Review: Samsung A12, An ideal budget phone from a trusted brand

It can’t be helped, there will be instances when you would need a budget phone. It may be a temporary phone, or one for young adults. Whatever the reason may be, getting stuck with one doesn’t mean that you need to sacrifice on its specs and performance.

The Samsung A12 is an ideal budget phone and the fact that it comes from a trusted brand-who currently holds the top spot in mobile phones is a definite plus.

We got to use the Samsung Galaxy A12 for a few months. One of my favorite features is the unique blue rigged design at the back (see photos below), it actually helps give the phone a better grip. You may actually opt out of even using a phone case. I used the phone to do a lot of my streaming (movies, series) and I was pretty happy that it was able to cope with hours and hours of streaming. (Yup, I’m an addict). I liked that it would automatically connect to speakers, I didn’t have to go to the Bluetooth settings to connect them, unlike in other brands.

Battery also performed well as I would only have to charge it every few days.

The phone’s specs is not on the low end, so you can still play your favorite MOBA games (Mobile Legends Bang Bang, League of Legends Wild Rift).

Samsung A12 Specs:
Body:
Dimensions: 164 x 75.8 x 8.9 mm (6.46 x 2.98 x 0.35 in)
Weight: 205 g (7.23 oz)
Build: Glass front, plastic back, plastic frame
SIM: Single SIM (Nano-SIM) or Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)

Display:
Type: PLS IPS
Size: 6.5 inches, 102.0 cm2 (~82.1% screen-to-body ratio)
Resolution: 720 x 1600 pixels, 20:9 ratio (~270 ppi density)

Platform:
OS: Android 10, upgradable to Android 11, One UI 3.1
Chipset Mediatek MT6765 Helio P35 (12nm)
CPU: Octa-core (4×2.35 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4×1.8 GHz Cortex-A53)
GPU: PowerVR GE8320

MEMORY:
Card slot: microSDXC (dedicated slot)
Internal: 32GB 2GB RAM, 32GB 3GB RAM, 64GB 4GB RAM, 128GB 3GB RAM, 128GB 4GB RAM, 128GB 6GB RAM

eMMC 5.1

MAIN CAMERA:
Quad: 48 MP, f/2.0, 26mm (wide), AF
5 MP, f/2.2, 123˚ (ultrawide)
2 MP, f/2.4, (macro)
2 MP, f/2.4, (depth)
Features: LED flash, panorama, HDR
Video: 1080p@30fps

The phone’s main camera is no slouch either, it has 4 lenses(Wide, ultra wide, macro, and depth mode). The camera’s colors are not too saturated as other brands, In my opinion it’s colors stay true to real world color.

Even if I’m not a photographer by profession like Paul, I was still able to take these photos below with the Samsung Galaxy A12. I even created a Facebook album of photos I took using the phone. You can click on the album to check out the photos.

SELFIE CAMERA:
Single: 8 MP, f/2.2
Video: 1080p@30fps

Features:
Sensors: Fingerprint (side-mounted), accelerometer
Virtual proximity sensing

Battery Type Li-Po 5000 mAh, non-removable
Charging Fast charging 15W

The Galaxy A12 is available in 6/128GB variant for PHP 9,990 SRP while its 4/128GB memory variant is priced at PHP 7,990 SRP. The Galaxy A02s comes with 4GB of memory and 64GB of storage, priced at just PHP 6,990 SRP. Those are reasonable prices for a budget phone that can still perform well.