Samsung Galaxy A20 Review: A Good Alternative To The Redmi Note 7?

Samsungs latest entrant in the Galaxy A lineup of smartphones is the Galaxy A20. Priced at Rs. 12,490, it goes head to head with the likes of the Redmi Note 7 and the company’s own Galaxy M20. With a modern design and competitive specifications on paper, can the Galaxy A20 compete with the best in the segment or it is just a disappointing budget handset from the company?

We find out in our Galaxy A20 review.

Check out the Galaxy A20 on Flipkart

What’s In The Box?

• Galaxy A20
• Power Adapter
• Earphones
• SIM Card Ejector
• Quick Start Guide
• Regional Lock Guide
• Warranty Card

Build Quality & Design

One look at the Galaxy A20 and you would know Samsung has stuck to the basics while making the smartphone. The device is entirely made out of plastic with a design similar to the Galaxy A30. The front of the handset has a 6.4-inch display which has an Infinity V notch on the top and a considerable chin on the bottom.

The right side of the smartphone houses the volume rockers and the power button; while the left side remains completely empty except for the SIM card tray which also has a dedicated microSD card slot. The top of the device has a secondary noise cancellation microphone. At the bottom, there is a 3.5mm headphone jack along with the USB Type-C port and the speaker grille lined up together. The Galaxy A20 features a solid build, with a back that makes it look like glass.

Our review unit is the red coloured version, which has a glossy finish to it. The popsicle coloured back of the Galaxy A20 houses the vertical dual camera layout with the LED flash like most modern smartphones. When it is laying flat on its back, the smartphone wobbles a bit due to the slightly protruding camera bump. The device has a fingerprint reader on the back with the Samsung branding present right below it.

While the design of the Galaxy A20 is nothing new, the smartphone looks good and the red colour of our unit definitely attracts attention to it. Using a case is recommended as the back is extremely glossy and easily attracts fingerprints to it. Additionally, a case would also cover the camera bump to an extent, minimising the previously mentioned wobble.

Display

The display on the Galaxy A20 is marketed as one of the highlights of the smartphone. It has a 6.4 inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1560 x 720 px. To increase the screen real estate of the device, Samsung has used an Infinity V style notch on the top of it.

In terms of quality, the Galaxy A20 has a great display for multimedia consumption. The colours have great contrast, the blacks are deep, there are good viewing angles and the brightness outdoors is sufficient. However, due to the low resolution, the sharpness takes a backseat. The display on the Galaxy A20 is great for watching videos and playing games, although we would’ve appreciated a Full HD display in the device. Given, it competes with devices like the Redmi Note 7 that has a display panel with Full HD resolution. 

Hardware & Performance

The Galaxy A20 features the Octa-core Exynos 7884 SoC, combined with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard memory. For day to day tasks, the smartphone performs well, and we faced zero lags while switching between applications with several apps running in the background. The humble amount of RAM is enough for keeping light applications in memory. Gaming, on the other hand, is another experience on the Galaxy A20.

While playing games like PUBG Mobile on the device, it surprisingly chose the medium setting by default but gave unplayable frame rates at the setting. Selecting a low graphics setting and the smooth frame rate option churned out a playable experience. While there were a few frame drops, the gameplay was stable enough, combined with the skills of the player, we were able to earn a satiable Chicken Dinner.

Another game that we tried was Need For Speed: No Limits, which is a racing game that for the larger part ran without any frame drops. The gameplay was mostly smooth and we didn’t encounter any hiccups while playing it or rather hitting into the walls due to the insufficient game skills.

There was a bug that we encountered however which exited any game or heavy application that was opened for the first few times. After opening the app for more than two times, the bug seemed to vanish automatically. After the initial few times, we did not face the issue again.

In terms of benchmarks, the Galaxy A20 scores slightly less than the smartphones in the price range. While testing the Antutu benchmark, we got a score of 95,067 which is significantly lower than the competition including the Galaxy M20 or the Redmi Note 7. In Geekbench, the device registered a single core score of 1217 points and a multi-core score of 3694 points. As is evident from the numbers, the handset should be fine for day to day usage but is not made for performance enthusiasts.

Software, UI & Multimedia

The Galaxy A20 runs on the company’s latest OneUI version 1.1 on top of the current Android 9 Pie. Like the other smartphones running the software, the Galaxy A20 offers a refined software experience. There is a native dark mode inside the settings which makes the whole UI suited for use in dimly lit environments. Notably, this setting helps in prolonging the battery backup on the smartphone.

