Samsung Galaxy A50s

Introduction

The Galaxy A50 is one of the better devices Samsung launched in 2019. This mid-range device from the Korean company packs many modern features and offers good performance at a competitive price, making it one of the most attractive offerings in the market. Unsurprisingly, the device has brought in impressive sales numbers in many markets around the world.

To keep the momentum going, Samsung has now launched the Galaxy A50s – a modified variant of the A50 with upgraded cameras and a new design. It is not a successor to the A50 but rather a mid-year refresh to keep Samsung’s best mid-range device competitive in the fast-changing smartphone market.

Design

Design is one of the two major areas where the Galaxy A50s differs from the A50. Though it still made out of glossy plastic, the new design comes with a unique geometric pattern and a holographic effect on the back that is more striking than the gradient effect on the A50. The device measures 158.5 x 74.5 x 7.7mm and weighs 169 grams, which is almost identical to the footprint of the A50.

An edge-to-edge Infinity-U display with small bezels and a water-drop notch dominates the front of the device. On the back, there is a vertically arranged triple-camera system and an LED flash at the top-right corner and Samsung branding in the middle. The power and volume buttons are on the right side of the device, while the SIM slot is on left. The A50s comes with a USB Type-C port and a 3.5mm headphone jack – both of which are on the bottom side of the device. Despite the new design, the A50s doesn’t look or feel all that different from the A50, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Our Galaxy A50s hands-on explains more.

Specifications

Other than the upgraded cameras on the back and the front, the Galaxy A50s sports the same internals as the A50. This means it comes with a 6.4-inch full-HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity-U display, an optical in-display fingerprint reader, Exynos 9610 octa-core 10nm chipset, Mali-G72 MP3, triple-camera setup on the back, single selfie camera, 4/6GB of RAM, 64GB/128GB internal storage, 4,000mAh battery, 15W fast charging, and Android 9 Pie with Samsung’s One UI on top.

For the complete list of specifications,  you can go to our Galaxy A50s specifications page.

Display

The display on the Galaxy A50s remains unchanged from the A50. It is still a 6.4-inch full-HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity-U panel with an in-built optical fingerprint reader. It has a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels, which gives it a pixel density of 402 PPI. The device boasts an impressive screen-to-body ratio, but the chin is still bigger than the top bezel, giving the front of the device and uneven look.

Camera

Apart from the new design, camera upgrades are what distinguishes a Galaxy A50s from the A50. Though the number of cameras on the back on the front remains unchanged, Samsung has upgraded the resolution of the primary rear camera from 25 MP to 48 MP and the single selfie camera from 25 MP to 32 MP to boost image quality. Its triple-camera system consists of a 48-megapixel f/2.0 primary camera, an 8-megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide sensor, and a 5-megapixel f/2.2 depth sensor for bokeh effects.

Software

The Galaxy A30s runs Android 9 Pie with Samsung’s One UI on top. The interface and features are similar to what you find on other Galaxy devices running Android Pie. You can read our One UI Feature Focus series to learn about all the major features this release brings to the table.

If Samsung sticks to its existing software update policy, the A50s should get two major Android system updates during its lifetime. The company has been releasing regular security updates and bug fixes for the A50, which will hopefully extend to the A50s as well.

Availability

Samsung announced the Galaxy A50s is in August 2019. It first went on sale in Vietnam for VND 7,790,000 (~$335) and later in India for Rs. 22,999 (~$320) for the base variant. It comes in Prism Crush Black, Prism Crush White, Prism Crush Green, and Prism Crush Violet color options. Storage configurations include 4GB/64GB and 6GB/128, with the latter being a new combination that didn’t exist for the A50.