Samsung Galaxy A12

When it comes to entry level smartphones, we were looking for Galaxy J series smartphone in the past. But as the time passes, it becomes possible to choose a basic Samsung smartphone from Galaxy A lineup, which was producing only mid-range phones in the last couple of years. Right now, we have Galaxy A12 to discuss advantages and drawbacks.

Pros

Decent Look

48MP Camera

Large Battery Backup

Cons

Poor MediaTek performance

Poor Night Photography

Charging took long

Design

Look at Samsung A12, a flat screen with a teardrop selfie notch and an unknown glass on the front. Weighing in at 205 grams, Samsung A12 is not a light-weight handset. There is a USB Type C for reverse charging. All you would find on the back are four camera lenses, shaping a square matrix. Given color options are Black, Blue, Red, and White.

Luckily, you are getting a 3.5 mm audio jack and a side-mounted Fingerprint Sensor. Plastic is being used in fabrication, and this is to expect from a budget phone.

Display

It is sharp and vibrant for indoor views, while just okay for outdoors. Galaxy A12 is 6.5-inch large and enables HD resolution. PLS IPS panel delivers good viewing angles and fine contrast and color saturation.

Camera

Samsung A12 shoots large size Full HD photos, thanks to 48MP main camera. The aperture is f/2.0 – making it good for daylight cases, but unfortunately poor for night time photography. Unlike Chinese smartphones, the Galaxy handset won’t make you a Barbie doll overthrowing beauty filters. For ultrawide shots, there is a 5MP lens with a 123 degree field of view. You can zoom twice easily. The third and fourth are 2MP macro and 2MP depth respectively for detailed pictures. No OIS or EIS, and A12 being a low-end mobile does not suppose to provide it.

Samsung A12 offers 8MP front facing camera, having f/2.2 aperture. The selfie results are fair in daylight cases, but again it is aggressive at night.

Software

Android 10, with OneUI 3.1, is running out of the box. But that’s not over. Android 11 update has finally arrived and available for Samsung A12, fortunately. Thus, user can experience new features i.e. better navigation, dynamic media controls, schedule dark theme, built-in screen recorder, greater control over conversation, notification history (recalling cleared notifications), and temporary permission for apps for a better privacy.

Chipset

In order to cut down price, Samsung used MediaTek Helio P35 chipset. Oh yeah, the brand achieved the desire price tag and the chip is also doing well for basic use, but that’s worsening for gamers or multi-taskers. Teaming up with Octa core 2.3 GHz processor and 2GB RAM, Samsung A12 obtained 103,000 scores in AnTuTu benchmark. The standard variant comes along 32GB Storage. Meanwhile, the premium variants offer 6GB and 8GB RAM paired with 128GB Storage.

With a single charge, go through Samsung A12 from whatever you want i.e. 31 hours of Talk time, 16 hours of web browsing, and 15 hours of video playback. It allows a 15W Fast Charge, yet Galaxy A12 takes more time than standard (about 2 hours required to go from 0 to 100 percent).

Verdict

Poco M3, Redmi Note 9, and Moto G9 Power are the best alternative smartphones, if you can’t overcome A12 drawbacks. But at this price point, you get the quality and basic features from Samsung Galaxy A12.