Samsung the South Korean tech major launched two new models in their A series of phones as of January 2021, namely the Samsung A32 5G and A22 5G which were announced globally on January 13th and 2nd June respectively,
The A32 5G was announced in Singapore on March 17th and went on sale on April 2nd with a starting price of 348 SGD for the 4gb variant, 360 SGD for 6 Gb and 428 SGD for the 8gb variant.
The A22 5G was announced in Singapore on 2nd June and sales started on 20th June. This phone also comes in 3 variants of RAM 4, 6 and 8 Gb and is priced at 240 SGD, 320 SGD and 421 SGD respectively.
Both phones are currently available island wide at all Samsung showrooms and other major retailers.
Samsung has launched both these phones in the affordable low to mid-range segment to appeal to the new basic 5G consumer. While both phones feel almost the same size the A22 is fractionally larger. Both have TFT screens as opposed to their earlier versions, The A22 5G has an edge when it comes to refresh rate, Pixel density and screen resolution.
They both share the same aspect ratio, are splash proof rated and come with Gorilla glass.
As for cameras the A32 5G comes with a slightly better front selfie camera at 13 megapixel and a quad set of cameras at the back whereas the A22 comes with a triple camera.
When it comes to hardware both use Mediatek MT chipsets and boast octa core processors. Internal storage space is available in 64 Gb and 128 Gb for both phones and is expandable with a micro sdxc up to 1000 Gb. As for the GPU both phones come with the Mali-G57. The batteries are 5000 mAh and have fast charging.
And for sound both come with built in loudspeakers and 3.5mm headphone jacks for on the go music.
Where connectivity is concerned both phones come with most of the basics, Dual sim card slots, Dual band Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 5.0 , GPS and USB Type C 2.0. The A32 5G also comes with NFC connectivity which is not present in the A22 5G.
Fingerprint sensors are mounted on the side for both models and also feature other sensors such as an accelerometer, gyro sensor, proximity meter and compass.
Design and Display
Samsung has definitely made some cuts in this department on both phones, presumably to counter to higher cost of the new 5G chipset.
The body feel and overall build seem pretty average as they come with plastic frames and back panels and Gorilla glass to protect the screens. They both weigh roughly the same with the A32 being a slight 2 grams heavier at 205 grams.
New coloured panels such as the mellow violet, cool looking mint and a light sky blue are also available which bring good refreshing change to the usual black, white and grey.
Size wise the A32 5G measures in at 164.2 x 76.1 x 9.1 mm whereas the A22 5G which is a bit bigger at 167.2 x 76.4 x 9 mm. Both phones have a smooth sleek feel with all rounded edges so it does not feel very box type.
Screen size on the A32 5G is 6.5 inches and 6.6 inches on the A22 5G, this slight size difference gives the A22 5G a better screen to body ratio of 82.3% compared to the A32 5Gs 81.6%.
The bezel on both is quite sizeable and makes the screens look a bit smaller and feature tear drop notches for the front selfie camera.
The fingerprint sensors are dedicated and not on screen. These actual sensors seem to make the locking and unlocking way smoother and quicker.
The displays on both phones are a bit of a let down on these new versions compared to their 4G ones which featured amoled screens these 5G models both come with TFT LCD screens which have basic splash proof protection.
The A22 5G has a Full HD+ display with a resolution of 1080 x 2408 which is far better and has way better clarity compared with the very basic 720 x 1600 HD+ screen that the A32 5G has. This gives the A22 5G in big lead when it comes to ppi density at 399 compared to the mere 270 that the A32 5G has. The screen refresh rate is also better on the A22 5G at 90 Hz and the A32 5G has a 60 Hz refresh rate.
Both the screen ratios are 20:9.
Software and Performance
The new Android 11 aka Red Velvet Cake comes pre-installed on both. With the user interface One UI 3.1 running on the A32 5G,
The A22 5G has a somewhat stripped down version with the One UI Core 3.1 interface, although the general user won’t feel too much of a difference, The Good lock app which helps add and customize functionalities like the navigation bar and lock screen, Bixby, Samsung’s very own voice assistant, Samsung pay, Easy mode and Samsung Knox, a security platform which is preferable for enterprise all do not feature in the One UI Core 3.1 interface. So if you are someone who needs and uses these features the A32 5G would be the better buy.
Down to hardware, the A22 5G comes with a MediaTek MT6833 Dimensity 700 5G chipset, an Octa-core processor which runs at 2 x 2.2 GHz Cortex A-76 and 6 x 2.0 GHz Cortex A-55 and a Mali-G57 MC2 GPU.
The A32 5G uses a MediaTek MT6853 Dimensity 720 5G chipset, an Octa-core processor running at 2 x 2.0 GHz Cortex A76 and 6 x 2.0GHz Cortex A55 and a Mali-G57 MC3 GPU.
