Introduction
When I first got my hands on the Galaxy A31, I could immediately feel why the Samsung A series has gained so much fame since 2019 and kept its momentum into 2020. This new device, a successor to the Galaxy A30, brings some upgraded features on its specs sheet while keeping its budget-friendliness intact, making it ideal for mid-range devices users like me.
What stands out most is the quad-camera on the rear side and the desirable 5000mAh battery that keeps the ball rolling throughout the day. While it is designed to compete with feature-rich Chinese rivals, including Xiaomi Redmi 9S and Infinix Note 7, the Galaxy A31 still lacks in some significant areas, though it manages to handle daily tasks comfortably. Overall, the popular A-series devices continue to impress, and there are clear reasons why Samsung Galaxy A31 remains a tremendous choice for those seeking value without compromising on essential upgrades.
Samsung A31: Unified Design and Display
When I first explored the Samsung Galaxy A31, I noticed how the design language remains consistent across the A-series, from the first generation to newer models like A51 and A71. This common design approach makes all devices feel like siblings, with the diamond cut pattern on the back and rectangular quad-camera placement giving each phone a familiar yet premium look. Even the LED flash inside the camera module is carefully placed to make each device distinct while still feeling part of the superior siblings family. For someone who appreciates clean and thoughtful design, it’s impressive to see Samsung keep the exterior simple yet elegant, even for budget devices.
Color and Finish
The Prism Crush White variant adds a special touch, reflecting rainbow shades when light hits at the right angle.
Screen and Display
Flipping the phone reveals a 6.4 inches dewdrop Super AMOLED screen, also called the Infinity V display, similar to what we saw on the Galaxy A30s. While the overall layout might seem like a run-of-the-mill concept, the placement of elements on the left or right gives a slightly modern feel.
Bezels and Build
The bezels are slim yet acceptable, and though the hefty chin slightly lessens the delicate look, the display is bright with excellent blacks and contrasty visuals. The vividness could be higher, but the settings area offers dark mode on Android 10, keeping everyday use comfortable and visually pleasing.
Samsung A31: Performance Insights
The Samsung Galaxy A31 isn’t really for gaming enthusiasts due to its low-powered Helio P65 chipset, which combines two A75 cores clocked at 2.0GHz with six A55 cores at 1.7GHz, alongside a Mali G52 chip for graphics handling. While it comes with 4GB RAM or 6GB RAM depending on the region, the gaming experience for online games like PUBG and Call of Duty feels mediocre.
You can tune the HD graphics and set high frames, but hardware-software optimization isn’t perfect. The game launcher doesn’t help much either, leaving noticeable frame drops and occasional lags. For day to day tasks such as social media activity, watching movies, listening to songs, or playing Subway Surfers, the apps run fine, but switching between them can feel a little slow at times.
Benchmarking
We also tried Antutu benchmarking, but it kept crashing, though this might not be the chipset’s fault since Vivo S1 and Vivo Y19 with similar chipsets ran the tests fine.
Sound and Audio
On the audio side, the Galaxy A31 has a single firing speaker at the bottom that’s loud enough for a small room, but for outdoors, you’ll need earphones for call or multimedia sound. The sound quality and effects module in the settings area works best with good earphones, while the pair Samsung provides out of the box feels like a cheap deal. You can even attach an additional Bluetooth device to play sound from a specific app while using earphones for a separate app.
Fingerprint Scanning
Features like in-display fingerprint scanning are improved compared to the previous year’s device, but still a bit slower than snappy side-mounted scanners on Nova 7i, making the phone functional but not lag-free.
Battery Power
The Samsung Galaxy A31 shows a significant improvement over previous models like Galaxy A30 and Galaxy A30s, which had 4000 mAh batteries. This time, it comes with a 5000 mAh battery paired with a 15W charger, giving a noticeable boost in battery backup. In my personal testing, it took just about 2 hours and 22 minutes to fully charge, and during a drain test, the phone survived for 17 hours and 18 minutes, proving it has excellent battery backup time.
You can check the battery video to see the test in action. The battery can easily accompany you throughout the day, and for a frequent user, it can last a day and a half before getting exhausted, making it one of the most reliable Samsung Galaxy A31 features for everyday use.
Camera Performance
The Samsung Galaxy A31 comes with a 48MP lens as the main performer, along with an 8MP ultrawide angle, 5MP macro, and 5MP depth sensing sensor, forming a quad-camera setup. While the upgraded cameras look promising on specs compared to rivals in this price range, the phone has a few compromises.
There’s no slow-mo videos mode, the limited pro-mode offers minimal flexibility, and the absence of night mode makes low light photography difficult under low light or harsh light conditions. Even with the 48MP mode, color reproduction and details can feel weaker than expected. While smoother images show lesser noise, the noise level is still noticeable, and 48MP mode doesn’t provide extra details compared to 12MP shots.
Macro and Bokeh Performance
The Live focus uses the 5MP sensor for bokeh shots, creating background blur and noiseless day photos, though colors aren’t always accurate compared to the main lens. The 5MP Macro lens works for static subjects but struggles in daylight, increasing exposure value and producing yellowish and less contrasty images.
Low-Light and Event Photography
In low light, macro mode and bokeh mode depend on the image optimization algorithm, which can create artifacts during events like weddings, musical concerts, or on a stage.
Front Camera and Video
The 20MP front camera captures well-detailed shots that are vivid and well exposed in daylight. The phone records 1080p videos from both front camera and rear camera, but the lack of EIS makes it less ideal for vloggers.
Final Thoughts
The Samsung Galaxy A31 is a notable upgrade in specification compared to the previous year’s A30 and A30s, though its performance and camera skill aren’t extraordinary. Equipped with a low-powered chipset, it isn’t the best suitable device for online gaming, but Samsung fans who avoid heavy tasking may find it a reasonable device. Where the phone truly stands out is its long-lasting battery, which is the primary feature that it excels at, making daily use easy and worry-free.
