With a superb AMOLED screen, superior cameras and long battery life, this one of our top budget-priced phones.
Arguably the Samsung Galaxy A32 is the true entry point to the Samsung universe; all A-series models below this are inevitably compromised and seem to exist only to make sure no other brand can squeeze into the market by besting Samsung on price. As the entry to Samsung’s galaxy proper the A32 is a fully loaded budget phone. That begins with an exceptional 6.4-inch AMOLED screen that’s FHD+ and refreshes at 90Hz, characteristic of more upmarket phones like Samsung’s S range. Stare at the 411ppi pin sharp display for a few minutes and every other budget phone ends up looking somehow inadequate. But there’s a bunch on ancillary benefits too. The thinness of AMOLED means Samsung can pack in an under-screen fingerprint sensor. With a one-second pause to unlock this worked about as well as most other budget phones, although we still find a fingerprint sensor embedded in a recessed power button to be our personal preference. The AMOLED screen might also be a factor in the low weight of the handset. At just 184g the A32 weighs in as one of the lightest budget phones, pipped only by the Nokia 5.4 at 181g, and that’s with a sizeable 5000mAh battery. Battery life was also very impressive. The A32’s 5000mAh battery, is now pretty standard on budget phones, and in one of our real-world experiments of mixed usage our A32 review unit ran for three full days. That’s hard to top. Results from the rear camera array were consistently great across the 64MP main sensor, the 8MP ultrawide and the 5MP macro. In our budget phone camera shootout only one phone: the Huawei P40 Lite, fared better. The only drawback is also the most unmissable. With a dark plastic frame and a flat, grey plastic back plate its styling is pretty conservative, verging on boring. Of course, that will matter less if your A32 is in a protective case. Released in South Africa in March 2021 the Samsung Galaxy A32 is a fairly minor update on the Samsung Galaxy A31 and at ZAR5000 (£250) Samsung have lowered the price substantially from last years‘ model.
