Minimal camera housing. You’re likely to hear this term more often over the next few months. It’s a key design element in Samsung’s all new Galaxy A32 that picks up the baton from last year’s A31 in the Rs 20,000 – 25,000 segment. The A32 is the second A series (after the Galaxy A12) to roll out of Samsung’s assembly lines this year. It comes with some key improvements over its 2020 predecessor including a new design approach that might well become the talking point of the A32; we’re likely to see this play out in more A Series devices in 2021.
Smartphone manufacturers have kept adding additional lenses to the rear camera mix. A quad cam has now become standard fare even among budget Android devices. The rear cam has also become the defining design feature in a smartphone. You can’t hide those lenses behind a back cover. We love the placement of the lenses in the A32; it’s almost a Scandinavian minimalist approach. Samsung calls it soft-edge minimal camera housing with unified colour for camera and body. There’s no visible camera bump and the lenses merge with the bold palette of colours that Samsung has picked for the A32.
We checked out the Awesome Black colour option (the violet and blue options are likely to be the popular choice); we dig the glossy back. Like any other glossy surface, it tends to attract fingerprints. Despite a large display and a powerful battery, Samsung manages to keep the heft under 190 grams; this is a device that feels good in your hand. It’s also comforting to see a 3.5mm headphone jack that doesn’t stick out in the overall design scheme.
Aside from the rear camera design, the other enhancement over last year’s A31 is the 90Hz refresh rate on the 6.4-inch Infinity-U, Super AMOLED display. We wish Samsung had opted for a hole-punch camera cut-out for the selfie cam instead of a teardrop notch design that has begun to look a tad dated. It’s a vibrant display (1080 x 2400 pixels / 411 PPI) and great to catch all your favourite streaming content.
Samsung has put together a versatile rear camera that is driven by a 64MP primary lens. This is a significant jump from the 48MP lens on the A31. We enjoyed using the 5MP Macro lens in our tests while lowlight photography was quite impressive for its price tag. An 8MP ultra-wide lens and 5MP depth sensor complete the rear cam set up. The 20MP selfie cam is identical to the one we saw on the A31.
At the heart of the A32 is an Octa-Core MediaTek Helio G80 processor that combines with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage (expandable up to 1TB). We think Samsung missed a trick with the choice of processor. It managed a score of 1242 (multi-core) in our GeekBench test. While the device won’t let you down in everyday tasks, it might not possess enough zing for power users who binge on graphic-intense games. The 5000mAh battery, however, has you covered for extended Netflix and gaming sessions. Samsung also bundles a 15W fast charger in the box.
If style is your thing, the Samsung Galaxy A32 definitely deserves your attention. It’s one of the best looking devices in this price band with a versatile rear cam and a dependable battery. Samsung has certainly found a balance between the style quotient, a large display and the perfect heft for a device with a large battery.
The Samsung Galaxy A32 comes in Awesome Black, Awesome White, Awesome Blue, and Awesome Violet and costs Rs 21,999/-.
Views expressed by the author are personal.