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Introduction
Samsung Galaxy A42 5G is one very odd smartphone. It was touted as the cheapest 5G phone and teased for weeks before its complete specs were finally outed. And it turned out the A42 has grown quite bigger since its compact A40 and A41 predecessors. Not only that but this new Galaxy A42 5G is also shaping to be an excellent gaming device with a pretty large battery at that. Yes, the Galaxy A42 5G is odd, but in a good way.
The Galaxy A42 5G doesn't stray from the beautiful design we saw on the Galaxy A41 and comes with an even more glamorous Prism Dot look. But it is now bigger as Samsung opted for a 6.6" Super AMOLED screen this time. Larger it may be, but the resolution has dropped to HD+, which may get some instant "ew", but bear with us for a moment.
The latest mid-range Galaxy is powered by the 5G-capable Snapdragon 750 chip, which is a real powerhouse. And with that oomph under that HD+ display, we are looking at flagship-grade performance in gaming.
Then there is the beefy 5,000mAh battery, which can keep those gaming sessions for quite some time. The older A41 and A40 aced out battery life test with considerably smaller batteries, so we have high expectations for this one.
The Galaxy A42 5G borrows the Galaxy A41 camera setup and adds an additional 5MP depth sensor. This means you'd find a familiar arrangement on its back - a 48MP primary cam, an 8MP ultrawide shooter, a 5MP macro snapper, and the new depth sensor. The front camera is in the ballpark of the old one - a 20MP f/2.2 imager.
The A42 loses nothing since the A41 - it still offers a 3.5mm jack, an FM radio, a microSD slot, and many will appreciate the doubled storage of 128GB, UFS2.1 at that.
Let's take a look at the specs sheet now.
Samsung Galaxy A42 5G specs at a glance:
- Body: 164.4x75.9x8.6mm, 193g; Plastic body.
- Display: 6.60" Super AMOLED , 720x1600px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 266ppi.
- Chipset: Qualcomm SM7225 Snapdragon 750 5G (8 nm) - unconfirmed: Octa-core (2x2.2 GHz Kryo 570 & 6x1.8 GHz Kryo 570); Adreno 619.
- Memory: 128GB 4GB RAM, 128GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 8GB RAM; UFS 2.1; microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot).
- OS/Software: Android 10, One UI 2.5.
- Rear camera: Wide (main): 48 MP, f/1.8, 1/2.0", 0.8µm, PDAF; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 123˚; Macro: 5 MP, f/2.4; Depth: 5 MP, f/2.4.
- Front camera: 20 MP, f/2.2, (wide).
- Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps, 720p@480fps; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
- Battery: 5000mAh; Fast charging 15W.
- Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); NFC; 3.5mm jack.
There is only one thing we would have liked even more on such a gaming-oriented smartphone, and that's a stereo speaker setup. We know it's a €299 phone with 5G and all, but seeing how Poco puts some outstanding speakers, it's not that far-fetched thing to wish for, is it?
Anyway, we just can't wait to put this phone through its paces. So, without further ado, here is the Galaxy A42 5G unboxed.
Unboxing the Galaxy A42 5G
The Samsung Galaxy A42 5G is packed within a compact paper box. Its bundle contains a 15W charger, a USB-C cable, and one cheap-looking pair of headphones with a mic.
There is also a silicone protective case inside the box, hidden in the paper compartment that's somewhat stuck inside the paper lid.
Design, build quality, handling
We are fans of what Samsung is doing with the Galaxy A series design. It surely knows how to make each Galaxy look not only look pretty but also unique. We don't think we've seen another phone that looks anything like the Prism Dot Black pattern on the Galaxy A42 5G back.
The back is an enthralling geometric masterpiece. No matter which Prism Dot version you get, the panel will be separated visually into four parts, starting with darker white/gray/black color at the top and going towards lighter hues to the bottom. All but the top stripe have this cool dotted pattern and refracts light in a rainbow-like fashion. We are fans of this design.
The cool back panel aside, the Galaxy A42 5G is a traditional smartphone through and through. There is a large flat screen at the front, a thin curved glossy frame on the sides, and a slightly curved and glossy rear piece of plastic. The frame and the back are made of plastic.
