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Samsung Galaxy A70 First Impressions

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Samsung continues the barrage of smartphones with the newly announced Galaxy A70! Let's take a closer look.
Samsung Galaxy A70 First Impressions
Samsung Galaxy A70


The South Korean is not stopping with releasing new smartphones and the latest is the new Galaxy A70 with a Snapdragon 675 11nm processor with the Adreno 612 GPU, 6GB RAM and 128GB of storage.

It also comes with In-display fingerprint scanner, Android 9.0 Pie, 4500mAh battery with Super Fast Charging.

These are our thoughts.

Build Quality/Design

A finer version of the prism design found in the A50
A finer version of the prism design found in the A50

The A70's build and design is very similar to the A50 but with a larger display and a taller aspect ratio. It is built with the same materials of glasstic, glass and polycarbonate that surprised us that it looked and felt more premium than it sounds.

Glasstic yet premium looking design

The back panel though is a fingerprint magnet and even though it is made of glasstic, it is still slippery so we advice caution or use a case. It comes in blue, white, black and gold.
Top
Top
Bottom
Bottom
Left
Left
Right
Right

At the back is the glasstic back with prism design that changes the color depending on how the light hits it. It is very beautiful and eye catching but it is a fingerprint magnet. On the top left side is the triple camera set-up of a 32MP f/1.7 main camera, 8MP f/2.2 123-degrees ultra wide-angle camera, and a 5MP depth sensor with an LED flash.

In front, it has a huge and immersive 6.7-inch display with 2.5D glass and with slim bezels from all sides. The bottom bezel being slightly thicker than the rest. There is no mention whether or not it is Gorilla Glass Protected.

On top of the display is the U-shaped notch that Samsung calls the Infinity-U that houses the 32MP f/2.0 front facing camera.

On top, there's a single microphone hole. At the bottom is the USB-C, speaker grill, microphone and the 3.5mm headphone jack.

At the left side are the volume rocker and the power button while the right side has the SIM card tray.


Surprisingly there is no sign of the Bixby button.

The A70 feels good in the hands and even though the display is rather large, it never felt unwieldy. The phone is also surprisingly light weight.

The phone is hard to hold with one hand because of its big display though.

Initial findings

The large 6.7-inch display
The large 6.7-inch display

1. The Galaxy A70's checks outs most of what you expect from a modern phone with a high screen to body ratio that is built with materials that look and feel premium even when glass, polycarbonate and glasslike materials were used. The 6.7-inch display is big and it has a crisp 2400 x 1080 resolution from a Super AMOLED Infinity-U display. This is also the first Samsung phone with a cinematic 20:9 display. 

Depending on the A70's price, it could potentially be one of the best offering in its price range. Let's hope Samsung is consistent with pricing like in the A50.
AnTuTu score of the Galaxy A70
AnTuTu score of the Galaxy A70

2. Under the hood, it is powered by the 11nm Snapdragon 675 octa-core processor that is paired with an Adreno 612 GPU.

Potentially be great depending on the price

According to our benchmarks, it scored a 168,708 in AnTuTu which means it is on par with most phones with the same processor.

The phone comes in a 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage variant with a gigantic 4,500mAh battery with Super Fast Charging via USB Type-C.

Stay tuned for our full review once we get our hands on a review unit.

3. The Galaxy A70 runs on Android 9 Pie with One UI on top. We've reviewed One UI written on this article here. In short, we like it and it is a huge improvement over the previous Samsung Experience UI with more focus on one-handed use, easier navigation and lightweight software. 

Triple rear cameras
Triple rear cameras

4. At the back are the rear triple camera set-up made of a 32MP f/1.7 standard wide camera, a n 8MP f/2.2 123-degrees ultra-wide angle camera and a 5MP f/2.2 depth sensor camera with autofocus and LED flash. Samsung boasts that it has a Night Mode feature as well.

The selfie camera on the other hand is a 32MP f/2.0 that is in the middle of the Infinity-U display.

From our initial shots, the A70 can take good daylight and indoor shots with the rear and front facing cameras. It struggles in low light. We hope Samsung will be able to address this.

Related: Samsung Galaxy A70: First Camera Samples

5. The fingerprint sensor is under the display and it is a better version than the A50's In-Display fingerprint scanner. It is complete with sensors like accelerometers, orientation, proximity, gyroscope and magnetic sensors.

Samsung Galaxy A70 Specs

Display: 6.7-inch 2.5D curved Super AMOLED screen w/ FHD+ 2400 x 1080 resolution at 393 ppi
CPU: 2.0GHz Snapdragon 675 octa-core processor
GPU: Adreno 612
RAM: 6GB
ROM: 128GB expandable via microSD card slot up to 512GB
Back Camera: 32MP f/1.7 + 8MP f/2.2 ultra wide-angle lens + 5MP f/2.2 depth sensor w/ AF and LED flash
Selfie Camera: 32MP f/2.0
Battery: 4,500mAh w/ 25W Super Fast Charging
OS: Android 9.0 Pie w/ One UI
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11ac (2.4GHz/5GHz), 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5, FM Radio, GPS, GLONASS, dual SIM
Sensors: Accelerometer, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic
Others: In-Display fingerprint sensor, face unlock, USB-C, Colors: black, blue, coral, white
Dimensions: 164.3 x 76.7 x 7.9 mm
Weight: 183 g
Price: PHP 22,990 (PHP 20,990 new SRP)

As of the moment

The Samsung Galaxy A70 is a great phone out of the box and if priced competitively, it could follow its little brother, the A50 as the class leading phones of their respective price ranges.

We will still reserve judgement until we get more time with a review unit. Until then, stay tuned for our full review.

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