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On Thursday YouTube TV announced that subscribers would lose access to Fox regional sports networks and the YES network because it couldn't reach a new deal with their owner, Sinclair Broadcasting (they got there as a part of Disney's deal to buy Fox...Heads up! We share savvy shopping and personal finance tips to put extra cash in your wallet. Android Central may receive a commission from The Points Guy Affiliate Network. Please note that the offers mentioned below are subject to change at any time and some may no longer be available.
Marriott's original offer on the Bonvoy Bold card is back after almost a year of absence.
Update: The 50K bonus point offer on the Marriot Bonvoy Bold Credit Card is set to expire on March 4, 2020.
If you have been holding off on picking up a Marriott co-branded credit card, now might be the time to make the jump. Marriott's 50K bonus point offer on the Marriot Bonvoy Bold Credit Card, which came back after missing from the card since its launch and its best welcome offer ever, is only available for one more week.
When Marriott launched the Marriot Bonvoy Bold Credit Card last year, it introduced the first Bonvoy branded credit card without any annual fee. It also kicked off the card's introduction to the market with a really impressive welcome bonus for a card of its class.
Now, that offer is back. New cardholders can once again earn 50,000 Bonus Points after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. The previous offer only required you to spend $1,000 over the course of 3 months, but the reward was capped at a much lower 30,000 Bonus Points. The Points Guy currently values Bonvoy points at $.080, meaning that this introductory offer will net you about $400 worth of hotel stays, a great offer for a card without any annual fees.
The card's rewards program continues to keep things simple. Cardholders earn 3X Bonvoy points at over 7,000 hotels, 2X points on other travel purchases (from airfare to taxis and trains), and 1X point on all other purchases. The card also gives 15 Elite Night Credits annually which qualifies you for Silver Elite Status and extra perks like a dedicated phone line for booking reservations and late checkouts. Other benefits include baggage delay insurance, lost luggage reimbursement, trip delay reimbursement, purchase protection, and Visa concierge service.
While the card does not earn more premium rewards like the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card or the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card, you do get a lot of the same kinds of rewards and use it knowing you never have to pay an annual fee.
The 50K bonus point offer on the card is set to expire on March 4, 2020.
Marriott Bonvoy Bold™ Credit Card from Chase® with no annual fee! Earn 50,000 Bonus Points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Earn 3X Bonvoy points per $1 spent at over 7,000 participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels. 2X Bonvoy points for every $1 spent on other travel purchases (from airfare to taxis and trains). 1X point for every $1 spent on all other purchases. Receive 15 Elite Night Credits annually, qualifying you for Silver Elite Status. Restrictions apply. No Foreign Transaction Fees. Earn Unlimited Marriott Bonvoy points and get Free Night Stays faster.
Heads up! We share savvy shopping and personal finance tips to put extra cash in your wallet. Android Central may receive a commission from The Points Guy Affiliate Network. Please note that the offers mentioned below are subject to change at any time and some may no longer be available.
Jump in on Marriott's biggest offer for a limited time.
Update: The 100k bonus point offer on the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card is set to expire on March 4, 2020.
If you have been holding off on picking up the a co-branded credit card from Marriott, now might be the best time to make the leap. The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card is currently offering new cardholders 100K in bonus points, but the offer is only good for one more week.
When Marriott acquired SPG hotels and brought their rewards program under the Bonvoy program, it had offered new cardholders of its Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card and Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card a limited time 100K points bonus. For anyone who missed that offer and has held out in hopes of its return, Marriott is back. For a limited time, again, you can earn 100,000 in Marriott Bonvoy points with the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card and 75,000 Marriott Bonvoy points with the Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card. The Points Guy values Marriott Bonvoy points at around $0.80, so this offer equates to about $600 to $800 in hotel stays, a solid offer for anyone looking to visit one of Marriott's hotels anytime soon.
For anyone looking to earn this bonus and want a personal card, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card is eligible for this offer. This card is great for those who tend to stay at Marriott's 7,000 hotels around the world on personal trips, as the card offers 6X Bonvoy points for each booking. Cardholders also enjoy a Free Night Award every year and Automatic Silver Elite Status to get extra perks during your stay.
