Samsung Galaxy A32 5G

Build Quality

The Samsung Galaxy A32 5G, released on January 22, 2021, measures 164.2 mm in height, 76.1 mm in width, and 9.1 mm in depth, weighing in at 205 grams. The device is not foldable and features a side-mounted fingerprint sensor for biometric authentication. It's a fairly substantial phone, typical for devices with large batteries. The build materials are primarily plastic, which is expected at its price point, with a 2.5D curved glass screen, adding some visual appeal.

Screen Quality

The Galaxy A32 5G sports a 6.5-inch TFT LCD screen with a resolution of 720 x 1600 pixels, resulting in a pixel density of 270 ppi. The display uses an aspect ratio of 20:9. The international model has a refresh rate of 60Hz, while the SM-A326U and SM-326DL models offer a 90Hz refresh rate. This TFT LCD panel, while functional, lacks the vibrancy and deep blacks of AMOLED technology, which is available on higher-end Samsung models. The screen is protected with a scratch-resistant layer, has multi-touch and capacitive features, and includes a water drop notch. It lacks HDR support.

Camera Performance

The phone features a quad-camera setup on the rear. The primary camera is a 48MP sensor (Samsung S5KGM2) with an f/1.8 aperture, 0.80µm pixels, and 1/2" sensor size using ISOCELL technology. This is complemented by an 8MP ultrawide lens (f/2.2, 1.12µm pixels), a 5MP macro lens (f/2.4) and a 2MP depth sensor (f/2.4). The rear camera system offers 4K video recording at 30fps, 1080p at 30fps, and 1080p slow-motion at 120fps. The front-facing selfie camera has a 13MP CMOS sensor with an f/2.2 aperture. Camera features include digital zoom, digital image stabilization, ultra-stable video, autofocus, touch focus, geotagging, HDR, face detection and standard photo settings.

Software Experience

The Galaxy A32 5G launched with Android 11 and can be upgraded to Android 13. It uses Samsung's One UI, offering a customizable user experience with additional features and apps specific to the brand. The OS has full access to the google play store and associated google services.

Battery Performance

Powering the device is a substantial 5000 mAh Li-Polymer battery, which should provide ample power for a full day of usage. It supports 15W fast charging via USB-C 2.0, meaning it's not the fastest charging available on the market. The battery is non-removable.

Connectivity

The device supports dual SIM (Nano SIM + Nano SIM) dual standby. Network bands include 5G (n28b, n28a, n41, n77, n78), 4G LTE, 3G, and 2G. The device includes Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac with dual-band, Wi-Fi hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct and Wi-Fi Display features. Bluetooth 5.1 LE has A2DP, EDR, HID, and LE support. It features GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, and Galileo for location services and includes NFC support. It features USB Type-C 2.0 with OTG functionality, but it does not support DisplayPort or a secondary USB port.

Internal Hardware

The Galaxy A32 5G is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 720 (7 nm) chipset, featuring an octa-core CPU (2x2.0 GHz Cortex-A76 & 6x2.0 GHz Cortex-A55) and a Mali-G57 MC3 GPU. It is available in multiple RAM configurations (4GB, 6GB, and 8GB) and 128GB of internal storage (with some variants also having 64GB). There is no SD card slot for memory expansion. It achieves an AnTuTu score of 249720 (v8). The device also incorporates Dolby Atmos and Dolby Digital Plus for audio enhancement and has an array of sensors, including accelerometer, gyro, compass, and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor.

Value for Money

The Samsung Galaxy A32 5G falls into the "medium price" category, with varying prices depending on the configuration. For example, the 4GB/128GB variant can be found for between $64 and $137, while the 6GB/128GB version ranges from $140 to $366 and the 8GB/128GB can cost around $247. The device presents a solid value proposition given its 5G connectivity, large battery, and capable camera system. However, the TFT LCD screen and lack of advanced features like display port output might make users consider other options at this price. It is available in the following colors: Awesome Black, Awesome White, Awesome Blue, and Awesome Violet.