Geek Lifestyle Review: Samsung Galaxy A71

Two weeks ago, I got my hands on Samsung’s newest mid-range smartphone, the Galaxy A71. My first impressions of it were quite positive thanks to its premium in-hand feel, as well as its capable feature-set such as a quad camera setup, a large display, and massive battery.

After more time with the A71 though, does it still impress? After all, the mid-range smartphone market right now is filled with lots of smartphones that offer great value-for-money.

So without further ado, here is our full review of the Samsung Galaxy A71!

Geek-sthetic

As I mentioned in my first impressions, the Galaxy A71’s design is a stand-out! The unit I have with me is in the Black colorway, and it’s still very much a looker thanks to the eye-catching holographic effect that appears when light hits the phone’s back.

Aside from looking good, the A71 also feels great in hand. While a lot of mid-rangers now feel premium in hand, the A71 has a slightly more flagship-like finish.

From the front, the Galaxy A71 can also be mistaken for a flagship thanks to its large 6.7-inch AMOLED display that comes with a holepunch notch. Thanks to this tiny notch, the A71 has an almost all-screen font, with an overall look that’s reminiscent of the flagship Note 10 series.

Overall, if design is high on your priority list when it comes to a smartphone, the Galaxy A71 will not disappoint.

Binge-watching Factor

The A71’s massive 6.7-inch display isn’t just good to look at, it’s also a great match for binge-watching movies, TV shows, and anime. The phone’s screen uses Samsung’s signature Super AMOLED panel, resulting in vibrant colors and good amount of brightness. Coupled with a FHD+ resolution, the A71 definitely provides a great viewing experience.

For audio though, the A71 does just fine with a single, bottom-firing speaker. This onboard speaker has pretty good audio output, but as always, headphones/external speakers are recommended for a better listening experience; good thing the A71 still comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Gaming Prowess

Inside the Galaxy A71 is a Snapdragon 730G processor that has and Adreno 618 GPU. Complementing the phone’s SoC is 8GB of RAM.

Given that the Snapdragon 730G is an upper mid-range chip, the Galaxy A71 is a great gaming smartphone. For games such as Call of Duty: Mobile or Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, the A71 can handle high or max settings without breaking a sweat. In fact, you won’t have to turn down any graphics settings for most Android games.

Geek Photoshoot Capabilities

Aside from its gorgeous display and powerful CPU, the Galaxy A71’s highlight is its quad camera setup that includes a 64MP main, a 12MP ultra-wide, a 5MP macro, and a 5MP depth sensor. As for its selfie shooter, the A71 has a 32MP front camera.

First, I tested out the 64MP main camera which, on paper, should provide image with lots of detail and good colors. In actual use, the camera delivered.

When shooting outdoors, the Galaxy A71 takes images with lots of detail and good colors. The same can be said for well-lit indoor shots as the A71 also takes good photos in those situations. One thing I’ve noticed though is that the A71 sometimes takes shots that lean on the cooler side — basically some shots have a bluish tint to them. Still though, most daytime shots on the A71 are of good quality.

: Auto Mode

: Night Mode

: Auto Mode

: Night Mode

: Auto Mode

: Night Mode

At night, the A71 takes pretty decent pictures when using auto mode. But thanks to the phone’s Night Mode, the A71 is able to take sharp and bright low light photos.

: Auto Mode

: Night Mode

Moving on from the main camera, the A71 has a 12MP ultra-wide shooter that takes good photos as well. Low light shots do see a drop in detail and sharpness; good thing there’s Night Mode which improves the quality of low-light ultra-wide images.

Much like other mid-rangers, the Galaxy A71 has a dedicated macro camera (instead of a telephoto shooter). Unlike the competition though which mostly have 2MP marco shooters, the A71 has a 5MP macro camera. Sure, megapixels aren’t everything, but the A71’s macro images have less noise and have more detail compared to other mid-rangers.

: Portrait

: Selfie

Rounding out the quad rear camera setup is a 5MP depth sensor which helps the A71 shoot pretty decent portrait shots. Finally, selfies taken with the phone’s 32MP front camera are of good quality; though I would’ve wanted a selfie shooter with autofocus considering this phone’s price tag.

Everyday Reliability

As the Snapdragon 730G processor proved to be capable of heavy gaming, the A71 never struggled with everyday tasks in my time with it. Coupled with the phone’s 8GB of RAM which lets it multitask with ease, the A71 is a smartphone that’s reliable general use.

What’s also fairly reliable is the phone’s in-screen optical fingerpint scanner. While it may not be as fast as back or side-mounted sensors, I found that the sensor is still fairly accurate, so long as I had my thumb on the right spot.

Another thing I liked about the A71 is its OS. The phone runs Android 10 with Samsung’s One UI 2.0, a user interface that’s easily one of my personal favorites (aside from stock Android) among the many Android skins. While it still has a lot of Samsung proprietary apps, One UI 2.0 is a well-designed UI that’s easy to navigate and snappy to use.

The highlight of the A71 for everyday use though is the battery life. Thanks to its large 4,500mAh battery, I routinely found that the phone can last up to a day and a half on a single charge. Of course, that number is based on my own use, though even if you use the phone heavily, it should still easily last for a day on one charge.

If you do find yourself needing a bit of juice, the Galaxy A71 supports 25w fast charging, with a fast charger bundled in the box. To get to 100%, you’ll only need to charge the phone for around an hour and a half.

Final Geek Lifestyle Verdict – 8.5/10

Overall, the Samsung Galaxy A71 is an impressive mid-ranger with no real weaknesses. The A71 has a massive and gorgeous display, a capable set of front and rear cameras, and a powerful processor that can handle gaming and everyday use with ease. To top it all off, the A71 can last for quite a while on a single charge.

The only thing that keeps me from recommending the A71 to everyone is its price tag. With its SRP of PHP 22,990, the A71 is one of the more expensive mid-rangers that you can get right now. Though if you are willing to shell out a bit more for a mid-ranger that packs premium features, you won’t be disappointed with the A71.

Galaxy A71 Specs: