The Samsung Galaxy A Range has brought a range of affordable devices with flagship-like features. The Galaxy A32 was recently added to the A range and I have just spent some time with the device. At first glance, the Galaxy A32 looks like a well-designed phone with decent specs to match it. Let’s take a closer look to find out more!
Body:
Picking up the Galaxy A32, you may be fooled into thinking that it is one of the Galaxy S devices, as it has the same design of the flagship devices.
You get a large 6.5 inch display which takes up most of the front of the phone. There is a small bezel on the bottom of the display with thinner side and top bezels. The back is made of a plastic and is very reflective, so you will be seeing fingerprints. The frame is made of plastic but has a metallic silver look and actually gives the A32 a premium feel.
Looking around the A32, you will find a power/unlock button and volume rocker on the right side of the device, a Type-C port, headphone jack, mic and speaker on the bottom and then a Sim/Micro SD card on the left side.
There is a single cut-out camera on the front and then a triple rear camera with flash. Each camera lens sticks out on its own against the flat back panel.
The Galaxy A32 is really well made, and even though it is made of plastic, compared to aluminum on let’s say the Galaxy S21, you really don’t notice this. If you drop your phone a lot, then this is a good thing as plastic is less prone to shattering, as well as being lighter.
The Galaxy A32 measures 158.9×73.6×8.4mm and weighs 184g.
The Galaxy A32 comes in Awesome Black, White, Blue and Violet. The unit that I received to review came in the Awesome Black colour, which had more of a grey look to me.
Processor/Ram:
Powered by a Quad-Core Processor and 4GB of RAM, the A32 is actually a decent performer. Apps open quickly, and there isn’t a lag between switching apps. I did notice that the camera is a bit slow when using the night mode. The 90Hz refresh rate does add to the overall smoothness of the phone.
Display:
The 6.5 inch display has a max resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels. The display is a Super Amoled display and produces a crisp and clear image. The display supports a refresh rate up to 90Hz.
You can either set the refresh rate at the max refresh rate of 90Hz or at the standard refresh rate of 60Hz. In 60Hz, everything runs at 60Hz. If you choose 90Hz, you get the highest refresh rate across the UI, social media apps, browser, and videos. For the camera viewfinder and for apps that require it, the phone will switch down to 60HZ.
The display has an adaptive brightness mode to adjust the brightness of the screen as needed. The display can go really bright, which makes outside use easy.
Under the display, you will find a fingerprint sensor, which performed well on my tests. You can also unlock using your face should you prefer to.
Camera:
The Galaxy A32 comes with a Quad Rear camera and a single front camera. The rear camera is made up of a 64 MP wide lens, an 8 MP ultrawide lens, a 5 MP macro lens, and a 5 MP depth lens. Overall, the lens setup allows the A32 to capture decent photos.
Let’s take a closer look at each lens and how it performs!
The 64 MP wide lens:
This lens captures vibrant and colourful images with lots of detail! The dynamic range does a good job of capturing variations of light in an image.
8 MP ultrawide lens:
This lens lets you get more in the shot thanks to the 123-degree field of view. I did not notice any warping of images here.
5 MP Macro lens:
If you get the phone at the right distance from the subject, you will be able to capture macro shots. I did find that some shots when outside went dark in this mode.
The 5 MP depth lens:
Using portrait mode, you can capture images with a bokeh effect in the background. I tried this out and the lens did a great job differentiating subject from the background.
Using the 64MP lens, you can zoom in up to 10X. At 2.0X, you still get decent detail but as you get to 4X or 10X, you do lose detail and the image becomes grainy.
When taking photos at night, the main camera does a decent job at capturing as much detail as it can. I wanted to see if Night mode would make a difference and it produced an image with more sharpness and brightness. I did find that the app crashed now and then when shooting in night mode.
The front selfie camera captures selfies with the right focus, in normal or wide-angle. You can use HDR mode for selfies if shooting in 12MP which produces some pretty nice selfies!
You can shoot video in 1080p 30fps in normal or ultrawide. The quality that you get is not bad for a phone in this price range. Certainly, usable for social media! See sample footage that I captured around Cape Town below!
The camera app on the A32 looks like any other Samsung device of late and that is a good thing, as it is super easy to use! Swipe left/right to change modes, swipe up to change from the rear to the front camera. Zooming in is done by pinching on the display. There are the standard settings as well as the pro mode, which lets you set ISO, White balance, and exposure.
Storage:
With 128 GB of internal storage as well as the support of a microSDXC slot, the Galaxy A32 certainly doesn’t lack when it comes to storage.
Software:
The Galaxy A32 runs Android 11 and Samsung’s user interface “One UI 3.1”. Android runs nice and smoothly and the UI looks super clean and easy to use, much like other Samsung devices of late. The A32 should get 3 major OS updates, as well as 4 years of security patches.
Speaker:
The Galaxy A32 has a single speaker located on the bottom of the device. This speaker does not go super loud but is perfect for watching a video or listening to some music, just don’t plan on using the phone to play music for a room of people. That being said, the quality is decent.
Battery:
Powered by a 5000 mAh battery with fast charging @ 15W, the Galaxy A32 has enough battery power to get you through a day plus more, depending on usage. And with the capability of fast charging @ 15W, you can charge from 0 to 100 in just over 2 hours. While this is more than double the time of the Galaxy S21, it is not bad for a phone of its price.
What’s in the box:
- Galaxy A32
- Adaptative Fast Charger
- Sim ejector tool
- Type-C cable
- Warranty Card
- Quick Start Guide
Price and Verdict:
The recommend retail price of the Samsung Galaxy A32 is R4999 but I have seen it for less online. For the price, you are getting a decent device that has a great display, an adaptive refresh rate to keep things smooth, a surprisingly good camera as well as a battery life to get you through the day. If you are looking for a device in the Samsung range that is affordable and will not break the bank, the Galaxy A32 may be for you.
