still a compact recommendation

The Samsung Galaxy A41 has been available for seven months and is one of the most popular budget phones at the moment. It does not have the very best specifications in its price range, but is still recommended if you are looking for a compact smartphone.

Review update: the Samsung Galaxy A41 after seven months

Earlier this year we came up with something new Android Planet: review updates. Here we look at whether popular high-end, midrange and budget smartphones from last year are still worthwhile. We also discuss popular devices that were released a few months ago, so you know whether you should consider them. Slightly older Android phones may have been ‘overtaken’ by other smartphones, but they have often fallen considerably in price and therefore quite attractive.

This time we discuss the Samsung Galaxy A41, one of the most popular Android phones at the moment. The smartphone is now – about seven months after its release – a lot cheaper and still an interesting option in the budget segment. It does not excel on all fronts, but remains unique due to its compact housing and beautiful screen.

The test model for this Samsung Galaxy A41 review update is provided by Samsung.

Compact design with very good screen

The Samsung Galaxy A41 is especially interesting if you are looking for a compact Android smartphone. The screen is relatively handy at 6.1 inches, which is also due to the thin edges. At the top is a small notch and although that looks less subtle (and modern) like a camera hole (as with the Samsung A51), the notch does not disturb.

The Galaxy A41 is reasonably easy to operate with one hand and at 152 grams also nice and light. The design is also beautiful – especially because of the pattern on the back – and the phone feels sturdy despite the plastic housing. Compact devices are still rare and in the budget segment almost all smartphones have a much larger screen. The Galaxy A41 is therefore unique in this area.

Another reason to prefer the Galaxy A41 over other budget smartphones is the screen. The display delivers very nice images, is nice and sharp due to the full HD resolution (2400 by 1080 pixels) and has an AMOLED panel. As a result, colors splash off the screen and black is really black.

Not the best hardware and battery life

In our original review of the Samsung Galaxy A41 we already wrote that the device does not excel because of its performance or battery life and that is still the case. The MediaTek Helio P65 chip isn’t necessarily slow and fast enough for most users, but definitely not a speed monster. In this price range (the A41 costs about 200 euros) there are plenty of smartphones with faster hardware. Consider, for example, the Motorola Moto G9 Plus and Poco X3 NFC.

The fingerprint scanner of the Samsung A41 is annoying. This is located under the screen and simply does not function well enough. It is slow, inaccurate and regularly fails.

The battery life is also good, but not great. Due to the compact housing, there is room for a modest 3500 mAh battery, which is not very large. In fact, many budget smartphones that you can buy at the moment have a much stronger battery than the Galaxy A41.

Fortunately, this does not mean that the battery life of the A41 is bad. With normal use you will get through the day without any problems, even if you use the phone more intensively. Fast charging is available and because the battery is not too large, the phone is also quickly full again.

Cameras are fine

The Galaxy A41’s cameras can still last seven months later, especially if you take photos in a lot of daylight. Then snapshots have enough detail and beautiful colors, especially if you take them with the primary 48 megapixel camera. The camera does not perform well in the dark, and it does not help that there is no night mode.

The 8 megapixel wide-angle lens is very useful for landscape photos or images of large cities, for example. The quality is less than with the primary camera and you also sometimes see some color difference. However, we see this more often with budget smartphones. The 5 megapixel depth sensor helps to take portrait photos and provides a beautiful depth of field effect.

Software: Extended update policy does not apply to A41

The Samsung Galaxy A41 has been running on Android 10 since its release and has to wait quite a long time for an upgrade to version 11. Although Android 11 has been available since September, the smartphone is not expected to be updated until June 2021. Many other Samsung phones are equipped with Android 11 before.

Samsung announced this year that it will support its most popular smartphones for longer. As a result, devices receive three major Android updates instead of two. Unfortunately, this does not apply to the Galaxy A41, but to more expensive Galaxy A phones such as the A51 and A71. The support of the compact A41 therefore stops earlier and that is something to take into account.

Nevertheless, Samsung regularly releases updates for the A41 with, for example, the most recent security patches. The company says that the smartphone will provide updates until at least May 2022 and we expect that it will also get Android 12 in the future. So you’re still in the right place with the compact Samsung phone for the time being.

Conclusion Samsung Galaxy A41 review update

The Samsung Galaxy A41 is still a nice smartphone, mainly due to its compact size and good screen. The other parts of the device are not special, but more than sufficient. The hardware is powerful enough, the battery life is okay and the cameras are great for the money.

Only the fingerprint scanner is substandard and sometimes excruciatingly slow. Despite this, there are few compact smartphones available and because the Galaxy A41 has dropped considerably in price, you will not be bothered by the Samsung phone at the end of 2020.

Buy Samsung Galaxy A41

The Samsung Galaxy A41 was released at the beginning of this year for 299 euros, but is now a lot cheaper. You can currently get the Samsung phone for around 200 euros. In the price comparator below you can see the current prices for a separate Samsung A41. Of course it is also possible to buy the Samsung Galaxy A41 with a subscription.