The 6.6" Super AMOLED screen is one of the big changes since the A41 and A40 models - it is much bigger and yet with lower HD+ resolution. The waterdrop-shaped notch stays the same, making way for the selfie camera.
The earpiece grille is almost invisible above the front camera, etched on the frame itself.
The screen has nicely thin bezels though the chin is a bit unusually thick for an OLED. Still, for such an affordable phone, we won't be making that an issue.
The fingerprint scanner is hidden under the screen, around the bottom part. It's working pleasantly fast and is as accurate as this type of sensors go. We didn't have any issues using the piece.
The back panel is slightly curved, and besides its cool look, the square camera setup is the only thing of interest here. It contains the 48MP primary, the 8MP ultrawide, the 5MP macro, and the 5MP depth sensor. The LED flash is outside of this arrangement.
The camera glass is jutting out a bit, but it doesn't make the phone wobble when lying on a desk.
The frame is a bit curved around the longer sides, and this shape isn't our favorite as it hurts the grip, but it's actually fine.
The left side of the Galaxy A42 5G contains the hybrid-SIM slot, while the volume and power/lock keys are on the right.
There is nothing but a mic on the top. The bottom houses the 3.5mm jack, the USB-C port, the mouthpiece, and the speaker.
The Galaxy A42 5G measures 164.4 x 75.9 x 8.6 mm and weighs 193 grams - that's 15mm taller, 6mm wider, and 41g heavier than the Galaxy A41. This major difference comes from the larger screen and battery.
The Galaxy A42 5G phone has fascinating looks, and many will appreciate them. The grip isn't that bad as on some competitors, even if the phone is all glossy. Despite the curved frame and back, there is just enough adhesiveness to make the phone feel safe when handling it, no matter the orientation.
Unfortunately, the all-glossy body is a massive fingerprint magnet. Everything sticks on the Galaxy A42 5G, and the good looks are ruined quite fast. The phone is easy to clean, and you'll need to do it often or the smudge fest becomes unbearable eventually.
Display
The Samsung Galaxy A42 5G packs a large 6.6-inch Super AMOLED display with 720 by 1600 pixels in a tall 20:9 aspect ratio. It is an Infinity-U panel, meaning it has a waterdrop-shaped cutout for the selfie camera.
While the first Galaxy A40 had Gorilla Glass 3 for protection, the A41, and A42 specs mention nothing about the glass origin. Whether it's Corning-made or not, it is of the tempered kind for sure.
The lower screen resolution and sharpness - 266ppi in the case of A42 - is somewhat disappointing and a noticeable downgrade since the previous A4x phones. Yet, putting such a powerful chipset under the HD screen will offer unmatched gaming performance, and that's the best silver lining we could have hope for.
The screen is one of Samsung's SuperAMOLEDs, and it sure behaves like any other. We measured a very good (for an OLED) 395 nits of maximum brightness in our tests. The Galaxy A42 5G has an overdrive mode in Auto mode when the ambient light is bright. In these conditions, it will boost its brightness up to 570 nits.
And thanks to OLED tech, the screen's contrast ratio is amazing, with blacks nice and inky.
The minimum brightness at the far left of the scrubber is just 1.8 nits - a great one, too.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, |
White, |
||
| 0 | 395 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 570 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 417 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 624 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 373 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 677 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 410 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 548 | ∞ | |
| 0.348 | 476 | 1368:1 | |
| 0.455 | 596 | 1310:1 | |
| 0 | 459 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 585 | ∞ | |
| 0.376 | 484 | 1287:1 | |
| 0.667 | 571 | 856:1 | |
| 0.354 | 460 | 1299:1 | |
| 0.515 | 631 | 1225:1 | |
Color rendition is handled Samsung-ly with the usual Natural/Vivid approach. Natural aims to reproduce sRGB content truthfully, and we measured an incredibly good average deltaE of 2.2.
The Vivid mode offers a 5-position cool-to-warm slider. The default mid-point on the slider will get you an average deltaE of 3.9 against DCI-P3 targets with strangely off 100% blue and red.
One more thing you'd be happy to learn is the presence of Widevine L1 DRM support on the Galaxy A42 5G. This means you can watch your favorite streaming services in high definition, yes even stream in 1080p even if the screen is just 720p. Note that HDR10 is not supported by the A42 display and none of the apps we tried streamed content in HDR.
