Samsung Galaxy A71 review

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Introduction

The Galaxy A refresh has begun and the A51 and A71 are headliners of this new generation. Punch-hole appears to be the buzzword in this new series, though you should expect updated chipsets and cameras as well. And the Galaxy A71 has all these, topped with new Android and One UI.

Indeed, the Galaxy A71 seems to be packing just enough to warrant its upgrade status over the A70 - a smaller notch, a newer chip, a higher-res and higher-count camera setup, and newer Android and One launcher.

On the other hand, Glasstic is still the way forward for the Galaxy A lineup, and waterproofing is still not in the cards. The large 4,500 mAh battery and fast charging are going nowhere, so that's good.

The Snapdragon 730 has become somewhat of a celebrity in the midrange and the new Galaxy A71 has it, so as far as gaming - Samsung has you covered. Then the 64MP camera, which seems to be the next big thing, is now on the A71, too. Oh, and a macro snapper, one of the hottest features right now (not), is now part of the A71 as well.

Samsung Galaxy A71 specs

• Body: Glass front (Gorilla Glass 3), polycarbonate back and frame.
• Screen: 6.7-inch Super AMOLED, 20:9, FHD+ (1080x2400px), 393ppi.
• Rear camera: Primary: 64MP, 1/1.7" sensor size, 0.8µm pixel size, 26mm equiv. focal length, f/1.8 aperture. Ultra-wide angle: 12MP, 1.12µm, 13mm, f/2.2. Macro: 5MP, 25mm, f/2.4. Depth sensor: 5MP, 1/5", 1.12µm, f/2.2. LED flash; 2160p@30fps video recording.
• Front camera: 32MP, 1/2.8", 0.8µm, 26mm, f/2.0. 1080p@30fps video recording.
• Chipset: Snapdragon 730: octa-core CPU (2x2.2 GHz Kryo 470 Gold & 6x1.8 GHz Kryo 470 Silver), Adreno 618 GPU.
• Memory: 6/128GB or 8/128GB versions, UFS 2.1; dedicated microSD slot for up to 1TB expansion.
• OS: Android 10; Samsung One UI 2.0.
• Battery: 4,500mAh, 25W charging.
• Connectivity: Dual SIM (4G), Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, USB-C; 3.5mm audio jack.
• Misc: Under-display fingerprint reader, single bottom-firing loudspeaker.

We do appreciate the smaller notch on the AMOLED screen, but an HDR10 certification would have made the upgrade far more meaningful than a handful of pixels. Then, that Snapdragon could have been the 730G model, too. And that macro camera - without autofocus it's useless and we won't get tired of saying that.

Good or bad, we won't know until we unbox that Galaxy A71, so here we go.

Unboxing the Samsung Galaxy A71

The Galaxy A71 comes in a compact paper box, but it's full of stuff. In addition to the phone itself, you will also find a 25W charger, a USB-C-to-C cable, and a pair of in-ear Samsung headphones with a mic.

The A70 was the first Galaxy to use a USB-PD charger and it's going to stick around, apparently. If you are looking for the SIM ejection pin, look no further than the box cover - just flip it and you'll see it on the inside.