Samsung Galaxy A80 Hands-on, Quick Review: Pop-up Revolution

Samsung Galaxy A80 Hands-on, Quick Review: Pop-up Revolution

We go hands-on with Samsung’s most innovative phone to date!

Meet Samsung’s most innovative phone to date: the Galaxy A80. Built with a pop-up module with a rotating camera, the new mid-range phone is the most unique device we’ve seen from the brand in a good, long while. Samsung is making good on its promise to put all new tech in mid-range devices first before they go on their flagship phones, all in the quest to give their struggling mid-range lineup a boost against its Chinese rivals.

Innovation at its best

Let’s talk about that pop-up module first. Just like the OPPO Find X, the Galaxy A80 has a pop-up module on the back that lifts up to reveal the selfie cameras.

But in this particular phone’s case, there are no selfie cameras – the main triple camera module rotates from back to front, which means you’re utilizing the same high-resolution cameras when taking selfies as you do when you’re taking photos of everything else.

The idea of using just one set of cameras for both regular photography and selfies isn’t new – OPPO was the first to utilize a motorized revolving camera all those years ago with the N3. The idea was sound, but having that large of a motorized camera module had its drawbacks – namely, it made the top of the phone too big.

Technology has apparently matured enough for Samsung to make really small motors to rotate the camera front to back and vice-versa, though the same concerns that we had for the N3 and the Find X remain. Adding mechanical moving parts to a phone increases complexity, and increases the chance of breakage if the phone is dropped with pop-up module up.

The cameras are pretty impressive – the main shooter is a 48-megapixel deal with an f/2.0 aperture lens, partnered with a 3D-depth camera that provides depth information. There’s also an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera with an aperture of f/2.2 and 123-degree FOV, which should come in handy when you’re taking shots of architecture and groufies.

Because of the pop-up module, the Galaxy A80 doesn’t need a notch – traditional or otherwise, so you’re left with an uninterrupted full-screen display that measures 6.7-inches wide. The display rocks a Samsung-made Super AMOLED panel so you know you’re getting the best display possible on a smartphone, with a miniscule bottom, top and side bezels.

The rest of the phone is classic Samsung – a glass sandwich with a metal frame, with a curved side for a more ergonomic grip. The sides aren’t as curved as say, the Galaxy A70, which we’ll attribute to the 3700mAh battery and pop-up bits in the phone. The phone will come in two colors: Phantom Black and Angel Gold.

There’s no physical fingerprint reader anywhere since the A80 uses an on-screen solution just like the A70.

The Galaxy A80 comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 processor, paired with 8GB of RAM. Sadly, the phone doesn’t have expandable storage so you’ll have to make do with the 128GB of storage inside.

Just like the A70, the A80 will have 25W Super Fast charging which is quicker than what’s on Samsung’s Galaxy S10 family. The phone runs Android 9 Pie and utilizes Samsung’s new One UI overlay.

Samsung hasn’t given a price point for the Galaxy A80 yet, though they did confirm the phone is arriving in June.

Samsung Galaxy A80 Specs

  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 octa-core processor
  • Adreno 618 GPU
  • 8GB RAM
  • 6.7-inch Full HD+ AMOLED New Infinity display,
  • Triple cameras: 48-megapixel f/2.0 main camera, 8-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide angle camera, Time of Flight (ToF) camera
  • 128GB internal storage
  • Dual SIM
  • 4G LTE
  • WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS
  • In-display fingerprint scanner, USB-C
  • 3700mAh battery with 25W fast charging
  • Android 9.0 Pie with OneUI

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