[Summary]
So far I haven't tested many Samsung, mainly because there are already many tests on other sites. What motivated me to buy this model has nothing to do with its features. I developed an alert system to monitor prices and received a notification for a Galaxy A70 that was being sold at €100 below its normal price. It was a mistake from the seller but I was able to take advantage of it and so do you by reading this test now.


Manufacturer web site: https://www.samsung.com

[device_intro device="smartphone" lg="en"]

Price Samsung Galaxy A70

The list below shows the prices for the Samsung Galaxy A70 from more than 50 sites around the world. If you are not satisfied with any price, you can subscribe to a price alert to be the first to be notified when the price drops. [pricelist keyword="80"]

Timeline

05/12/19: delivery of the phone
06/12/19: unpacking and first impressions


Why this phone?

At the end of 2019, I found myself with several phones to test at the same time. It didn't happen before, my workload was heavy. I had decided that I wasn't going to try any more phones until 2020, but when I received the price alert for the Galaxy A70 at 100€ below its normal price, I decided to seize the opportunity. So now I have another phone to test and I'm wondering when I will find the time to test it thoroughly.


Structure of my tests

I test the phones according to a pre-established structure (see below) to provide you with as much information as possible. Unfortunately, this takes a long time. Some tests like network performance tests take several days and for photo tests I sometimes have to wait until the weather is suitable to take pictures in good conditions. I am therefore obliged to publish the tests step by step, so I invite you to come back if the test is not complete at the time of your visit.

Unpacking

[specs product="samsung-galaxy-a70" category="body"] The Samsung Galaxy A70 comes in a classic white box that doesn't stand out from what I've seen so far. Inside, you'll find the phone wrapped in a double plastic film, a thin self-adhesive strip is also glued on the edge of the phone. The box also contains a quick charger (cable + wall plug) as well as headphones and a manual.

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The phone is in the average size but it is quite light, I test two other phones weighing more than 200 grams, the difference with the Samsung is striking.


First configuration

I started the setup in English and was surprised to hear a voice that briefly explained each screen. Samsung also tries several times to encourage you to install additional applications or create a Samsung profile. It is not mandatory but you will have to refuse several times. In the end, you will get unwanted applications installed by default on the phone, no matter what you refuse. It's a bit of a trend for all the big manufacturers, it's not unique to Samsung but I notice that all manufacturers are becoming more and more insistent on creating an account. They clearly want to avoid giving everything to Google, they want their share of the cake and to be able to use your data for commercial purposes.

For facial recognition, Samsung offers a picture with or without glasses, I hadn't seen it on another phone yet and as I sometimes wear glasses, I found it very practical.

samsung galaxy a70 test avis review recensione opinion setup 2samsung galaxy a70 test avis review recensione opinion setup 3samsung galaxy a70 test avis review recensione opinion setup 1samsung galaxy a70 test avis review recensione opinion setup 4samsung galaxy a70 test avis review recensione opinion setup 6samsung galaxy a70 test avis review recensione opinion setup 7samsung galaxy a70 test avis review recensione opinion setup 8samsung galaxy a70 test avis review recensione opinion setup 9samsung galaxy a70 test avis review recensione opinion setup 10samsung galaxy a70 test avis review recensione opinion setup 11samsung galaxy a70 test avis review recensione opinion setup 12samsung galaxy a70 test avis review recensione opinion setup 13


Finish

The Samsung Galaxy A70 is not a cheap phone and the buyer of a phone sold for more than 300€ is entitled to expect a good level of finish. Fortunately, this is the case, the phone has a good finish but offers no originality, it has a rather anonymous design because if you hide the Samsung brand you could confuse it with another phone.


Top samsung galaxy a70 test review avis recensione opinion revision 7
The upper part is the same as the other phones, only a small hole whose use I still don't know is present


Bottom samsung galaxy a70 test review avis recensione opinion revision 5
The lower part is composed of three elements, first there is a jack plug, a USB type C port and a mono speaker.


Sides I had tested the Samsung Galaxy S10+ earlier this year and was disturbed by the placement of the buttons because Samsung had placed the ignition button and volume buttons on the left. With the Galaxy A70 this is fortunately not the case, the buttons are where you expect them to be.

