Review: Samsung A04s is a budget phone but comes without a charger

The smartphone market in Nigeria is booming with lots of brands and models finding their way into the country. Aside from the Original Equipment Manufacturers, (OEMs) that have registered their physical presence in the country, many unknown brands are also making a kill in the market as Nigerians’ appetite for smartphones increase.

With a solid presence in Nigeria, Samsung has been one of the favourite phone brands in the country. The device maker is also reciprocating this by making sure that its devices are launched in Nigeria after the global launch.

Interestingly, one of its most recent devices, the Samsung Galaxy A04s, was specifically launched for the Nigerian market. With stiff competition from the likes of Tecno, Infinix, and iTel, all trademarks of the Chinese Transsion Group, who are regularly churning out affordable Samsung unveiled the A04s in Nigeria to compete in the budget phones segment of the market.

However, Samsung may have disappointed many potential buyers of the A04s by not selling it with a charger as the phone only comes with a USB-C cable. This means that a buyer would have to buy a charger separately after buying the phone.

Key features of Samsung A04s

• Body: 164.7×76.7×9.1mm
• Display: 6.50″ PLS LCD, 90Hz
• Chipset: Exynos 850 (8nm)
• Memory:64GB 4GB RAM, 128GB 4GB RAM
• OS/Software: Android 12, One UI Core 4.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, PDAF; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4; Depth: 2 MP, f/2.4
• Front camera: 5 MP, f/2.2, (wide)
• Video capture: Rear camera: 1080p@30fps; Front camera: 720p@30fps.
• Battery: 5000mAh; 15W charging

Galaxy A04s Price in Nigeria

According to the Head of Marketing at Samsung Nigeria, Chika Nnadozie, “the introduction of the Galaxy A04s promises to improve the position of Samsung in the mass market segment of the mobile phone market, especially with its price positioning”.

The recommended retail price for 4+64GB is N96,000 and 4+128GB is N103,000 and devices are readily available at authorized dealer stores nationwide and online partner stores.

Users’ review of Samsung A04s

A user of the phone who spoke with Nairametrics, Akande Bashir, was thrilled to get a Samsung phone at the price, especially, at this time when prices of smartphones have gone up due to the high exchange rate in the country. His first disappointment was, however, that the phone did not come with a charger but only a cable. “I was happy to buy a Samsung phone after using Infinix for years, but the phone is quite disappointing; no charger and the camera quality isn’t good. I am not enjoying the phone at all, infinix is better than this particular Samsung,” he said.

Based on online reviews another user said: “The phone is a good buy. Quite cheap, great battery, a 50MP camera, and USB-C, and because it has Exynos instead of Snapdragon it will most likely have support for 4 years. Snapdragon chipsets are unsupported after 3 years, sometimes only 2.5.”

However, for a user identified as Muk Official, he said: “One biggest letdown for me is the absence of an actual ambient light sensor. I don’t know why Samsung has been doing this, it goes way back to even the J series. I can’t be adjusting brightness now and then due to the unreliability of the front camera for brightness adjustments,” he said.

Another user who was not satisfied with the performance of the phone wrote: “The Samsung A04s fell short of my expectations of a Samsung phone. Understandable that it is a low-end phone, but this is 2022, and Samsung should have done better. The phone is only good for light users, not good for heavy smartphone users like me.”

Bottomline

The Samsung Galaxy A04s, though, has the look of a midrange smartphone and could best be described as an entry-level device because of its features and performance. While it is about the most affordable Samsung smartphone in the market right now, there are other phones by other brands at the same price range but with better features and performance. But for someone that is particular about the Samsung brand and has a low budget, the A04s is it.