Planning on buying a Samsung Galaxy A40 smartphone...

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RobC
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23 Apr 2020

I did a lot of comparisons with other phones in the price range. I know there are less branded ones, that are a bit more powerful, but my experience with Samsung is that they seem to create quality devices.

My old Samsung phone survived so many throws against the wall or ground, due to bad internet connection (yes, I know : ) ...), and the system was oddly clear and bug free. I tested other android phones and tablets, and there always was something that didn't work right.

One more thing is, that I might enjoy the colorfulness of a Super AMOLED screen more than IPS - for a device, that will be mostly for basic entertainment (web browsing, watching videos).
Yes, I hate the front camera notch, but not the end of the world (screw the selfie fad, too).

Finally, compared to similarly priced models, other phones advertise to have bigger resolution cameras, but when I compared example pictures and videos, they did worse.

Why do I still wanna ask opinions, if I seemed to have made up my mind? Cause people say that Samsung phones are overpriced. I'll probably order one anyway - worst case, I can send it back for 12 days or so!

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Loque
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23 Apr 2020

Only the high end smart phones are broken if they fall off 50cm. The cheap ones survive easily :-D Its that fancy glass "around the corner" thing.

I just bought a Gigaset (maybe someone knows this company) for freaking 60 bucks and it is good smart phone. Ok, it does not make high end fotos under water, has a higher resolution than my eyes and cannot fly me to the moon, but it can make a phone call, internet stuff, music and all that fancy things.

I have a bit mixed feelings with Samsung, since the last 2 phones i had from them the battery just went down and even exchanging to a new and original one did not helped. Thats a bit suspicious... But those also survived easily 5 years.
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RobC
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23 Apr 2020

Loque wrote:
23 Apr 2020
Only the high end smart phones are broken if they fall off 50cm. The cheap ones survive easily :-D Its that fancy glass "around the corner" thing.

I just bought a Gigaset (maybe someone knows this company) for freaking 60 bucks and it is good smart phone. Ok, it does not make high end fotos under water, has a higher resolution than my eyes and cannot fly me to the moon, but it can make a phone call, internet stuff, music and all that fancy things.

I have a bit mixed feelings with Samsung, since the last 2 phones i had from them the battery just went down and even exchanging to a new and original one did not helped. Thats a bit suspicious... But those also survived easily 5 years.
Hmm, my old phone is dying at the moment, after 6 years, but cost 1/4th the price of this new one. It's said to be medium level. Logically, then it may serve 2-3 years? I sure hope it will do better!

Yeah, for about 6" the 1080 x 2340 pixel (437 ppi) is overkill.
Okay, I gotta say, Samsung does impressively with audio quality for a smartphone, though.

The major problem is, how fast they get outdated. I guess I'm tech savvy enough that I could keep the old one alive for 6 years, though. If I will be able to run the new one for long enough, then it will be worth the investment.

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orthodox
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23 Apr 2020

I don't feel they get outdated. I'm still using a 10yo SE Xperia and never had a thought of updating it. It depends on what you're trying to get out of it. I use mine for calls, whatsapp and sms banking, and it costs me $10/year that I pay to mobile operator, not counting the electric power it consumes.

Jmax
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23 Apr 2020

I have the a50 Samsung. Great phone in so many ways. What's really awesome is the always on display. Apple ain't got nothing on that. And the ability to customize everything.

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Boombastix
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23 Apr 2020

I'm happy with my Moto. Shake it and the flashlight turns on, once I started to use it it's become super useful.

Seem to have good reception too, was streaming Spotify here in the Cali mountains.

They price their phones pretty aggressively.
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Jackjackdaw
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24 Apr 2020

I have a Samsung A5 from 2017 and it has been great. Can't fault it. Had a Moto before that which I loved. Huge screen and the shakey torch is really useful in the winter! Not as sturdy as the Samsung though, it kept breaking and I had to replace it sooner than I would have liked. My partner's one broke a lot too.

RobC
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22 May 2020

orthodox wrote:
23 Apr 2020
I don't feel they get outdated. I'm still using a 10yo SE Xperia and never had a thought of updating it. It depends on what you're trying to get out of it. I use mine for calls, whatsapp and sms banking, and it costs me $10/year that I pay to mobile operator, not counting the electric power it consumes.
Unless I turned off google play and lots of shovel ware (in my eyes at least) stock apps, the old phone became useless. Of course, by now it became physically unstable, so I needed a new one. But you know, I'm curious about what the mobile world has to offer, and as such, newer apps need stronger a device.
Jmax wrote:
23 Apr 2020
I have the a50 Samsung. Great phone in so many ways. What's really awesome is the always on display. Apple ain't got nothing on that. And the ability to customize everything.
Technically, this a40 should be capable of always on, too, but doesn't have stock tools installed by default (yet - new update coming soon). That said, it kinda does make use of it when charging to say the least.
I'm pretty much addicted at this point to its sAMOLED display. I love the vibrant colors, and the true blacks - now I search for high contrast themes wherever I can.
When it comes to the a50, here I saw the 4 GB RAM version, near twice the price for the (also) 4 GB a40, so I didn't exactly find that fair. However, I can see that the camera and CPU of the a50 is an entirely different beast, so there's definitely a big step up.
Boombastix wrote:
23 Apr 2020
I'm happy with my Moto. Shake it and the flashlight turns on, once I started to use it it's become super useful.

Seem to have good reception too, was streaming Spotify here in the Cali mountains.

They price their phones pretty aggressively.
Not much luck getting a Motorola in the EU. Rather Xiaomi and Huaweii seem to be hits, with Samsung and Apple being the flagships (even if they bite off some extra money - especially Apple). A Moto would have been another consideration for me.