The phone holds well in my hand overall and I didn't have the feeling that it could slide.


Back samsung galaxy a70 test review avis recensione opinion revision 8
I bought the white version, the back is totally uniform in texture and color. There are no light effects like the S10+ but the finish is good, the back does not sink when pressed and the material combined with the colour does not leave too many fingerprints.

The three sensors take up very little space and do not protrude much from the rear, so the phone is almost completely flat when placed on its back. On Xiaomi for example, the sensor sometimes comes out very strongly from the back of the phone to the point that the phone can be placed flat.


Screen samsung galaxy a70 test review avis recensione opinion revision 4
The screen is huge and the borders are very thin. This is probably one of the strengths of the phone. With 6.7 inches it is clearly above average and it will take two hands to use it correctly.


3G/4G support

The Samsung Galaxy A70 offers a fairly classic frequency coverage. You can use it anywhere in Europe unless your operator uses the frequency B28 (700 Mhz) as Free in France. This frequency is not supported.


3G Frequencies:
B1, B2, B5, B8

4G Frequencies:
B1, B2, B3, B5, B7, B8, B20, B38, B40

[network_support]

Network/Radio performance

[specs product="samsung-galaxy-a70" category="radio"]
Signal 4G
The ability to pick up the network correctly is an essential element for a phone but it is only very rarely measured. To measure a phone's ability to pick up the network, I perform a large number of measurements on the same cells to be able to compare phones under similar conditions. The signal is measured in dBm, a value of -90dBm indicates a worse signal than -70dBm. These measurements are therefore taken under real conditions and not in a laboratory, they are not scientific but give a good indication of performance.

[short_signals]


Comparison Samsung Galaxy A70 with another device

The graph below shows the comparison between the two devices. The best device should have the largest number of measurements close to the center. The comparison is made only on the cells common to both devices. The measurements were carried out under the same conditions.

Phone 1:
Samsung Galaxy A70

Phone 2:
Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite

Performance evaluation: samsung galaxy a70 network performance

The Samsung Galaxy A70 surprised me positively because the S10+ had not given very good results in terms of network measurements and I was expecting the same kind of result for the Galaxy 70. Fortunately this is not the case as the A70 offers a good network performance with -94 dBm with this score it ranks in the top 5 phones I tested. I have compared it here with another good phone (the Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite) and even if the average performance is similar we can see that the Samsung doesn't go too low with the signal level. This could be explained by the phone configuration where Samsung will probably look for a better signal faster than the Xiaomi. If the Samsung goes below a certain signal level, it will look for another antenna to keep a sufficient signal level where the Xiaomi seems to tolerate more signal degradation.



Download max speed:
Upload max speed:
61 Mbps

Download max speed:
76 Mbps

Performance evaluation: I got a download speed in 4G higher than 70 Mbps, this suggests that the Samsung could go higher if the network allows it. That's a very good score. In upload I got a speed slightly higher than 60 Mbps, it's a very good result.



Wifi signal
To test a phone's ability to receive the network properly, I take measurements near my router and then remotely (and always at the same place). This gives me an average in dBm where a value of -90 dBm indicates poorer performance than a value at -30 dBm.

Signal strength close to router:
-25 dBm

Signal strength away from router:
- 72 dBm


Performance evaluation: The Samsung Galaxy A70 ranks in the average for wifi signal performance. Near the router I measured -25 dBm and remotely I measured -72 dBm. I didn't get these results right away, it took a few seconds for the Samsung to go down to these signal levels whereas usually phones quickly fix themselves on the lowest signal.
samsung galaxy a70 wifi performance 1samsung galaxy a70 wifi performance 2


Download / Wifi
To test the speed in Wifi, I connect to my router in 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz (if available) and use the Ookla application to measure the speed.[specs product="samsung-galaxy-a70" category="measures"]
Max upload speed:
21 Mbps

Max download speed:
166 Mbps


Performance evaluation: I got a wifi download speed above 150Mbps, the Samsung Galaxy A70 is not the best in this area but it offers a very good performance.

samsung galaxy a70 wifi speed 1samsung galaxy a70 wifi speed 2


GPS signal
To test the quality of the GPS signal I use the Offline Maps application and I make the same train trip in pedestrian mode. Why? In pedestrian mode, the GPS does not artificially correct the signal to stick to the road, it has no markings, so you can see the actual position. For this GPS test I ran the train test as for the other phones and I found the result to be quite average. The Samsung sometimes offers a correct positioning and sometimes it deviates quite strongly without being dramatic but it is visible. If you go to 2:12 on the video below, you'll see that I pass under a very small tunnel (5 meters maximum), the Samsung loses the GPS signal for several seconds.



