Samsung Galaxy A07 review

The world of budget phones is a hard one to get right.

With every top-end device that comes out, there's a feeling that the lower end of the market needs to produce something of a high enough quality that users don't feel the gap between devices as much.

Thankfully, the Samsung Galaxy A07 gets the basics right, even if there are one or two niggles for those in the know.

It's important to note though, how nice the device feels and how slick it looks. With a slimmer, smaller design ethos and a high-quality feeling exterior, this is a device that builds on what made the A06 work - but still moves it on a little so that it feels like a fresh entry into the range.

With an IP64 rating, and a better chipset, plus promises of six years' worht of updates there's a commitment from Samsung to ensuring the budget market also has its attention - even if the new Galaxy Fold phones are chewing up a chunk of the marketplace.

And while the 64GB of RAM to start off with feels like a bit of a blow, if you're after a simple phone that takes decent pictures (more on that shortly), has good audio quality for calls and has a beautiful display screen, the Samsung Galaxy A07 is the phone for you.

While Samsung's promised the camera processing is better, in truth, in darker conditions, and magnified, the camera doesn't quite match up to some standards. Pictures close up are of a good enough quality to make you feel like you've got something useful in your hand, though in truth, if you are from a distance and use the magnification tool, it's nowhere near as sharp as higher end phones or the quality that iPhones offer.

In terms of performance, the Galaxy A07 delivers on a daily basis.

It's fast-charging if you've got the right cables and the battery use for a basic level phone is solid and reliable. As ever, it comes with the caveat of how often you use the phone - from light use and with performance dropped to battery saving, it's only had one charge which has lasted four days with ease. 

The phone's UI is also sleek and minimalist too - it does exactly what it needs to do and while there's occasionally been a bit of a delay getting into some apps outside of WiFi coverage, the phone works well for what's needed for a daily usage.

Video playback is also solid too - and importantly it looks good enough on the large 5.7 inch 90hHz display. The sound quality's not perfect but for a lower-end experience, it's manageable enough - and at a $229 price tag, in some ways, you get what you pay for. It won't be a phone to game on outside of simple apps as the phone doesn't cope brilliantly with larger games, but for lower end applications, it's more than enough.

Ultimately for a budget phone, the Samsung Galaxy A07 does what you'd want it to. It could have been a quick cash in but having used it for a while and having owned an A03 (my daily phone) the leaps and bounds between the generations are noticeable enough.

For a lower-end phone, this is anything but a lower-end experience. It's more than enough to justify its price tag and thanks to Samsung's commitment to users of all incomes, it feels like a premium product in ways you'd least expect - but are grateful for.