Samsung Galaxy A03s Review: A Typical Samsung Budget Phone

Samsung launched the entry-level Samsung Galaxy A03s in Nepal a week ago targeting budget users. It is a successor to the last year’s Galaxy A02s and brings some decent upgrades over it.

Samsung Galaxy A03s price in Nepal is Rs. 15,499 for 3/32GB and Rs. 16,999 for 4/64GB variant. This is a very basic phone with a basic design targeted at basic users.

I used the device for a while and here is my experience with the Galaxy A03s.

Samsung Galaxy A03s Review

Basic Design

• 164.3 x 76 x 9.1mm
• 196g
• Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)

Samsung Galaxy A03s has a very basic design with no fancy finishes or patterns on the back like we used to see in other phones of this price range. The design here may not grab much attention but I, personally, do not mind this design choice.

For the build quality, the phone is made out of plastic and it doesn’t feel premium in any way. The fingerprint sensor is on the power button located on the right side of the phone.

The fingerprint sensor is at a very convenient place and I did not face any major problem when unlocking the phone; it’s very reliable. But what I did not like was the tactility of the button.

The power button feels mushy and it sits too flat on the frame of the device. Because of that, I was frequently struggling to locate the button with my finger. The volume buttons above the power button, however, feel solid.

Typical Entry-Level Display

• 6.5-inch PLS LCD
• HD+ (720 x 1600 pixels)
• 20:9

Samsung’s mid-range and flagship phones are known for consistently putting out the best display on any smartphone.  But when it comes to entry-level phones, the exact opposite can be observed.

Galaxy A03s is using Samsung’s own PLS IPS display with HD+ resolution. The resolution of the phone for this price range is justifiable but the actual quality of the panel is not the best out there.

The display is just enough for normal stuff and it will not be a pleasing experience when watching movies.

The display is pretty average but the viewing angles are great. The brightness level is also good for the price.

Okay-ish Performance

• MediaTek Helio P35 (12nm)
• Octa-core (4×2.35 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4×1.8 GHz Cortex-A53)
• PowerVR GE8320
• 3GB RAM 32GB Storage, 4GB RAM 64GB storage

This is an entry-level phone with an entry-level chipset which also happens to be outdated. So, without even doing any testing, we did not have a huge expectation regarding phones performance.

As expected, the phone’s performance is not its selling point. The phone did not feel snappy at all. Even the UI animations were laggy.

The phone’s responsiveness is very bad, one can notice slight delays when interacting with the phone. However, although it is not the most responsive device out there, it can get the job done.

When using the Galaxy A03s for normal daily tasks such as surfing the internet, watching videos, or using social media apps; it easily handled all of those. You will notice slight delays and lags as I said earlier but you won’t face major frustrating unresponsiveness. With time, you will get used to the slight input delays.

For casual light gaming sessions, the phone should do fine, but for heavy gamers, I would not recommend this phone.

Talking about the phone’s gaming capabilities, I was quite surprised, to be honest. It may be because I already had very low expectations. Whatever the reason was, the fact is it can play PUBG Mobile in medium settings at playable FPS.

Average Cameras

• Rear Camera: 13MP, f/2.2, Primary
  • 2 MP, f/2.4, Macro
  • 2 MP, f/2.4, Depth
  • Video: 1080p@30fps
• Front Camera: 5 MP, f/2.2
  • Video: 1080p@30fps

Samsung Galaxy A03s features a triple rear camera setup. It includes a 13MP main camera, a 2MP macro camera, and a 2MP depth sensor.

REAR CAMERA

The camera performance of this device is not great; it’s only average.

The photos taken from this device lack sharpness and the details are not as good as expected.

Overall, it takes decent photos in daylight. In the nighttime, it gets worse. The photos taken at night are below satisfactory.

When taking photos in portrait mode, the photos have decent natural-looking blur and good edge detection.

A03s can capture videos at 1080p 30fops but the video quality is only average. Like every other phone in this price range, it also has oversharpened look with no details when shooting video.

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SELFIE CAMERA

The Samsung Galaxy A03s has a 5MP front camera. It is good for taking selfies considering the price.

It takes good enough photos when taken outdoor but in indoor conditions, the photos come out slightly noisy.

For the price, the video quality of the front camera is good. It takes decent videos and preserves just enough details.

Awesome Battery Life

• Non-removable Li-Po 5000mAh battery
• 10W Charging

Galaxy A03s has a huge 5000mAh battery. This battery will easily last more than a day even if you are a heavy user.

I have zero complaints regarding the battery life of this phone. However, if you are buying this phone, know that the charging time is very slow. This is a type of phone you will need to leave on charge overnight.

It takes almost 2 hours and 30 mins to charge it from 0 to 100%.

Software

• Android 11
• One UI 3.1 Core

The Samsung Galaxy A03s comes with One UI 3.1 Core based on Android 11. The preference of the UI is subjective, so it depends on yourself if you like the looks of the One UI or not.

Personally, I like the look and feel of the One UI, especially since it’s so one-hand friendly. The Galaxy A03s is an entry-level phone, therefore, it is using a stripped-down version of the One UI i.e. One UI core.

As for the experience, as mentioned above, a tiny delay is there when interacting with the phone, but overall, it’s satisfactory.

Final Thoughts

Samsung Galaxy A03s is another entry-level phone from Samsung; there is nothing extraordinary about it. It’s a budget-friendly phone and it feels pretty average.

The display, camera, and performance all are average. You can find better phones from other brands in this price range such as Redmi 9C, Realme C20, and Realme C21, to name a few.

What do you think about the Samsung A03s? Let us know in the comments below!

Also, watch our review of the Samsung F22 in Nepali.