Battery life
Another significant change since the previous Galaxy A4 models is the bumped-up battery capacity. The new Galaxy A42 5G now packs a 5,000mAh battery, up from 3,500mAh within the Galaxy A41.
With this new battery, lower-res screen, and Qualcomm chip, the Galaxy A42 5G achieved an outstanding endurance rating of 144 hours in our battery life test. It did extraordinary in web browsing, video playback, talk time, and even standby performance.
Our battery tests were automated thanks to SmartViser, using its viSerDevice app. The endurance rating above denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the Samsung Galaxy A42 5G for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so that our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritty. You can check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
Charging speed
The Samsung Galaxy A42 5G supports 15W Adaptive Fast Charging (5V/2A or 9V/1.67A), and such power adapter ships with the phone. We don't expect it to recharge that beefy 5,000mAh that fast, but it should do enough for the class.
So, using this charger, you can refill 27% of the depleted battery in 30 minutes, 78% in 90 minutes, while a full charge requires 2 hours. Neither result is impressive in absolute terms, but let's not forget we are charging a massive 5,000mAh battery.
30min charging test (from 0%)
- Realme 7 Pro
94% - Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite 5G
68% - OnePlus Nord N10 5G
65% - Apple iPhone 12 mini
60% - Realme 7 5G
57% - Samsung Galaxy A41
38% - Oppo Reno4 Z 5G
36% - Motorola Moto G 5G Plus
35% - Samsung Galaxy M51
35% - Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
27%
Time to full charge (from 0%)
- Realme 7 Pro
0:37h - OnePlus Nord N10 5G
0:52h - Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite 5G
0:58h - Realme 7 5G
1:06h - Apple iPhone 12 mini
1:29h - Samsung Galaxy M51
1:47h - Oppo Reno4 Z 5G
1:55h - Samsung Galaxy A41
2:00h - Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
2:01h - Motorola Moto G 5G Plus
2:10h
Speaker
The Galaxy A42 5G has a single bottom-firing speaker. Unfortunately, the speaker is rather quiet, and it scored a Below Average mark on our loudness test.
The good news is the speaker is a massive improvement over the A41's as far as audio quality is concerned. It offers rich sound with well-presented mid- and high-tones, and there is even some bass. Just use our tool and hear this for yourself.
Use the Playback controls to listen to the phone sample recordings (best use headphones). We measure the average loudness of the speakers in LUFS. A lower absolute value means a louder sound. A look at the frequency response chart will tell you how far off the ideal "0db" flat line is the reproduction of the bass, treble, and mid frequencies. You can add more phones to compare how they differ. The scores and ratings are not comparable with our older loudspeaker test. Learn more about how we test here.
Android 10 and OneUI 2.5
The Galaxy A42 5G boots Android 10, and our review unit arrived with Samsung's latest OneUI 2.5 on top.
The lockscreen is a familiar sight with a couple of shortcuts in the bottom corners and notification icons under a clock. Unfortunately, the Galaxy A42 5G does not support Always-On Display.
Unlocking the Galaxy A42 is best done with the under-screen fingerprint sensor - it works well enough with good speed and accuracy.
If, for whatever reason, you're not thrilled about the A42's fingerprint reader performance, there's also face recognition. It's just camera-based, no 3D face scanning, but it still offers a convenient (if not as secure) way to access your homescreen.
Lockscreen • Biometrics
There's little to set the OneUI 2.5 on the A42 apart from other current Samsung phones, regardless of the OneUI version - it all looks familiar.
Homescreen • Folder view • App drawer • Notification shade • Quick toggles • Task switcher
Gesture navigation is available, and you can choose that in the initial setup process or later on. A system-wide dark mode is par for the course, too.
Navigation options • Navigation options • Navigation options • Dark mode
Edge panels are present on the Galaxy A42. It is a well-known, long-standing feature that gives you quick access to apps, actions, or tools with a single swipe from the side. You can choose which side the handle is located on and adjust its position along the edge of the phone.
Edge panels
Otherwise, the software package is similar to other Samsung phones, with an in-house Gallery app and a file manager. What you won't find on the Galaxy flagships, however, is an FM radio, and there is one here.
