Samsung already has a 5G smartphone in its lineup, ready to tempt you into adopting the latest network technology, but the price is a little on the high side to be considered an impulse upgrade. The solution is in a cheaper 5G phone, possibly in the shape of the Galaxy A90 5G — which Samsung has just officially announced.
As part of the “A” range, the Galaxy A90 isn’t a top-tier Samsung smartphone, but if you’re expecting this to mean under $400, then you’re going to be disappointed. Samsung’s Galaxy A series covers midrange and upper-midrange phones. The Galaxy A9, which was released in October 2018, cost 550 British pounds, or approximately $725 on release, and the A90 will set you back 749 euros, or around $828. It’s certainly cheaper than the $1,300 Galaxy S10 5G or Galaxy Note 10 Plus 5G, but still not what you’d call affordable. There are some good reasons for this though.
The Galaxy A90 boasts a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor and is a 5G device, meaning it contains the latest mobile chip and associated 5G modem. None of this comes cheap, and adding 5G to any device at the moment will quickly bump up the price. That processor is backed by 6GB or 8GB of RAM and there’s 128GB of storage with room for a MicroSD card.
The phone also has a triple-lens rear camera — combining a 48-megapixel main lens, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide lens, and a 5-megapixel lens for sensing depth. The camera suite is vertically stacked and offset to the left on the back of the phone, just like the Note 10 and Note 10 Plus. The screen is big at 6.7-inches; naturally, it’s a Super AMOLED, and it contains an in-display fingerprint sensor. There’s also a teardrop notch at the top of the screen to make room for a 32-megapixel front-facing camera.
The battery, as expected for a 5G phone, is sizable with a 4,500mAh capacity. There’s also support for 25W fast charging and, for the first time in the A-series, there’s support for Samsung’s DeX Mode and Microsoft’s Your Phone app as well, enabling you to use the A90 as a desktop replacement or mirror your phone display on your Windows machine. The A90 is offered in black or white and has a two-tone finish on the back, that appears to be half matte and half gloss, with a subtle gradient color effect.
When Digital Trends saw the Galaxy A9 in London, we spoke to Samsung about its plans for the A series to become a “lite” flagship and a range in which the company can innovate. We’ve seen this in the recent Galaxy A80, and the A90 is clearly continuing the strategy.
It’s an impressive spec list with a price to match. The A90 costs 749 euros (~$828), and that means it’s around the same price as the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G. It will be available next month, but it won’t be making its way to the U.S. — at least not yet. It will be available in South Korea first.
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