Samsung Galaxy A90 5G Hands-on

The new Galaxy A90 5G is the first phone that brings 5G connectivity at a price way lower than that of a flagship. While the top-tier Galaxy S10 Plus 5G model costs nearly $1300 dollars, the A90 5G can be had for about half that price. Interestingly, the A90 5G also features the same top-grade processor as the flagship Samsung phone, so it's by no means just another mid-ranger. We took a look at the device at IFA 2019 in Berlin and these are our hands-on impressions.

The phone comes in two classic color options – black and white, but it stands out thanks to the unique geometric pattern on the back glass. Twist and turn it around, and it reflects light beautifully, and it also feels very well made.

It sports a huge 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display with Full HD+ resolution, and that screen looks gorgeous. It comes with a tiny, waterdrop shaped notch, which accommodates a 32-megapixel selfie camera.

In terms of security and biometrics, you get a fingerprint scanner embedded under the screen, another traditional flagship feature. You do get face recognition, but it simply uses the front camera and a picture, not any complicated 3D model that would make it super secure.

Probably most impressive, however, is the massive 4,500 mAh battery inside. When you are connected to 5G the battery drain is much higher, but this large battery should handle it well. It also supports 25 watt fast charging with the fast-charge adapter coming included in the box with the phone.

Specs and Camera

As far as the specs go, Samsung has teamed up with Qualcomm to include the Snapdragon 855 chipset while the X50 5G modem supports the 5G connectivity. The phone also comes in either 6GB or 8GB RAM, and it features 128 gigs of expandable storage.

On the backside, there's a triple-camera setup:

The main camera supports familiar Samsung tricks: a Super Steady mode and the Scene Optimizer. Camera quality is one area where we expect this A90 to be a bit behind the other flagships, so don’t quite expect the very best here.

This is also the first Galaxy A series phone that includes the new Samsung DeX, so you can easily expand your phone's display to a PC or TV and even mirror the phone, and reply to notifications and messages.

Final Words

The Galaxy A90 5G is trying to appeal to a slightly different audience that can't afford to purchase a flagship, but still wants those 5G speeds. The phone is coming to Europe in October for a price of 750 euro, while a US launch is not impossible, but Samsung has refused to comment on that yet. What do you think about this new, more affordable 5G phone?

Are you ready to make the jump to the network of the future?