Update, August 14 (12:55 am ET): The Galaxy A51 5G is now available from Verizon as well.
What you need to know
- Samsung has introduced the Galaxy A51 5G to the U.S.
- It will go on sale on T-Mobile and Metro from August 7th and Verizon on the 13th.
- Samsung previously launched the Galaxy A71 5G for $600.
Samsung has just announced the launch of the Galaxy A51 5G in the U.S this week. The phone, already sold internationally, will join the Galaxy A71 and Samsung Galaxy S20 as the company's U.S. slate of 5G phones. It will also be the cheapest phone Samsung's selling with the next-gen wireless standard at $499.99.
It will come to T-Mobile and Metro from August 7, with a Verizon UW variant to follow shortly after on August 13.
The Galaxy A51 is an impressively designed phone, but we weren't overly impressed with it when reviewing the 4G version earlier in the year.
Writing for Android Central, Harish Jonnalagadda opined:
The A51 will be going on sale in the U.S. and other global markets in a few months, and while there aren't many devices at the $350 price point, there are a few options like the Pixel 3a. If you're spending $350 on a phone in 2020, you'll want usable hardware, and the A51 fails to deliver on that front.
It's more or less the same as the older version, this means a 6.5" Full HD+ amoled display, a quad-camera display with a 48MP main camera, a 12 MP ultra-wide-angle lens, a 5MP macro lens and a final 5MP telephoto lens. It comes with 6GB of RAM onboard, 128GB of storage as standard, and support for a micro-SD slot. The 5G here is enabled by the Samsung Exynos 980, different from the Exynos 9611 on the 4G model.
It's not clear whether the addition of 5G and the newer chip will be enough to move the needle on this point of value. Nicer 5G phones like the Motorola Edge and OnePlus Nord already exist for the same price, and if you must have a Samsung, the A71 is a better phone in every way.
Update, June 15 (11:15 pm ET) — You can now get the Galaxy A51 5G UW from Verizon for $550
The Samsung Galaxy A51 5G UW is now on sale on Verizon's website for $550. As its name clearly suggests, the Galaxy A51 5G UW supports Verizon's ultra-wideband 5G network. Just like the Galaxy A71 5G, the A51 5G UW runs on a Snapdragon 765G chipset. For a limited period of time, you can buy the phone for just $360 if you get a new Unlimited plan.
Galaxy A51 5G UW
The Galaxy A51 5G is currently among the most affordable 5G-enabled smartphones on sale in the U.S. It is powered by a capable Snapdragon 765G chipset and offers a vibrant 6.5-inch FHD+ AMOLED display.
