KUALA LUMPUR, March 25 — Just last month, Samsung quietly revamped its Galaxy A mid-range series of smartphones, and now they’re available in Malaysia. The new Galaxy A30 and Galaxy A50 are priced considerably lower than previous models, and yet offer plenty of features you wouldn’t expect on previous Samsung smartphones at this price range.

The revamped Galaxy A series continues to aim young, digital-savvy youths who demand a lot out of their devices, and not pay unreasonable prices for them. Chinese smartphone makers have been very successful at attracting this group, and now Samsung finally has a strong response.

The Galaxy A50 and Galaxy A30 pack high-quality 6.4-inch displays, large 4,000mAh batteries with fast charging, USB Type-C ports, up to triple rear cameras, and run on the latest Android Pie OS with Samsung’s One UI out of the box.

On top of that, both the Galaxy A50 and Galaxy A30 also have Super AMOLED displays, Samsung’s premium display technology that’s usually never available at devise at this price point. Compared to standard TFT-LCD displays, Super AMOLED displays have better colour saturation, deeper blacks, wider viewing angles, and better power consumption.

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The higher-end model of the two is the Galaxy A50. Powered by the octa-core Exynos 9610, the most powerful mid-range processor currently made by Samsung, the South Korean company also made the decision to bring in the higher-spec model to Malaysia which packs 6GB of RAM and 128GB of expandable storage.

The Galaxy A50’s cameras are designed to offer plenty of versatility. The selfie camera is a large 25MP sensor hidden on the “Infinity-U” notch on the screen, while the rear camera setup is more interesting. It’s a triple-sensor setup featuring a main 25MP sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide angle sensor, and a 5MP depth sensor that allows for Live Focus mode for shallow depth of field photos.

Interestingly, Samsung is including an under-display fingerprint sensor on the Galaxy A50. It’s not the same ultrasonic sensor that’s found on the flagship Galaxy S10 models, though — the one fitted on the A50 is an optical fingerprint sensor, which uses light from the display to map out the finger.

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Meanwhile, the Galaxy A30 has slightly lower-end hardware that matches its price. It’s powered by the hexa-core Exynos 7904 with 4GB of RAM, and “only” 64GB of expandable storage. The rear camera features a dual 16MP main and a 5MP ultra-wide sensor, while the selfie camera is a 16MP shooter. Finally, the Galaxy A30 uses a capacitive fingerprint scanner located at the back of the phone.

None of all these would matter if Samsung didn’t price these devices right. Just like how Samsung sprang quite a surprise with the RM799 Galaxy M20, the Galaxy A30 and A50 are surprisingly affordable — especially considering how much Samsung’s mid-range smartphones used to be priced at.

The Samsung Galaxy A30 retails for RM799, while the Galaxy A50 is a surprising RM1,199. Both models are available nationwide immediately, and in three colours: Black, White, and Blue.

*This article was brought to you by RinggitPlus.com.