Introduction: Revisiting a Budget Classic in 2025
Samsung launched the Galaxy A50 in 2019, and it quickly became a phenomenon. It was the perfect blend of premium features and affordability, a formula that helped Samsung dominate the mid-range market. With the company still holding a massive 20% of the global smartphone market in Q2 2025, according to Counterpoint Research, its legacy in the budget segment is undeniable. But that was years ago. In 2025, the smartphone landscape is fiercely competitive, with new budget contenders offering more power and features than ever before. This raises a critical question: Can a device that is now several generations old, a relic from a different era of mobile tech, still be a smart purchase? Does the beloved Samsung Galaxy A50 have a place in the pocket of a modern user, or is it best left to memory?
What This 2025 Review Will Cover
This review will dissect the Samsung Galaxy A50 from a 2025 perspective. We will examine its aging design, the resilience of its once-celebrated display, and whether its Exynos processor can handle the demands of today's applications. We will also re-evaluate its triple camera system, battery longevity, and crucial security features to determine if its current second-hand price, especially the samsung galaxy a50 price uae, makes it a worthwhile investment or a regrettable compromise.
Design & Build Quality: How Does it Hold Up Physically in 2025?
Years after its launch, the physical form of the Galaxy A50 tells a story of its era. Its design language, while once modern, now feels familiar and safe rather than cutting-edge. The question is whether its construction has endured the test of time.
Materials and Construction: Plastic Back, Plastic Frame
The phone’s body is entirely plastic, which Samsung marketed as "Glasstic." While this approach keeps the device light and less prone to shattering than glass, it's also a clear indicator of its budget origins. In 2025, it feels less premium than the glass and metal sandwiches common in today's mid-rangers, and it's a magnet for fingerprints and micro-scratches.
Ergonomics and In-Hand Feel
Despite its plastic build, the A50 remains a comfortable phone to hold. Its slim 7.7mm profile and curved edges allow it to sit nicely in the hand. The lightweight nature is a welcome departure from some of the heavier, bulkier budget phones on the market today, making it easy for one-handed use.
Durability Over Time: Common Wear and Tear
Long-term durability is a mixed bag. The plastic frame and back are susceptible to scuffs and discoloration over years of use without a case. The Gorilla Glass 3 on the front offers decent scratch resistance for its time, but it pales in comparison to the tougher glass used on modern devices, making a screen protector essential.
Aesthetic Appeal in a Modern Landscape
The A50’s front is dominated by its Infinity-U display, which features a small, teardrop-style notch. While less intrusive than older, wider notches, it looks dated next to the hole-punch cutouts that are now standard. The back's iridescent finish can still catch the light pleasantly, but the overall design doesn't stand out in a crowded 2025 market.
Display: Is the Super AMOLED Still Super in 2025?
The display was the A50’s crown jewel at launch, and it remains its strongest asset today. Samsung’s expertise in Display technology AMOLED shines through, providing an experience that still challenges many current budget offerings.
The Super AMOLED Infinity-U Display Advantage
The 6.4-inch Super AMOLED Infinity-U display is the phone's saving grace. Unlike the LCD panels found on many older and even some new budget phones, this screen technology delivers true blacks, infinite contrast, and vibrant, punchy colors. This core advantage has aged exceptionally well.
Resolution, Brightness, and Color Accuracy
With a Full HD+ (1080 x 2340) resolution, the screen remains sharp and detailed for text and images. Brightness is adequate for most indoor and outdoor situations, though it may struggle in direct, harsh sunlight compared to newer panels. Color accuracy is excellent for media consumption, offering a visually engaging experience.
Viewing Experience for Media Consumption
Watching videos and viewing photos on the Samsung A50 is still a pleasure. The deep blacks and rich colors make content pop, creating an immersive experience that LCDs at a similar second-hand price point simply cannot match. It’s an ideal device for media if the display is your top priority.
Comparison to Current Budget Phone Displays
Here's the trade-off: while the A50’s Super AMOLED panel offers superior color and contrast, it's locked at a 60Hz refresh rate. Many modern budget phones now offer 90Hz or even 120Hz displays, providing a much smoother experience when scrolling and navigating the interface. It’s a choice between vibrant visuals and fluid motion.
Performance in 2025: Can the Exynos 9610 Keep Up?
This is where the Galaxy A50 shows its age the most. The Exynos 9610 chipset, once a capable mid-range performer, struggles to keep pace with the demands of modern software and user expectations.