There is no Samsung web browser on the Galaxy A42. Google's Chrome is the default app instead.
Gallery • Files • FM radio
Performance and benchmarks
The new Snapdragon 750G 5G is powering the Galaxy A42 5G. It is only the second time we meet this SoC, but we already know it is quite a capable piece of hardware. It's a typical mid-range SoC filling the gap between the Snapdragon 765G and the Snapdragon 690. It can also be considered as a successor to the Snapdragon 730G. It's still built on the 8nm node.
The CPU configuration is as follows - 2x Kryo 570 Gold (Cortex-A77 derivative) at 2.2 GHz and 6x Kryo 570 Silver (Cortex-A55 derivative) at 1.8GHz. The chipset also gets a slightly newer Adreno 619 GPU, which is expected to be 10% faster than the Adreno 618 found in the SD730G.
The "G" at the end of the name denotes that the chipset has been optimized for gaming as well supporting Snapdragon Elite Gaming and the fifth-gen AI Engine.
As for memory, the handset starts at 4GB of RAM and 128GB of internal UFS 2.1 storage. You cannot opt for beefier storage, but you and can purchase models with 6GB RAM and even 8GB of RAM.
Let's see this chipset in action.
The Snapdragon 750G 5G offers similar raw CPU performance in single and multi-threaded scenarios as the Snapdragon 765G, and it is better than the Dimensity 800U inside the Realme 7 5G.
GeekBench 5 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
2009 - OnePlus Nord
1953 - Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
1927 - Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
1910 - OnePlus Nord N10 5G
1848 - Realme 7 Pro
1811 - Realme 7 5G
1794 - Redmi Note 9 Pro (Max)
1785 - Poco X3 NFC
1777 - Samsung Galaxy M51
1774 - Realme 7
1681 - Poco M3
1398 - Samsung Galaxy A41
1175
GeekBench 5 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
661 - Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
643 - Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
616 - OnePlus Nord
610 - OnePlus Nord N10 5G
608 - Realme 7 5G
598 - Realme 7 Pro
576 - Redmi Note 9 Pro (Max)
571 - Poco X3 NFC
568 - Samsung Galaxy M51
546 - Realme 7
536 - Samsung Galaxy A41
309 - Poco M3
308
The Adreno 619 is an excellent performer in this class and offers up to par raw performance.
GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)
Higher is better
- OnePlus Nord
38 - Realme 7 5G
35 - Realme 7
34 - Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
33 - Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
33 - Poco X3 NFC
33 - Redmi Note 9 Pro (Max)
31 - Realme 7 Pro
30 - Samsung Galaxy M51
30 - OnePlus Nord N10 5G
26 - Samsung Galaxy A41
13 - Poco M3
13 - Samsung Galaxy A40
8.1
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)
Higher is better
- OnePlus Nord
21 - Realme 7
20 - Realme 7 5G
20 - Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
19 - Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
19 - Poco X3 NFC
19 - Realme 7 Pro
18 - Redmi Note 9 Pro (Max)
18 - Samsung Galaxy M51
17 - OnePlus Nord N10 5G
14 - Samsung Galaxy A41
8.1 - Poco M3
7.2 - Samsung Galaxy A40
5.2
The Galaxy A42 5G has a huge advantage over its peers, though - the 720p screen. And when it comes to onscreen performance, the Galaxy A42 is a real champ.
GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
56 - OnePlus Nord
34 - Realme 7 5G
31 - Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
28 - Realme 7
28 - Poco X3 NFC
27 - Samsung Galaxy M51
26 - Redmi Note 9 Pro (Max)
26 - Realme 7 Pro
25 - OnePlus Nord N10 5G
23 - Samsung Galaxy A41
12 - Poco M3
11 - Samsung Galaxy A40
7.4
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
33 - OnePlus Nord
19 - Realme 7
17 - Realme 7 5G
17 - Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
16 - Poco X3 NFC
16 - Samsung Galaxy M51
15 - Redmi Note 9 Pro (Max)
15 - Realme 7 Pro
14 - OnePlus Nord N10 5G
13 - Samsung Galaxy A41
6.9 - Poco M3
5.9 - Samsung Galaxy A40
4.6
The lower screen resolution probably helped the Galaxy A42 5G beat any other competitor on the AnTuTu 8 test, and it came on top of or mid-range chart.
