Samsung Galaxy A04s Review: Budget Phone with 90Hz Display

Samsung Galaxy A04s delivers essential smartphone features with a smooth 90Hz display, a versatile triple camera system, and multi-day battery life, making it a strong contender in the budget Android market.

Introduction

The Samsung Galaxy A04s is an entry-level smartphone designed to offer a reliable and modern smartphone experience without breaking the bank. Released in late 2022, it serves as an accessible gateway into the Samsung ecosystem, featuring a large display, a capable main camera, and the user-friendly One UI software.

Design & Display

The Galaxy A04s features a practical and modern design with a plastic back and frame, contributing to its lightweight feel at 195 grams. It's available in several color options: Black, Green, White, and Copper. The front is dominated by a 6.5-inch PLS LCD display with a waterdrop notch for the selfie camera. A key highlight for a phone in this price range is its 90Hz refresh rate, which makes scrolling through menus and social media feeds noticeably smoother than on standard 60Hz displays. The HD+ resolution (720 x 1600 pixels) is adequate for everyday use, though not as sharp as Full HD panels.

Performance & Hardware

Powering the Galaxy A04s is Samsung's own Exynos 850 chipset, built on an 8nm process for decent power efficiency. It's an octa-core processor with all cores based on the Cortex-A55 architecture, clocked at up to 2.0 GHz. This is paired with either 3GB or 4GB of LPDDR4X RAM. Performance is geared towards basic tasks like calling, messaging, web browsing, and light social media use. It handles casual games adequately but may struggle with more graphically intensive titles. Storage options include 32GB, 64GB, or 128GB, all using eMMC 5.1 technology, which is expandable via a dedicated microSDXC card slot.

Camera

The phone sports a triple-camera array on the back, headlined by a 50MP main sensor with an f/1.8 aperture. This sensor uses pixel binning to combine four pixels into one, outputting brighter and more detailed 12.5MP photos in most lighting conditions. It is accompanied by a 2MP macro camera for close-up shots and a 2MP depth sensor to assist with portrait mode effects. The camera app offers features like panorama, HDR, and touch-to-focus. Video recording tops out at 1080p at 30fps. On the front, a 5MP selfie camera housed in the notch handles video calls and selfies, recording video at 720p.

Battery & Charging

A major strength of the Galaxy A04s is its large 5000mAh battery. This capacity is more than sufficient to easily power through a full day, and often two days, of moderate usage on a single charge. It supports 15W wired charging, though a charger is typically not included in the box in some regions. The USB Type-C port ensures modern and convenient connectivity.

Software & Features

The device launched with Android 12 and Samsung's One UI Core 4.1. It is eligible for an upgrade to Android 14 with One UI 6.1, ensuring access to newer security patches and software features. One UI is known for its clean, intuitive interface and helpful customization options. It comes with full Google Play Services support, giving users access to the entire ecosystem of Android apps. A side-mounted fingerprint sensor provides quick and secure unlocking, and the phone retains the increasingly rare 3.5mm headphone jack.

Pros & Cons

• Pros:
  • Large 90Hz display for smooth scrolling
  • Excellent battery life
  • Dedicated microSD card slot for storage expansion
  • Includes a 3.5mm headphone jack
  • Clean software with upgrade path to Android 14
• Cons:
  • Basic performance, not for heavy gaming
  • Charging speed is only 15W
  • No ultrawide camera
  • Plastic build feels less premium

Tags: Samsung, Galaxy A04s, budget smartphone, Android phone, 90Hz display, 5000mAh battery, 50MP camera, specs, price

Samsung Galaxy A04s offers a 90Hz display, 50MP camera, and long battery life at an affordable price. A solid budget Android smartphone.