Samsung Galaxy A15 5G Review: Best Phone Under Rs. 30,000 in Nepal

Samsung Galaxy A15 5G Review: TechLekh Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy A15 5G takes the same position previously held by the Samsung Galaxy A24. It offers similar value with great camera, display, and performance, along with 5G support.

However, it still suffers from the dated front design featuring thick bezels and a dewdrop notch, as well as a mediocre ultrawide camera.

Nevertheless, with its impressive features akin to the Galaxy A24, coupled with a lower price tag and an additional year of software support as a newer device, the Samsung Galaxy A15 5G now claims the title of the best phone under Rs. 30,000 in Nepal.

Also, unlike the Galaxy A24, the Galaxy A15 comes with a 25W charger in Nepal.

The Samsung Galaxy A15 5G is technically the successor to the Samsung Galaxy A14, and it brings a great set of improvements over its predecessor. However, along with these improvements, the price has also significantly increased, with a starting price of Rs. 27,999 for the base 6/128GB variant.

Due to this price increase, the Galaxy A15 now competes not with phones under Rs. 20,000, but rather with phones under Rs. 30,000 in Nepal, which includes last year’s Samsung Galaxy A24 that has a starting price of Rs. 28,999 (6/128GB).

The Samsung Galaxy A24 was considered the best phone under Rs. 30,000 in Nepal in 2023. Now, when compared with the Samsung Galaxy A24, the Galaxy A15 does not differ much except for the processor, at least on paper. But how does the actual phone perform?

I’m Pranish Khadgi, and this is my Samsung Galaxy A15 5G review.

ALSO READ: Samsung Mobiles Price in Nepal (November 2024 Updated)

Samsung Galaxy A15 5G Review

Design – Good Back, Bad Front

• 160.1 x 76.8 x 8.4 mm
• 200 g
• Dual SIM (Nano-SIM)

Today, if you see any Samsung phone in the wild, you would easily recognize it as a Samsung phone due to its vertical camera layout design. However, you wouldn’t be able to identify which specific Samsung phone it is for the same reason—since every Samsung phone released since 2023, and even some before, features the same three-ring camera design, except for the S24 Ultra.

Anyway, I like the design of the Galaxy A15. Despite having a plastic back, its finish is good. However, it still lacks an ingress protection rating for water resistance. One positive change from the Galaxy A24 is that, unlike the glossy back that easily catches smudges, the back of the Galaxy A15 is not a fingerprint magnet.

But things take a different turn when turned around. It still has that dated U-shaped notch for the selfie camera.

We are tired of asking Samsung to please give your budget phones a modern look, but the company is still stuck on the waterdrop notch and thick bezels.

The rest of the phone is as usual. It’s comfortable to hold the phone and the sides are flat with Key Island design. The Key Island design is the name Samsung gave for the raised platform for the power and volume buttons. The power button also doubles as a fingerprint sensor.

The 3.5mm headphone jack, USB-C port, and the speaker are all located on the bottom side. Likewise, the hybrid SIM card slot with microSD card support is on the left side. The speaker is a single bottom-firing speaker. It’s loud but the quality is average.

Impressive Performance

• Mediatek Dimensity 6100+ (6nm)
• Octa-core (2×2.2 GHz Cortex-A76 & 6×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55)
• Mali-G57 MC2
• 128GB 6GB RAM

The Samsung Galaxy A15 5G comes equipped with a Dimensity 6100+ chipset. Being this a new chipset, I was skeptical at first regarding its performance. I wondered whether it could match the performance of the Galaxy A24’s Helio G99.

Both the Helio G99 and the Dimensity 6100 Plus boast the same specifications, with the latter featuring a 5G modem as the only major difference. However, having good specs doesn’t necessarily guarantee good real-life performance, as exemplified by the Samsung Galaxy A25.

I was expecting something similar with the A15. But it turns out that the real-life performance of the Dimensity 6100+ is indeed comparable to that of the Helio G99, as evidenced by the benchmark scores, which is to say that the Galaxy A15 has a good performance. To mention, my variant has the 6GB RAM and 128GB storage.

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Gaming

The gaming performance is also impressive. In PUBG Mobile, it can go up to HD graphics and High frame rate. If you set the graphics to Balanced or Smooth, the frame rate can be set to Ultra.