AnTuTu 8
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
324686 - Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
318882 - Realme 7 5G
318535 - Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
318117 - OnePlus Nord
312794 - Realme 7
292828 - Poco X3 NFC
283750 - Redmi Note 9 Pro (Max)
279625 - OnePlus Nord N10 5G
279579 - Realme 7 Pro
278414 - Samsung Galaxy M51
266620 - Poco M3
177904 - Samsung Galaxy A41
170044
There are only good things we can say about the Galaxy A42 performance. First, it offers an excellent CPU, GPU, and overall raw performance.
We tried various games, and the phone offers flagship performance in all of them. While the A42 doesn't have an HRR screen, it still offers one of the smoothest and best-quality gaming experiences you can get at that €299 price.
The phone doesn't get hot and doesn't throttle even when running 3D Mark's 20minute WildLife Stress test four times in a row. Nope, the Galaxy A42 is 99.6% stable in all runs. Just wow!
Finally, as you can imagine, the phone handles Android and One UI lag-free and as smooth as it can get.
Yes, the Galaxy A42 5G is a real powerhouse - it offers outstanding gaming performance and a stutter-free Android experience. It's more than we could have wished for at that price, and if it comes at the expense of the higher resolution, well, then perhaps it was worth it.
Quad-camera on the back
The Galaxy A42 5G offers a quad-camera setup on the back with the traditional mid-range skillset - a 48MP primary cam, an 8MP ultrawide shooter, a 5MP macro snapper, and a 5MP depth sensor. It is the same setup as Galaxy A41's, but with an additional depth imager. A single LED flash is around as well if you ever need it.
The primary camera uses a 48MP Samsung S5KGM2 ICOSELL GM2 1/2.0" sensor with 0.8µm pixels, 24mm f/1.8 lens, and Quad Bayer color filter. The latter means this camera saves 12MP photos, though a high-res 48MP shooting mode is available. Phase-detect autofocus is supported.
The ultrawide camera uses an 8MP Samsung ISOCELL S5K4HA 1/4.0" sensor with 1.12µm pixels behind 13mm f/2.2 lens. The focus is fixed.
The macro camera uses a 5MP GalaxyCore GC5035 sensor with f/2.4 aperture and focus fixed at about 4cm.
The depth camera uses the same 5MP GalaxyCore GC5035 sensor with f/2.4 aperture and focus fixed at infinity.
The selfie camera is the same as on the Galaxy A31 - it uses the SK Hynix Hi-2021 20MP sensor - part of their Black Pearl CIS lineup, optimized explicitly for ultrawide and selfie use and rocking a 1.0µm pixels. It uses a Bayer algorithm. More specifically - "Quad Pixel function to resize the pixel areas, as well as the Quad to Bayer (Q2B) Re-mosaic algorithm that is more efficient compared to the one adopted in competing products".
Oddly, this camera saves 12MP photos - there seems to be some constant upscaling at play here. The default photos are 12MP, as we said, but you can opt for 20MP photos for whatever reason, too.
Like many other Samsung phones, the selfie on the A42 has a toggle to determine how wide the frame will be. This setting annoyingly defaults to the narrower option and hence - an 8MP crop, which is unfortunately also the norm with Samsung devices. When shooting in the wider aspect, selfies come out in 12MP.
The camera app is the same you'd find on every Samsung with a few minor design tweaks introduced with One UI 2 like the larger font for the modes and the outline for the selected mode as opposed to the solid bubble of before.
Functionally, it's mostly identical to any other camera app out there. Swiping left and right will switch between all available modes, and there's also an option to re-arrange or remove some of the modes from the viewfinder. Vertical swipes in either direction will switch between front and rear cameras.
The settings icon is located in the upper left corner of the screen and gives you fine control over the cameras. You don't get separate setting screens for photo and video since the options aren't that many in total. Like video resolution, grid lines, location data, etc., the usual stuff can be found there. You can also turn on and off the Scene optimizer. Once on, you still have to toggle it on a second time from the main UI, though. Keep that in mind.