The icons in OneUI are big and the menus easy to access and reach. Unfortunately, there is no Always On Display despite having an AMOLED panel which although is not a dealbreaker. The UI also supports gestures in addition to the conventional navigation buttons. These gestures use an upward swipe from the left to go into the multitasking menu. To go back, a swipe up from the right is required while swiping up from the centre takes you to the home screen. There is also support for Samsung Pay Mini on board, which is activated by a swipe up from the bottom of the display below the navigation buttons.

In terms of sound quality, the smartphone has a single bottom firing speaker which has decent sound output. One downside of the setup is how easy it is to block while the speaker grille while holding the device in the landscape mode. Audio output via the Bluetooth is above average which provides for a good listening experience.

Camera

The Galaxy A20 has an all new camera app that ships with the OneUI. It seems to be inspired by the camera UI of iOS and Pixel devices. All the controls are lined up within the reach of one hand. The app also uses a swipe gesture to switch between the front and the back cameras which is an appreciable feature.

Video output from the rear and the front camera is locked to 30fps in 1080p resolution. There is also an option to record videos with the ultra-wide angle camera. Sadly, there is no option of switching between the different sensors while recording video. 

The Galaxy A20 has a dual rear camera setup consisting of an f/1.9 aperture equipped 13MP sensor and an f/2.2 aperture equipped 5MP Ultra-wide sensor. Images captured in daylight have good contrast and saturation levels typical to Samsung devices. One downside of the images is the loss of detail which occurs due to an aggressive image processing.

Like most modern smartphones, there is a portrait mode called Live Focus inside the camera app. The background blur is average at best, giving you results that have a decent background separation.

An added bonus the Galaxy A20 has over its competitors is the presence of an ultra-wide sensor on the rear. While the sensor does not pack high resolution, it helps in providing a wider field of view. Switching between both the lenses is fun and we found ourselves intrigued by the secondary sensor which illustrates the versatility of this kind of camera setup.

For selfies, the Galaxy A20 has an f/2.0 aperture equipped 8MP camera housed in the notch on top of the display. Images from the front camera, like the results from the rear, perform well in good lighting. However, the colours are a little washed out and the details are not properly retained. But, if you’re a casual user of the front camera, the quality should be perfectly fine for occasional usage or sharing on your favourite social media platform.

Battery and Connectivity

The Galaxy A20 is powered by a 4000 mAh battery which supports 15W charging via the bottom mounted USB Type-C port. A significant size of the cell in the smartphone, combined with a low-resolution display ensures a great battery life overall. With a light to medium usage, the battery will easily last you more than a day. The average screen on time we received in our usage was around seven hours. 

In terms of connectivity, the device supports Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth v4.2. The Galaxy A20 faced no problems latching on to a Wi-Fi signal nor did it have any trouble connecting to a pair of Bluetooth headsets. Unfortunately, as it is a budget device, there is no support for the 5Ghz network band on Wi-Fi. The call quality of the smartphone was excellent, with clear sound output through the earpiece which is housed in the notch. Even in an area where signals are generally weak, the smartphone performed admirably. Noteworthy, the Head SAR value of the Galaxy A20 is just 0.389 W/kg which is significantly lower than it’s Chinese rivals.

Other Features

The Galaxy A20 has a rear mounted capacitive fingerprint sensor and also supports the increasingly popular face unlock technology. Both of these technologies help in swiftly accessing the smartphone. The fingerprint scanner is effective in unlocking the device, but it takes a good second to do so. Face unlock, on the other hand, is a faster albeit less safe option but is useful when the handset is lying flat on a table as the rear-mounted fingerprint sensor is inaccessible in this state. One more notable feature the smartphone has is the aforementioned triple card slot. The user can simultaneously insert two nano SIM cards and a microSD card which can go all the way up to 512GB.

Verdict 

Galaxy A20 (Left) & Redmi Note 7 (Right)

The Galaxy A20 represents a new line of budget smartphones by Samsung and provides some competitive specs at a lucrative price. While the device is a compelling option in the price range, it still leaves a lot to be desired. With a more high-resolution display, slightly better gaming performance and a more detail-oriented camera, it would’ve made it a strong competitor to the Redmi Note 7.

If you’re in the market for a smartphone from a brand offering great service support, a great display, long lasting battery and versatile cameras, the Galaxy A20 is a good option for the price. On the other hand, if you are looking for a phone that offers the best value for money, the Redmi Note 7 might be your best bet. However, if you’re adamant on buying a Samsung device and want better performance, display and cameras, we recommend you check out the Galaxy A30 or the Galaxy M30 which cost slightly higher than the Galaxy A20 but offer great value for money.

Check out the Galaxy A20 on Flipkart

Check out the Redmi Note 7 On Flipkart