I sure did miss the torch in phones, though. My previous samsung didn't have that, so I tops used the display with high brightness - not very effective. The current one's LED light is crazy strong, though.
Jackjackdaw wrote:
24 Apr 2020
I have a Samsung A5 from 2017 and it has been great. Can't fault it. Had a Moto before that which I loved. Huge screen and the shakey torch is really useful in the winter! Not as sturdy as the Samsung though, it kept breaking and I had to replace it sooner than I would have liked. My partner's one broke a lot too.
Yeah, samsung can survive a lot, though I obviously am far more careful with the new one.

--

So, after experiencing it, I gotta say, the camera notch isn't that bothersome at all. I think I even read somewhere, that they didn't count not even the rounded edges of the screen, when they specified the display size, so the are of the rounded edges, and the camera notch (which can be tolerated quite well) are are really just extra room (and extra pixels, too), that they made good use of.
I have to admit, in a phone, the above 300 dpi / ppi works surprisingly well (even if that's usually not ideal for desktop PC displays).
One thing I never dreamed about was a phone having a camera as good as - for the expectations of an average amateur photographer - a dedicated digital camera from a couple of years back, so that was a pleasant surprise.
In a nutshell, I didn't regret going for a samsung at all.

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gullum
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22 May 2020

RobC wrote:
23 Apr 2020

My old Samsung phone survived so many throws against the wall or ground, due to bad internet connection (yes, I know : ) ...), a
I use beers for that :D

RobC
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24 Jan 2021

gullum wrote:
22 May 2020
RobC wrote:
23 Apr 2020

My old Samsung phone survived so many throws against the wall or ground, due to bad internet connection (yes, I know : ) ...), a
I use beers for that :D
For drinking, or for throwing? : )

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gullum
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24 Jan 2021

RobC wrote:
24 Jan 2021
gullum wrote:
22 May 2020


I use beers for that :D
For drinking, or for throwing? : )
drink first then throw :D

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BRIGGS
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24 Jan 2021

Advice: Never... ever... buy a phone with a non-removable battery, as your main 'mission critical' device.
r11s

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miyaru
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24 Jan 2021

I have a Samsung X-Cover 4, and like it very much for what it does for the money. Paired it with a Samsung Galaxy Watch 2 and voila of you go........
Greetings from Miyaru.
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Korg N1, Yamaha RM1x :thumbup:

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Rising Night Wave
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24 Jan 2021

i have an LG G7 ThinQ and am very very satisfied with it. i have no plans for changing my phone.
now i have my LG for 3 years. very cool and relatively fast phone.

ps: previously i had 3 samsung phones. all ended in thrash. one i thrown into a wall. reason was not smooth working. ffs i got pissed. all the time. every day. so one a day i got a pissed and i throwed it into a wall. he got broken. i got happy. then i bought another samsung. they has stolen it from me (same as ended in thrash). i got pissed again. then i bought 3rd samsung. it fall on a glass on stairs. i got pissed again. so i said no more samsung. from then i have my smooth working and a beautiful LG G7 ThinQ phone. i am very happy now for 3 years. next phone shall be LG.
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RobC
Posts: 1833
Joined: 10 Mar 2018

26 Jan 2021

gullum wrote:
24 Jan 2021
drink first then throw :D
Efficient, though less spectacular than an exploding beer. : )
BRIGGS wrote:
24 Jan 2021
Advice: Never... ever... buy a phone with a non-removable battery, as your main 'mission critical' device.
I shall remember that! I still use my old phone as the phone-call and SMS phone.
miyaru wrote:
24 Jan 2021
I have a Samsung X-Cover 4, and like it very much for what it does for the money. Paired it with a Samsung Galaxy Watch 2 and voila of you go........
The combo is appealing ~ I've considered Watches myself, though I'd prefer something with a few basic features, like taking a quick picture, maybe providing music, independent call and SMS handling by using a SIM card. Though yeah, at an affordable price. ; )
Rising Night Wave wrote:
24 Jan 2021
i have an LG G7 ThinQ and am very very satisfied with it. i have no plans for changing my phone.
now i have my LG for 3 years. very cool and relatively fast phone.

ps: previously i had 3 samsung phones. all ended in thrash. one i thrown into a wall. reason was not smooth working. ffs i got pissed. all the time. every day. so one a day i got a pissed and i throwed it into a wall. he got broken. i got happy. then i bought another samsung. they has stolen it from me (same as ended in thrash). i got pissed again. then i bought 3rd samsung. it fall on a glass on stairs. i got pissed again. so i said no more samsung. from then i have my smooth working and a beautiful LG G7 ThinQ phone. i am very happy now for 3 years. next phone shall be LG.
While I'm mostly satisfied with my A40, it's not as flawless as I expected it to be. I had positive experiences with Samsung, but next time, I'll give other brands a more fair chance.
I recommend choosing a price range, then deciding your personal expectations, and finally looking at phones, which does the best job at what you need.

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Rising Night Wave
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26 Jan 2021

for sure help yourself with web page gsmarena.com :thumbup:
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John26922
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Joined: 13 Feb 2021

13 Feb 2021

Hello..
Are you still finding the best price? I recently found Valentines Day Coupon Codes when I was searching for a new phone for my wife and yesterday my parcel was delivered to my home, the product was very good and they provide a valid discounted deal, so if you still want to purchase your desired cell phone so you must visit once there and avail this exclusive opportunity.

RobC
Posts: 1833
Joined: 10 Mar 2018

18 Feb 2021

I think, from all the Washing Ironing, ..., Etc, your wife might have preferred a Hitachi Magic Wand, especially for Valentines Day! Like phones, it's said to be great for relaxing, entertainment, supports hands-free mode, works silently with just vibration, and so on. But caution, it's also said to be addictive just like phones! You don't want her to become a strong independent woman who don't need no man, do you?

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