The Galaxy A13 5G doesn’t provide a lot in the best way of surprises, good or dangerous. For $249, it’s a dependable system with good efficiency, wholesome battery life, and an honest digital camera. None of this comes as a shock as a result of Samsung makes plenty of these sorts of telephones, and it’s one thing the corporate is superb at.
The telephone launched within the US as an AT&T unique; now, you should buy it unlocked or by way of T-Cell, too. However that preliminary provider relationship performs into what is likely to be probably the most compelling purpose to have a look at the A13 5G proper now: it’s licensed to make use of AT&T’s newly enabled C-band spectrum. That is the number of 5G that guarantees faster-than-4G speeds and good sign attain — a mixture that some US 5G networks have been missing till now. The checklist of C-band enabled gadgets on the community’s launch was quick and dominated by dear flagships, excluding the Galaxy A13 5G.
Our assessment of
Samsung Galaxy A13 5G
Samsung Galaxy A13 5G
Verge Rating
6 out of 10
Good Stuff
- 5G connectivity, together with C-band on AT&T
- Good battery life
- Wholesome total efficiency
Unhealthy Stuff
- Low-res display
- Primary digital camera setup
- Solely 64GB built-in storage
Purchase for $249.99 from Samsung
Purchase for $249.99 from AT&T
Purchase for $249.99 from Finest Purchase
Extra telephones at a spread of worth factors will be a part of the C-band membership this 12 months, however for now, the A13 5G gives the bottom worth of admission in the event you’re on AT&T. That’s not purpose in itself to purchase the A13 5G, particularly since AT&T’s C-band launch is restricted to simply eight US cities, and rollout will probably be sluggish, but it surely’s some extent within the A13’s favor in the event you’re already contemplating it.
The Galaxy A13 5G contains a 6.5-inch 720p display — a low decision for a comparatively huge show. It’s an LCD panel, too, which is widespread within the under-$300 class and appears a bit washed out in comparison with the richer OLED shows you’ll discover on midrange telephones just like the Galaxy A52 5G. It does characteristic as much as a 90Hz refresh fee, which makes scrolling and animations look a bit smoother than the usual 60Hz. However total, the poor decision and low distinction imply the display isn’t one of many A13 5G’s strengths.
You could must issue an additional $10–20 for a microSD card into your buy
The MediaTek 700 5G chipset and its 4GB of RAM are, nevertheless, sturdy factors. For a telephone at this worth, it handles day by day duties very effectively, letting me leap rapidly between apps and isn’t liable to closing apps within the background overzealously. It stutters a bit with extra intensive duties like zooming / scrolling round Google maps or Zillow, however total, the A13 saved up with every thing I requested it to do in my day-to-day.
The A13 5G consists of simply 64GB of built-in storage. That’s not unusual within the price range class and is sufficient to get by in the event you’re very cautious along with your cloud storage choices and downloads, but it surely’s not quite a bit. You could must issue an additional $10–20 for a microSD card into your buy.
There’s a fingerprint sensor embedded within the energy button on the aspect of the telephone, and it’s very quick — so quick I truly double-checked that the telephone was truly locking appropriately (it was). It’s not as smooth because the in-display readers on high-end telephones, but it surely truly feels extra dependable and simpler to make use of. Lengthy dwell the side-mounted fingerprint reader, I say.
Battery life is one other one of many A13’s sturdy factors. The telephone’s 5,000mAh cell lasted me a few days of reasonable use on Wi-Fi; a heavy person would probably get by way of a full day after which some.
The A13 5G’s digital camera setup is fundamental: there’s a 50-megapixel fundamental digital camera with f/1.8 lens joined by 2-megapixel macro and depth sensors. These 2-megapixel cameras are largely ineffective, so that you’re actually simply working with the usual wide-angle rear digital camera and a 5-megapixel selfie digital camera. There’s no ultrawide — you’d must step as much as the A32 5G in Samsung’s lineup for that — and there’s no evening mode within the digital camera app.
Photographs in brilliant daylight look high quality, and even reasonably low gentle pictures look ok for social media, although pictures in very low gentle are a smudgy mess of noise discount. The dwell preview within the digital camera app as you’re taking pictures seems horribly washed out, however the closing product virtually all the time seems a lot better. This makes it exhausting to know what you’re getting precisely, so that you simply should belief the A13’s digital camera to do its factor.
The Galaxy A13 5G is a high quality price range system that is smart for many who are extra involved with day-to-day efficiency and lengthy battery life than a high-quality display or a flexible digital camera. In the event you’re on a strict price range and also you’re an AT&T buyer, these are two extra causes to contemplate the A13. The provider’s C-band 5G is restricted to just some markets now, however the telephone will probably be supported with three years of safety updates and two years of OS upgrades — lengthy sufficient to see the community increase to extra main cities.
In the event you’re on a strict price range and also you’re an AT&T buyer, these are two extra causes to contemplate the A13
If any of the above standards doesn’t apply to you, then there are higher choices obtainable for a similar value — even much less! The $239 OnePlus N200 5G is a superb alternative in the event you’re on T-Cell — it gives comparable efficiency and a nicer display for $10 lower than the A13’s retail worth. The N200 doesn’t work on AT&T or Verizon’s 5G networks, so it’s a 4G-only telephone in the event you’re with a kind of carriers — not a foul deal for the worth, however you’ll miss out on the higher 5G speeds coming over the subsequent couple of years.
As of this writing, the Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G has come down in worth to $249 in the event you purchase by way of AT&T (from $399), providing a greater display and equally wholesome battery life. It’s not presently licensed for AT&T C-band, but it surely’s purchase in the event you’re outdoors of a kind of eight launch cities anyway.
If these options don’t enchantment, then the A13 5G will serve you high quality — it’s a dependable system for effectively below $300 that’s absolutely ready for the subsequent era of wi-fi expertise, with no disagreeable (or nice) surprises included.
Images by Allison Johnson / The Verge
Conform to proceed: Samsung Galaxy A13 5G
Each sensible system now requires you to comply with a collection of phrases and situations earlier than you should utilize it — contracts that nobody truly reads. It’s inconceivable for us to learn and analyze each single one among these agreements. However we began counting precisely what number of instances you must hit “agree” to make use of gadgets after we assessment them since these are agreements most individuals don’t learn and undoubtedly can’t negotiate.
To make use of the Samsung Galaxy A13 5G, you have to comply with:
- Samsung’s Phrases and situations
- Samsung’s Privateness Coverage
- Google Phrases of Service (together with Privateness Coverage)
- Google Play Phrases of Service
- Computerized installs (together with from Google, Samsung, and your provider)
The next agreements are elective:
- Again as much as Google Drive: “Your backup consists of apps, app knowledge, name historical past, contacts, system settings (together with Wi-Fi passwords and permissions), and SMS.”
- Use location: “Google might accumulate location knowledge periodically and use this knowledge in an nameless method to enhance location accuracy and location-based providers.”
- Enable scanning: “Enable apps and providers to scan for Wi-Fi networks and close by gadgets at any time, even when Wi-Fi or Bluetooth is off.”
- Ship utilization and diagnostic knowledge: “Assist enhance your Android system expertise by mechanically sending diagnostic, system and app utilization knowledge to Google.”
Moreover, for Google Assistant, there’s an choice to comply with entry the assistant with “Hey Google.” “In the event you agree, Google Assistant will wait in standby mode to detect ‘Hey Google.’”
Ultimate tally: there are 5 necessary agreements and a minimum of 4 elective ones.