The 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus point offer for the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card will expire on March 4, 2020.
Grab 100,000 Bonus Points for a limited time after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. An additional Free Night Award is given to cardholders every year after account anniversary. Outside of that, earn 6X Bonvoy points per $1 spent at Marriott Bonvoy hotels and 2X Bonvoy points for every $1 spent on all other purchases. Cardholders also get Automatic Silver Elite Status each account anniversary year and can make their way to Gold Status when you spend $35,000 on purchases each account year. You also start with 15 Elite Night Credits each calendar year. This card has no foreign transaction fees and a $95 annual fee.
If you are looking for a business card, the Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card is eligible for this 100K offer. Its annual fee of $125 is quickly justified after that welcome bonus and its stellar rewards and benefits. It goes further with rewards than its consumer-focused counterpart, also offering points on restaurant, gas station, and phone service purchases. Those who spend over $60,000 on the card every year can also earn an additional Free Night Award from Marriott.
Earn 75,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points after you use your new Card to make $5,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. Plus, get a 0% intro APR on purchases for 6 months (then a variable 17.49%-26.49%). The offer ends on 10/23/2019. After that, get 6x points at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels, 4x points at U.S. restaurants and U.S. gas stations, and 2x points on all other eligible purchases. Receive 1 Free Night Award every year after your Card account anniversary. Plus, earn an additional Free Night Award after you spend $60K in purchases on your Card in a calendar year. Enjoy complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status with your Card and get to Gold Elite status after making $35,000 in eligible purchases on your Card in a calendar year.
Some significant changes are coming to Cortana. Starting this spring, Microsoft said it plans to make productivity the focus of the digital assistant. As part of the shift, Cortana will lose some of its more consumer-facing features, such as the abil...
SpaceX has won the contract for NASA's Psyche mission, and it's using the Falcon Heavy rocket to launch the spacecraft and ferry it to its target asteroid. NASA first approved plans to visit Psyche back in 2017 before finalizing them last year.
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After one big name participant after another (Facebook, Sony, Microsoft, Amazon) announced it would not send people to the show over concerns about the spread of coronavirus, GDC 2020 organizers have announced the event is off. It was scheduled to ta...
Multiple companies dropped out of the conference in the past couple of weeks.
After weeks of speculation, the Game Developers Conference (GDC) announced Friday that it'll be postponing this year's event in San Francisco.
The move comes after multiple large companies pulled out this week, citing fears surrounding the coronavirus. Sony and Facebook were two of the first to announce they weren't attending. Just today, Activision Blizzard, Amazon, and Gearbox announced they were pulling out.
"After close consultation with our partners in the game development industry and community around the world, we've made the difficult decision to postpone the Game Developers Conference this March," the organization posted in a statement. "We're genuinely upset and disappointed not to be able to host you at this time."
GDC did add, however, that it plans to hold a "GDC event" in the summer. It'll have more details in the future, but it's unclear at this point if it'll be a full event.
An FAQ sent to press and on the official website, it says that current paid attendees will get an email about refunds and registration status. It also says it plans to make many of the talks that would've been given at the event free online as part of the GDC YouTube channel or in the Vault. Speakers can submit their talks.
Additional info: pic.twitter.com/GgUTL0dUc3
— Official_GDC (@Official_GDC) February 29, 2020
GDC, while a huge place for companies and developers to network, is also an outlet for indies, specifically with the Independent Games Festival (IGF). It also hosts the Game Developers Choice Awards (GDC Awards) during the week. The FAQ also said that the company intends to stream the IGF and GDC Awards via Twitch during the week of the now-postponed event.
The event was supposed to take place on March 16-20 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Originally, the only people affected by the coronavirus outbreak were companies and attendees from China, but the spread of the disease greatly impacted more organizations.