Only the primary camera of the Galaxy A42 supports Night Mode.
There's a Pro mode too, and, somewhat surprisingly, the A42 5G gets the full-featured one, as opposed to the more stripped-down version we typically see on lesser models. You get granular exposure controls and manual focus with peaking, up to 10s shutter speed control, but there's still no live histogram or the ability to operate anything but the main cam - perhaps if we continue to whine about those, Samsung will address them as well.
Photo quality
The 12MP default photos from the Galaxy A42's main camera are quite nice. The resolved detail is plenty, even areas of high complexity such as building decorations and foliage. The contrast is high, the noise is low, and the dynamic range is good but not over the top.
The colors are a tiny bit warmer than they should have been in this winter afternoon but still lively.
There is some minor edge softness, but it does not ruin the overall positive impressions.
We shot with Auto HDR turned on (the default setting), but it triggered only once or twice.
Main camera, 12MP
A high-res 48MP mode is available even though it is a bit hard to find - it's within the aspect settings. It does an outstanding job - the 48MP images look incredibly detailed, with great contrast and more accurate colors.
Main camera, 48MP
But can you get better 12MP shots from downsizing the 48MP ones? The short answer - yes, you can.
If you want to get a more detailed image, shooting in 48MP and then manually downsizing to 12MP is the way. Is it worth the hassle? The extra detail is artificially created by the algorithm, and you may notice some artifacts in the foliage. Still, the photos do look sharper and nicer, so when you need such a detailed photo - switch to the 48MP mode.
The 8MP ultrawide camera delivers some decent shots for the class. Here the Auto HDR triggers at least half of the time, and still, the dynamic range isn't impressive at all. But the photos do present enough detail and good contrast, the noise is reasonably low, and the automatic distortion correction does a fabulous job.
The colors look a bit dull, but that's the only real complaint we could come up with for this class.
Ultrawide camera, 8MP
The 5MP depth sensor is used when shooting portraits and the Galaxy A42 5G shoots some excellent portrait shots, indeed. The detail is abundant, the contrast is excellent, and the subject separation is proficient enough for this class. The artificial blur looks quite good, too.
Portraits, 12MP
The 5MP macro photos are okay, but we've seen better. The camera has a fixed focus at around 4cm, and it usually takes at least 4-5 tries to get one sharp photo. You get to capture tiny details like the fine text on bills or the intricate detailing on Christmas decorations. The quality isn't that good though, add the numerous blurry photos needed to make one right, and we'd say this macro snapper is useless for the most part.
Macro camera, 5MP
The 12MP low-light photos from the main camera are surprisingly good. They have enough detail and good contrast, the colors get to keep their saturation, and the noise is rather low.
The Auto HDR was on, and it fired in most of the shots. Even with the HDR on, though, some highlights remained blown. Still, we'd suggest leaving the Auto HDR to do whatever it thinks is right.
Main camera, 12MP
Night Mode is available only on the primary camera, and it takes about 2-3 seconds to shoot and save the photo. It introduces a slight crop, and the resulting images are 8MP. The Night Mode restores the blown highlights, reveals more detail in the shadows, cleans up some noise, and exposes more detail underneath. The contrast is better on the Night photos, too.
We do recommend using the Night Mode occasionally; it indeed does an excellent job!
Main camera with Night Mode, 8MP
The 8MP ultrawide photos aren't as good as the ones from the main camera. But if presented with enough light, the Galaxy A42 should snap some usable images - they won't shine with detail or purity, but they do fit a lot in the frame, and the colors and contrast survive the darkness.
Ultrawide camera, 8MP
We also shot our usual posters with the Galaxy A42. Here's how it stack-up against the competition. Feel free to browse around and pit it against other phones from our extensive database.
Samsung Galaxy A42 5G against the Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite 5G and the Realme 7 5G in our Photo compare tool
Selfies
Depending on the view mode, the front camera will either give you 12MP shots or an 8MP crop from the said shot. We captured all selfies in the native 12MP mode.
The 12MP selfies aren't excelling in detail, but they are great elsewhere - contrast, colors, dynamic range. These Galaxy A42 selfies are good, indeed, but it is good to know that when the light is not ideal, the resolved detail is going to deteriorate dramatically.
