Samsung recently upgraded its mid-range A-series phones with a few notable software and hardware improvements. The Galaxy A50 becomes the Galaxy A50s and the Galaxy A70 transitions to Galaxy A70s. These A-series options from Samsung are meant to retail at both online and offline stores, and leverage Samsung’s branding and other R&D efforts that the South Korean giant has put into refining the experience of its flagship phones over the years. (Samsung Galaxy A70s review हिंदी में पढ़िए)
Right of the bat, the Galaxy A70s isn’t a specs monster, at least not by current ‘online -exclusive’ standards. But can the experience triumph the specs? Will the ‘s’ upgrade keep the A70 relevant for more time to come? By now we have had ample experience with the phone and enough time to gather our thoughts. Here’s what we think.
Page Contents:
- Samsung Galaxy A70 Price in India and Specifications
- Samsung Galaxy A70 Review: Design and Build
- Samsung Galaxy A70 Review: Display
- Samsung Galaxy A70 Review: Performance and Software
- Samsung Galaxy A70 Review: Camera
- Samsung Galaxy A70 Review: Battery and Audio
- Samsung Galaxy A70 Review: Verdict with Pros and Cons
Samsung Galaxy A70s Price India and Specifications
| Model | Samsung Galaxy A70s |
| Display | 6.7-inch Super AMOLED screen, FHD+ resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio |
| Processor | 2 GHz, Octa-Core, Snapdragon 675 |
| RAM | 6/8GB |
| Internal Storage | 128GB, Hybrid slot, expandable up to 512GB |
| Software | One UI (Android Pie) |
| Rear Camera | 64MP ( f/1.8 aperture) + 8MP(f/2.2 aperture) + 5MP (f/2.2 aperture) |
| Front Camera | 32MP (f/2.0) |
| Others | 4G Dual VoLTE(Nano), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, USB Type-C port, 3.5 mm audio jack, proximity sensor, light sensor, and accelerometer |
| Battery | 4500mAh, 25W Fast Charging |
| Indian Price | 6GB + 128GB – Rs. 28,999; 8GB + 128GB – Rs. 30,999 |
Samsung Galaxy A70s Unboxed
Samsung Galaxy Galaxy A70s retail box includes:
- The Phone Brick
- Travel Adapter
- Stereo Headset
- Data CableEjector Pin
- TPU case
- User Manual
Samsung Galaxy A70s Review: Design and Build
The Galaxy A70s is almost the same as the Galaxy A70 (review) in terms of design and build. Except, that it no longer feels as big. Let me explain. If anything, 2019 has been the year of big and bulky phones and cycling through phones like OnePlus 7 Pro, Galaxy Note10+, ROG Phone 2, and OnePlus 7T, and more recently the Nex 3 has us acclimatized to the bigger size.
We can perhaps even appreciate the advantage size brings to competitive mobile gaming. And, of course, the bigger size lets Samsung add a bountiful 4500mAh battery.
Samsung also deserves credit for making this is a very convenient Big-phone. Despite the heft, the Galaxy A70s is surely not bulky. It’s reasonably slim and quite comfortable to handle.
The bezels around the screen are extremely narrow, including the strip at the bottom, and – contrary to what we had anticipated when the pop-up phones initially started popping up left and right – the U-shaped dot notch that accommodates the selfie camera is still pretty much in trend.
For the s-model Samsung adds a new gradient pattern, which is somewhat similar to Realme’s diamond-cut pattern, but definitely subtler. The phone retains glass finish, but it’s actually made of plastic – which is absolutely fine by us.
Both the USB Type-C port and the audio jack are present at the bottom edge, and the SIM tray has a separate slot for the micro SD card. The speaker grill is decidedly petite, but we didn’ face any trouble attending calls.
For biometric unlock, the A70s has an optical in-display fingerprint sensor. There’s also Face Unlock complemented by a slick unlock animation.
Samsung Galaxy A70s Review: Display
Galaxy A70s has a 6.7-inch (20:9) with full HD+ resolution. This is a well-calibrated AMOLED screen shielded by an unspecified version of Gorilla Glass.
The One UI on A70s now has the same color presets as this years’ flagship S-series and Note phones – ‘Vivid’ and ‘Natural’. The software also has a Night Mode and Always-on mode – features that let you make the most of deep, dark AMOLED blacks.
Samsung also has the proper required certifications in place for you to be able to relish high-quality HD content in apps like Netflix and Amazon Prime from the get-go.
Samsung Galaxy A70s Review: Performance and Software
The Samsung Galaxy A70s is powered by 11nm Snapdragon 675 octa-core chipset. Back in April, the same chipset on the Galaxy A70 didn’t appear as out-of-place, but in the interim months Snapdragon 700-series has become all the more prominent in the affordable space, and as a result, the Snapdragon 675 appears a bit lackluster.
Having said that, this is still one of the best chipset you can get in phones meant to retail offline in the same price bracket (say: Vivo V17 Pro, Oppo Reno 2z). Another upside is that Samsung backs the chipset with ample 128GB storage and RAM (6GB/ 8GB). Users may add another 512GB of microSD storage if needed.