This impression of lack of precision is confirmed by the test in the following video. It shows that the Samsung takes a long time to establish its first contact with the network and then the accuracy fluctuates between 3 and 4 meters where the Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro or the Redmi Note 8 Pro both remain at 2 meters accuracy.



So GPS is not the strong point of this phone.



Battery range

[specs product="samsung-galaxy-a70" category="battery"] The Samsung Galaxy A70 has a 4500 mAh battery, with this kind of capacity you should be able to last several days. I use all my smartphones in the same way and I can quickly notice differences in performance between 2 phones with the same battery capacity. For example, I tested the Redmi Note 8 Pro which has the same battery capacity and I could last up to 3 days by switching off the phone every night. Under the same conditions, the Samsung Galaxy A70 lasts two days and sometimes even a little less. I guess the size of the screen must play a role but the gap between the two devices is still noticeable. I can't say that the Samsung has a bad battery life because with two days, it will be enough for most users but at equivalent capacity the Redmi Note 8 Pro does better.

Samsung gives a rather detailed view on the battery consumption, just search for "battery" in the settings to get the detailed consumption.

samsung galaxy a70 battery range 2 autonomie batteriesamsung galaxy a70 battery range 1 autonomie batterie



Audio quality

To test the quality of the phone's audio output, I connect the device's audio output to a measuring tool, then play sounds on all frequencies and measure the differences between the original sound and the sound produced by the phone. In this way I measure the phone's ability to correctly reproduce all sounds.
[specs product="%product_life%" category="sound"]
The last Samsung I tested (S10+) was simply the best phone for sound rendering, so I was curious to see if this A70 would offer the same kind of performance as the S10+. Unfortunately this is not the case. The Galaxy A70 is equipped with a mono speaker which is not very powerful, the bass lacks power and when the volume is pushed to full, you can clearly hear distortion. However, if you use headphones, the result is very different. The sound is powerful and the distortion at maximum volume is less pronounced. This can be seen in the technical test below.


Frequency Response
This test is intended to test the device's ability to correctly reproduce all frequencies. The white line in the middle of the graph is the ideal situation and the other colors come from tests on different phones. A deviation from the reference line indicates a deviation from the ideal situation. To see good sound at all frequencies, it is therefore necessary to get as close as possible to the reference line samsung galaxy a70 frequency respons

The Galaxy A70 is capable of reproducing sounds correctly on all frequencies, it follows almost perfectly the curve of the Samsung Galaxy S10+ which is a reference in this field. Without being able to verify it, this graph gives me the impression that the A70 uses the same material as the s10+ for the sound.


Dynamic Range
This test is designed to test a phone's ability to play sounds at different volume levels. Here too, the phones must be as close as possible to the reference samsung galaxy a70 dynamic range

My first subjective listening with the loudspeaker had disappointed me, listening with headphones gives a completely different experience. We can see here that the Galaxy A70 keeps a good reproduction of frequencies when the volume goes up. The distortion is well present but limited. At 80% of maximum volume, the sound is not distorted.


Noise Level
This test aims to identify if the device under test is able to reproduce sounds without too much noise. A high score indicates a low parasite rate, a lower score indicates a higher presence of parasites. samsung galaxy a70 noise level

The Galaxy A70 also follows here the tracks of the s10+, it does even better on certain frequencies where it deviates a little less from the reference.


CPU / GPU Performance

[specs product="samsung-galaxy-a70" category="hardware"]
CPU/GPU type
The Samsung Galaxy A70 is equipped with a Qualcomm SDM675 processor, this puts it above a Redmi Note 8 and almost on par with the Redmi Note 8 Pro in terms of performance. The Samsung is also equipped with an Adreno 612 graphics processor that is also found in other less expensive phones such as the Meizu Note 9 that I also tested. This Qualcomm / Adreno combination delivers good performance that will allow you to use this phone in any condition. Even games like PUBG Mobile are perfectly playable.

