Table of Contents
Scope of delivery
- Smartphone
- USB Type C cable
- SIM tray clip
- Instructions
Specifications
| Dimensions and weight | 164.4 x 77.9 x 7.9 mm, 200 grams |
| Housing materials | Glass, plastic |
| Display | 6.7 inches, 1080×2340 pixels (20:9), 90 Hz, SuperAMOLED, 385 ppi, automatic brightness control (up to 800 nits), tempered glass |
| operating system | Google Android 14.0, OneUI 6 (up to six version updates) |
| Platform | Mediatek Helio G99 (technology 6 nm), Mali-G57 MC2 |
| Memory | 4/128 GB 6/128 GB microSD memory card up to 1.5 TB |
| Wireless interfaces | Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC |
| Net | Dual SIM, nanoSIM (combo slot), no eSIM support |
| Navigation | GPS/GLONASS/Beidou/Galileo |
| Sensors and connectors | USB Type C (USB 2.0), OTG Accelerometer, proximity sensor (based on front camera), light sensor, gyroscope, compass Fingerprint sensor built into the side button Face unlock |
| Main camera | 50 MP (f/1.8, PDAF) + 5 MP (f/2.2, wide-angle) + 2 MP (f/2.4 – macro without autofocus), LED flash, 1080p/30 video recording |
| Front camera | 13 MP (f/2.0), bokeh effect, various additional effects |
| Battery | Li-Pol 5000 mAh, no charger included, charging up to 25 W |
| Degree of protection | IP54 |
| Colors | Gray, water green, midnight blue |
| Sound | Two microphones |
| Payment system | Samsung Pay, Google Pay |
| Peculiarities | No charger included, FM radio (depending on country) |
Positioning
The demand for budget smartphones from Samsung is largely determined by faith in the brand, the trust of customers in the Samsung brand. A direct comparison of such devices with Chinese smartphones shows that they differ greatly both in the set of cameras and often in materials. It seems that Samsung charges a lot more for the brand and it won’t be difficult to find better deals in terms of price/quality ratio. But among the trump cards on Samsung’s side there is a pleasant little thing in the form of a long support cycle for its devices, which has extended even to budget models. Six years of updates are promised for this device, that is, until November 2030 you will receive new versions of Android, as well as OneUI. Don’t rush to rejoice, since such a long support cycle will directly depend on which device version you choose. There is no 5G version in Russia, in the absence of such networks it is not important, but the basic version has a memory capacity of 4/128 GB, which is not much for a modern smartphone; it is worth choosing the version with 6 GB of RAM, it is faster, and this is noticeable in real life. Such a small amount of memory in the basic version was apparently necessary to achieve the minimum price. Everything about this device is aimed at squeezing out the minimum cost, and it was created according to the patterns of the Galaxy A15 – the same processor, a slightly larger screen diagonal, but the same resolution. It is curious that in Russia the cost of the A15 is not much lower than that of the new product, as a result, you may be interested in a new smartphone if you need an inexpensive Samsung with OneUI and a long update cycle. Let’s take a closer look at the device.
Design, dimensions, control elements
In a budget phone, the main material is always plastic, and here we see it everywhere except the screen, it has tempered glass, but its type is not indicated. The matte plastic frame is quite massive, as is the device itself, which corresponds to a large display with a diagonal of 6.7 inches. The weight of the device is 200 grams, it feels like a heavy block. Dimensions – 164.4 x 77.9 x 7.9 mm, the device cannot be called small; compared to its predecessor, it has become thinner.
The back panel is matte, plays in the light, creating a very interesting effect at different viewing angles, in different lighting. The surface plays, but no fingerprints remain on it. No scratches or abrasion.
The camera block is designed in the style of the Galaxy 2024 line; these are separate lenses that protrude slightly from the body.
Despite the fact that this is a budget model, it has two microphones, on the top and bottom ends. At the bottom there is a USB Type C connector and the main speaker, there is no stereo pair, the earpiece is used only during calls.
On the left side there is a slot for two nanoSIM cards; you can also install a microSD memory card. On the right side there is a power button, a fingerprint sensor is included in it, the latter works quite quickly, there are no complaints about it. The paired volume key is located higher.
If you don’t like using a fingerprint sensor, you can use face unlock, it works just as quickly. The front camera is installed in the V-shaped cutout of the screen.
The display has a clearly visible edge, this is done so as not to damage the glass on the screen if you like to place the device face down. Both in terms of assembly and materials, this is a typical representative of the budget segment.
In Russia, the model is available in three colors.
