Samsung Galaxy A06 is a budget smartphone that’s just above entry level territory. It has a nice set of features and generally lives up to expectations, but with one serious disappointment.

Samsung Galaxy A06 comes with a 6.7 in AMOLED display with only 60 HZ refresh rate. You’re not getting high refresh rate here. Like I said, it’s just above entry level territory, though there are competitors in the market that have at least 90 HZ refresh rate. There’s only 720 by 1,600 pixels here. I wish it was a 1080p display, but the display works. It’s not the most fantastic display out there on a budget smartphone but it gets the job done. There is a water drop notch at the top.

There is a USB-C port at the bottom end of the phone. There is support for 3.5mm audio jack and there’s a sole loudspeaker there at the bottom as well. So if you’re looking for dual speakers, sorry. There is the dual SIM card slot on the left side. There’s a microphone at the top. And on the right edge, we have the power button with an embedded fingerprint reader, as well as the volume rockers.

Samsung Galaxy A06 has a nice design and layout that I like. The frame is plastic, and so is the back panel. But there is a texture on the back panel – if you run your hand on it, you can feel it.

The fingerprint scanner works well. Once you’ve set it up, for the most part, it is swift and efficient. I wish that it was located in the display though. This particular unit has 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage memory. In use, performance is fair. It is, of course, not the swiftest you will find. The processor in here is a Helio G85 which has been a decent performer in this particular category of phones over the last two years. So it is a little bit dated now. But then, most 4G chipsets in use in phones today are dated. Gradually, 4G is being phased out, obviously. Yes, this is a 4G smartphone. There is no 5G support in here.

The 8MP selfie camera is not fantastic. It is not great. It is just okay. You can get good shots out of it especially if your lighting is good. Whether it is natural or artificial lighting, if you make sure your lighting is good, you will get good photographs out of it. I have camera review video with sample photos published earlier, so you can check that out to see how well the camera performs.

The shooter at the back is a 50 MP wide angle camera, along with a 2 MP macro lens. I think you should just not bother with the macro lens. The 50 megapixel main camera takes decent pictures in good lighting, as well. It struggles in low light scenes. For those, always get adequate lighting. If your lighting is good, you will be able to shoot really good photos. I was able to get some good photos out of it. Like I said earlier, I have a camera test and sample photos video up on YouTube.

Samsung says that the Galaxy A06 will get two major Android updates. Which is not bad at all. It came out of the factory with Android version 14 and one UI 6.1. It is one of those Samsung phones that will get One UI 7 based on Android 15 and also get One UI 8 based on Android 16. There are not many phones in this price bracket that get two years of major Android updates, so this is good.

The loudspeaker is fair. The sound is teeny and lacks a lot of bass, but again at this price point, you can’t complain. There are a number of pre-installed apps from Samsung that and some of them duplicate Google’s own apps. I dislike that but pretty much every Android phone manufacturer does the same thing, so you cannot hold it against this model. Pick up any other smartphone from any other Android manufacturer and you get the same treatment. And in some cases, worse. Some of them are really, really worse.

Everything works here, though – instant messaging, Web browsing, email. I even tried out an app for using an eSIM on the Galaxy A06 and it worked. I was able to use an eSIM it.

In the United States, this phone starts from $80. In Europe, the base variant sells for around 105 euros. In the UK, you will get it for about £80. In Nigeria, the price continues to change depending on exchange rate but this should come in for around 150,000 naira.

This review unit is the 4 GB and 128 GB storage variant. The lowest configuration is 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage. I do not advise that you get that one. Why? System storage here takes about 15 GB of space. If you get the 64 GB variant, that’s a huge chunk of your space gone. You’ll have about 49 GB storage left. Really, just get whatever extra money you need to get and pick up the 128 GB storage variant.

Now battery life is exceptional. I haven’t used a smartphone that has provided this level of excellent battery life in a long time. I go for a full day sometimes of moderate use before exhausting the 5000mAh battery. But the one area where it fails, where it disappoints, is in the charging.

Samsung says that Galaxy A06 comes with 25W fast charging. I have tried it with multiple Chargers and I can tell you for a fact that this phone does not charge at 25W. From an empty battery to 100% battery takes 2 hours 30 minutes. That is definitely not 25 watts fast charging. The Samsung Galaxy A06 does not do fast charging. I am not the only one complaining; I have checked and pretty much everyone else says the same.

The implication of this disappointment is that you need to plug this phone to a power source, put it down, and go away for a long time. So, pretty much, you’re back to the days of plugging your phone and going to bed. That’s the best way to get a full battery out of it. During a busy day, I doubt that you’ll be able to plug it and put it down for it to charge, so it is going to stay plugged in for much longer than 2 hours 30 minutes.

Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy A06 is a decent almost-entry-level Android smartphone. If you’re looking for a decent smartphone for calls, for basic messaging – Telegram, WhatsApp, etc – you don’t want to do gaming, you don’t want a smartphone for heavy tasks, you’re not an Instagram or TikTok diva who needs to post the sharpest pictures and videos, this phone works.

Actually, you can use the videos and pictures on TikTok and Snapchat and Instagram and all of that – if you pay attention to your photography skills. It shoots good photos in good lighting, so you will get by with it. This is the Samsung Galaxy A06, a good deal for less than $200.