Here are all the specifications of the phone taken by the application Device info HW

Samsung Galaxy A70 hardware info 2Samsung Galaxy A70 hardware info 3Samsung Galaxy A70 hardware info 4Samsung Galaxy A70 hardware info 5Samsung Galaxy A70 hardware info 6Samsung Galaxy A70 hardware info 7Samsung Galaxy A70 hardware info 8Samsung Galaxy A70 hardware info 9Samsung Galaxy A70 hardware info 1


Benchmark 3DMark
I got a score of 213,584 points with Antutu, this score puts the Galaxy A70 in the middle of what is sold between 200 and 300€ today. The price positioning of the Samsung is therefore higher than its competitors offering similar performance for a lower price.

A score of this level should allow you to use this phone for any game or application.

The memory score is particularly remarkable, it ranks among the best. This will result in greater fluidity in all exchanges with the memory and the switch from one application to another should be faster than average. In use I have not noticed any difference with the Redmi Note 8 Pro.

Samsung Galaxy A70 Antutu 3Dmark 2Samsung Galaxy A70 Antutu 3Dmark 3Samsung Galaxy A70 Antutu 3Dmark 4Samsung Galaxy A70 Antutu 3Dmark 1


Benchmark Antutu[specs product="samsung-galaxy-a70" category="benchmark"] I got a score of 213,584 points with Antutu, this score puts the Galaxy A70 in the middle of what is sold between 200 and 300€ today. The price positioning of the Samsung is therefore higher than its competitors offering similar performance for a lower price.

A score of this level should allow you to use this phone for any game or application.

The memory score is particularly remarkable, it ranks among the best. This will result in greater fluidity in all exchanges with the memory and the switch from one application to another should be faster than average. In use I have not noticed any difference with the Redmi Note 8 Pro.

Samsung Galaxy A70 Antutu 3Dmark 2Samsung Galaxy A70 Antutu 3Dmark 3Samsung Galaxy A70 Antutu 3Dmark 4Samsung Galaxy A70 Antutu 3Dmark 1


Gaming
To test the performance in game, I download the mobile PUBG game and evaluate the in-game experience, graphics level and depth of vision. This game is quite demanding and should help you evaluating the performance of a phone. When I test a phone with PUBG Mobile, I usually have to choose the level of graphics, I didn't have to go through this step on the Samsung but I don't know if it's specific to this phone or if the game has changed since my last test. Anyway, the PUBG Mobile game runs very well on the Samsung Galaxy A70, the graphics level seems pretty good, the game depth is good too. I didn't notice any fluidity problems either.




Photo camera test

[specs product="samsung-galaxy-a70" category="camera"]

Hardware



Samsung's default photo application is quite complete, it offers the following modes:
- photo (main sensor + wide angle)
- video (main sensor)
- portrait
- pro
- panorama
- night
- super slow motion
- slow motion
- hyperlapse

I found that the application wasn't always very reactive to change mode, you can see it on the video where you sometimes have to try several times before changing mode.


Photo quality


Default app


Samsung's default photo application is quite complete, it offers the following modes:
- photo (main sensor + wide angle)
- video (main sensor)
- portrait
- pro
- panorama
- night
- super slow motion
- slow motion
- hyperlapse

I found that the application wasn't always very reactive to change mode, you can see it on the video where you sometimes have to try several times before changing mode.



Photo test / studio
First example: ƒ/1.7 1/496 3.92 mm 64 ISO
samsung galaxy a70 test photo studio 1
Exposure: underexposed
Sharpness: very good
Colours: correct
Depth of field: very good
Distortion: none
Chromatic aberration: none
Vignetting: none
Digital noise: none

For this first studio test, the Samsung gives underexposed pictures, this is the case for many other phones that go through this test. This does not mean that the outdoor photos will follow the same trend but under artificial light, the photos are underexposed. On the other hand, the sharpness is really good, you can see the smallest details very well. The depth of field is very well managed and the colors are faithful. The police car often appears with a blue closer to cyan, the Samsung has managed to reproduce the color correctly.

Second example: ƒ/2.2 1/571 1.42 mm 40 ISO
samsung galaxy a70 test photo studio 2
Exposure: highly underexposed
Sharpness: medium
Colours: correct but yellow stripes are present.
Depth of field: very good
Distortion: slight
Chromatic aberration: none
Vignetting: none
Digital noise: none

Wide-angle lenses don't let in as much light as the others and this can be seen very strongly in this picture. The phone could increase the exposure time but for some reason it doesn't and the picture is therefore strongly underexposed. This problem is not only present on Samsung phones, it's the same for all manufacturers. If you want to use this type of lens you have to do it in good weather because as soon as the brightness is not good, the wide angle will deliver too dark photos.

We also see yellow bands appearing on this picture, it seems that this sensor does not appreciate too much the artificial light of the studio, I saw these yellow bands also appearing on the screen when I took the pictures.

Third example: ƒ/1.7 1/496 3.92 mm 64 ISO
samsung galaxy a70 test photo studio 3
Exposure: underexposed
Sharpness: very good
Colours: correct
Depth of field: very good
Distortion: none
Chromatic aberration: none
Vignetting: none
Digital noise: none

Night mode used in daylight can sometimes save underexposed photos. In this example, we can see that the night mode does absolutely nothing, the photo has exactly the same EXIF as the photo taken in normal mode.


Photo test / sunny
First example: ƒ/1.7 1/1570 3.92 mm 64 ISO

Exposure: good
Sharpness: good
Colors: lack of saturation
Depth of field: good
Distortion: none
Chromatic aberration: none
Vignetting: none
Digital noise: none

I had to wait a few weeks before I could take pictures under the sun and good conditions but I took the opportunity to take pictures with the Galaxy A70 and compare them with the Galaxy S10+ and the Mi 9T Pro that I had on hand. On this first picture, if we don't compare it with other pictures, we can say that the Galaxy A70 does a good job even if the picture could have been a bit less dull, the colors lack a bit of saturation.

Let's take a look at what the Samsung Galaxy S10+ can do in exactly the same conditions:
samsung galaxy a70 test photo day 1 vs Galaxy S10
The focal length is slightly different but the picture is much more saturated and you can see much more details, the contrasts are also much stronger. However, we have to be honest, the comparison is not very fair. The Samsung Galaxy S10+ is one of the best cameras on the market but I wanted to demonstrate that without comparing the photo of the Galaxy A70 with another camera, the judgment on the photo can be fundamentally different.

Let's see what the Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro can produce under the same conditions:
samsung galaxy a70 test photo day 1 vs mi9T pro
The level of detail in this photo is quite similar to the photo taken with the Galaxy A70. What distinguishes the two photos is mainly the color saturation, the Xiaomi offers a little more saturation and a warmer image overall. This atmosphere corresponds quite well to reality.

Second example: ƒ/2.2 1/902 1.42 mm 40 ISO
samsung galaxy a70 test photo day 2
Exposure: good
Sharpness: good
Colours: good
Depth of field: good
Distortion: slight
Chromatic aberration: none
Vignetting: none
Digital noise: none

Pictures taken with the wide-angle sensor are generally less successful than with the main sensor, but this example shows the opposite. Wide-angle works wonderfully when the light is good, and it offers a better color rendering than the first photo. The angle offered by the Galaxy A70 is one of the most open angle I've tested so far, it will allow you to capture a very wide image.

Here is the picture taken with the Galaxy S10+:
samsung galaxy a70 test photo day 2 vs galaxy s10

Even if the saturation on the second shot was better than the first, the Galaxy s10+ offers a better rendering. The observation is the same as for the first photo, I would just add that the S10+ tends to exaggerate the saturation a bit because the sky was not as blue.

And finally the photo taken with the Mi 9T Pro:
samsung galaxy a70 test photo day 1b vs mi9T pro
The photo is also more saturated but I find that it has lost precision, at Xiaomi short focal lengths tend to be less accurate and this is true here too. The wide angle of the Galaxy A70 produces a sharper picture here.

Third example: ƒ/1.7 1/2018 3.92 mm 64 ISO
samsung galaxy a70 test photo day 3
Exposure: a little underexposed
Sharpness: good
Colors: lack of saturation
Depth of field: good
Distortion: slight
Chromatic aberration: none
Vignetting: none
Digital noise: none

This picture is a little dull compared to reality. The picture lacks a little bit of saturation and exposure when compared to the other phones.
samsung galaxy a70 test photo day 3 vs mi9tprosamsung galaxy a70 test photo day 3 vs galaxy s10samsung galaxy a70 test photo day 3

Here are some other pictures taken at the same time with the 3 smartphones:
samsung galaxy a70 test photo day 2 vs galaxy s10samsung galaxy a70 test photo day 6samsung galaxy a70 test photo day 5samsung galaxy a70 test photo day 4 vs mi9t prosamsung galaxy a70 test photo day 4 vs galaxy s10samsung galaxy a70 test photo day 4samsung galaxy a70 test photo day 3 vs mi9tprosamsung galaxy a70 test photo day 3 vs galaxy s10samsung galaxy a70 test photo day 3samsung galaxy a70 test photo day 2samsung galaxy a70 test photo day 1 vs mi9T prosamsung galaxy a70 test photo day 1 vs Galaxy S10samsung galaxy a70 test photo day 1b vs mi9T prosamsung galaxy a70 test photo day 1b vs Galaxy S10



Photo test / cloudy
First example: ƒ/1.7 1/415 3.92 mm 64 ISO
samsung galaxy a70 test photo day cloud 1

Exposure: slight under-exposure
Sharpness: good but sharpness at 100% is not so good.
Colors: Samsung applies a slight saturation treatment
Depth of field: good
Distortion: none
Chromatic aberration: none
Vignetting: none
Digital noise: good

The main sensor of the Samsung delivers good results in bad weather, the exposure should have been a little longer but overall the phone is doing well. Samsung applies an artificial treatment to the photos which generally works well. This treatment gives a greater dynamic range to the photos and avoids to be too fast with a completely white sky when clouds are very present.

Second example: ƒ/2.2 1/412 1.42 mm 40 ISO
samsung galaxy a70 test photo day cloud 2
Exposure: underexposure
Sharpness: good
Colors: Samsung applies a slight saturation treatment
Depth of field: good
Distortion: slight distortion at the edges
Chromatic aberration: none
Vignetting: none
Digital noise: light

With an exposure similar to the previous picture but with a higher aperture, you inevitably get a darker picture. The exposure is therefore less good here, this can be corrected directly on the phone but I prefer to show what the sensor is able to do without modification. The sharpness of this wide angle is good, even at 100%. On the main sensor, a 100% zoom reveals that the sharpness is forced, it is much less the case with this wide angle sensor.

Third example: ƒ/1.7 1/386 3.92 mm 64 ISO
samsung galaxy a70 test photo day cloud 3
Exposure: slight under-exposure
Sharpness: good
Colors: Samsung applies a slight saturation treatment
Depth of field: good
Distortion: none
Chromatic aberration: none
Vignetting: none
Digital noise: good

Night mode can be used in daylight as an alternative to HDR. Samsung's night mode is very fast in daylight. The photo looks quite similar to the first one because the processing of the first photo already brings a lot of improvements, so the night mode does not bring many new elements to the photo. The contrasts even look less pronounced. Where on other brands the night mode can save a photo when the light is not good, this is not the case with this Samsung because the basic sensor applies automatic processing that improves the photo without having to do anything.

samsung galaxy a70 test photo day cloud 1samsung galaxy a70 test photo day cloud 2samsung galaxy a70 test photo day cloud 3samsung galaxy a70 test photo day cloud 4samsung galaxy a70 test photo day cloud 5samsung galaxy a70 test photo day cloud 6


Test photo / night
First example: ƒ/1.7 1/25 3.92 mm 400 ISO
samsung galaxy a70 test photo night 1

Exposure: ok
Sharpness: medium
Colors: ok
Depth of field: ok
Distortion: Okay.
Chromatic aberration: ok
Vignetting: Okay.
Digital noise: Okay.

Samsung phones generally produce good night pictures but I was a little disappointed by the Galaxy A70. With 1/25 there is always a risk of motion blur and that's what's happening with this picture. On other phones with the same shutter speed, I manage to avoid blur and I don't explain why. You will see that in the following pictures I have a lot of blurred pictures. I often take pictures at night and I usually miss fewer pictures.