Performance wise both chipsets are rated pretty similarly with the Dimensity 700 outscoring the 720 by a fraction. The 700 has a 10% higher CPU clock speed owing to the extra .2 GHz of processing power.
The GPU on both use Valhall architecture, the 700 uses the Mali-G57 MC2 running at 950 MHz whereas the 720 with the MC3 runs at 850 MHz, Test scores on AnTuTu are 293469 for the 720 and 295386 for the 700, a 1% difference, both use Vulkan 1.1, OpenCL 2.0 and Direct X version 12.0
So the A22 5G turns out to have the slight edge over the A32 5G owing to a 10 % higher clock speed and 12 % higher GPU frequency, but the difference is so slim that it can go unnoticed by the regular user.
Cameras
The A32 5G definitely has the better front camera between the two 13 MP, f/2.2, Wide lens, the A22 comes with a 8 MP, f/2.0 wide lens, both shoot video @1080 fps, so the A32 5G would give clearer more detailed pics, preferable if your someone who likes to take a lot of selfies.
The A32 5G features a Quad camera setup with the primary being a 48 MP wide angle, a 8 MP ultra wide, a 5 MP Macro and 2 MP depth sensor. The phone shoots 4k @ 30 fps which is a definite plus and at 1080p from 30 up to a good 120 fps.
The A22 5G on the other hand comes with a triple rear camera, a 48 MP wide angle primary, a 5 MP ultra wide and a 2 MP depth sensor. Video shoots at a max resolution of 1080p @ 30 fps.
Other features are basic and common to both like LED flash, Panorama and HDR.
The A32 5G comes out as the winner owing to the extra 5 MP Macro camera to shoot all things tiny, the superior 4k video shooting capability not to mention shooting 1080p at 120 fps, and the front camera at 13 MP.
Battery
Good 5000 mAh batteries are installed in the A22 5G and the A325G which makes them both reliable for quite a while, Internet usage on WI-FI will last up to 20 hours, Video playback time of about 18 hours, Talk time is rated at around 35 hours and audio playback time is rated at a whopping 105 hours,
Both phones come equipped with 15 Watt fast chargers although honestly they don’t charge that fast, charging only about 27 percent from completely dead in about half an hour.
There is a key difference though, The A22 5G comes with a Li Polymer battery compared to the regular Li ion battery that’s in the A32 5G. Li Po batteries are a new form of Lithium batteries and come with their own pros and cons as with Li ion,
The advantages of a Lithium ion battery is the high power density meaning the amount of power that can be stored, they don’t suffer the memory effect that causes batteries to take longer to charge, and are significantly cheaper to manufacture than Li po batteries as of now.
Their drawbacks would mainly be from a safety point of view, the inherent instability of it, if the separation of the positive and negative electrodes is not maintained the resulting chemical reaction can cause combustion, they also suffer from ageing and deteriorate over time.
Lithium Polymer batteries on the other hand are smaller in size and light weight, Unlike Li ion batteries Li Po ones do not have a liquid electrolyte but contain a safer more stable porous chemical compound or gel like electrolyte more popular being the gel type. These compounds have a lower chance of leakage.
They are more flexible and robust especially in terms of size and shape, their build having very low profiles.
They do have negatives though, they do not have the same energy storage density as Li ion, cost more and have a shorter lifespan.
So for those who are not too concerned about safety and want more juice out of their battery the A32 5G with its Li ion is the way to go.
Samsung has designed these two phones with the broader public in mind, they don’t offer crazy over the top performance like higher end flagship models but do offer exceptional value for money like all other phones in the Samsung A family.
So for people who are particularly looking to upgrade to 5G as soon as possible and don’t want to spend a ton of money doing so, the A32 5G and the A22 5G offer great features for the price. But if you do like taking a lot of pictures of yourself and the world around the around you then the A32 5G will probably suit you better.
As the marketing slogan of Samsung’s A series goes “Awesome is for everyone” does hold true when it comes to both these phones.
The Verdict
The design of both these phones is quite standard and not changed much overall, the bezels are a bit large, although the new colours they come in also make a pleasant change.
The A22 5G though has a .10 inch larger screen and better FHD+ resolution, refresh rate and ppi. so if you like watching videos this is the phone to go with.
They both come with Android 11, The A22 5G comes with One UI Core 3.1 interface which excludes some of Samsung’s apps, which should make the phone run smoother thanks to less clutter.
Since both the A32 5G and the A22 5G rate almost similarly on the performance scale, the A22 5G being a very narrow 1 % faster and GPU at 950 MHz would be a better choice if you like to game and don’t miss the extra apps.
As for cameras the A32 5G definitely has the advantage thanks to the extra macro cam and 4K video shooting capability.
The batteries are fairly similar in power but the A22 5G Li Po is the safer of the two.
So…If you are someone who likes to game the A22 5G with its better screen and processing power is the way to go. On the other if you like taking a lot of pictures and shooting video the A32 5G is the one for you.
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