This article will help you in making a decision as to which of the Galaxy A suits your needs in the most appropriate way. The South-Korean smartphone giants launched the Galaxy A30 & A50 on 2nd March 2019 targetting the middle-class users. if somebody would have said this to us in 2018, we would have just laughed it off but Samsung is now looking to capture the middle-class market segment with their new range.
Galaxy A30 is priced @ $199.00 and is available in variants- 3GB/32GB & 4GB/64GB where Galaxy A50 is priced @ $257 and is available in variants- 4GB/64GB & 6GB/128GB. So which one should you be eyeing on? Let’s find out through our comparison analysis.
Samsung A30 | Samsung A50 |
BUY NOW | BUY NOW |
PROS | PROS |
Vibrant Super AMOLED screen. Sizable battery life. Fast user interface. | Luminous back cover. Large and bright display. Decent battery life. |
CONS | CONS |
Camera effects weren’t reliable. Felt a tiny bit unwieldy. | Camera performs poorly in low-light. Samsung OneUI feels slow to use. |
SPECIFICATIONS
NETWORK | SAMSUNG A30 | SAMSUNG A50 |
Technology | GSM / HSPA / LTE | GSM / HSPA / LTE |
2G bands | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 – SIM 1 & SIM 2 (dual-SIM model only) | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 – SIM 1 & SIM 2 (dual-SIM model only) |
3G Network | HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 | HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 |
4G Network | LTE band 1(2100), 3(1800), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 20(800), 38(2600), 40(2300), 41(2500) | LTE band 1(2100), 3(1800), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 20(800), 38(2600), 40(2300), 41(2500) |
Speed | HSPA, LTE-A | HSPA, LTE-A |
LAUNCH | SAMSUNG A30 | SAMSUNG A50 |
Announced | 2019, February | 2019, February |
Status | Available. Released 2019, March | Available. Released 2019, March |
BODY | SAMSUNG A30 | SAMSUNG A50 |
Dimensions | 158.5 x 74.7 x 7.7 mm (6.24 x 2.94 x 0.30 in) | 158.5 x 74.7 x 7.7 mm (6.24 x 2.94 x 0.30 in) |
Weight | 165 g (5.82 oz) | 166 g (5.86 oz) |
SIM | Single SIM (Nano-SIM) or Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) | Single SIM (Nano-SIM) or Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) |
DISPLAY | SAMSUNG A30 | SAMSUNG A50 |
Type | Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors | Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
Size | 6.4 inches, 100.5 cm2 (~84.9% screen-to-body ratio) | 6.4 inches, 100.5 cm2 (~84.9% screen-to-body ratio) |
Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels, 19.5:9 ratio (~403 ppi density) | 1080 x 2340 pixels, 19.5:9 ratio (~403 ppi density) |
PLATFORM | SAMSUNG A30 | SAMSUNG A50 |
OS | Android 9.0 (Pie) | Android 9.0 (Pie); One UI |
Chipset | Exynos 7904 (14 nm) | Exynos 9610 (10nm) |
CPU | Octa-core (2×1.8 GHz Cortex-A73 & 6×1.6 GHz Cortex-A53) | Octa-core (4×2.3 GHz Cortex-A73 & 4×1.7 GHz Cortex-A53) |
GPU | Mali-G71 MP2 | Mali-G72 MP3 |
MEMORY | SAMSUNG A30 | SAMSUNG A50 |
Card slot | microSDXC (dedicated slot) | microSDXC (dedicated slot) |
Internal | 32GB 3GB RAM, 64GB 4GB RAM eMMC 5.1 | 64GB 4GB RAM, 64GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 4GB RAM, 128GB 6GB RAM UFS 2.1 |
MAIN CAMERA | SAMSUNG A30 | SAMSUNG A50 |
Modules | 16 MP, f/1.7, 27mm (wide), PDAF 5 MP, f/2.2, 12mm, (ultrawide) | 25 MP, f/1.7, 26mm (wide), PDAF 8 MP, f/2.2, 13mm (ultrawide), 1/4.0″, 1.12µm 5 MP, f/2.2, 1/5.0″, 1.12µm, depth sensor |
Features | LED flash, panorama, HDR | LED flash, panorama, HDR |
Video | 1080p@30fps | 1080p@30fps |
SELFIE CAMERA | SAMSUNG A30 | SAMSUNG A50 |
Modules | 16 MP, f/2.0, 26mm (wide), 1/3.1″, 1.0µm | 25 MP, f/2.0, 25mm (wide), 1/2.8″, 0.9µm |
Features | HDR | |
Video | 1080p@30fps | 1080p@30fps |
SOUND | SAMSUNG A30 | SAMSUNG A50 |
