Samsung Galaxy A06 review – GSMArena.com tests | Infinium-tech

Introduction

While everyone is amazed at Samsung’s latest and greatest Galaxy S series, for many, these high-end devices are either unaffordable or downright unnecessary. When you look at the sales figures, it’s immediately clear that Samsung’s A series sells more than the S series, so it deserves our attention as reviewers. Today, we have the cheapest smartphone in the A series – the new Galaxy A06.

Not much has changed compared to last year’s Galaxy A05. Not to be confused with the Galaxy A05s, which is a slightly more high-end device.

With the Galaxy A06, you still get a basic plastic build without any official ingress protection, a modest 6.7-inch, 60Hz LCD display, a single loudspeaker, a modest MediaTek Helio G85 chipset, and only 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable eMMC 5.1 storage at the base tier.

The camera setup is unchanged either, with a 50MP main camera and a 2MP depth sensor on the back and a basic 8MP selfie camera on the front. You get the same 5,000mAh battery and 25W charging as last year.

Samsung Galaxy A06 specifications at a glance:

• Body: 167.3×77.3×8.0mm, 189g; Glass front, plastic back, plastic frame.
• Display: 6.70″ PLS LCD, 720x1600px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 262ppi.
• Chipset: MediaTek Helio G85 (12 nm): Octa-core (2×2.0 GHz Cortex-A75 & 6×1.8 GHz Cortex-A55); Mali-G52 MC2.
• Memory: 64GB 4GB RAM, 128GB 4GB RAM, 128GB 6GB RAM; eMMC 5.1; microSDXC (dedicated slot).
• OS/Software: Android 14, up to 2 major Android upgrades.
• rear camera: Wide (main): 50MP, f/1.8, AF; depth: 2MP, f/2.4.
• Front Camera: 8 MP, f/2.0.
• video capture: rear camera: 1080p@30/60fps; Front Camera: Yes.
• Battery: 5000mAh; 25W wired.
• Connectivity: LTE; Dual SIM; Wi-Fi 5; BT 5.3; 3.5mm jack.
• various: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted).

To be honest, the only thing that’s really changed from last year’s Galaxy A05 to this year’s Galaxy A06 is the colour options and the inclusion of a side-mounted fingerprint reader in the power button. Well, that and the underlying fact that you’re getting a brand new device that starts its life on Android 14 and is expected to get two more major software updates. Other than that, the Galaxy A05 is pretty much the same kind of phone for less money.

That being said, we can’t make a statement like this based on specs alone and call it a day. We’ll take a closer look at what the Galaxy A06 has to offer on the following pages. Plus, given that the Galaxy A05 never made it to our offices last year, this is a great opportunity to see just how far Samsung’s entry-level hardware has progressed.

Unboxing

The Galaxy A06 comes in a two-piece slide-out cardboard box. The inside is entirely cardboard and the printing is done using soy ink. While we definitely appreciate the eco-friendly approach, this is probably the flimsiest case we’ve ever seen. The cardboard is too thin for shipping. Our review unit arrived with an absolutely demolished box. To be fair, the actual phone itself was fine and had no damage, but given the condition of the box, it feels like a small miracle.

The Galaxy A06 accessory package doesn’t earn any extra points for the unboxing experience. Apart from the phone, you only get a passive USB Type-C to Type-C cable, a SIM ejector tool, and some documentation. That’s it. No charger, no case, no nothing. Not that this is a new development, but compared to some competitors, we feel a bit let down by Samsung.