Samsung updates its most popular smartphone range

Samsung has updated its Galaxy A smartphone range – a midrange collection of handsets that quietly outsells its premium Galaxy S series and is one of just three non-iPhone units to crack top ten global sales charts. The A-series features five models: the A1x, A2x, A3x, A5x and A7x. The x is updated for each year's new models …

[Anonymous Coward]

*This* shiny stone is much better than that shiny stone I sold you yesterday!

Is there a simple one-stop site that compares phones of yester-year with current offerings? So one can get a sense of like-for-like?

For instance, if I have an S8 from 2017, surely more than one of the A series is now broadly the same?

I wouldn't stick a $1000 bill in my wallet. Why would I want to stick a $1000+ breakable in my pocket?

[Pascal Monett]

I would prefer a site that can compare the characteristics of any year's smartphone to any other year's smartphone.

I have a Galaxy A3 I got in 2017. I'd really like to have a side-side comparison with an A3 from 2021 (as I suppose the 2022 version isn't out yet) to see if there is any really must-have feature that I might feel I could actually use.

Probably a moot point anyway. My A3 is starting to behave somewhat erratically at times, so I guess I'll be replacing it this year whatever else might happen.

[doublelayer]

This should do it: compares the A3 (2017), the A32 5G (2021), and A33 5G (from this article).

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: *This* shiny stone is much better than that shiny stone I sold you yesterday!

GSM Arena does just that: https://www.gsmarena.com/

I've got to say it's mightily difficult to find a replacement phone. When I enter just the specs of my current phones, there are very few with *more* features, rather than *less* or *different* features (that I don't need).

I'll keep that 3.5mm jack if it's all the same to you.

[GrooveCat]

Re: *This* shiny stone is much better than that shiny stone I sold you yesterday!

happy fridays.

got to say that I am getting f**king sick of this. a new shiny every few months has perpetuated this attitude that I MUST have the latest and f**k the environment when i bin a perfectly functional device.

icon? our world, soon.

[Jimmy2Cows]

Re: attitude that I MUST have the latest and f**k the environment

Hyperbole much?

I don't see Sammy forcing anyone to buy their latest toys.

Products evolve. Buy them if you want, ignore them if you prefer.

Sell your old phone or bin it. Again, no one forces you into a particular choice. There are plenty of 2nd hand outfits that will buy your used phone, refurb it if necessary and put it back into circulation.

Should manufacturers recycle used phones? Absolutely.

Should more pressure be put on them to facilitate recycling? Again, yes.

Should they be blamed for consumers' poor environmental choices? No.

[Piro]

Re: *This* shiny stone is much better than that shiny stone I sold you yesterday!

yeah, gsmarena.com.

Phonearena.com too, and it has a size comparison function one can calibrate

[doublelayer]

Re: *This* shiny stone is much better than that shiny stone I sold you yesterday!

There are sites that compare specs, but it really comes down to exactly what you want to match. Do you want a phone that has as fast a CPU as your S8? Similar battery life? Same size? Same number of lenses sticking out of the back? Same number of pixels captured?

[ShadowSystems]

Dear Samsung.

I would like a phone that makes & takes voice calls & text messages, has a headphone jack, a removable battery, an SD card slot that accepts high capacity cards, and an update schedule on the software that means it won't be landfill in a few years, all for a price under $500USD.

I know it's possible, there's plenty of Chinese competition that can do all of those things except the software, so you should be able to do it easily & with expert aplomb.

You release such a device, I'll vote with my wallet to prove such a device will be appreciated.

Thank you. Signed, someone whom doesn't have a boatload of money to spend & won't waste it on crap.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Dear Samsung.

Samsung A41 had all of that for around £250.

I have an even older A40 with a 128GB card and 2 SIMs which just got a software update.

[T. F. M. Reader]

Re: Dear Samsung.

Are you sure A41 has a removable battery?

Apart from that I think the A52s I had to get last fall also ticks all the boxes (I think the price was about $500 back then). Dual SIM, even, but no removable battery. Sigh.

[nightflame2]

Re: Dear Samsung.

Ah sorry, missed that requirement.

I used to prefer removable batteries, but found a rechargeable battery pack more practical. With removable batteries I was often left with two empty batteries, and need the phone to charge them.

[Jimmy2Cows]

Re: Dear Samsung.

I feel like replaceable batteries is more the point.

Of course that also makes them removable e.g. one is getting low and you want to swap in a spare.

[Chz]

Re: Dear Samsung.

I'd contend that they *are* replaceable, just not removable. I understand that doesn't make much logical sense, but I'm assigning "removable" to something that can easily be removed at any time (which no phone aligns to these days) and "replaceable" to something that can, with a little effort and a facility for dealing with fiddly things, be done in the home in half an hour.

The hardest part is waiting about while you heat the phone up with a hair dryer, try to prise the back up, realise it needs more heat and repeat. The actual battery replacement is not difficult if you have agile fingers. And if not, really, the cost is minimal (vs. buying a new phone) to have someone do it for you.

I've done my own twice, and I'm really not a DIY sort of person and I have fat fingers. What worries me more - and is likely the reason I've done it twice - is the flood of cheap crap masquerading as OEM parts.

[doublelayer]

Re: Dear Samsung.

While Samsung isn't the only one that makes that kind of thing, they've got one. It's the Galaxy Xcover 5. For each of your requirements:

"makes & takes voice calls & text messages,": Right, like all the others. It does it.

"has a headphone jack,": Yes.

"a removable battery,": Yes, capacity 3000 mAh.

"an SD card slot that accepts high capacity cards,": SDXC supported.

"an update schedule on the software that means it won't be landfill in a few years,": It's on Android 11 and they said it's getting updates. They could be lying, but they've actually been doing it recently.

"all for a price under $500USD.": You can find the price in your country, but I saw it for €240 (converts to $275), so it should hit your limit even if the first search result was off.

[Anonymous Coward]

Screens?

Wonder if the new screens will still be 720p?

A40 and A41 were 1080p, then bigger and more expensive A42 was 720p. Drop was noticable.

In fact whole Ax2 range had lower res screens. Seemed to be a trade off for 5G

[Joe W]

Re: Screens?

I would indeed like a smaller screen (and device) at a reasonable price. Unfortunately they do no longer exist for reasonable prices. The A41 is sold out (or marked up at 350EUR, which is above rsp, and I have doubts about the seller), there are some phones in the size category, but priced at insane eye watering sums. For that money I'd rather buy two decent (they are pre schoolers) bikes for my kids, with enough change left over to do a three day tour with them, hotel included.

Phone prices are crazy....

[Pascal Monett]

Re: Phone prices are crazy....

They are indeed.

It seems to stem from the fact that the makers are desperately trying to make them everything but phones - the phone part is just a coincidence these days.

[Curtains]

Re: Phone prices are crazy....

Most young people I know, don't use the phone part. My daughter would laugh if I asked her to call me or any of her friends. The communications is over chat apps and social media, not voice. Funny old world

[Gene Cash]

Re: Phone prices are crazy....

Well, considering I can't understand a damn thing unless I'm using headphones[1], I can certainly understand.

Plus texts and emails have the advantage that you can still reply later if you're in a situation where you can't answer the phone immediately such as driving or having a nap (which may be the same activity in the US)

My phone is more akin to an old PDA combined with a GPS.

[1] so yes, Samsung, I *require* a 3.5mm jack

[Joe W]

Re: Phone prices are crazy....

Now why do I need to schlepp around a phone that qualifies as "small" only if I was trying to land a light aircraft? Make them smaller, my pockets have a limited size! Unless I wear cargo trousers /hiking gear, that is.

No, my eyesight is not improving, I know, but a phone that would bend /break /castrate me is not at all desirable.

[Altrux]

Big Up the A!

After deciding to avoid any Chinese-made phones, I basically had to go with Samsung (made in Korea, India or Vietnam). I've been on the A-series models for a couple of years now, and can't really complain. Excellent value for money, still some Samsung crapware (though less than there used to be), regular software updates (I am running the Feb 2022 Android security patchlevel), and a camera system that has made several iPhone owners jealous. There are some niggles, but overall these are excellent phones for a sensible price.

[anonymous boring coward]

I got A40 for the whole family, at about £100 each second hand. Have been great.

Use mine with dual SIM. Pay using NFC sometimes. Actual headphone jack. GPS works well.

Nothing really missing any feature.

There seems to be an A41 and A42 as well, so I'm not sure why the A4x are not listed in the article?

[Clunking Fist]

Second hand, VG value for monies

Indeed. S10s all round my fam. Even got the wife a very cheap one as it was pre-cracked (she would only do that herself within a month or two, so why not save $120 and get that feature, err, built in.)

[anonymous boring coward]

Re: Second hand, VG value for monies

It even manages LDAC for good sound on LDAC capable devices (Sony mainly). A setting under Dev options.