Loudspeaker | Yes | Yes |
3.5mm jack | Yes | Yes Dolby Atmos sound |
COMMUNICATION | SAMSUNG A30 | SAMSUNG A50 |
WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot |
Bluetooth | 5.0, A2DP, LE | 5.0, A2DP, LE |
GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS |
NFC | Yes (market dependent) | |
Infrared port | No | No |
USB | 2.0, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector, USB On-The-Go | 2.0, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector, USB On-The-Go |
FEATURES | SAMSUNG A30 | SAMSUNG A50 |
Sensors | Fingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass | Fingerprint (under display, optical), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass ANT+ Bixby natural language commands and dictation |
BATTERY | SAMSUNG A30 | SAMSUNG A50 |
Battery | Non-removable Li-Po 4000 mAh battery | Non-removable Li-Po 4000 mAh battery |
Stand-by | ||
Talk time | ||
MISC | SAMSUNG A30 | SAMSUNG A50 |
Colors | Black, Blue, Red | Black, White, Blue, Coral |
Price | $199 | $257 |
DESIGN
The design and weight distribution is almost similar in both devices. As a matter of fact, it is quite difficult to tell the difference between the two models.
Both A30 & A50 look well made and Elegant. They are thin, feature a slightly covered back and have a minimal bezel around the screen. Both measure 158.5 x 74.7 x 7.7mm in size although their weight shows the absolute marginal difference with A30 weighing 165g and A50 at 166g. While the front side of both the models exhibit no dissimilarity, their back panels speak the difference. Although both A30 & A50 has a glossy plastic back panel which looks a lot like glass (This stylish appearance is what Samsung calls “Glass stick” and is easily visible in their other models as well), the minute difference between the both here is that A50 comes with glamorous vibgyor shades.
In other words, it has these prism-like colors which actually reflect the rainbow effect when light hits it from different angles. However, the A50 back panel is quite sensitive and more vulnerable to scratches if not provided proper care or left without a decent back cover. The other noticeable difference in the back panel is the camera setup and fingerprint sensor placement of both models. The A30 has a dual-camera setup and a fingerprint sensor on the back. On the other hand, A50 provides you a triple camera setup and has its fingerprint embedded under the screen on the front side.
Since galaxy A50 costs more than A30, it made absolute sense to believe that A50’s front fingerprint scanner would be more quick and reactive as compared to A30’S traditional back scanner. But this was not the case initially. A50′ s scanner took more time to react and wasn’t as smooth as the users were expecting it to be. However, Samsung eventually solved this problem through its new software update.
Both A50 & A30 accommodate 2 nano sim cards and 1 memory card slot (expandable up to 512 GB) . The speaker, 3.5 mm headphone socket and USB Type-C port are at the bottom. Galaxy A30 is available in Red, Blue and Black shades whereas A50 comes in Black, blue and White colors.
Two features worth mentioning are the presence of good old headphone jack so that you don’t need any clunky dongle and lack of any form of special water protection. Another thing which calls for attention is that both the phones don’t provide you an IR blaster which is quite disappointing.
DISPLAY
Like their almost identical design, both the models have exactly similar displays. The difference in their display is negligible and one could barely tell the difference if both models are placed next to each other. Both share 6.4 inches SUPER AMOLED infinity-U (Notch) full HD plus (1080 by 2340 pixels) display protected by Gorilla Glass 3. The displays have a pixel density of 403 PPI.
