Samsung Galaxy A71 Updated Review (9 Months Later) - Should You Still Buy It? By TechDaily

What's going on guys, my name is wade with tech daily, so the Samsung Galaxy a71 has been out now for eight or nine months. In that time, it quickly became one of the best-selling sort of mid-range devices of the year, both here in the US and around the world and for good reason. I think it was priced well, it offered a lot, but, most importantly, it really wasn't that much of a step-down compared to the thousand dollar flagships and that's all great there's a lot to like about this phone, but with a lot more new budget and mid-range smartphones out now, like the Pixel 4a and the s20 fan edition and the OnePlus word, I think it's probably a good idea to sort of reevaluate this phone now and consider whether it is still a decent value. So that's exactly what we're going to do in this video. I'm gonna talk about my time with this phone over these past few months. I'll offer up my thoughts on where exactly this phone fits in the overall smartphone lineup, and maybe this will give you some insight whether you should still consider this device as we approach the holiday season.

So the first important thing you need to know is that there's technically two versions of this phone now there's the standard, regular a71 that was released back in January, and that's what I have here and there's also the newer a71 5g that came out later in the summer and if you're in the US Verizon lists theirs as the 5g UW or ultra-wideband. Now, beyond the 5g capabilities, the newer version of the a71 also has a slightly better processor, potentially more ram, but it is also significantly more expensive to give you an idea. This regular a71 now sells for, like 350 bucks unlocked on Amazon. The price might vary depending on when you're watching this, but it's well under 400 now, and that's kind of what makes this phone such a good deal. The a71 5g is anywhere between 500 and 600.

That's sort of getting up there and, like I said what you're paying for really is the 5g support, obviously, but just a slightly better processor and maybe more ram depending on the configuration. That's it to me. That's not such a great value and kind of kills the whole point of going with this phone. I think the spirit of the a71 lies with it being a 300 to 400 phone, and this is kind of my first point. I think this regular a71 the original version of this device that came out back in January.

It's probably the version you should go with even now and looking ahead, another six months to a year, simply because I just don't think the 5g version of this home is that good of a value and besides that, unless you're on Verizon and get the a71 5g, UW you're likely not going to get that much faster speeds compared to 4g LTE anyway, and if you guys are interested in doing some comparison. Shopping of your own I'll have some links down below in the video description to where you can get this phone at its cheapest current prices. So be sure to check down there, so you don't miss out on any good deals now on the topic of performance, getting this version of the a71 instead of the newer, more powerful one only makes sense if this phone is still good, and fortunately it is this version of the a71 packs, the snapdragon 730 chipsets, either six or eight gigabytes of ram and 128 gigabytes of UFS 2.1 storage and to me not only are those specs more than good enough to get the job done. I think for the price you're still getting a pretty good value for your money. What I've liked about the a71 first off is Samsung's sort of renewed commitment to keeping this phone updated.

It was one of the first smartphones to get android 10. It's been updated to one UI 2.1 now, and it'll likely get three years of software support and updates, which is great previously Samsung's. A series phones haven't always gotten that long. A software support that alone makes it a solid, long-term investment. Looking ahead and throughout my time using this phone right now, it's done anything and everything that I've wanted it to do.

In fact, I'd argue that through all these software updates, this phone is even better than when it first launched, and I think this is just another reason why the a71 5g isn't too enticing. For me, the regular a71 performs perfectly well in doing every day, easy tasks, of course, but even pushing this phone a bit harder. I can game on this phone obviously, and it offers excellent speed and performance there's little to no lag or blips at all. I've never experienced any issues with hold-ups or app crashes. It's a phone that has allowed me to multitask and keep plenty of stuff running in the background, and no, it isn't a flagship phone and yes, it's kind of dated, I guess in comparison to what's out now, but for like 95 percent of people.

I truly believe this is a device that is fully capable and will be able to handle everything you throw at it now and six months from now and a year from now, maybe even two years from now. That's how confident I am in this device simply because of how good it feels right now, while it is tempting to look at some other devices with the snapdragon 765 or even and 800 series processor, I don't necessarily think it's always worth the extra money you might exceed 500 or more, and if you're looking at this phone for 350 or 375 dollars, that's a pretty big cost increase, I'm just not so sure if it's worth it in the end, simply because, right now, this phone is that good and also battery life, for me has been pretty good too. The 4500 William capacity lasts easily the full day. For me, I think, having that snapdragon processor inside instead of an Enos chip, is something that helps with that. So sorry Samsung, but this is still a solid, fairly long, lasting phone beyond the processor and the specs.

