Review: Samsung Galaxy A12 Features, Camera Quality and Price

Last February 2021, Samsung just recently launched its latest affordable entry-level smartphone the Galaxy A12 made for everyone to experience its awesome features and create awesome content without the high price tag.

It was awesome indeed as we have the privileged to review and check out the new nifty features of the all-new Galaxy A12.

And before we begin the review, just to let you know, we didn’t receive the whole package just the device only so we may not be able to let you see what are the contents you will be getting. But upon checking, inside every box of the Galaxy A12 upon purchase it includes the following: Samsung Galaxy A12 unit, SIM Ejector Tool, Earphones, 15-Watt Travel Adapter, USB Type-C Data Cable, Protective Case and Quick Start Guide.

So, let us start with the key specifications of the Samsung Galaxy A12:

Display: 6.5-inch HD+ TFT LCD, Infinity-V
Resolution: 720×1600 pixels
Size: 164 x 75.8 x 8.9mm
Weight: 205g
Processor: Octa-core 2.3GHz (MT6765)
Memory: 4GB/6GB
Storage: 128GB (expandable up to 1TB mSD)
Rear Camera: Rear 48MP Main + 5MP Ultra-wide +2MP Depth +2MP Macro
Front Camera: 8MP
Video: FHD (1920 x 1080) @ 30fps
OS: One UI (2.5 version)
Battery: 5,000mAh with 15W Fast Charging Technology
Connectivity: 4G LTE
Sound: Dolby Atmos
Security: Side Fingerprint Scanner
Colors: Black, White and Blue
Price: 4GB+128GB PHP7,990 SRP / 6GB+128GB PHP9,990 SRP

Design, Build and Quality

The Galaxy A12 has a unibody design with the back cover made from plastic. The back cover houses a square-shaped camera layout with four cameras and an LED flash below it. It has a nice textured diagonal line design on the rear cover that offers a good grip and less to get scratches and fingerprint marks. The Samsung logo can also be seen below the cover. For our review we got a nice Blue color, other available colors for the unit are from Black and White.

Located on the right you have the volume rockers and the power button that also serves as a side-mounted fingerprint reader. Found on the left side of the device is the SIM card tray slot, while on the top edge of the phone has the earpiece. On the bottom edge you’ll find the USB Type-C charging port, speaker grille, 3.5mm headphone jack and the microphone.

The side-mounted fingerprint also has a side key setting feature that you can choose to open an app or launch the camera app by just a quick double press on it.

The front display of the Galaxy A12 offers a 6.5-inch Infinity-V HD+ display with a water-drop style notch on top of the front camera. It has a resolution of 720×1600 pixels and an aspect ratio of 20:9. The size of the display is wide enough to enjoy watching or binge your favorite video content as well as play any popular online games. Additional features you can find on the display settings are adaptive brightness, blue light filter, and a dark mode. Even if the display is not OLED, the Galaxy A12 fairly performs well during broad daylight.

Camera and Video

It has a quad camera set-up with available shooting lens from a 48MP main camera; a 5MP ultra-wide camera with a 123-degree angle; a 2MP macro lens to get a close detail shot; and finally a 2MP depth camera that you can fine-tune the background to blur behind any subject. For your selfies, it is equipped with an 8MP camera and you can enable wide front-facing shots to capture group photos.

On the camera app of the Galaxy A12, the available modes you can use are Photo mode, Live Focus for portrait shots, Video Mode, Panorama mode, Macro, Pro mode and Food mode.

Photos captured with the phone during daylight using the 48MP main camera are good in details with images that are properly sharp and with vivid colors. Noise level are present but not too much. On the 5MP wide-angle, it was very useful especially if I need to capture more area of my subjects. The quality is so far acceptable however there’s a little lens distortion on the shots.

There’s no night mode feature so shooting on low-lit environment may give you a hard time to get decent photos and the noise level on the photos are a bit high. You might try using the built-in LED flash at the rear or you may select “flash on” when you’re operating the front camera.

The quality of the 8MP front camera in a bright light condition is not a disappointment, as it’s enough to capture social media- worthy photos.

Here are some photos captured with the Samsung Galaxy A12:

Main Camera and Ultra-Wide

Macro

Selfie and Live Focus

Food Mode

For video you can choose to shoot on a 16:9 aspect ratio on a Full HD (1920×1080 pixels) or HD (1280×720 pixels) both at 30 frames per seconds. Other video sizes available are 1920×864 pixels and 1088×1088 pixels for your Instagram post with both at 30fps. All these settings are obtainable on the rear and front camera. If you want to capture wider shots in your videos, the wide-angle lens is also present.

Quality of the video while shooting at broad daylight offers nice details and colors plus the audio quality was clear. But during indoor or low light conditions we can see the presence and the level of noise showing in the frames.

Here are some sample videos taken with the Samsung Galaxy A12:

Performance

As you’ve seen in the specifications, the Galaxy A12 is powered by an Octa-core MediaTek Helio P35 chipset at max CPU frequency of 2.3GHz. The on board MediaTek chipset offers the best performance and power efficiency to the phone. We have the 4GB RAM for our test unit with a sizeable 128GB of storage enough to download more apps or store your photos.

OneUI Software and Security

The Galaxy A12 runs on its in-house user interface the One UI Core version 2.5 based on Android 10. Meanwhile, the One UI 3 upgrade to Android 11 will be available on July 2021 for this model. However, this budget-friendly device does not support the extra desktop mode that of the Samsung DeX provides. You can also check out the Samsung Members app if you wish to have some interactive diagnostics and optimization to tune up the performance of the device as well as a helpline in case you need extra assistance.

For security it has the integrated Samsung Knox (version 3.6) offering a multi-layered security to secure the most sensitive information you have on the phone against malware and malicious threats.

After the initial setup on the phone we already have some preinstalled third-party apps such as Netflix, Spotify, YT Music, Lazada, and Twitter but if you don’t like them they can be easily uninstalled.

Long-lasting Battery

The Galaxy A12 is equipped with a large 5000mAh battery, plus you also get a 15-watt adapter with a fast charging support.

Despite the nice huge battery, the phone takes a bit long to charge completely. During our charging test, it only had a 22% increase in the battery after 30 minutes. After 1 hour we had the battery up to 81% and finally it took us almost 2 ½ hours to fully top up the tank to 100%.

With my typical usage on the Galaxy A12 such as web browsing, checking my social media pages and watching short videos on Facebook. I was easily able to make this phone last for about a day and a half, or maybe a bit more.

After we did a full charge again on the device, we wanted to test how long the battery would last if we rarely use it. For three days the battery still has a 54% percent, we probably assume it will go on for 2 to 3 days more.

Final Thoughts

The Samsung Galaxy A12 in the lower price segment of the smartphone so far is a solid device. At an affordable starting price of PHP7,990, the device already has some good features such as the nice textured surface on the back, battery life, 6.5-inch Infinity-V display, 128GB storage and the quad camera setup equipped with a 48MP main camera. Not to mention the software One UI and Samsung Knox for security are also a plus side.

So far the camera quality on the Galaxy A12 was quite modest in our test, takes decent pictures as well as the video.

We can only hope that Samsung will use AMOLEDs and a night mode feature in the next entry-level A models in the future.

If you think that the limitations the device has are not a deciding factor, then you should consider getting the Samsung Galaxy A12 in your purchase decision.

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