Selfie camera, 12MP
The portraits taken with the selfie camera and pretty nice - the subject separation good, and so is the background blur.
Selfie portraits, 12MP
Video quality
The Galaxy A42 5G captures 4K@30fps videos with its primary and ultrawide cameras. The mainstream 1080p mode at 30fps is available for both, but there is no 60fps support.
The video bitrate is generous at 48Mbps in 4K and about 18Mbps in 1080p. Audio is captured stereo with a 256Kbps bitrate.
The 4K clips are excellent in detail and low in noise. Overall, the Galaxy A42 handles the scene very well - the colors are accurate, the contrast is great, and the dynamic range is enough for a lively picture.
The 4K videos from the ultrawide camera are good, though not great. The resolved detail isn't spectacular as some of it gets destroyed by the noise reduction process. The colors are a bit over-saturated, too. But overall, the 4K videos look good, with nice contrast and a good dynamic range.
Electronic stabilization is available for the primary and ultrawide cameras, but it can be used only at 1080p resolution.
Finally, closing this camera section off, here is the Galaxy A42 5G in our video comparison database.
Samsung Galaxy A42 5G against the Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite 5G and the Realme 7 5G in our Video compare tool
Competition
The Galaxy A42 5G was announced as the cheapest 5G smartphone back in September. But its specs were kept hush-hush for a month, and when it was finally launched in November, the mid-range 5G revolution was already in full swing.
The €300 Galaxy A42 5G is no longer the cheapest 5G smartphone, but it is still a very decent one. With such a powerful chipset under its HD screen, the A42 5G is easily the best gaming phone in this price bracket.
The first smartphone that comes to mind when thinking in mid-range 5G terms is the €280 Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite 5G as it is powered by the same Snapdragon 750G chipset. This one impresses with a 120Hz 1080p LCD screen, loud stereo speakers, and 33W fast charging. While it doesn't offer a Super AMOLED, the HRR LCD screen is a nice thing to have, and if gaming performance is what you want the most - just lower the gaming resolution, and you'll match the Galaxy's.
Then there is the Realme 7 5G, also priced at €280, which also tempts with a 120Hz 1080p LCD screen. It has a similarly powerful Dimensity 800U 5G chip; as for gaming at 720p is concerned, its 5,000mAh battery recharges much faster. The quad-camera on the back is a match for the Galaxy A42's.
The €349 OnePlus Nord N10 5G is powered by the Snapdragon 690 5G chip - quite similar to the SD750, but with a less powerful GPU. The Nord beats the Galaxy with a 90Hz 1080p screen, stereo speakers, and faster charging, but its gaming performance isn't a good match. And since this Nord is €50 more expensive than the A42, we'd go for the latter.
Finally, let's mention the €380 Galaxy A51. It's pretty much the Galaxy A42 but with a higher-res screen. If the screen resolution bothers you, but you want a Super AMOLED screen, this is an excellent alternative.
Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite 5G • Realme 7 5G • OnePlus Nord N10 5G • Samsung Galaxy A51 5G
Our verdict
The Galaxy A42 5G is a cheap 5G mid-ranger, which excels in everything it does - gaming, browsing, multimedia, office apps, and whatnot. It has a large AMOLED screen and a beefy battery to keep whatever you are doing for quite some time. So, yes, the Galaxy A42 5G seems like a great chap.
It's not the cheapest or the best offer in this class, though. Xiaomi and Realme sell similar phones but with high-res and high-refresh screens, priced less at that. They can't offer an OLED panel, and the only way to match the Galaxy A42 in games is to manually lower, if possible, the games' resolution.
In fact, that's the most important question you should answer for yourself if you are getting a €300 5G phone for gaming - do you want to tinker with settings for every single game, or will you be alright with a great performance on this natively 720p screen, an OLED at that?
Pros
- Bright Super AMOLED screen, small notch
- Eye-catchy design
- Outstanding battery life
- Flagship-grade performance
- Very good photo quality, day and night
- Impressive 4K clips from the main cam
- Android 10 and OneUI 2.5 are snappy and easy to use
Cons
- 720p screen
- No stereo speakers
- Slow to charge
- The macro photos aren't that good
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