Almost eight months after Samsung introduced the refreshed Galaxy A line-up (consisting of A50, A30 and A10), the South Korean giant has launched a second iteration of the A50 – called the A50s that comes with a few additional features including Samsung Pay, Super Steady Video and a 48MP primary camera. But, does it offer better performance than the Galaxy A50, let’s find out.
The major difference between the two phones lie in their prices, cameras and design. The Galaxy A50s is priced at Rs 24,999 for the 6GB/128GB and Rs 22,999 for the 4GB/128GB RAM and memory variants. The Galaxy A50 is priced at Rs 22,990 for 6/64GB and Rs 19,990 for 4/64GB RAM memory variants.
While both the smartphones sport a triple rear camera setup at the back, the Galaxy A50s comes with a 48MP main camera as compared to the 25MP primary sensor in the A50. Other two sensors including the 8MP ultra wide angle camera and a 5MP bokeh sensor are same in both the phones. Additionally, the A50s comes with Super Steady feature, wherein users can shoot smooth videos, even in the fast-paced action moments.
Let’s take a closer look at the A50s.
In terms of design, while the Galaxy A50s looks identical to the A50, the major difference is at the back. The A50s comes with a 3D design inspired by the unique geometric patterns and a holographic effect on the back, that makes the smartphone flaunt a stylish look and feel. The A50s comes in three colours - prism crush black, prism crush white and prism crush violet.
The Galaxy A50s comes with a 6.4-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED Infinity-U display and is equipped with on-screen fingerprint unlocking. The phone has a resolution of 1080×2340 pixels, which is same as in the A50. The display feels familiar if you have used Samsung’s AMOLED display phones earlier. The smartphone offers good levels of black, which makes almost everything looks great. The notch at the front is hard to miss, especially while watching videos and browsing through social media feeds, but it doesn’t feel like an inconvenience.
The Galaxy A50s is powered by the 10nm Exynos 9611 chipset that comes with AI powered Game Booster that according to Samsung improves frame rate, gaming performance and longevity on high performance games. The Exynos 9611 has slightly better processing speed than the Exynos 9610 found in the A50. Opening and switching between 10-12 apps is quick and so is the app opening time. Then there is Game Booster technology that automatically optimises your phone performance for the game you are running, and also gives you manual control over other features. The Game Booster works independently, and you can also access it from the notifications shade when running a mobile game.
The Game Booster also offers a few features to further improve your gaming experience. For instance, tapping block during game offers a list of toggles wherein you can disable features such as full-screen gestures and auto-brightness when you’re playing the game. Tapping call and notifications lets you minimise call notifications when your game is running.
This device is secured by defence grade Knox Security and features Samsung Pay (card payments through NFC only) which allows users to pay with their phones. And to help you stay connected all day long, the A50s comes with a 4,000mAh battery with 15W fast charging support.
The 48MP primary camera offers a lot of improvement over the 25MP primary camera of the A50, offering better and more detailed pictures in bright light. Additionally, the presence of Night Mode feature overcomes the only potential weakness we found in the A50’s camera. The feature clicks low-light shots with better clarity and sharpness than the A50.
At the left is the standard image and on the right is the ultra wide.
The 8MP ultra-wide camera works as advertised letting you put more people or scenery into the frame. Lastly, the 5MP bokeh lens helps in taking close portraits and you can also change the blur effect from the standard bokeh to one of the filter effects offered. With the Super Steady feature, you can shoot smooth videos, even in the fast-paced action moments with the Galaxy A50s.
The intelligent scene optimiser categorises the subject and adjusts the colour, contrast and brightness to instantly optimise image quality. It also has the capability to identify a scene as text and trigger the document scan feature.
An incremental upgrade to the Galaxy A50, the A50s performs well overall and feels slightly more refined than the A50 in terms of hardware and software. And yes, the presence of 48MP sensor and ‘Night Mode’ feature will surely elevate your mobile photography experience.
Pros
Display, 48MP camera
Cons
At times, low-light shots are of average quality
