Samsung has announced two new mid-range Galaxy A Series phones, the A30 and A50. The phones were first spotted on the Samsung India website, and there appear to be invites sent out for a press event in Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata on February 28th. It’s a push by Samsung against the market share its lost in India to Chinese manufacturers like Xiaomi, whose cheaper phones with competitive features are increasingly popular in the country.
Cameras are one of the main focuses with both the A30 and A50. The A50 has three cameras on the rear: a primary 25 megapixel main camera, an 8 megapixel ultra wide lens (which the phone will intelligently recommend you use depending on what you’re shooting), and a 5 megapixel depth sensor. The front also boasts a 25 megapixel camera with a special selfie focus for blurring out backgrounds. The A30 has two cameras on the back — a 16 megapixel primary lens and 5 megapixel wide angle lens — along with a 16 megapixel camera on the front.
Both phones have a fingerprint sensor, but while the A50’s is on-screen, the A30’s is on the back. Samsung’s announcement mentions that facial recognition can also unlock the A30, but it isn’t say if the A50 has this as well.
A push by Samsung against the market share its lost in India to Chinese manufacturers
Samsung says the phones are made of “3D Glasstic,” a portmanteau of glass and plastic, and they will have an edge-to-edge 6.4” Super AMOLED Infinity-U display. Infinity-U is Samsung’s term for its notch design, which is near identical to the Essential Phone’s small, half oval notch design.
Some other details: Both the Galaxy A50 and Galaxy A30 have 4,000mAh, fast-charging batteries. The A30 will come with either 3GB RAM and 32 GB storage or 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage, while the A50 can be had with 4GB RAM and 64 GB of storage, or 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. Both can have storage increased to 512 GB via microSD.
Samsung and Xiaomi have market dominance in India, together making up about 60 percent of the country’s mobile phone market. Both companies’ presence increased in India over the past year, but Xiaomi in particular saw a significant jump, going from 18 percent of the market share to 30. At the time, Canalys analyst TuanAnh Nguyen said in a statement that Samsung’s focus was on “hitting back” against Xiaomi: “It has launched devices pitted directly against Xiaomi’s portfolio and is focusing on its cameras and imaging capabilities.”
Pricing and availability have not yet been released for either the Galaxy A30 or A50.