Many groups are now helping to raise funds to help those who can't get refunds on travel, visa, and hotel costs. GameDev.World, a global game conference held online, announced the GDC Relief Fund. It'll also feature a pay-what-you-want games bundle and game jam to help raise money. The International Game Developers Association (IDGA) also announced it was pairing up with GameDev.World.
"With the effect of COVID-19 on conferences and international travel, many companies and developers have not only lost business opportunities and access to valuable talks, but their critical funds invested in travel, booth space, and passes to pursue these opportunities," IGDA executive director Renee Gittins said in a statement.
This is also not the first tech event that's been canceled on account of coronavirus anxieties. Mobile World Congress was canceled back in February. Just this week, Facebook's annual F8 conference and EVE Fanfest were also canceled.
Samsung has given us the most promising and functional foldable yet, but the Galaxy Z Flip has one small flaw to its mirror-finished body: It's slippery as an eel! Even when you set it down on a flat surface, it has a tendency to slowly slide around, slipping off wireless chargers and tables. The case market for the Z Flip is incredibly slim, but here's what you can use to protect your expensive new phone.
Staff pick
Samsung's official case is a luscious leather that adds grip and scratch protection to your mirror-finished Z Flip. I wish more colors were available, but silver and black go with all color models.
This rugged model connects the two shell halves with a flexible piece that provides some cover and impact protection. The Tough Flip adds up to 10 feet of drop protection and needed grip.
The Z Flip might come with a clear case in the box, but it's flimsy. This hard clear case offers a micro-dot pattern to prevent splotching, and there's an anchor point for attaching a lanyard or phone charm.
Unfortunately, there aren't many colored cases for the Z Flip yet, but if Mirror Black and Mirror Purple aren't to your liking, you can get a bright red case for a more unique look.
This thin polycarbonte case won't add bulk but will add grip and scratch protection to your Z Flip. If you like to use magnetic car mounts, Spigen leaves just enough gap for a magnetic plate inside.
The Galaxy Z Flip is still a new and very expensive phone that is in relatively short supply right now, it's not a huge surprise that case offerings right now are equally slim. The official Samsung leather cover gives us a nice premium option for this premium-priced phone, but it's also almost twice the price of Samsung's leather covers for its other Galaxy phones.
If you want more robust protection, there is one option right now from Case-Mate: the Case-Mate Tough Grip. Drop protection up to 10 feet is impressive for a folding case, and it features good definition for the buttons and around the fingerprint sensor.
The next time you fly out of JFK, you may notice a self-driving wheelchair race past you as you make your way to your departure gate. British Airways shared today that it has been testing autonomous electric wheelchairs at the country's sixth-busiest...
BMW plans to have a million EVs on the road by the end of 2021 and one of the key vehicles is in that plan is the iNext crossover. The automaker has teased new images of a camouflaged iNext test mule taking part in hot-weather trials in the Kalahari...Vivo's latest take on the bezel-less phone is its most ambitious yet.
Once a year, Vivo introduces a concept phone in the APEX series, giving us a look at the future of phone design. The APEX 2018 was one of the first with a full-screen display and retractable camera module, and the APEX 2019 built on that design by eliminating all buttons and ports.
For 2020, Vivo is taking things to a whole new level. The APEX 2020 has a 6.45-inch waterfall display that eliminates bezels on the sides, and the extreme 120-degree curve on either side means you get an "ultra bezel-less display." To put things into context, the NEX 3 has a similar waterfall display, but the curves extend to just under 90 degrees.
Like last year, Vivo is getting rid of physical buttons, and instead you get pressure-sensitive buttons on the side. The phone also has third-generation Screen SoundCasting tech, with the screen effectively acting as a speaker.
The APEX 2020 won't be releasing commercially, but most of these features could end up in this year's NEX flagship.
One of the main highlights this time around is the under-display camera, with the phone featuring a front camera module that's embedded directly underneath the display. Vivo says it increased the light transmittance of the part of the screen where the camera is embedded to six times that of the rest of the screen, and in doing so it was able to reduce "optical interference, diffraction and stray flashes."
