Samsung's low-cost Galaxy A-Series phones aim to reverse U.S. smartphone slump

Premium features for pennies on the dollar.

- MICHAEL SIMON

While its thousand-dollar-plus flagship phones might get all the attention, Samsung’s best-selling phone of 2019 (go.pcworld.com/sl19) wasn’t the Galaxy S10 or the Note 10+, it was the $350 A50. Now, with a global smartphone slump that has hit the Galaxy S20 hard (go.pcworld.com/smsl), Samsung is doubling down on that strategy.

Make that sextupling down. On April 8, Samsung announced six new Galaxy A phones coming to the U.S., ranging from the ultra-cheap $110 Galaxy A01 to the $600 Galaxy A71 5G. The handsets have an array of different features and specs, but they all have three things in common, which Samsung calls “everyday essentials.”

The $180 Galaxy A11 has a triple camera setup on the rear.

That means you’ll get premium-grade displays, cameras, and batteries, and lots of storage at an affordable price. All six phones also have dual-, triple-, and quad-camera systems with ultra-wide, depth, and macro lenses, big screens, and larger batteries to keep them powered all day.

The rollout began Thursday, April 9, with the A01, which is exclusive to Verizon stores for a limited time, and the A51, the successor to the A50. The rest of the A-Series phones will expand to “select carriers” as the launch continues throughout the summer. Here’s what we know about how the lineup breaks down:

A01

Display: 5.7-inch HD+ Infinity-V LCD