Samsung already announced its international lineup of 2021 A-series devices — some last year, some last month. They look promising, with sleek designs, capable specs, and some serious improvements over last year's selection. But it turns out the US selection will look a bit different at launch. For one, no fun colors: the whole series will initially only be available in monochrome colorways stateside. There are also currently no plans to launch the A72 in the US. Still, there's plenty for American customers to be excited about — and soon.
Five (five!) Galaxy A-series phones are launching in the US this spring: the A02s, the A12, the A32, A42, and A52. The A02s and A12 are entry-level devices, starting at a rock-bottom price of $110.
Galaxy A02s
To hit that surprisingly low $110 price point, the Galaxy A02s has to make a number of concessions. Most notably, it's got all of two gigs of RAM, which means it'll be pretty limited when it comes to multitasking, and its three-plus-year-old Snapdragon 450 SoC won't perform any miracles, either. It also has no fingerprint sensor, so you'll be limited to a pattern or PIN to unlock. You'll be able to grab one in late April or early May from Verizon, Boost Mobile, Charter, Metro, US Cellular, or unlocked from Samsung.
Galaxy A12
An additional $70 will get you the Galaxy A12, which has one more gig of RAM, a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, and a newer and slightly higher-end MediaTek Helio P35 chipset. It's also got a wide-angle rear camera in addition to standard, macro, and depth sensors. The A12 will be available this Friday, April 9, from AT&T, Cricket, Metro, and T-Mobile.
Galaxy A32 5G
The Galaxy A32 is Samsung's cheapest 5G phone at $280. Compared to the A12, it's got a faster 90Hz display, a more powerful MediaTek Dimensity 720 chipset, and four gigs of RAM. It's got better cameras, too, with a 48-megapixel primary sensor headlining the setup, and an optical in-display fingerprint sensor. It runs Android 11, too, whereas both the A02s and the A12 are launching with Android 10. You'll be able to get one on April 9 through Cricket, Metro, and T-Mobile.
Galaxy A42 5G
The $400 A42 will be a Verizon exclusive, and yes, it'll support mmWave 5G. Its display is 60Hz, but it's a slightly larger 6.6-inch AMOLED panel, and it's packing a Snapdragon 750G processor along with 128 gigs of storage space. It's also got a neat "prism dot" gradient pattern on the back in white, gray, or black. It'll be available starting tomorrow, April 8.
Galaxy A52 5G
Finally, the Galaxy A52 is the highest-end A-series phone Samsung is confirmed to be bringing to the US. It's got a 6.5-inch, 120Hz, 1080p AMOLED display, and the same Snapdrago 750G chipset found in the A42 (although here, it's paired with six gigabytes of RAM). It's got better cameras, too, with a 64-megapixel main shooter and a 32-megapixel selfie cam. Strangely, it's got a smaller battery than the rest of these phones — 4,500 milliamp-hours versus 5,000 in the rest of the set. It's got faster, 25-watt charging to make up for that, though.
The Galaxy A52 is guaranteed three OS updates and four years of security patches — a distinct benefit over the A42, A32, A12, and A02s, all of which are guaranteed two OS updates and three years of security updates. It'll cost $500, and you'll be able to grab one at AT&T, Metro, T-Mobile, US Cellular, or unlocked, direct from Samsung, starting on April 9.