Second example: ƒ/2.2 1/17 1.42 mm 800 ISO
samsung galaxy a70 test photo night 2

Sharpness: bad
Colors: lack of saturation
Depth of field: ok
Distortion: visible on the sides
Chromatic aberration: ok
Vignetting: Okay.
Digital noise: Okay.

With a shutter speed of 1/17, the problem of blur is even greater in this picture. The wide angle lets in less light, the shutter is too slow and so in the end I get a blurry picture with a color degradation.

Third example: ƒ/1.7 1/20 3.92 mm 320 ISO
samsung galaxy a70 test photo night 3

Sharpness: good
Colors: ok
Depth of field: ok
Distortion: Okay.
Chromatic aberration: ok
Vignetting: Okay.
Digital noise: Okay.

Night mode corrects some of the problems with previous photos. Combining multiple photos enhances sharpness, colors are also more saturated and warmer.

Fourth example: ƒ/1.7 1/24 3.92 mm 500 ISO
samsung galaxy a70 test photo night 10

Sharpness: good
Colors: ok
Depth of field: ok
Distortion: Okay.
Chromatic aberration: ok
Vignetting: Okay.
Digital noise: Okay.

This time the photo is good, the Samsung applies a smoothing on some details and it is probably a treatment to reduce digital noise. The level of detail is still quite good. The colors are well saturated and correspond quite well to reality.

The sensor of the Galaxy A70 is able to take good pictures but it is more careful to use the night mode to avoid problems related to motion blur.

samsung galaxy a70 test photo night 12samsung galaxy a70 test photo night 11samsung galaxy a70 test photo night 10samsung galaxy a70 test photo night 9samsung galaxy a70 test photo night 8samsung galaxy a70 test photo night 7samsung galaxy a70 test photo night 6samsung galaxy a70 test photo night 5samsung galaxy a70 test photo night 4samsung galaxy a70 test photo night 3samsung galaxy a70 test photo night 2samsung galaxy a70 test photo night 1


Video quality


Stabilisation
As for each of my tests, I start with a video made under the same conditions to be able to compare the quality and stabilization with the other devices. Video stabilization is an issue for a large majority of phones and among the phones I tested, only the Galaxy S10+ offers good stabilization. The Galaxy A70 doesn't reach the level of the S10+ but it offers better stabilization a little above average. In the following videos, you can see that the A70 doesn't manage to completely erase the vibrations but the result is not catastrophic.


Video normale conditions

I wasn't lucky enough to have many sunny days during the test of the A70, so I had to settle for a cloudy day. The result is not bad, the Samsung adapts quickly to differences in brightness and the sharpness in 4k is really good. Horizontal movements are also smooth and the Samsung focuses quickly when moving.




Video low light
When the brightness decreases, the Samsung is much less effective in focusing. I had to manually focus the camera to prevent all the videos from being blurred. I had first run through this video without using manual focus and ended up with a blurred video from start to finish. In broad daylight the focus is fast but in bad conditions the phone is looking for its focus zone and can end up in a blurred area. Digital noise is also present but it's the case on most phones.




Screen quality

To test the screen, I use a colorimetric probe that measures the color accuracy of a screen, as well as other parameters to see if a screen is able to correctly reproduce an image. I also test the brightness level to determine if the screen will be able to display an image in full sunlight.
[specs product="samsung-galaxy-a70" category="screen"]
Colorimetry
samsung galaxy a70 screen colorimetry brightness test

Samsung is capable of producing excellent displays, the Samsung Galaxy S10+ is a benchmark in terms of image quality. The Galaxy A70 also has a very good screen but curiously, the green seems to deviate completely from the norm while the other colours are almost perfect. I was quite surprised by this result because I hadn't noticed anything to the naked eye, so I repeated the measurement at least 5 times and got the same result each time. This is a very curious result, especially for Samsung. In use, I find that the screen offers a very nice image but where the green dominates, the green will deviate from the reference color.

Brightness
I measured a maximum brightness a little over 400 cd/m² but this brightness can in theory go up to 600 if the device is exposed to strong light. With these values, you can use the Samsung Galaxy A70 in direct sunlight.


Contrast
The Samsung Galaxy A70 offers infinite contrast, which means that black is really black. The images will therefore have a very good depth.