Although you get 1% more screen to body ratio in A50 as compared to A30. But again like I already said the difference is very hard to point out. The displays are a super appealing and absolute joy to use. They are sharp, come with rich vibrant colors having a plenty brightness and are significantly better than other brand products at this price range.
CAMERA
Well its certainly not a draw here. Samsung Galaxy A50 excels over A30 in the sense that it provides better photo detailing, better low light photography experience and modes such as slow-motion & fast motion video capture and video stabilization feature which are surprisingly absent in A30.
The Galaxy A30 comes with a dual-camera setup at the back. The rear camera is 16 MP; F/1.7 Aperture having a 5 MP wide-angle lens. The front camera is also 16 MP; F/2.0 Aperture. Now if we talk about A50, you are provided a triple camera setup. The primary lens is 25 MP; F/1.7 Aperture. In addition to this, we get to see a wide-angle lens of 8 MP (123 degrees wide) and a 5 MP; F/2.2 Aperture depth sensor. The front camera is also 25 MP; F/2.0 Aperture.
Although Both phones have modes like Portraits, Live-Focus, Pro-Mode for both rear and selfie camera but Photographs are clicked with better clarity in A50 especially Portrait mode photos because it provides you an extra live focus feature as there is a dedicated lens in it which assists in clicking portraits whereas A30 provides you a portrait only with the help of its software.
For the front, you get screen flash and an LED flash for the rear on both phones. Talking about video recording, you get a full HD video recording facility at 30 FPS on both phones. Other than this, you get HDR mode, gesture control, AI-based camera scene optimiser and a newly introduced AR sticker mode in both Galaxy A30 & A50. Now let’s talk about those features which are exclusively provided in A50 only. In Galaxy A50, you are provided an additional AR emoji feature for video capturing absent in A30. In addition to this, A50 also accomodates voice control feature which is nowhere to be seen in A30.
The conclusion here is that though A30 provides you descent natural colored photography, A50 is simply better in terms of Camera performance.
PERFORMANCE
It is in fact very much obvious that Processor is the heart and soul of any mobile device, so if you have to pay more dollars( compared to A30) to get your hands on Galaxy A50, it makes absolute sense that A50 would be providing you a better processor. This exactly is the scenario. Galaxy A50 has a superior processor than its competitor A30 (not to mention the fact that there are many other smartphones available offering you processors even better than A50 in this price range) and that makes it the obvious winner here.
The galaxy A30 has an EXYNOS 7 OCTA 7904 processor @ 1.7 GHz based on 14 nanometer architecture and comes in 2 variants- 3GB/32GB & 4GB/64GB respectively. On the other hand, The Galaxy A50 comes with EXYNOS 7 OCTA 9610 Processor @2.3 GHz based on 10-nanometer architecture available in variants of 4GB/64GB & 6GB/128GB.
In terms of real-life usage, if you are into high end games like PUBG, then it is quite likely for you to lean towards A50 as it provides you better gaming experience and assists smooth multi-tasking comparatively simply because of its better processor. Galaxy A30, when exposed to heavy tasks and gaming, displayed heating issues within 30 to 40 minutes with temperature easily reaching 40 to 41 degrees. You are likely to stutter in case of heavy usage and the performance isn’t smooth as you expect it to be. Besides, it is not that optimized in battery performance.
So A50 is the winner here by a reasonable margin.
SPEAKERS
The sound system of both Phones are just Okayy and not awesome. In fact, speaker has never been the area of expertise when we talk about Samsung. If i have to choose between the two, I would prefer A50 over A30.
Both models have a single loudspeaker at the bottom next to the USB-C port. The earpiece is on the top just above the front camera that’s almost invisible to see.