I think there may be additional other reasons to consider paying more for something else. If you want to, and one area where I do think the a71 has fallen a bit behind is with its display. Now in general, it's massive 6.7 inch. Super AMOLED plus panel is great. It's bold, it's bright, you've got a ton of real estate and Samsung makes some of the best looking mid-range displays out there.

Even still, however, and this might not be the answer for everyone, but with high refresh rate displays coming to the OnePlus word and the s20 fan edition. For example, I think that leaves this phone with a bit to be desired and by the way, not even the a71 5g gets a high refresh rate display or anything different either. So once again in comparison, just not a good value for most people, a high refresh rate screen isn't something that I'd even think about, but as we start to head into 2021, I suspect a lot of 400 to 500 phones might come with a 90 hertz display at least and once you've got that super smooth feel if you've experienced it even once it's hard to go back, I'm being super critical here, I think it's not a big deal, and it's kind of a tough comparison to make and an even tougher projection. Looking ahead, all things considered, but if I had to pick one area where this phone might feel the most outdated like six months from now, the lack of a high refresh rate screen is probably what it'll be. Fortunately, I think most everything else with this phone physically is pretty good.

Since it's a mid-range phone, you get less than premium materials like a plastic, rear housing, but the glossy shiny, finish and chrome edges look super nice, I think Samsung does the best job in portraying a sense of value with their cheaper devices and anyway. The note 20 has a plastic back too. So I think all this is kind of irrelevant. Anyway. The phone has also held up pretty nicely too, and I've never had a case on it.

Looking around this phone also has some stuff. I know a lot of people still value in 2020, like expandable storage via the micros card slot, that's definitely great to have down below there's the USB charging port and a headphone jack again. I know something that some people still like to have now. There's no wireless charging, but I don't really care about that. What I do care about actually is the lack of a dual stereo speaker.

Setup Samsung, in my opinion, has just never really been known for their out loud listening experience on their devices anyway, and this single speaker setup is fine, but there are some super cheap devices like the lg k51, for example, that offer a nicer speaker setup than this. So I think it's really time for Samsung to step up their game with the out loud listening experience. One other aspect of this phone- that's actually gotten better over time- has been the in-display fingerprint sensor. When I first got this phone, I thought it was just not great. It was a little slow, a little inaccurate and now, while it's not flagship fast, it feels better, and it's more comfortable using it.

Maybe I've just gotten used to it, but I think it has gotten a little quicker and a little more accurate, though obviously paired, with face unlock nine times out of ten. That's what will get me into the phone first, and that is plenty fast now, with the camera setup on the a71. I think. Even now, this is a phone that produces some great pictures and videos when you stack it up against almost anything in its price range. No, I don't think it outshouts the Pixel 4a, and you might argue that last year's flagships, which you could potentially snag at a cheaper price, might also be a better option.

But there's not a lot to complain about. You've got plenty of shooting modes, just in general from the wide angle lens to the somewhat useless macro lens, along with super slo-mo and night mode, and pro controls. There's really nothing. That's missing here at all, and I think you can get a lot out of the 64 megapixel main lens too, with that high pixel shooting mode I've taken, probably hundreds of pictures. Now with this phone, and I've been impressed each and every time even the selfie camera, the 32 megapixel shooter up front, that's pretty decent too.

It's a little soft, maybe definitely beautifies your skin tone still, but it's not bad. I have countless camera tests and picture comparisons with this phone up on my channel already, so I'd recommend checking out those dedicated videos if you're really interested, but I think the a71 really set the stage earlier this year for the camera quality to be perfect on these mid-range phones and now, nine months later, I still think it holds up really well. So here are my final thoughts with this phone. In the grand scheme of things, this phone is still a new current 2020 device. If you bought this phone today, you'd be getting a good deal a great deal actually, since the price has come down quite a bit to around 350 bucks, while there are newer, better phones out now, like the word and the s20 fan edition, and even the a71 5g and obviously tons of other phones from other international brands.

If you live outside the US, I still think going with this device is a right move, and it really just comes down to this. While you might feel the need to pay another 100 to 200 or more for a newer device, one with 5g support or a 90 or 120hz display, or even a slightly better processor, those things in my opinion are still marginal upgrades. Given the price increase, I don't think you're getting too much more, that's worth the jump in cost, and for that reason I still think the regular old a71 is a great phone right now and will likely continue to be a good buy in the months to come. So there you go. Those are my updated thoughts on the a71.

What do you guys think about this phone? I'd love to hear your own personal experience? If you have one in the comments down below also be sure to follow tech daily on Twitter and subscribe to the tech daily YouTube channel, if you haven't already, and I'll see you guys later,.

Source : TechDaily