That said, the tests were conducted in a lab, so it will be interesting to see how the front camera will fare in real-world usage conditions. The 16MP front camera uses four-to-one pixel binning, and Vivo mentioned that it is relying on algorithm optimizations to fine-tune the image quality. With Xiaomi stating that in-display cameras aren't ready for consumer use, it will be interesting to see if Vivo will roll out the feature in a commercial phone in 2020.
For the rear cameras, Vivo is highlighting Continuous Optical Zoom between 5 - 7.5x, stating that the phone is the first in the world to offer continuous zoom at such high magnification. Vivo is leveraging a 4-group lens combination with two fixed lenses and two movable sensors to achieve continuous zoom, and it is also using multi-frame algorithms for object detection. Vivo is also touting gimbal-like video stabilization, with the tech beating out regular OIS systems by a significant margin.
Another highlight is the 60W wireless charging, which Vivo calls Wireless Super FlashCharge 60W. That's more than most wired charging solutions today, and Vivo says it's fast enough to charge a 2000mAh battery in just 20 minutes. Once again, we'll have to wait and see if this tech shows up on a phone customers can buy in 2020.
The APEX 2020 won't be available to the public, but if history is any indication, Vivo will fold most of these features into this year's NEX flagship. What do you make of the phone? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
The best all-screen design you can buy today.
The NEX 3 is a monster of a phone. The waterfall display is immersive like no other phone in the market today, you get top-notch hardware and outstanding battery life, the 64MP camera is great in all conditions, and there's even a 3.5mm jack.
Unlike some of its rivals, the Z6 5G does not have a high-refresh-rate display.
Vivo today announced a new mid-range 5G-enabled smartphone at an event held in China. Dubbed the Z6 5G, Vivo's latest smartphone packs impressive hardware specs and comes with a 3D curved back.
The Vivo Z6 5G runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G chipset, paired with up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB UFS 2.1 storage. The phone boasts liquid cooling technology, which Vivo claims can lower the core temperature by up to 10°C. (50°F).
The Z6 5G features a 6.57-inch FHD+ IPS display with a hole-punch cutout in the top-right corner and a 20:9 aspect ratio. At the back of the phone is a quad-camera array with a 48MP main sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens, 2MP macro lens, and a 2MP depth sensor.
While the Z6 5G doesn't come with a high-refresh-rate display, it does pack a massive 5,000mAh battery with 44W fast charging. Vivo says it only takes 65 minutes for the phone to be fully charged. Some of the other key features of the Vivo Z6 5G include a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, 16MP selfie camera, dual-mode 5G support, and dual-frequency GPS. It runs Android 10 with Vivo's custom Funtouch OS 10 on top.
The Vivo Z6 5G will go on sale in China starting March 8. While the base 6GB/128GB version is priced at 2,198 yuan ($314), the 8GB/128GB version will cost 2,598 yuan ($370). Vivo hasn't confirmed any plans of launching the Z6 5G in markets outside China just yet.
The US Senate has unanimously approved a bill that would give rural carriers access to a $1 billion fund meant to help them remove and replace Huawei gear. According to The Wall Street Journal and TechCrunch, the Senate has voted to send the bill to...The Galaxy A51 offers camera and design upgrades, but the underlying hardware is unchanged from 2019.
Under increased pressure from Chinese rivals, Samsung overhauled its budget strategy last year. The underwhelming Galaxy J series was gone, and the Galaxy A lineup essentially took its place. Samsung traditionally limited the Galaxy A series to the mid-range segment, but now it fields devices starting as low as $120 all the way to $600.
The new-found change in focus also came with better product releases. The Galaxy A50 was one of the best budget phones you could buy in 2019, featuring great hardware, a fresh design, and decent cameras. In typical Samsung fashion, the company introduced an updated model six months down the line in the Galaxy A50s, and now we have the Galaxy A51.
The Galaxy A51 is a continuation of what Samsung has been doing in this segment for the last 12 months. There are a few enticing changes — particularly around the camera side of things — but the fundamentals are unchanged from last year. In fact, 80% of what I wrote in my Galaxy A50 review last year is relevant for the A51, because the underlying hardware hasn't changed much.