When I played the game with Smooth graphics and Ultra frame rate, I was able to get an average gameplay of 40fps. Similarly, even in Genshin Impact, which is a very resource-heavy game, the phone managed to maintain an average gameplay of 40fps.

So, for the price, this phone is not only a good option for daily usage but also performs excellently for gaming.

Camera

• Rear Camera: 50 MP, f/1.8, (wide), AF
  • 5MP, f/2.2, (ultrawide)
  • 2MP, f/2.4, (macro)

• Front Camera: 13MP, f/2.0, (wide)

The main camera is 50MP accompanied by a 5MP ultrawide camera. There is also the 2MP macro camera, which is for taking close-up shots, but it’s not good. You better use the main camera.

Good Main Camera

The main camera performs well. It’s not extraordinary, but given the price, it captures a good amount of detail and maintains good colors. When zoomed in, some lack of detail and sharpness may be noticeable, but overall, the photos are great, comparable in quality to those of the Galaxy A24.

The portrait mode also delivers satisfactory results. It accurately detects subjects, provides natural face tones, and offers pleasing background blur.

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Ultrawide Camera

Similar to the Galaxy A24, the ultrawide camera is not as good as the main camera. You can immediately notice a downgrade in picture quality. There is more noise, less detail, and the overall photo appears soft. Nevertheless, the photos are still usable.

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Front Camera

Moving on to the selfies, it features a 13MP front camera. The selfies it captures are impressive. You may notice some facial processing done by the phone. While some individuals may not prefer it, I personally find it preferable as it enhances facial appearance without overdoing it, resulting in a more pleasing look.

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Videos

• 1080p@30fps

The Samsung Galaxy A15 can only shoot video up to 1080p at 30fps, lacking support for 4K resolution.

In terms of video quality, it is decent. The level of detail and sharpness, while not particularly impressive for a budget phone, is still acceptable, especially considering its price point.

One notable difference between the Samsung Galaxy A24 and the Samsung Galaxy A15 is the absence of Optical Image Stabilization (OIS). Despite this, the footage remains relatively stable, with only minor shakiness noticeable, particularly during movement. However, when compared to similarly priced alternatives such as the Honor X8b, the Samsung Galaxy A15 offers significantly more stable footage.

Display

• 6.5 inches Super AMOLED
• 1080 x 2340 pixels
• 90Hz refresh rate
• 800 nits (HBM)

The 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display of the Samsung Galaxy A15 still boasts a 90Hz refresh rate. While this is smooth, it would have been even better if it supported a 120Hz refresh rate.

Samsung claims it achieves 800 nits of brightness under high brightness mode (HBM). In my experience, it was comfortable to use outdoors on a sunny day, remaining usable without causing discomfort.

I don’t have many complaints regarding the quality of the display. However, I’ve had this annoying experience with touch sensitivity. I frequently noticed that the phone wasn’t properly registering my touches. This can be frustrating, especially when I need to tap, such as while watching YouTube.

Although there’s an option to increase the touch sensitivity of the display in the settings, I didn’t find that it improved anything. I’m not sure if it’s a software issue or not. It might not be a huge deal, but it’s important for me to share my experience. Other than that, I don’t have many complaints.

Battery and Software

• 5000mAh, 25W charging
• Android 14
• One UI 6

The phone’s 5000mAh battery easily lasted me a whole day with my light usage. It supports 25W charging. In other countries, Samsung doesn’t provide a charging adapter with the phone.

Fortunately, in Nepal, Samsung provides a 25W adapter. I want to express my gratitude to Samsung Nepal for this. Where have we come that we’re thanking companies for including a charger with the phone!

Using the supported charger, the phone charged from 10 percent to 90 percent in just an hour.

In terms of software, Samsung is already ahead. Out of the box, you get Android 14 and One UI 6. Samsung has promised four years of major software updates and five years of security updates. Currently, no other brands in this price range are providing software support as robust as Samsung’s.

READ NEXT: Best Phones Under 30000 in Nepal (November 2024 Updated)

So, this is my Samsung Galaxy A15 5G review. What do you think about the phone? If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments!