Samsung introduced the Galaxy A02s alongside the Samsung Galaxy A12, but it hasn't hit store shelves yet. Sources report that it'll go on sale before the month ends. The A02s succeeds the Galaxy A01 and A01 Core — the cheapest two phones in Samsung's catalog. The new 's' variant offers a series of upgrades over the A01, but with a caveat (more on that in a few.)
The All-new Samsung Galaxy A02s replaces the ergonomic and compact form factor of the Galaxy A01 — having grown from 5.7” to 6.5”. It’s an obsolete TFT LCD panel, so the viewing angles take a hit. The display has a notch bleeding into it and produces a 720P resolution.
A boxy plate with three cameras houses the optics on the back. The primary one features a 13MP sensor and a narrow f/2.2 aperture. Two additional cameras with 2MP sensors are meant for macro photography and portrait enhancements. The selfie camera has a 5MP sensor and another f/2.2 lens.
The design is more squared-off now. The shell of the new addition to the Samsung price list is still plastic, available in red, white, and black colors. But the Galaxy A02s lacks a fingerprint scanner which is now ubiquitous in even the most budget-conscious smartphones. That said, the A02s uses the USB Type-C interface instead of the microUSB you’d find in the A01.
While performance is hardly ever the focus of Samsung’s entry-level devices, its competing Chinese brands are offering newer, faster chips in the same price bracket. Case in point, the Samsung Galaxy A02s has the Snapdragon 450 powering it. This chipset came out in 2017 and it’s built on an obsolete 14nm fabrication process.
The same goes for the storage and memory offered with the A02s — 3GB+32GB. Android10-based OneUI 2 powers the hardware. The Galaxy A02s is expected to starts around anywhere from Rs. 18,000 to 20,000 PKR.