That said, the Galaxy A51 isn't a bad phone. If anything, the new design and the fact that it comes with One UI 2.0 based on Android 10 out of the box makes it a decent option for under $350. With the phone slated to go on sale in the U.S. and other global markets later this year, let's find out if it may just be the budget phone for you in 2020.
Bottom line: The Galaxy A51 shares the same fundamentals of last year's A50 and A50s. The 48MP camera takes decent shots during the day, you get all-day battery life, a vibrant AMOLED display, 3.5mm jack, and Android 10. But the hardware just doesn't hold up in 2020, and there are much better alternatives available at the same price point.
The Good
The Bad
No other brand rolls out iterative updates quite like Samsung, and in the last five years it has managed to turn iteration into an art form. The Galaxy A51 takes a lot of cues from the A50s, which in turn was based on the A50. So essentially, a lot of the internal hardware that you get in the A51 is over a year old at this point.
But that doesn't mean there are no new features on the A51. Let's start with the back: the A51 has two diagonal lines across its surface that break up the design — just like the A50s — but this time there's a gradient effect that shows up when light hits the surface. That gradient effect is the basis for the device's colors, with the A51 available in Prism Crush Black, Prism Crush Blue, and Prism Crush White.
With a vibrant design and Infinity-O cutout, the Galaxy A51 is one of the best-looking phones Samsung has released.
The lower quadrants also feature subtle lines that further differentiates the design, and the overall effect is that the A51 is one of the best-looking phones Samsung has released to date. I'm using the blue option, and the vibrant color makes the phone stand out. Like last year, the back is made out of plastic, but the glossy finish gives it a glass-like feel. The best part is that it doesn't smudge as easily as a glass back, and it is more durable.
Another major change at the back is the camera housing. The rectangular camera housing is identical to that of the Galaxy S20 series, and it's clear that Samsung is trying to create a design identity here. While the camera housing is by no means attractive, it is consistent across all of Samsung's 2020 devices.
The major design change at the front is the Infinity-O cutout for the front camera module. Last year's A50 and A50s featured the Infinity-U cutout, and the cutout on the A51 is smaller and better integrated into the design. The bezels are razor-thin this time around, and it makes using the A51 that much more enticing.
Rounding out the design, you'll find the power and volume buttons on the right, and the 3.5mm jack, USB-C charging port, and a solitary speaker at the bottom. Samsung has also moved away from the 3.5mm jack on its flagships, so it's good to see the analog jack intact on the A51. The SIM card tray is on the left, and you get the option to slot two SIM cards as well as a MicroSD card. Of course, the variant of the A51 sold in global markets will likely have a single SIM slot.
The Galaxy A51 is astonishingly light at 172g for a phone that has a 4000mAh battery, and it has a great in-hand feel thanks to the subtle curves at the back. With a width of 73.6mm, the phone is also narrow, and while it isn't conducive for one-handed usage, it is on the lower end of the scale as far as phone sizes go in 2020.
The Galaxy A51 has the same AMOLED display as last year's A50, but that's not a bad thing.
Coming to the screen, the Galaxy A51 has a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display that ticks all the right boxes. Colors are vibrant, you get decent viewing angles, and there weren't any issues while using the screen under harsh sunlight. You get to choose from Natural or Vivid picture modes, and there's no option to manually tweak the color balance of the screen.
But you do a blue light filter that can be customized to run from sunset to sunrise, and you get the other scaling and font sizing options that are standard on all Samsung phones. The screen is protected by a layer of Gorilla Glass 3, another area that's unchanged from last year. That's true for the panel quality itself — other than the switch to an Infinity-O cutout and a minor 0.1-inch increase in screen size, there isn't any difference from the A50 or A50s. That's not necessarily a bad thing though, as the screen holds up just fine in 2020.
