Our review of the Samsung Galaxy A71

Is it still worth it to get the Samsung Galaxy A71 in 2023? Let’s find out

It may have been years (3, to be exact at the time of writing this) since the Samsung Galaxy A71 was first released but it still holds up as a fan favourite. Let us take you through why.

Specifications

Design

The Galaxy A71 has a beautiful design that is made of both glass and plastic and still gives a high-quality impression. It has a slim profile, a large screen and a curved back panel. Weighing 6.31 oz, the phone is easy to carry and feels good in the hand. It's also pocket-friendly and doesn't slip out easily, even though it's quite large.

The high-gloss back looks like glass and has a unique design with subtle diagonal lines that create a nice prism effect when light hits the back. We have to admit, it's a unique design that doesn't look or feel cheap, and we were very impressed with this aspect of the phone. The phone is protected with Gorilla Glass 3, so you don't have to worry about its durability.

The available colours for this model are Prism Crush Black, Silver, Blue, and Pink. Our favourite is the black Prism Crush because the rhythmic pattern on the black looks truly beautiful when the light hits it just right.

Display / Screen

The 6.7-inch display is large, but it doesn't feel like a huge handful, which is perhaps due to the fact that the phone itself is only 7mm thin.

You can't go wrong with the large AMOLED display. You can look forward to vibrant colours, intense blacks, and wide viewing angles. The Infinity-O display also minimises the bezel by creating an O-shaped notch at the front instead of the previous teardrop-shaped notch. This way, you can look forward to media consumption that comes with a seamless display.

An optical fingerprint sensor is integrated into the screen, ensuring that your privacy and security are well protected at all times. The optical fingerprint sensor is an improvement over Samsung models before the A71, as it's faster and more accurate. You can also opt for facial recognition if you prefer it.

The Galaxy A71 supports an always-on display, which unfortunately comes at the expense of battery life. Fortunately, you don't have to worry about that because the battery performance of this model is solid.

Performance

The Galaxy A71 uses the Qualcomm SDM730 Snapdragon 730 chip, one of the best mid-range CPUs on the market. There is hardly any lag in everyday use and you can expect solid performance in games as well. The Galaxy A71 is available with 128 GB UFS 2.1 storage, either with 6 GB or 8 GB RAM.

The battery consists of a 4,500 mAh Li-ion cell. It lasted for over 10 hours in our test, even during intensive use and lots of browsing. When charging, we found that the fast charger recharges the battery up to 50% in just half an hour.

We'd describe the phone's speaker setting as average. There is a single speaker on the bottom of the phone, which offers good sound, but isn't outstanding. We recommend using headphones for better sound quality. Dolby Atmos is supported with both wired and Bluetooth headphones. As for call quality, everything worked as it should. The test calls were clear and distinct and we didn't encounter any complications or issues.

We appreciate that the Galaxy A71 comes with a 25-W fast charger with a USB-C to USB-C cable as well as 3.5mm headphones.

5G capability

If you want 5G, you're in luck - there's a separate Samsung Galaxy A71 5G model available on the market, and it's super cheap too. If you want a 5G phone without breaking the bank, this is the phone for you. It offers the speed and responsiveness you need without compromising on performance.

Aside from 5G support, there are a few subtle differences between the Samsung Galaxy A71 and the Samsung Galaxy A71 5G model. The 5G variant features better materials, an improved display and battery life, 5G support, 3.19x faster downloads, 8.53x faster uploads, the ability to record raw data, and a 220 MHz faster GPU clock speed.

If you're wondering which model is the better choice, the 5G version is obviously the winner. However, it also has a slightly higher price. We think that the Galaxy A71 is good enough for a mid-range phone, unless you absolutely want 5G support.

Camera specs / review

The camera of the Galaxy A71 is equipped with a quad-camera setup. It consists of a 64MP tetracell main unit, a 12MP ultra-wide-angle camera, a 5MP macro camera, and a 5MP depth sensor. On the front is a 32MP Quad Bayer selfie shooter.

The image quality of the photos on the Galaxy A71 is decent. The dynamic range is good enough, but you'd miss some fine details in the process. If you're primarily looking for a phone to take photos, it might make sense to spend a little more money on a higher-end phone.

When testing selfies, we found that the photos turned out pretty decently. It's worth mentioning that the Live Focus mode works well when it comes to separating the subject from the background. The detail of the photos is good enough, the colours are nice and the dynamic range is decent.

The Galaxy A71 lets you record videos with a resolution of up to 2160p with the main camera, the Ultrawide camera and the selfie camera. Fortunately, the video recording results turned out pretty good in our test; we were able to record 4K and 1080p clips with a decent dynamic range and nice colours.

Price and availability

The Galaxy A71 5G currently costs £349.99 with trade-in eligibility on Samsung's official website. In the Back Market, it's available for just £119.28 (at time of writing), which is less than half the price you'd pay for the same device.

Back Market is able to offer these two models at a lower price because we sell refurbished products. Even though these products are second-hand, they work just as well as new ones and don't have any performance degradation. When you choose used products, you're also helping to produce less waste and prevent further environmental damage.

At Back Market you have a hassle-free return policy of up to 30 days, so you don't have to worry if your device has any defects. There is absolutely no risk for the buyer, because all purchases come with a 1-year warranty, just like when you buy a new phone.

Overall verdict

We think that both the Galaxy A71 and the Galaxy A71 5G are strong contenders in the mid-range segment. Not only do they look good, but they also get the job done and are reliable phones, even though they may not have the best camera or audio system. The pros of this model include long battery life, an excellent display, and overall good performance. All in all, we think it's an attractive buy for anyone looking for a more than decent phone, especially since the model no longer comes with a high price tag.