Biometry


To unlock the screen of the Samsung Galaxy A70 you can use a pin code, 2D facial recognition and the fingerprint reader located directly on the screen.
Facial recognition works well if the brightness is good, as soon as it gets darker, recognition is more difficult. If you have read my other tests, you may have understood that I don't like the fingerprint sensor on the screen because most of the time it doesn't work well. I was pleasantly surprised by the Galaxy A70 because I have a much higher success rate than on other devices. Where I missed 5 out of 10 tries on the s10+, I miss 1 out of 10 tries with the A70.



Operating system


Most manufacturers have developed their own version of Android and at Samsung it is called One UI. This version of Android is in my opinion the best available at the moment. I quite like what Xiaomi has done with its MIUI but I think Samsung is still a step ahead.

At the top is the notification screen with clear and easy to understand icons, I just find that the brightness level should appear on the first screen as with the Xiaomi but for the rest everything is very clear.

On the left side of the home screen is a customizable area with Samsung's Bixby assistant. This assistant will allow you to group articles or applications according to your preferences, so you don't have to spend time searching. I find that the interest of this kind of function is quite limited, the rest of the operating system is easy enough to use so you don't need an assistant.

At the bottom is the list of applications with a dedicated search engine. Xiaomi should offer the same because to find an application, you have to use Google which also brings up results from the web. The settings section is very richly supplied but you have to use a search engine to find your way around because there are so many options. It's a bit the same problem on Xiaomi except that here the menus are better ordered.




Encoutered bugs


I've noticed some problems on the Samsung that I wouldn't call bugs but rather things that are a little irritating to use. I use my phones a lot as a modem, so I have to turn on the wifi hotspot and expect the phone to disconnect automatically after a period of inactivity. The Samsung allows to disconnect automatically except that it doesn't seem to do so. After 20 minutes of inactivity, the wifi hotspot was still on and I hadn't seen it. So I continued to use my mobile plan while I had wifi at my disposal, it's the kind of thing that can make your plan explode.

The screen is big and the borders are very thin, these are all positive things but with a screen this size it's almost impossible to use the phone with one hand and you end up holding it with one hand and using it with the other. So far everything seems normal except that the contact of your fingers on the sides will activate the screen. For example, I've often encountered the problem when typing a message where one of my fingers ended up pressing another key on the keyboard. It's not a bug but it's a habit to take.

To switch from one application screen to another you just have to slide the screen to the left or right, this is not always done correctly because I often ended up on the home screen even if I made sure to slide the screen from left to right. The A70 is either listening too much to the up or down movements, or it is the same problem as in the previous paragraph or another finger was pressing on the screen.


Accessories Samsung Galaxy A70

[accessoires type="smartphone" product="samsung-galaxy-a70" lg="en"]

Compare Samsung Galaxy A70 with the others

[ranks type="smartphone" device="Samsung Galaxy A70"]

Test / Review conclusion


I was lucky to be able to buy the Samsung Galaxy A70 at a much lower price thanks to my alert system because without this seller's mistake I would never have bought it. Why would I buy it? Simply because it is too expensive.

With a price around 350€, you can find a Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro that outperforms the Samsung almost in every way. Does this mean that the Samsung is a bad device? No, it's a good device but it's too expensive.

The screen is really immense and it offers a very beautiful image quality in spite of the abnormal difference on the green. The blacks are really black and this reinforces the contrasts.

At the network level, the A70 does very well, it offers a good sensitivity to the network in 4G and also offers a good download speed.

The Samsung is not a phone offering a big performance, it is also far below the competition but that will not prevent you from being able to play games like PUBG Mobile.

If I had to find a quality that puts it above its competitors, I would choose the sound quality (with headset). I think it uses the same components as the Galaxy S10+ because the sound is really great.

On the photo side the Samsung delivers good results but it doesn't really stand out from the competition. It offers good sharpness but makes curious choices in terms of exposure when the brightness drops.

It has a big weakness in terms of GPS.


Strengths
Screen size and quality
Superb sound quality (with headphones)
Good operating system
Good network sensitivity
Simple but correct finish

Weaknesses
GPS Performance
Battery not powerful enough
Sensitivity of the screen edges
Video Focus