The Exynos 9610 Chipset: Architecture and Capabilities
Built on a 10nm process, the Exynos 9610 combines four performance-oriented ARM Cortex-A73 cores with four efficiency-focused Cortex-A53 cores. It’s paired with a Mali-G72 MP3 GPU. In 2019, this was a solid combination. In 2025, with apps becoming more resource-intensive, this architecture is a bottleneck.
Real-World Performance for Everyday Tasks
For basic tasks, the A50 is functional but not fast. You will notice slight delays when opening apps, navigating menus, or loading complex web pages. Social media feeds may stutter during fast scrolling. It gets the job done, but patience is required.
Multitasking Capabilities in a Modern Context
With 4GB or 6GB of RAM, multitasking is limited. Switching between a few light apps is manageable, but expect heavier applications like Google Maps or games to be reloaded from scratch if you navigate away from them. This is far from the seamless multitasking experience users expect today.
Gaming Performance: Light vs. Demanding Titles
The A50 can handle simple, casual games without issue. However, demanding 3D titles like Genshin Impact or Call of Duty: Mobile are largely unplayable at acceptable frame rates, even on the lowest graphical settings. It is not a device for serious mobile gamers.
Camera System: Still Capturing Worthwhile Moments?
The Samsung Galaxy A50 was one of the first budget phones to popularize a Triple camera system. While impressive for its time, its capabilities have been surpassed by advances in computational photography and sensor technology.
The Triple Camera Setup: Rear Camera, Ultra Wide Camera, Depth Camera
The system comprises a 25MP main Rear Camera, an 8MP Ultra Wide Camera, and a 5MP Depth Camera. The depth sensor's sole purpose is to assist with portrait mode shots, meaning you only have two usable focal lengths.
Daylight Photography: Image Quality and Detail
In good, bright lighting, the main camera can still produce pleasing photos. Images are sharp with Samsung's characteristic vibrant colors. However, its dynamic range is limited, often struggling with scenes that have both bright skies and dark shadows.
Low-Light Performance: A Historical Weakness Revisited
Low-light performance was a weakness at launch, and it remains one today. Without a dedicated night mode, photos taken in dim conditions are noisy, soft, and lack detail. This is an area where modern budget phones have made significant leaps.
Ultra-Wide and Depth Sensor Utility in 2025
The Ultra Wide Camera offers a fun perspective but produces noticeably softer images with visible distortion at the edges. The Depth Camera does an acceptable job with subject separation in portrait shots, but the edge detection can be inconsistent.
Front Camera Performance for Selfies and Video Calls
The 25MP front-facing camera is a solid performer. It captures detailed selfies in good light and is more than adequate for video calls, making it a reliable tool for social media and communication.
Video Recording Capabilities and Stability
The A50 can record video up to 1080p at 30fps. The quality is decent, but the lack of any form of optical or advanced electronic stabilization means footage is often shaky and unsuitable for anything more than casual clips.
Camera Features: AR Emojis and Other Software Enhancements
The camera app includes classic Camera features like Panorama, Pro mode, and AR Emojis. While functional, these software additions feel more like novelties from a bygone era than genuinely useful tools in 2025.
The Overall "Samsung Experience" on an Older Device
So, should you buy Samsung Galaxy A50 in 2025? The answer is a heavily qualified "maybe." This once-great budget phone has transitioned into the ultra-budget category, where its value is dictated almost entirely by its price. The Super AMOLED display remains its single greatest strength, offering a viewing experience that is still superior to many new entry-level phones with dull LCD panels. The battery life, while degraded, can likely still last a day with light use, and features like expandable storage via microSD card and a headphone jack are welcome rarities.
However, the compromises are significant. The Exynos 9610 processor delivers sluggish performance that will test your patience, the camera system is outclassed in low light, and the device is no longer receiving major software or security updates, posing a potential risk. The optical On-Screen Fingerprint scanner and Facial Recognition feel slow by modern standards. The final verdict hinges on the Samsung Galaxy A50 price. If you can find it for an exceptionally low price—significantly less than the cheapest new Android phone from a reputable brand—it could serve as a secondary device or a temporary phone for a user with very basic needs. Considering the average selling price of smartphones is $426 in 2025, a used A50 needs to be a fraction of that to make sense. For most users, however, investing a little more in a modern budget device will provide a faster, more secure, and more capable experience with a longer lifespan and potentially an Extended Warranty. The Galaxy A50 was a legend, but its time as a recommended daily driver has passed.
