Samsung Galaxy A04s smartphone review – Inexpensive phone with scarce memory

One of Samsung’s cheapest mid-range models gets an update: The Galaxy A04s is supposed to have everything a smartphone needs for just under 170 Euros (~$169), but not more, so that the price is not unnecessarily inflated. At least the features with a 90 Hz display, a high-resolution camera and a large battery do not sound too bad. In the review, we will take a look at who the Galaxy A04s could be suitable for and what changes there are compared to the predecessors, which are still available.

The Galaxy A04s has a glossy plastic back with a light pattern that refracts the light. The three camera lenses are each found in their own unadorned bezel below each other. On the front, we see a not too wide, but clearly visible bezel around the screen and a waterdrop notch.

Overall, the phone could easily be compared with the Galaxy A13 4G. The only difference is the color options, which are black, white and green on the Galaxy A04s. The case does not feel very stable.

Pressure quickly gets through to the screen and becomes visible there, and the chassis can also be twisted and pressed in quite easily. We liked the design of the case as well as the stability of the Galaxy A03 much better. In terms of weight and dimensions, the Galaxy A04s shows itself to be in line with other phones in its price range.

In contrast to the Galaxy A03 , the A04s now has a USB-C port again. NFC is also still installed so that mobile payment services like Google Pay or Samsung Pay can be used. You have to limit yourself when it comes to the storage: Only 32 GB of mass storage is now too little even in the cheapest price range.

Samsung nevertheless charges 10 Euros (~$10) more than for the predecessors and sets a recommended price of just under 170 Euros (~$169). In addition to the two SIM slots there is microSD reader that is actually quite fast in the copy test with our reference card Angelbird V60. In the CPDT benchmark, on the other hand, the measured values are rather low, thus on average, a mediocre performance for the card reader.

OneUI 4. 1 is the name of Samsung’s interface, which is based on Android 12. Samsung currently promises to provide its very affordable phone with security updates every 3 months.

Samsung does not say how long this update period is guaranteed. Even 5-year-old low-priced phones still get important updates from Samsung at irregular intervals. There is currently no reliable information about a new software version, i.

e. OneUI 5 based on Android 13. However, it can be assumed that an update to Android 13 will be released in 2023 based on the previous update policy.

Samsung pre-installs many apps, including its own applications that are partly useful, but partly simply duplicate functions that already exist in Android. In addition, some third-party apps are preinstalled for advertising purposes, which is particularly problematic in view of the limited memory. Last year, with the Galaxy A03s , you still had to make do with the much slower WiFi 4, so it is worth mentioning there is support for WiFi 5 in the Galaxy A04s.

The WLAN speeds are now on par with other phones, although you can still get a few MBit/s extra, like the Galaxy A13 4G shows. Our review sample achieved very stable transfer rates in the Wi-Fi test with the reference router Asus ROG Rapture AXE11000. The Galaxy A04s is a 4G phone with relatively scarce frequency diversity: It is sufficient for Central Europe, but if you travel further, you should find out whether you can also use mobile Internet in the destination country.

Stepping outside, it takes a moment for the Galaxy A04s to detect enough satellites to locate us to within 3 meters (~10 feet). The number of satellites found is rather low. For our practical tracking test, we get on our bikes and take the Garmin Venu 2 with us as a reference device.

Here we see that the Samsung Galaxy A04s does not place us completely accurately in all places, but overall it offers good accuracy without complete failures. Thus, the phone is well suited for everyday navigation. However, there is no compass, so the viewing direction is not displayed in apps.

Samsung uses its own phone app, but Google’s Android standard app can be easily installed and used if desired. VoLTE and VoWiFi are also supported on request. The voice quality via the earpiece is solid: We understand the other party quite well.

However, the microphone transmits our voice a bit tinny to the other party and not everything is always audible when we speak softer. The other party can also be heard well via the speaker, and we remain intelligible as long as we speak reasonably loud. The Galaxy A04s uses the Isocell JN1 as its image sensor, which is already known from some other inexpensive Samsung phones.

It has a nominal resolution of 50 megapixels, but usually only takes pictures with a quarter, i. e. 12.

5 megapixels, which allows the individual pixels to collect more light. The pictures offer only moderate sharpness and detail in good lighting conditions. In low light and high contrasts, the brightening barely works, and the dynamics leave a lot to be desired in dark areas.

Videos can be recorded with a maximum of 1080p and 30 fps, the usual resolution in this price range. The sharpness of the recordings also leaves a lot to be desired here. Exposure adjustment and autofocus work quite reliably, though.

Apart from two very low-resolution sensors for macro shots and for blurring in portraits, there are no other cameras on the back. On the front is the selfie camera, which shoots 5-megapixel pictures and is decent in terms of quality as long as you do not enlarge the pictures too much and take them in good lighting conditions. The camera is also a bit blurry in the lab and hardly capable of displaying details in low light.

Colors look a bit too dark overall. A charger is no longer included with the Galaxy A04s, which is now common for some more expensive phones. A USB-C cable and a SIM tool are the only contents of the package.

