5G at the expense of a good screen

The Galaxy A42 is Samsung’s first affordable smartphone that can handle 5G. Unfortunately, that privilege comes at the expense of screen quality. In this Samsung Galaxy A42 5G review we tell you all about it.

This is our Samsung Galaxy A42 5G review

5G phones are getting cheaper at a rapid pace. At the beginning of this year, Samsung released separate models of the Samsung Galaxy S20 that only had 4G on board. In the meantime, phones are even appearing in the cheaper Galaxy A series with 5G. The Samsung Galaxy A42 5G has a suggested retail price of 349 euros, but you can now find it for only 299 euros. In addition, the Samsung Galaxy A32 5G will soon be on the market, which probably costs even less.

That seems like a nice development. However, Samsung has to make certain concessions to be able to offer 5G on these cheaper devices. Is it worth it? You can read it in our Samsung Galaxy A42 5G review.

The test model for this Samsung Galaxy A42 5G review is provided by Belsimpel.

Design: Fine plastic

The shiny back of the A42 5G is a magnet for fingerprints, although fortunately they are not so visible on our white test model. Despite the plastic housing, the smartphone feels sturdy, fits well in the hand and is not overly heavy at 190 grams.

The Samsung Galaxy A42 5G has grown considerably compared to its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy A41. That device had a 6.1-inch OLED screen. The A42 has a display of no less than 6.6 inches and is therefore almost one and a half centimeters larger than the A41. The dimensions of the Samsung Galaxy A42 5G are 164.4 by 75.9 by 8.6 millimeters. So a good boy. The phone is even longer than Apple’s iPhone 12 Pro Max.

An advantage of the Galaxy A42 5G is that it has an old-fashioned headphone jack. You will need that too, because you should not expect too much from the mono speaker. He sounds shrill and thin.

Screen is not sharp enough

Smartphones with 5G may become cheaper, but for manufacturers it is still an expensive addition. Although the Galaxy A42 5G was 50 euros more expensive at launch than its predecessor, Samsung has cut back on the device. As mentioned, the screen is larger than that of the A41, but has a much lower resolution. It is only 1600 by 720 pixels. With the A41, that was 2400 by 1080 pixels.

That is a regrettable concession, because you can see it very clearly. You can count old-fashioned pixels on the A42 5G. Text is never completely sharp and images look blurry. The screen is not unusable, but in 2020 you can expect more from a smartphone with this price. The Samsung Galaxy A51 is now even cheaper than the A42 and has a better display.

The refresh rate of the A42 5G is 60Hz. This means that the screen refreshes the content 60 times per second. There are phones in this price range, such as the Motorola Moto G 5G Plus, that have a 90Hz screen. Scrolling through Instagram or your favorite website will look a lot smoother on that. Once you have experienced that, you notice that the display of the A42 5G seems to stutter a bit.

Fortunately, the screen is reasonably easy to read in the sun. The smartphone also has fairly narrow edges, except for the somewhat thicker chin at the bottom. The selfie camera is in a drop-shaped notch and is sufficient for simple self-portraits.

Great processor for this class

The Samsung Galaxy A42 5G has 4GB of RAM and runs on a Snapdragon 750G processor from Qualcomm. That is a great chip for the middle segment, although you should of course not expect the speed of a Galaxy S20. Especially when you reboot the phone, you will notice some lags while opening apps.

Once the A42 5G is warm, it won’t let you down. The device is fast enough for many daily tasks and barely falters. You can also play most games, as long as you do not choose the very highest settings. And with 128GB of storage space, you can keep all your photos and videos for the time being. If the phone is full, you can expand the storage with a micro-sd card.

Samsung is shouting it from the rooftops: the A42 can handle 5G. Well and good, but the 5G network in the Netherlands is currently more of a hype than an improvement. There is not yet any real speed gain compared to 4G. The support for 5G therefore does not seem to us to be a reason to specifically choose this device.

Smooth software gets enough updates

The Galaxy A42 5G runs on Android 10. The device will probably receive two updates and will therefore be updated to Android 11 and Android 12. Samsung also guarantees a security update every quarter for two years to keep viruses and intruders at bay. You can therefore expect these updates at least until the end of 2022.

Samsung provides Android with its own One UI skin. It looks sleek and is structured logically. For our taste, there are too many of Samsung’s own apps on the phone, but you can of course just ignore them.

Four lenses, three cameras

On the back of the Samsung Galaxy A42 5G we find four cameras. Or actually three, because you cannot take photos with the 5 megapixel depth sensor. It only stores depth information so that you can shoot more beautiful portraits with a blurred background.

The primary camera has a resolution of 64 megapixels. That is an improvement compared to the Galaxy A41, because it had to do with 48 megapixels. Photos look great in daylight, with a solid contrast and the deep colors that we are used to from Samsung. The images are sharpened considerably. Whether you like that is very personal.

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There is also a night mode on the Galaxy A42 5G. This produces acceptable pictures, as long as you don’t look at them too critically. At full resolution, the images look as if they were painted with watercolor.

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The ultra-wide-angle camera has a resolution of 8 megapixels and is significantly less good than the primary camera. The colors are duller and there is much less detail in the photos. New compared to the A41 is a 5 megapixel macro camera. This allows you to get very close to your subject to shoot close-ups. That works fine, but the question is whether you will use this lens often.

Battery lasts all day long

Good news for heavy users: the Samsung Galaxy A42 5G has a battery capacity of no less than 5000 mAh. With the Galaxy A41, that was 3500 mAh. You got through the day with that too, but with the A42 5G, battery stress is definitely a thing of the past. Anyone who just e-mails, apps, calls and occasionally visits a website can even easily go two days without a charger.

If the battery is empty, you can charge it with a power of 15 watts. Due to the high capacity, it takes a while before it is completely full, but you can refuel relatively quickly. In practice, you will often charge the A42 5G overnight, so it is no problem that this takes a little longer.

Conclusion Samsung Galaxy A42 5G review

The Samsung Galaxy A42 5G has one leg in the future and another leg in the past. It’s nice that the smartphone has 5G on board, but you won’t notice much for the time being. What you do notice is the low resolution of the screen.

That makes the conclusion of this review a difficult one. Samsung has improved the Galaxy A42 5G in many areas compared to its predecessor. In addition to 5G, it also has a faster processor, a larger battery and an extra camera. However, the screen is such an important part of a smartphone that it is difficult to recommend the A42 5G. Chances are you’ll be annoyed by the grainy letters and blurry images from day one.

Want to buy Samsung Galaxy A42 5G?

Do you want to get the affordable Samsung? A separate Samsung Galaxy A42 5G starts at around 300 euros. With a Samsung Galaxy A42 5G with subscription, you pay this amount in monthly installments. The device is available in three colors: gray, white and black.

Samsung Galaxy A42 5G

Which Samsung Galaxy A42 5G do you want?

Samsung Galaxy A42 5G with subscription

Device once € 0.00

€ 18.50 p / m Abo: € 7.00 p / m Device: € 11.50 p / m

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