Samsung has been recycling hardware on its phones for several years, and it's no different on the Galaxy A51. The phone is powered by the Exynos 9611, the same as the A50s. The A50 had the Exynos 9610, and while the Exynos 9611 is marketed as a new chipset, the only difference from the 9610 is that it can facilitate 48MP camera modules. Both the 9610 and 9611 use the same set of cores and the same Mali G72 for visuals, and they're both fabricated on a 10nm node.
| Specs | Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite |
|---|---|
| Software | One UI 2.0 based on Android 10 |
| Display | 6.5-inch (2400x1080) Super AMOLED |
| Chipset | 2.30GHz Exynos 9611 |
| RAM | 4GB/6GB/8GB |
| Storage | 64GB/128GB |
| Rear Camera 1 | 48MP ƒ/2.0 (primary) |
| Rear Camera 2 | 12MP ƒ/2.2 (wide-angle) |
| Rear Camera 3 | 5MP ƒ/2.4 (macro) |
| Rear Camera 4 | 5MP ƒ/2.2 (portrait) |
| Front Camera 1 | 32MP ƒ/2.2 |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11 ac, BT5.0, NFC |
| Battery | 4000mAh | 15W |
| Security | In-screen fingerprint |
| Colors | Prism Crush Black, Prism Crush White, Prism Crush Blue |
| Dimensions | 158.5 x 73.6 x 7.9mm |
| Weight | 172g |
If anything, Samsung is shortchanging buyers on the storage front this year, with the A51 offering UFS 2.0 storage whereas last year's A50 and A50s had UFS 2.1 storage. Let's get back to the hardware, because Samsung's decision to use the Exynos 9611 in the A51 makes things sluggish in day-to-day use. The chipset has four Cortex A73 cores at 2.3GHz and four energy-efficient A53 cores at 1.7GHz, and there's just not enough grunt to handle even basic tasks like web browsing.
You will notice lag at times even while navigating the user interface, with actions like opening the app drawer causing a negligible delay. Then there's the issue of gaming, and the Mali G72 just does not hold up in titles like PUBG and Fortnite. If you're serious about mobile gaming, you're better off picking a phone with a Snapdragon 730 instead. The A51 is barely adequate even for everyday use — you should not be able to see lag when exiting an app to go to the home screen.
The phone is available with 6GB/128GB and 8GB/128GB variants in India, but in other markets Samsung will offer the A51 with a 4GB option. There's a MicroSD slot that can accommodate cards up to 512GB in size, and you also get NFC with Samsung Pay, Bluetooth 5.0 LE, FM radio, and Wi-Fi ac. The optical in-display fingerprint sensor is fast and reliable, and I didn't face any issues with it.
On the connectivity front, the A51 has LTE bands 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/20/26/28/38/40/41/66. That should be more than adequate to connect to most LTE networks around the world, and with the phone slated to go on sale in global markets, Samsung will tailor LTE bands according to the region.
Yet another area where things are unchanged is battery. The A51 has the same 4000mAh battery with 15W fast charging, and I didn't have any issues with battery longevity. The phone manages to last a day with ease, and although the hardware itself hasn't changed from the A50, I got better battery usage figures on the A51.
One of the highlights of the A51 is that it comes with One UI 2.0 based on Android 10 out of the box. That wasn't always the case with Samsung's budget phones, so it is great to see the manufacturer offer its latest UI on all of its 2020 phones. One UI 2.0 integrates Android 10's system-wide dark mode, and you also get the ability to choose from Android 10's default navigation gestures or Samsung's take.
One UI 2.0 comes with Android 10 and a treasure trove of customization options.
Samsung's gestures include designated zones at the bottom of the screen from where you swipe up. It is an elegant solution, and is easier to get acclimated to if you're switching from the legacy navigation keys. But the fact that you also get Android 10's gestures — with the swipe-in from either side to go back, and swipe up from the bottom of the screen to go to the home screen — makes it that much more enticing.