Display
Let’s briefly list the technical characteristics of the screen: 6.7 inches, 1080×2340 pixels (20:9), 90 Hz, SuperAMOLED, 385 ppi, automatic brightness adjustment (up to 800 nits), tempered glass.
The first thing to note here is the appearance of a Super AMOLED display in a budget model; usually other manufacturers focus on IPS matrices, and this is Samsung’s advantage. On the other hand, the advantage is relative, since you need to look at other characteristics of the device, and not just the screen.
There are few settings, you can set 90 Hz for animation, a blue filter, choose the color scheme, and also increase the screen’s sensitivity to touches.
Unfortunately, there is no AoD here, which would be logical for such a screen, but it was left for older models.
Battery
The smartphone has a built-in Li-Pol battery with a capacity of 5000 mAh, it supports fast charging; according to an unkind tradition, the charger is not included in the package. When using a 25W charger, you will get the following charging times.
| Charging time, Samsung charger, 25 W | |
| minutes | % |
| 10 | 18 |
| 20 | 34 |
| 30 | 50 |
| 40 | 62 |
| 50 | 74 |
| 60 | 85 |
| 70 | 92 |
| 80 | 95 |
| 89 | 100 |
On average, the device lasts about three days with moderate use (2-2.5 hours of screen time, normal work with applications). With active use, the battery will run out in two days (4-4.5 hours of screen time). It is necessary to make allowances for the fact that the usage profile of such a device differs from conventional smartphones, its target audience does not actively use the network, people do not spend so much time with their phones every day.
Memory, chipset, performance
The Galaxy A16, like the A15, used the Mediatek Helio G99 chipset (6 nm technology). The chipset is old, well-known in the budget segment, and it is clearly not enough to make the device smooth and fast; microlags are visible in the interface, it slows down. This is a budget model with all that it implies. But the most important thing is that the basic version of 4/128 GB is clearly insufficient; more memory is needed (this is why Samsung has created a variety of memory options, but we are describing a budget option).
In synthetic tests the device shows very modest results.
Under load, throttling practically does not occur, the device does not heat up.
Communication capabilities
The Galaxy A16 has dual-band Wi-Fi and supports VHT80, which provides good data transfer speeds. Bluetooth version 5.3, NFC is present (depending on the region, it is available in Russia).
In terms of navigation, everything is also very good (GPS/A-GPS/GLONASS/Beidou), a cold start on city streets occurs in 2-3 seconds, the navigation accuracy is excellent, there are no complaints.
Camera
These are the modules used in this model.
The camera interface is familiar to other Samsung models.
Let’s look at the photos.
There is no optical zoom in the device; the crop from the main camera is used (x2).
Front camera 13 MP (f/2.2), bokeh effect, various additional effects. Look at the example photo, everything here is familiar and at the level of other models.
Let’s look at examples of photos and videos from the camera.
Software – Features
The model is initially based on Android 14 and OneUI 6, that is, this is the latest version of the interface at the time of the device’s release. Six years of updates are available for OneUI and Android.
Standard applications include a calculator, file manager, voice recorder and other applications that are necessary for comfortable work out of the box.
There are also scripts here, a very cool thing that I use and recommend to you.
Impressions
The connection quality is as expected, there are no problems. In Russia, this model is presented in the 4G version; you can buy the basic version for 20 thousand rubles. The cost is high, since there are many other models on the market from Chinese companies; they are more profitable in terms of price/quality ratio and faster in terms of processor. And it’s unlikely that people will buy a budget smartphone for many, many years without considering its performance. There is a certain contradiction here: the cool OneUI software is a huge advantage of this Samsung, but the downside is that the performance of the solution does not correspond to the modern market; there models are faster, primarily due to the larger amount of RAM.
Just like for the A15, high sales are due to the fact that this is the most affordable Samsung, people choose the brand and, in principle, are happy with it, they don’t look around. But there are a huge number of offers in this price segment, and the models are interesting in their characteristics and convenience. It is important for Samsung to increase the performance of such devices and make them more affordable in order to compete in the market not only due to the strength of the brand.
Surprisingly, when communicating with many A15 users, I heard that they were extremely satisfied with their devices, switched to them from very old devices, looked for an inexpensive device from an A-brand and found it in the form of such an offer from Samsung.
Refusal of the 3.5 mm jack looks like a step towards modern devices, but some will not like it (there is still a choice in the form of A15). Moisture protection according to the IP54 standard has appeared, but this is not full protection against water, so don’t delude yourself here either. In general, the device is budget and is perceived as such; you definitely shouldn’t expect much from it.
Source: mobile-review.com
