Samsung Galaxy A03 Core

Full Review of Samsung Galaxy A03 Core

Samsung One UI Core

This brings me to custom Android skins. It has been one of the key tools for smartphone brands to differentiate their product from the competition. While high-end phones can reap the benefits of all the features shipped with the custom UI rather seamlessly, they can degrade the performance of budget phones by taking up valuable resources.

In this regard, Samsung’s One UI is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it offers useful features such as Storage Saver that helps save space by zipping unused apps and files, whereas it also clutters the phone by offering two uninstallable browsers (Chrome, Samsung Internet Lite) and messaging apps (Google Message, Samsung Message).

Real-life Performance

All this combined, I don’t have many complaints regarding the performance of the Galaxy A03 Core. I mostly used this phone for lightweight tasks including web browsing, streaming YouTube, and attending online classes. Plus, I also enjoyed games like Clash of Clans, Dr. Wolf, and Slither.io.

You can technically install and play games like FreeFire on this phone too, but I won’t recommend doing so since such apps tend to grow exponentially over time—leaving you with degraded performance standards and lesser storage space. In addition, I kept using Storage Saver accordingly as storage optimization becomes a lot crucial in these budget phones.

Display

Let’s now focus on the entertainment aspect of the A03 Core. On the front, it sports a 6.5″ LCD panel with HD+ resolution. Although the contrast is slightly on the higher side, its overall brightness and viewing angles are actually pretty good for the price. The colors look a little cooler as well, but I didn’t notice any unnatural hue here.

YouTube videos appear a little soft even when forcing them to 1080p resolution, but that is to be expected with an HD screen. Likewise, you will have no problem viewing PDFs or other documents on this screen in case you intend to buy this phone for attending online classes.

Camera

Samsung Galaxy A03 Core Camera Setup1 of 2  

On a related note, allow me to talk about the camera and audio capabilities of Galaxy A03 now, which are quite essential when it comes to video calls. At this price point, you will hardly get social media-ready pictures from any phone—and the Galaxy A03 Core is no exception.Rear Camera Sample1 of 4  

Photos lack detail even when taken in plenty of sunlight. And as you can see in these images, the phone struggles with maintaining exposure too. Pictures taken at night are full of noise, which is true for both front and back cameras.Low Light Images1 of 3  

Also, the default camera app doesn’t offer much in terms of features. You don’t even get dedicated portrait and night mode. In this regard, Samsung should have opted for Camera Go, which offers both and plenty of other features.

Battery and Rest of the Specs

Despite all this, it should get you through online classes if you are on a tight budget. That being said, I wished its single speaker had a wider sound stage. As things stand, the audio quality here sounds congested, which can be a problem when multiple people are talking on a voice call.

Finally, let’s talk about the battery endurance on this thing. Since you won’t be gaming as much or doing other intensive tasks on this phone, a full charge will last you over a day. In other words, A03 Core’s 5000mAh battery simply doesn’t disappoint. However, I wish I could say the same about the charging speed since Samsung ships a measly 7.75W charger inside the box that takes over 3 hours to take the phone from 0 to 100%.Battery and Charging1 of 2  

Conclusion

To conclude, the Galaxy A03 Core doesn’t have the fastest of specs on paper, but Samsung has optimized the software well to run on low specs. I see it as a viable option for people looking for a basic starter phone—or something to get them through online classes on a really tight budget. Everything from its design, display, to the battery are worth the price. That being said, I would have liked it more if Samsung had added Camera Go and given at least 10W charging support.

Samsung Galaxy A03 Core Review: Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Sturdy textured design
• Great Display for the price
• Android Go feels smooth
• Day’s worth of battery backup

Cons:

• Outdated processor (28nm)
• The cameras could have been better
• Limited Storage
• Slow 7.7W Charging