Samsung’s entry-level A series line up has gotten two new devices in a quiet launch from the South Korean company. The Galaxy A03 and Galaxy A03 Core have not yet been given recommended retail prices, but considering other devices in the A series line up are affordable, it is reasonable to assume they will follow suit.
In an infographic posted on its website, Samsung details the A03’s specs.
The first thing that stands out is a dual rear camera with a 48MP main sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. The 2MP depth sensor should ideally help the camera focus on the main subject of the photo, rather than giving a user a different ultrawide or a perspective that is zoomed in.
On the front side, the front-facing selfie camera is rated at 5MP, which, when compared to the Galaxy A02, offers a significant upgrade from the 2 MP that the former offered. The display measures 6.5 inches with an HD+ panel that has a dewdrop notch. The display will be capped at a standard 60Hz refresh rate, which should be sufficient for what is an entry-level device.
Under the hood is an octa-core processor, but Samsung has not yet specified the exact chipset. What we know, however, is that the 8 cores will be running at 1.6 GHz. Samsung also mentions support for Dolby Atmos, which is normally not offered on entry-level devices. A 5,000 mAh battery in the Galaxy A03 should ensure all-day performance without the need for topping up, I can even see it pushing two days if Samsung gets aggressive in killing background processes.
The Galaxy A03 will be available in three RAM/storage configurations; 3GB/32GB, 4GB/64GB, and 4GB/128 GB. Samsung fails to mention whether the device will be shipped with a microSD, which is quite a shame considering 32GB gets filled out quite quickly these days, with cameras taking better quality pictures and videos which translates to eating up a lot of space.
When it comes to colour choices, users will have three choices, black, blue and red. Samsung still mentions the availability might vary by market, therefore what we receive in Kenya might be a subset of the three, or all of them if Samsung is feeling generous.
When it comes to the Galaxy A03 Core, it is a stripped-down version of the A03. The device has a single 8MP camera on its back and on the front is a 5MP selfie camera. The A03 Core will only have one variant, having 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. Similarities to its bigger brother include a 5,000 mAh battery, the same 6.5-inch display and the octa-core chipset.
By gauging the prices based on the specs provided by Samsung, I would put the price of the Galaxy A03 Core at around Ksh 12,000 while the 3 GB/32 GB variant of the A03 should be around Ksh 15,000. The various variants should then space out in pricing, with the more premium 4 GB/ 128 GB variant ideally topping out at around Ksh 25,000.
