lot of money by opting for the Galaxy A13 4G instead: At the time of this article, it is available for around 180 USD from Amazon.

com and very similar to its 5G sibling, but with a higher-resolution display, a wide-angle camera, and less performance. The Samsung Galaxy A13 5G is on sale in black or green with 64 GB of storage for around 195 USD (~250 USD regularly) at the time of this article. Both models are also available on Amazon.

com for about 250 USD. .