The reason I chose A50 over A30 in terms of speaker’s performance is pretty noticeable. The A30 loudspeaker isn’t impressive at all and in fact, is below average in the loudness tests and sound quality is just okay for the class. There is a headphone jack provided at the bottom and the voice through headphones are experienced as above average but stereo separation isn’t the best. The hands-free voice sounds decent though. A50 on the other hand, scored very good in the loudness test but the sound is lacking in high frequencies and experiences some distortion at max volume. The single speaker is adequately loud but there is no dual speaker which is quite disappointing. You do have a traditional headphone jack here as well and sound through headphone is loud but it lacks the best clarity though it provides support for FM radio.
To sum up, both A50 & A30 has some issues when it comes to sound quality, so the winner will be that which faces fewer issues and that is undoubtedly Galaxy A50.
SOFTWARE
Both A30 & A50 is erratic on Samsung’s new One UI (version 1.1) based on Android 9 Pie by now. Both models support Samsung Pay-Money, a version that lets you set up Payment wallets, coupons, gift cards, and much more. There is no notification LED provided but since you are getting an Amoled Panel, you can enable Always on Display mode for checking time & notifications and assists you customize your lock screen features.
Apart from Biometrics Unlock mode through face and fingerprint, gestures are also provided and some of them are really cool such as Lift to Wake, Double-tap to Wake, Smart stay, Easy mute, One-handed mode etc. Advance gestures include “Auto Display” which automatically unlocks your phone as soon as you open the cover. There are many other user interface features which call for mentioning such as Smart Pop Up View for notification . This feature provides you icons of apps with notifications on the area left and right side of the notch so as to make sure you can perform the important tasks without any obstruction. Moreover, you also get a Game Launcher mode so as to facilitate smooth functioning of games. Not only this, you also get to reduce animations through settings to ensure fast loading of apps and to improve Multi-Tasking.
Samsung has also provided this Digital Well-Being feature (initially introduced by google via The Google Pixel) which helps provide you a clear image of which apps take most of your time on the phone . You can also block notification of these apps through “Wind Down” sub-feature.
Galaxy A30 & A50 are similar in various aspects and software is one of them.
BATTERY
In terms of battery, Samsung is not ready to compromise and they proved it yet again. Yet again both devices resemble same battery performance with battery life of 4000 mAh. The battery is non-removable like other phones in the same segment though it allows fast charging.
The battery life is upto the standards in this segment having an endurance rate of 92 hours for proprietory tasks. There is 15 Watt of adaptive fast charging but let’s be honest it isn’t the speediest out there. The bundle Charger reportedly goes from 0 to 30% in half an hour. Both the phones are supposed to last at least a full day of normal usage.
WHICH GALAXY YOU SHOULD BUY?
Where both the phones are made keeping in mind the needs of the middle-class users, choosing the best between the given alternatives can sometimes be a daunting task soaking up a lot of time and energy. Both the phones are appropriate in their own sense and it depends on the requirements of the user operating them. So which one is made keeping in mind your requirements, let’s find out.
WHY SHOULD YOU BUY SAMSUNG A30:
You are not into heavy gaming on daily basis and not into very much detailed photography. Besides, if you are restricted by your budget or you tend to switch over to new phones after a year or two, then opting for A30 is not a bad option and in fact, is a smart move. Like we already saw both the phones are identical in so many aspects so paying much more for a marginally better version doesn’t make much sense. Moreover, it’s not that A30 is bad in terms of camera and performance. The camera provides you a beautiful natural colored photography and photography details are very much visible and talking about the perfromance, EXYNOS 7904 provides you nice gaming and multi-tasking experience. It’s just that A50 is btter in those fields but A30 itself can provide you a satisfactory experience.
WHY SHOULD YOU BUY SAMSUNG A50:
Camera performance matters to you and you like getting your photographs clicked every now and then, then A50 is the absolute bargain as it provides you detailed photography with many new features and also 3 camera lens is provided to make your experience more satisfactory especially if you are into portraits. In addition to this, if you are a heavy user and love playing high end games with high graphics, you should definitely opt for A50. One thing worth mentioning is the speakers are also better as compared to our A30 there although both are average. So if you are a music lover or love scrolling through YouTube, A50 is there at your convenience. If you are looking for a phone with a view to use it for much longer time and not have such budget constraints, then get your hands on A50.