Samsung A-Series 5G smartphone: Galaxy A90 5G

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Samsung A-Series 5G smartphone: Galaxy A90 5G

With multiple smartphone manufacturers that launched expensive high-end 5G smartphones this year, it was a matter of time before 5G phones came up with more reasonable prices. Samsung is among the first companies to introduce a 5G-enabled smartphone that promises not to break the bank. In addition to faster network support, the Samsung A90 offers a lot of first-class features, including advanced SoC and premium image capabilities.

Equipped with a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 2400 × 1080 and a rain drop selfie camera module, the Galaxy A90 5G is based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 flagship SoC, accompanied by 6 or 8 GB of LPDDRX and 128 GB of NAND flash storage (expandable using a microSD card). Like other Qualcomm-based 5G smartphones, the Galaxy A90 5G uses the Qualcomm X50 modem. This is the same SoC and modem that powers Samsung’s Galaxy S10 5G phone, so from the point of view of performance and connectivity, the Galaxy A90 5G promises to behave like the high-end model.

Imaging capabilities of the Galaxy A90 5G include a 48 MP main camera, an 8 MP ultrawide lens, and a 5 MP depth sensor. Meanwhile, a 32 MP module is used for selfies.

One of the interesting selling points of the Galaxy A90 5G is support for Samsung’s DeX platform that enables desktop-like experience on Android-based devices (e.g., open up multiple windows, re-size windows, drag and drop content, etc.) when they connected to a PC display or a TV. Of course, proper DeX experience will require an external keyboard and mouse.

Other notable features of Samsung’s Galaxy A90 5G are a 4,500 mAh battery, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, a USB 2.0 Type-C port for data and charging, stereo speakers, Dolby Atmos support for USB-C headsets, a fingerprint reader, and facial recognition.

Samsung’s Galaxy A90 5G & S10 5G
	Galaxy A90 5G	Galaxy S10 5G
SoC	Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 1x Kryo 485 (Cortex-A76) @ 2.84GHz 3x Kryo 485 (Cortex-A76) @ 2.42GHz 4x Kryo 485 (Cortex-A55) @ 1.80GHz Adreno 640
Display	6.4-inch 2400 x 1080 (19:9) (flat edges)	6.7-inch 3040 x 1440 (19:9) (curved edges)
SAMOLED	SAMOLED HDR10+ 1200 nits peak brightness
Gorilla Glass 6
Dimensions	164.8 x 76.4 x 8.4 mm 206 grams	162.6 x 77.1 x 7.94 mm 198 grams
RAM	6 or 8 GB	8 GB
NAND	128 GB	256 GB or 512 GB
+ microSD	–
Battery	4500 mAh (17.32Wh)
Primary Front Camera	32 MP f/2.0	10MP f/1.9 4K video recording
Secondary Front Camera	–	hQVGA Time-of-flight 3D sensor
Primary Rear Camera	48 MP 0.8µm PDAF f/2.0, 26mm, 1/2″	77° Regular Angle 12MP 1.4µm Dual Pixel PDAF Tri-stack CMOS Sensor (Embedded DRAM), 4K60, 1080p240, 720p960 high-speed recording Adjustable aperture f/1.5 or f/2.4, OIS, auto HDR, LED flash
Secondary Rear Camera	8 MP wide angle f/2.2, 12mm, 1.12µm	123° Wide Angle 16MP 1.0µm f/2.2
Third Rear Camera	5 MP depth sensor, f/2.2	45° / Telephoto lens 2x zoom 12MP 1.0µm f/2.4, OIS
Fourth Rear Camera	–	hQVGA Time-of-flight 3D sensor
4G Modem	Snapdragon X24 LTE (Snapdragon Integrated) 2G / 3G / 4G LTE (Category 20/13) DL 2000 Mbps (7x20MHz CA, 256-QAM), UL 316 Mbps (2x20MHz CA, 64-QAM)
5G Modem	Snapdragon X50 5G NR (mmWave & sub-6 GHz, TDD) DL 5Gbps (8x CA, 2×2 MIMO)
SIM Size	NanoSIM (?)	NanoSIM Dual NanoSIM/Hybrid SIM/microSD (Certain models)
Wireless	802.11a/b/g/n/ac, BT 5.0 LE, NFC, GPS/Glonass/Galileo/BDS	802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax 2×2 MU-MIMO, BT 5.0 LE, NFC, GPS/Glonass/Galileo/BDS
Connectivity	USB Type-C	USB Type-C 3.5 mm headset
Special Features	Under-screen optical fingerprint sensor	Under-screen ultrasonic fingerprint sensor
accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass	heart-rate sensor, iris scanner, face unlock, fast charging (Qualcomm QC 2.0, Adaptive Fast Charging, USB-PD), wireless charging & reverse charging (WPC & PMA), IP68 water resistance
Launch OS	Android 9.0 with Samsung OneUI
Launch Prices	6 GB + 128 GB: ? 8 GB + 128 GB: ?	8 GB + 256 GB: $1299 8 GB + 512 GB: $1399

Samsung’s Galaxy A90 5G will be released in black and white in South Korea on September 4. Exact price is unknown, but one of the rumours suggests that it will be below $1000. The launch in other countries will likely follow shortly as operators will certainly be interested in starting sales of a reasonably priced 5G handset in time for the holiday season.