Samsung offers a 24-month warranty for its phones and also good repair conditions afterwards with fixed prices and many contact options. The 90 Hz screen makes a somewhat smoother operation possible, but at the same time, you have to cope with system performance that is not exactly high, so it jerks every now and then. On the casing’s right are the hardware buttons that control the volume and the slightly recessed standby button.

The fingerprint sensor is integrated here. It detects fingers quite reliably, but it takes a while to unlock the device. Face recognition via the front-facing camera is also possible.

It also works well in good light, but it has to do without an infrared sensor and is thus not as secure. Samsung uses a PLS display for its Galaxy A04s, which is just another name for the IPS technology. The resolution of 1600 x 720 pixels is typical for the class.

However, it falls behind comparable models in terms of brightness, sometimes significantly: The screen averages less than 400 cd/m² and offers a rather unevenly illuminated panel with only 84%. The low black value saves the contrast ratio and enables the phone to at least provide a certain color brilliance on the display. The screen manages without PWM, but the response times are very slow.

In our tests with the spectrophotometer and the CalMAN software, both grayscale and colors show a clear blue cast and thus deviations from the optimum value visible to the naked eye. However, these remain within limits overall. The white balance cannot be adjusted in the system, but you can activate an eye comfort mode that reduces the blue components.

Outdoors, the Galaxy A04s struggles with the low display brightness and the highly reflective display glass. It is sometimes quite difficult to recognize the screen’s content in bright daylight. It works much better in the shade.

The image stability is also given from very flat viewing angles. The Mali-G52 MP1 as a graphics solution does its job quite well: It is not enough for smooth frame rates in really demanding benchmarks with current graphics features, but at least there are often a few frames more than in many other phones of the price range. Browsing the Internet on our test device is done with occasional delays loading pictures.

There are also one or two stutters when you are too impatient and scroll down even though the page is not completely loaded yet. Overall, you should not set your expectations for fast browsing too high, but you can surf quite passably with the Galaxy A04s if you take your time. Samsung uses sluggish eMMC flash for the storage.

This is not unusual in this price range, but the Xiaomi Redmi 10C shows that faster storage components are also possible. Thus, you have to accept that loading processes sometimes take quite a long time and you also have to wait for content after starting an app. We also try out a few games on the Galaxy A04s and measure the frame rates with the software from GameBench .

The result showed the inexpensive phone as a poor choice for gaming: In Armajet , the frame rates reach a fairly constant 30 fps after short start-up difficulties, at which the game is at least playable, but in PUBG it stutters again and again regardless of the settings, which is annoying especially in a fast shooter. The controls work reasonably reliably, but the input lag is clearly noticeable. The smartphone heats up at a thankfully low level.

Although you can slightly feel the maximum of 40. 5 °C (104. 9 °F) under prolonged load, the heating never becomes unpleasant.

Furthermore, the Galaxy A04s manages to maintain its performance well over a longer period, as the 3DMark stress tests show. The small mono speaker on the lower edge sounds very treble-heavy, but overall still quite acceptable for a cheap phone: It does not boom and reproduces speech and vocals relatively clearly. External audio devices can be connected via Bluetooth or a 3.

5 mm port. There is not much choice of Bluetooth codecs: Most strikingly, only the simple aptX is supported. Instead, you get Samsung’s in-house Scalable Codec.

Thus, you should check the compatibility with any existing Bluetooth accessories before buying the phone. The phone’s power consumption tends to be a bit higher under very low load, but the Galaxy A04s is quite frugal under high load. The phone can be charged with a maximum of 10 watts, which means that it takes a very long time until the battery is full again: 3 hours of charging time with a low battery state is not uncommon.

The runtimes of the 5,000 mAh battery are good, but the smartphone does not quite manage to compete with the Galaxy A03 or Motorola Mitō G22 in the WLAN test. Nevertheless, the runtime of 16:17 hours indicates that you can easily manage two days without a charger, as long as you do not constantly stress your Galaxy A04s. The load endurance of 6:36 hours is also good.

Samsung once again suggests a somewhat high price for its entry-level smartphone Galaxy A04s. In return, it offers little memory and a rather unimpressive casing. The competition with the Moto G22 or Redmi 10C at least put in a bit more effort.

However, Samsung’s inexpensive phone can tick off the most important must-haves: NFC, relatively accurate positioning and fast Wi-Fi 5. You should not expect too much from the camera and the screen could be brighter. At least it does without PWM and the viewing angles are good.

Our review sample does quite well in terms of battery life, but it cannot distinguish itself decisively from the competition. Overall, Samsung’s Galaxy A04s is a solid smartphone in the entry-level category, but it does not offer many real highlights. Those who opt for the Xiaomi Redmi 10C will get significantly more performance, fast storage and a brighter screen.

If you want pure Android, you can take a look at the Nokia G21 . The Samsung Galaxy A04s has a recommended retail price of 169 Euros (~$168). You can get it a few Euros cheaper from many retailers on the Internet, for example from amazon.

com . At the time of testing, Aldi offer s the Galaxy A04s for 129 Euros (~$129) in the discounter’s stores. .