Samsung’s latest budget phone, the Galaxy A16 5G is here everybody and my team and I have been testing it for the past week! It is the successor to last year’s A15 5G, which if you remember was one of the highest-selling phones globally!
The A16 5G has launched for a starting price of 28,999 Rupees in Nepal and $200 in the US! And for this price, I believe there are a lot of good things to talk about, as well as a lot of bad things about this budget Samsung phone!
Samsung Galaxy A16 5G Specifications
- Display: 6.7″ SUPER AMOLED screen, 90Hz
- Resolution: FHD+, 2408 x 1080 pixels
- CPU: MediaTek Dimensity 6300, 6nm procrss
- Storage: 6/8GB RAM, 128/256GB (expandable using microSD card)
- Rear Camera: Triple (50MP primary, 5MP Ultrawide, 2MP macro)
- Front Camera: 13MP (notch)
- Security: Physical fingerprint scanner (side-mounted)
- Battery: 5000mAh with 25W fast charging (Free 25W charger)
- Buy Galaxy A16 5G here
Samsung Galaxy A16 5G Review
Design
Ok.. let me start with the good things, and the design is really solid here. It’s not glass, but Samsung has nailed the build quality, the looks, the hands-on feel, and all very well. This new Gold color also looks quite good if you ask me.
The thing with Samsung phones is that they all look the same, from budget to mid-range to flagship, so the A16 has premium, clean looks, too.
This year, Samsung has also provided an official IP54 rating, which was missing on the A15. Samsung has not specified what glass protection is on the front, though. In fact, Samsung phones don’t come with a pre-applied screen protector, so make sure you get a good aftermarket screen guard so that you don’t end up with scratches or cracked screens.
Display
The second good thing about the A16 5G, at least when it comes to the core quality, definitely has to be its display, especially the color reproduction looks really pleasing here. This screen is sufficiently bright as well, which means outdoor visibility is not a problem at all and the touch response is pretty good too.
I do wish Samsung had upgraded to a 120Hz screen though, this one only has a 90 Hz screen and that too it’s not adaptive, which means you can either run this phone on 90 Hz or 60 Hz, the phone is not capable of auto selecting the refresh rate like most chinese budget phones, which is a little disappointing!
Also, there is no HDR video playback support here, neither on YouTube nor on OTT platforms and while other brands are providing nice punch hole notches and slim bezels, Samsung is still living in 2020 with these large chunky bezels and water drop notch.
Audio and Haptics
Likewise, you only get a single speaker setup here. The quality of the speaker is not bad per se, it mostly focuses on the highs and there is no distortion in high volumes, but it definitely misses the impact of stereo speakers and sometimes it sounds quite bland.
Cameras
I know, it sounds all bad, but to compensate for all of the things that Samsung has missed on the A16 5G, the company has provided a nice set of cameras. I would go as far as to say that this is the best budget camera phone for photography right now!
The main thing is, the colour reproduction in images is really nice and pleasing to look at. And the phone is able to maintain good contrast, dynamic range and details as well.
Samsung has not provided OIS here, so if your hands are a little shaky, chances are, you might end up with blurry images , but with a steady pair of hands, you can get some good images for social media.
Even when it comes to human subjects, the skin tone and background blur is quite pleasing. I do wish Samsung had also provided a 2x option for portraits for better subject focus and depth of field, but even without it, the portraits are nice, so I won’t complain much.
If you are someone who likes clicking selfies, you will be impressed with the pictures from this phone, the colours, background exposure, etc are quite well handled by the A16 5G. Night-time images are equally impressive, in fact using the night mode makes the images even more balanced.
However, there are 2 things I would like to point out, first, the A16’s low-rest 5MP ultra-wide images are quite average, with little details to look out for, especially during night time. And there is no night mode option for ultra-wide photos as well, which means you might get pretty bad ultra-wide images at night.
Second, the videography aspect is quite average too since there is no 4k recording option, the max you can shoot at is 1080p. In this resolution, the videos aren’t as detailed, but the stabilization is good nonetheless thanks to EIS.
Performamce
And if you are someone who’s even a little bit interested in gaming, don’t get this phone! Here we get a pretty basic Dimensity 6300 chipset, with which the maximum fps you can get, even in low-tier games like Mech Arena and Mobile Legends is 30- 40 fps and the graphics look just okay.
You can also play PUBG at around 40 fps, but you will notice some stutters here and there and after a while the phone starts heating up too.
Normal, everyday performance is good enough and multitasking with 3-4 light apps is also not a problem. But if you get this phone, pls be prepared for slightly slower app load times, let’s just say this is not the fastest phone under 20000 right now!
The software side of things is quite impressive though. Even though this is a budget phone, Samsung has provided full fledged OneUI here with Knox security, secure folder and all included.
OS and UI
And not to forget, this phone will receive 6 years of OS updates, which even some flagship phones don’t provide. This means, if you are a light user, this phone is going to run for many many years and its resale value is also going to be good.
Plus, this is also good for the environment and the whole sustainability thing. Because since this phone will get updates even in 2030, which means people are not going to throw it away. Some kid or your future child might actually be using this phone, just to play light games or watch videos!
Battery and Charging
Ok.. Next, I have to say, the battery life on this phone is satisfactory too. Its 5000 mAh battery lasted me for an entire day without any trouble even on heavy usage, so that’s good.
The A16 5G supports 25-watt charging, but like with all Samsung phones, you will have to cash in extra for the charger. I used my Ugreen PD charger to charge this phone and it took around 1 hour and 30 minutes to juice up from 0-100% completely
Samsung Galaxy A16 5G Review
Pros
- Good display and camera quality
- Long-lasting battery and 6 years of updates
Cons
- Weak gaming performance
- No stereo speakers
Samsung Galaxy A16 5G Review: Conclusion
So, would I recommend the A16 5G? Well, despite having a relative slow performance, this is a decent Samsung offering on a budget! Yes, the price is a bit higher but with Samsung phones, we always pay a premium because of the brand value, software support, and after-sales.
Overall, you are getting a nice design, an excellent camera for photos, a good AMOLED screen, 6 years of OS updates. So, yeah, not so bad value!
- Meanwhile, check out review of the A16 5G
