Samsung brings the Galaxy A13 with 5G to the Philippines

It comes with a pastel colour scheme and a pretty expensive price

Samsung’s budget phones are not usually priced the most competitive but Samsung’s long experience with mobile phones and the continued refinement of their Android skin, OneUI, makes up for it. The Galaxy A13 5G sets out to be an “affordable” 5G phone. We say that in quotes because we can’t really justify Php13,990 for something like this.

The phone features not quite a Full HD+ screen (6.5in. 1600x720px IPS LCD, 90Hz refresh rate) and only a basic MediaTek Dimensity 700 chipset. It features a dated waterdrop notch to hold its questionably low-res 5MP front camera.

The rear cameras somewhat make up for it though. The main sensor has 50MP resolution while the other two are just really for decoration (2MP depth + macro). There is a 5000mAh battery with only 15W fast charging. Phones of similar price tags offer at least 20W.

The software is also dated. It uses the last-gen Android 11 with OneUI 4.1 on top. It has 4 or 6GB RAM surely it can run Android 12. It has 5G capabilities, Wi-Fi ac, Dual-band Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 5.1

The phone is available in two configurations: 4/128 and 6/128, and they are priced not so friendly to your wallet. It starts at Php13,990 and it goes all the way to Php14,990. In contrast, the Cherry Mobile Aqua SV with an AMOLED screen, in-display fingerprint sensor, and Dimensity 810 come at around Php12K, and the Realme 8 5G is priced at around Php10K.

The Galaxy A13 is not so much of an upgrade to the similarly specced A32 5G. It comes with an improved Dimensity 720 chipset (which we’re actually surprised no one else uses), the same display resolution, now upgraded to Android 12, and 8GB RAM. It comes with a similar price point too.

SPECS:

• 6.5in. HD+ (1600x720px) IPS LCD, 90Hz refresh rate
• MediaTek Dimensity 700 (7nm)
• CAMERAS:
  • 50MP (main), f/1.8
  • 2MP (depth), f/2.4
  • 2MP (macro), f/2.4
  • FRONT: 5MP, f/2.0
• 5000mAh, 15W fast charging
• OneUI 4.1 based on Android 11
• 5G services, Wi-Fi ac, Dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0
• Side-mounted fingerprint scanner, MicroSD card slot (up to 1TB), USB-C, 3.5mm jack
• Black, White, Light Blue, Orange
• PRICE:
  • 4/128: Php 13,990
  • 6/128: Php 14,990

The phone is yet to become available. We’ll let you know once it does. Although we don’t believe anyone would buy this at any practical reason.