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The Samsung Galaxy devices are built for everyone. Sure, the flagship S series gets all the hype, but they have so many more Galaxy smartphones across a wider range of budgets, with the A series usually the most affordable.
The Galaxy A37 was announced recently and priced at $599 it offers a compelling product with a great design and Samsung’s backing for improved security and software. I’ve been checking it out for the last two weeks and definitely have some, what might be called controversial, thoughts about it.
The Galaxy A37 is the younger and more affordable sibling of the A57. It is powered by an Exynos 1480 chipset and houses a big, bright, beautiful 6.7-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display, a triple rear camera and a stylish design reminiscent of Samsung’s flagship smartphone.
Before I get into the review, we do need to remember that this phone is just $599. It won’t be as good as a $2000 ultra premium device, so keep that in mind when I say some semi-negative things about it. It still should perform as advertised though.
Samsung make some great-looking smartphones and this Galaxy A37 is no different. The rear of the phone has a mirrored glass finish with a subtle Samsung logo at the bottom. It looks and feels very premium, even though the device is far from premium.
The corners are the usual squarish corners that we see on so many devices these days and the slight rounding of them makes the phone comfortable enough to hold and provides enough grip so that the phone does not slip out of the hand.
The design and build quality are premium on the A37. Samsung has taken all their skills from the flagship premium devices and applied them to this – looking at the phone, you could be easily tricked into thinking it was a premium device.
For as long as I can remember, Samsung has had the best display on the market. They still do and it shows in this affordable device. Even with a lower-end 1080p AMOLED display, the colours pop and the display is incredibly vibrant.
The optical fingerprint sensor is under the display and that is where the issues start. I’m not sure whether the sensor is too slow or too inaccurate or both. Normally, even for cheaper phones, a tap of your finger on the sensor and it will unlock almost instantaneously. The A37, not so much,
It is either so slow that you take your finger off because it hasn’t unlocked so you think you have missed the sensor or the sensor just doesn’t work. I’ve tested it out with several fingers and re-entered them, all with the same result. Sometimes you will press your finger on the sensor and pull it away because it hasn’t unlocked for a bit and when you go to put your finger back onto the sensor, the phone unlocks before you can do so – so, the phone recognised your fingerprint the first time but took so long to unlock the phone you thought it had failed.
This is a big miss for me. I would think that the issue could be fixed with a software update so hopefully Samsung can roll one out. For a 0 smartphone, I would expect it to unlock a lot faster.
Let’s face it, the camera is one of the, if not the main thing we want to work well on a smartphone and luckily, this one does that. The rear camera setup is a triple camera system:
These specs aren’t flagship specs but you should not expect that. What the hardware in the camera system do is give the basis for what is a great all-round camera to be good at everything. Add on Samsung’s smartphone photography software experience and you have an extremely capable camera.
Daytime photography was excellent, as was, possibly the hardest thing for cheaper phones to get right, low light photography. The nighttime shots were good, with good detail, and didn’t take too long to capture. The image still took longer than a premium smartphone to capture but that is the limitation of the cheaper lenses. The end result was great though, as you can see below.
I’ve never been a massive fan of Samsung’s Android software but they have improved it so much over the years that it is normally quick and smooth (not the quickest or smoothest but unobtrusive, which is all you can ask for).
The same software is running on the Galaxy A37 and while the tweaks and usual settings are all these, they just seem to lag a bit on the A37. Exynos processors have fallen behind its competitors in recent years but this should still be better. But as I said above, remember it is a much smaller-budget phone, and it shows.
When you compare it to similarly priced phones, it performs well, though, so don’t be fooled into thinking it is vastly slower than its competitors. It is slower, but on the other hand, you get the Samsung software guarantees such as Samsung Knox security, and, possibly more importantly, six generations of Android OS and One UI upgrades, along with up to six years of security updates.
This is a huge plus and something that sets Samsung apart from its competitors in this space. You know your phone will be up to date for much longer than others. No one else at this price point is guaranteeing this.
This is why you don’t mind it being a bit slower – it everyday use you get used to the slightly slower software and after using it for a couple of weeks, you will most likely get used to it and find it acceptable – aside from the fingerprint sensor.
The notable additions that Samsung has included in their Android skin, One UI, are:
AI – The AI is no different to every other smartphone on the market. It is not as useful as it could be but is there if you want to touch up your photos, remove objects and more.
One advantage of these more affordable smartphones is that their specs are lower-end and require much less power to run. The battery in the Galaxy A37 is still a decent size at 5,000mAh and it will power through a day comfortably.
I know some manufacturers like to say multi-day battery etc but not many really can do that and you shouldn’t expect them to. This will last a heavy user from dawn to dusk – it certainly did for me.
There are no proprietary charging technologies included by Samsung but just the usual USB-C PD and that is not a bad thing. You can use any branded USB-C charger to charge the phone. If the charger supports it, the Galaxy A37 can be charged at 45W, which is very fast for such an affordable device.
The Samsung Galaxy A37 is a decent phone. It won’t set your world alight, but for a more affordable phone, you shouldn’t expect it to. The camera is good though, but the software is slow at times, with the fingerprint sensor inconsistent and inaccurate.
What you get with Samsung though, is a secure system with guaranteed updates for more years than any other Android provider. Security is important for many folks, especially the workforce, and that may be a big selling point for some.
At 0 RPP I feel that Samsung has overpriced the Galaxy A37. There is merit in looking into similar offerings at comparable prices, such as the OPPO Reno13, the NOTHING Phone (4a), or the Motorola Edge 70, whose software offers a much better overall experience. The Galaxy A37 is for those who want a good camera backed by Samsung’s software with guaranteed operating system and security updates for 6 years.
The Samsung Galaxy A37 is available now in Awesome Lavender and Awesome Charcoal for 9.
Scott is our resident open technology expert. If you can mod it, or want to use it your way, Scott has probably done it. From Laptops to phones, headphones and game consoles, he’s played with it and wants to see the next generation.
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