Samsung Galaxy A12 - Smartphone 64GB, 4GB RAM, Dual Sim, Blue

Product Information

The Samsung Galaxy A12 is powered by an octa-core MediaTek Helio P35 chipset coupled with 4GB of RAM. That’s a fairly low-end spec but one that’s in line with the money this phone costs. You also shouldn’t expect miracles of composition as soon as the light levels drop. As these pictures of my garden at sunset show, as soon as the light goes, so does the image quality, with plenty of noise and blur replacing the crisp detail of the daylight shots. This is a problem that all phone cameras face, to be clear, and the Samsung Galaxy A12 isn’t the worst offender by a long shot. In practice, it’s reasonably sharp, so you’re unlikely to miss the extra pixels too much, and it’s a slight upgrade in both size and resolution on the 6.2-inch 720 x 1520 Samsung Galaxy A10. The Samsung Galaxy A12 has a huge 5,000mAh battery. That’s one of the biggest you’ll find in a mainstream phone – a few have now pushed their way to 6,000mAh, but most don’t go above around 4,500mAh, and many still hover around 4,000mAh or even less.

Actual user memory will vary depending on the mobile phone operator and may change after software upgrades are performed. There’s also a 5MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera, which probably isn’t something you’ll use much given the low megapixel count, but it’s nice to have for when you want to fit more in a scene. Finally, there’s an 8MP f/2.2 camera on the front for your selfie needs, and the ability to record 1080p video at 30 frames per second – both of which are fairly standard at this end of the market. Features The 8MP (f/2.2) front-facing camera is good enough for selfies and video calls. By default, it has ‘beautification’ options enabled (centre) which are more subtle than some, but can be turned off completely (left) or maxed out (right). As ever, max out at your own risk, because to me the results look anything but natural. These gut impressions are confirmed by the benchmarks. As you can see in the graph below, Geekbench 5 has it performing quite a bit worse than all the rivals I highlighted in the beginning, but it’s an especially poor performer compared to the three Chinese branded handsets – two of which use a superior MediaTek chip.Display Size: Measured diagonally, the screen size is 6.5" in the full rectangle and 6.4" accounting for the rounded corners. Actual viewable area is less due to the rounded corners and the camera cutout. In practice this large size means you can get up to around 20 hours of web browsing or 21 hours of video on a single charge, which in real terms means the Galaxy A12 will comfortably last a day and may even stretch to two for lighter users, which is well above average for battery life. Of course, the sizeable screen here does mean that the Samsung Galaxy A12 isn’t as compact or easy to use with one hand as some phones, so it won’t suit everyone. Design There’s also no water resistance rating here, but we’d have been very surprised to see one at what this costs, so that’s not really a mark against it, just something to bear in mind. Power

It’s not all bad in the performance charts, though: the one area where the hardware really shines is in efficiency, with the 5,000mAh battery managing a whopping 25hrs 58mins in our looped video battery test. Frankly, I don’t think I’m alone in preferring phones with just one really good camera like the Pixel 4a, rather than needing to keep up with the Joneses with barely used peripheral lenses. But regardless, the Samsung Galaxy A12 has four: a 48MP (f/2.0) main camera, supported by a 5MP (f/2.2) ultra-wide lens and two 2MP (f/2.4) snappers for depth-sensing and macro photography. The Samsung Galaxy A12 is designed as a phone for anyone who puts price and battery life first, because it excels on both fronts – it’s one of the cheaper smartphones you’ll find, and also has a bigger battery than most at 5,000mAh.The Samsung Galaxy A12 captures video at 30fps in 1080p or 720p – there’s no 60fps option for either and, clearly from the footage I captured, no attempt at stabilisation either. Video of me walking through a park was just too bumpy to be usable, and swift pans also temporarily turned the footage into a blur fest. In short, this isn’t one for wannabe filmmakers. Samsung Galaxy A12 review: Verdict Having said that, it’s definitely one of the weaker points of the Samsung Galaxy A12. While it should be fine for general day-to-day performance, this isn’t a phone that’s going to do well for more than casual gaming or other demanding tasks, so think about what you’re going to be using your phone for before buying it. Network: The bandwidths supported by the device may vary depending on the region or service provider.

The Samsung Galaxy A12 also has a 3.5mm headphone port, which is notable only because this is becoming increasingly rare on phones. If you’ve migrated to wireless headphones then it won’t much matter, but those who still have wired ones will likely appreciate its presence.

Much of that is down to the outstanding things other manufacturers are doing on a budget, but Samsung’s entry-level handsets have been able to hold their own in the past. It’s hard not to pin the disappointment entirely on the MediaTek Helios MT6765. Exynos and Qualcomm handsets never felt this sluggish. The Galaxy A12 is outfitted with a massive 5,000 mAh battery that lasts around a full day with daily use. It doesn't support wireless charging, but with wired fast charging it fills up in around 2 hours when depleted. The most underwhelming aspect of the phone is its MediaTek MT6765 Helio P35 processor. Unfortunately, combined with the entry-level configuration that features 3GB of RAM, the phone can get stuttery even with relatively demanding applications. Of course, one shouldn't expect a high level of performance from a cheap smartphone like this, but it should be noted regardless. Although for simple daily tasks it's acceptable. Cameras That said, it’s not quite as generous a setup as it might at first appear, as those cameras include a 2MP f/2.4 macro one, which isn’t up to much, and a 2MP f/2.4 depth sensor, which is more about adding a bokeh effect to snaps than being a dedicated lens – though that is at least a useful feature. Virtual Proximity Sensing : Sensing proximity information by using software without proximity sensor. Basically, the delay between pressing the shutter button and a picture being taken means that anything that’s prone to any kind of sudden movements – think birds, babies, cats or dogs – will almost inevitably be a blurry mess by the time the phone finishes capturing the image. It’s here in spades.