Samsung has always offered a healthy list of customization features, and it's no different on the A51. You now get Edge screen, with the ability to configure pull-out Edge panels and set up Edge lighting for incoming notifications and calls. Edge lighting makes up for the fact that phones these days don't have an LED notification light, and there's just a lot of customizability to choose from here.
The A51 also has software-based face unlock, and while it isn't as secure as a fingerprint reader, it is fast. Elsewhere, you get the ability to use two instances of an app at once, Bixby, off-screen gestures, Digital Wellbeing controls, and one-handed mode. Samsung made a dedicated effort to modernize its UI in recent years, and the result is that One UI 2.0 feels modern and a far cry from the TouchWiz days.
The highlight with the Galaxy A51 is the quad camera array at the back: there's now a 48MP primary camera joined by a 12MP wide-angle lens, 5MP macro shooter, and another 5MP lens for portrait mode. You get a 32MP camera up front, which is a minor upgrade from the 25MP shooter on last year's A50.
The camera interface itself should be immediately familiar if you've used a Samsung phone recently. The main shooting modes are laid out in a ribbon at the bottom, and you can edit these as needed based on your preferences. There are toggles for flash, timer, filters and beautify effects, and you can easily switch between the primary lens and wide-angle shooter.
The 48MP camera is a known quantity at this point, and it takes great shots in daylight conditions. Resultant images have plenty of detail and decent dynamic range, and you get those saturated colors that define Samsung's cameras. One of the biggest changes Samsung made in 2020 is with the ultra-wide lens, with the shooter managing to produce shots with the same level of detail as the primary lens.
As good as the A51 is in daylight conditions, shots in artificial or low lighting are a blotchy mess. There's far too much noise, colors are washed out, and the final images are just nowhere near good enough for sharing on social platforms.
The macro lens does not have autofocus, and it struggles to dial in on busy subjects, like a watch face. Regardless of what I tried, I could not get it to focus on the watch face of my Promaster Skyhawk, and although the 5MP resolution is higher than what you get with most other phones, the macro lens is still very limited in its usability.
The Galaxy A51 isn't vastly different from what Samsung offered in this segment last year, but the upgrades to the camera and design allow it to stand out. The 48MP camera takes decent shots during the day, the display is one of the best you'll find in this segment, the battery life is fantastic, and you get the latest One UI 2.0 based on Android 10.
There are far too many trade-offs here to justify the $350 price tag.
That said, the hardware is slow compared to the rest of the field, and you will see noticeable lag in day-to-day use. Also, it doesn't make sense to switch to the Galaxy A51 if you're already using the A50 or A50s, because for the most part this is the same phone that Samsung released last year.
Obviously, the Galaxy A51 doesn't make much sense for the Indian market, because there are phones that offer much better value and beefier hardware in 2020. The Realme X2 Pro, Redmi K20, or the POCO X2 would be a better option if you're in the market for a phone under ₹25,000 ($350).
However, none of those phones will make it to most Western markets — unlike the Galaxy A51. The A51 will be going on sale in the U.S. and other global markets in a few months, and while there aren't many devices at the $350 price point, there are a few options like the Pixel 3a. If you're spending $350 on a phone in 2020, you'll want usable hardware, and the A51 fails to deliver on that front.
If you want to save some cash, you can just get the Galaxy A50s for ₹19,999 ($280) and get a phone that's nearly identical to the A51. Or if you're in the market for a device for gaming, the POCO X2 at ₹16,999 ($236) is my recommendation.
There aren't many alternatives to the Galaxy A51 in global markets. Samsung dominated with the Galaxy A50 last year for this reason alone, and while the phone by itself had a lot going for it, that isn't the case with the Galaxy A51. If you need a phone for under $400, you should pick up the Pixel 3a or wait for Google to launch the Pixel 4a series.
Decent design letdown by poor hardware.
The Galaxy A51 shares the same fundamentals of last year's A50 and A50s. The 48MP camera takes decent shots during the day, you get all-day battery life, a vibrant AMOLED display, 3.5mm jack, and Android 10. But the hardware just doesn't hold up in 2020, and there are much better alternatives available at the same price point.