From a pragmatic standpoint, day-to-day usage performance is smooth (if not particularly snappy) and we could dabble in high-end mobile gaming as well. PUBG ran just fine at Smooth graphics and Ultra frame rate or with HD graphics and high frame rate.
So, overall, if you aren’t into gaming, the performance shouldn’t be a problem. But yes, this is one area where Samsung is cutting corners. The same is also true for biometric unlock. The optical in-display fingerprint sensor on the A70s is slow and inconsistent.
The One UI software remains an intuitive interface and Galaxy A70s also gets the full version of Samsung pay – a very handy payment system for credit card users that actually works at almost all POS terminals in India. The clean and tasteful software design is something that should lend Galaxy A70s an edge over the Chinese competition.
Galaxy A70s supports dual 4G VoLTE and dual-band Wi-Fi. We didn’t face any issues with calling or connectivity in our area.
Samsung Galaxy A70s Review: Camera
And the cameras are the other highlight of the Galaxy A70s. Samsung places its own 64MP sensor (GW1) in the lead and it’s assisted by the now customary 8MP wide-angle sensor and a 5MP depth sensor. On the front, there’s a 32MP sensor (GD1) that works on the same principle as the main 64MP sensor and outputs 8MP shots.
If you are pinning too much hope on the high-megapixel count, here’s a quick primer. The 64MP sensors rely on what is now popularly known as “quad-Bayer filter” technology, which is the same tech that powers 48MP camera sensors that were hugely popular this year.
The size of the Bayer filter actually remains the same, but it now has four tiny 8-micron pixels underneath one color block (RGB) and the output from the four tiny pixels is combined into one. The increase in pixel size and the use of smart demosaicing algorithm results in a better dynamic range and improved details. The technology can be accredited to why the camera performance of mid-range phones saw substantial improvements this year, but then again, the gains from switching from 48MP to 64MP won’t be as huge since the underlying technology is same, and just the resolution has been bumped up.
Now that we have had that out of our way, let’s proceed to the Galaxy A70s camera performance.
In bright daylight, the Galaxy A70s shoots crisp images with a wide dynamic range and well-balanced colors. When we zoomed in on these images on a bigger screen, many were missing fine details.
The camera can lock focus easily while shooting close-ups.
Portrait shots (live focus) turned out reasonably good – both indoors and outdoors. The Galaxy A70s managed to determine edges accurately more often than not, the camera software also has a few portrait lighting effects.
The wide-angle camera can be put to good use. You may use it to capture wide backdrop or for artistic shots where you don’t want to miss out on close objects and background details simultaneously.
The lowlight performance isn’t much to write home about. The night mode, too, felt a bit inconsistent. Shots clicked using ‘Night’ mode are zoomed-in and tend to overexpose the shadow region.
The selfie camera is a decent performer in proper lighting. The Galaxy A70s has HDR support for selfies and also benefits from software powered wide-angle and portrait mode.
For videos, Samsung adds some exciting modes like a super slow-motion and super steady mode that work really well.
Samsung Galaxy A70s Review: Battery and Audio
Samsung Galaxy A70s has a 4500mAh battery and just as all mid-range and high-end Samsung phones launched in the last couple of months, it too benefits from 25W USB PD fast charging. The universal charging standard works really well and should ensure that if need be you’d be able to buy similar third party fast chargers that work as well.
The handset has a mono speaker at the bottom that gets fairly loud. The phone retains audio jack, and you can also output audio via USB Type-C port. Audio output via headphones is quite good.
Samsung Galaxy A70s Review: Should you buy it?
The Samsung Galaxy A70s is mostly a camera upgrade to the Galaxy A70. The phone is quite manageable for a big phone and there are definite camera improvements. The good quality AMOLED display, the long-lasting battery with fast charging support, and tasteful UI are other strong points that should work in its favor.
On the downside, the choice of the chipset will limit it as a phone for moderate users or people who aren’t particularly inclined towards high-end gaming. With a starting price of Rs. 28,999, the Galaxy A70s is a good option for offline buyers who value tier-1 Samsung branding.
Pros
- Lasting battery, fast charging
- Light and manageable design
- AMOLED display
- Dedicated microSD card slot
Cons
- In-display fingerprint sensor is slow and inconsistent
- Mediocre chipset
Samsung Galaxy A70s Quick Bytes
No, there is a hybrid sim tray where secondary SIM can be swapped with a microSD card.
The phone has maximum SAR value for the head is 1.202 W/kg which is less than allowed 1.6W/kg by the Indian authorities. These values vary and limits vary as per region.
Yes, you can plug-in a regular 3.5mm jack headphone on the Galaxy A70s.
Yes, thanks to dual-sim dual VoLTE support it can run JIO SIM on both slots.
You can setup and use a pattern unlock, pin unlock, face unlock and fingerprint unlock features.
Well, it took us about an hour and fifteen minutes to fully refill the Galaxy A70s battery from a dead state.
Yup.
Nope.
Samsung Galaxy A70s Review [in Hindi]
Very detailed review. Appreciate that.