While Samsung makes a big splash every year with its Galaxy S-series of phones and its lineup of foldable phones, the truth is those are very expensive. Heck, many of the best Android phones you can buy today are costly, often pushing over $1,000. However, plenty of manufacturers have gotten quite competitive in the midrange and budget phones market as of late. So even though Samsung often makes headlines with its more premium phones, they also make some of the best budget Android phones — including the Galaxy A03s.

It's been a long time since I put a phone into my hands that's not a flagship device catered toward tech enthusiasts or power users, and I'll admit that I came into reviewing the Galaxy A03s expecting to hate it. But to my surprise, there wasn't too much to hate. Now, don't get me wrong: the Galaxy A03s is a far cry from any flagship, but for a basic phone designed to do basic tasks, it fills its role pretty well. Although it has some annoying drawbacks, it may be the best phone out there for those who want a cheap phone and don't care about much else.

Samsung's gotten its budget phones down to a science; as such, the Galaxy A03s isn't much different from the Galaxy A02s that came before it. It still has a 720p LCD at 60Hz and the same set of not-very-good cameras. And even though it comes with Android 11 out of the box, it can be updated to Android 13.

The most significant difference over the previous model is the new inclusion of a fingerprint sensor built into the power button. It's also got 3GB of RAM this time around instead of the measly 2GB the A02s had, doubling the storage to 32GB. All in all, if you just need a basic phone for cheap, the Galaxy A03s is a pretty good choice.

Specifications
  • SoC: MediaTek Helio P35
  • RAM: 3GB or 4GB
  • Storage: 32GB or 64GB (expandable via microSD)
  • Battery: 5,000 mAh
  • Ports: USB-C, Headphone jack
  • Operating System: Android 11 with One UI 3.1 (Upgradable to Android 13)
  • Front camera: 5MP (f/2.2)
  • Rear camera: 13MP f/2.2 primary; 2MP f/2.4 macro, 2MP f/2.4 depth
  • Connectivity: LTE only, no 5G
  • Dimensions: 164.2 x 75.9 x 9.1mm
  • Colors: Black
  • Display type: 6.5" 720 LCD, 60Hz
  • Weight: 196g
  • Charge speed: Up to 15W wired
  • IP Rating: n/a
  • Price: MSRP $160
Pros
  • Fingerprint sensor works well
  • More RAM and storage than predecessor
  • More durable than I thought it would be
Cons
  • Sluggish performance
  • Cameras are not very good
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Availability and network

Samsung has always been good at making its phones work with most, if not all, of the major carriers in the regions they sell them, so it's no surprise that the Galaxy A03s works with all the extensive networks in North America.

Oddly enough, in the U.S., Samsung only sells one version of the Galaxy A03s with a base storage of 32GB, which is expandable with a microSD card and 3GB of RAM. Meanwhile, the international version sold in Europe has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. It would be nice if that version were available on this side of the pond because the limited RAM and storage can sometimes feel a little wrong. In any case, the $160 MSRP is the star of the show since this phone might be for people who just need something barebones.

If you care about 5G, then you'd want to look at the Samsung Galaxy A14 5G instead of the A03s, as one of the ways Samsung has gotten the price so low on the A03s is to exclude 5G compatibility. With 5G still emerging technology in many ways, this might not even matter to you, and the 4G LTE connection speeds on the A03s won't be a dealbreaker.

Design and displaySamsung Galaxy A03s Home screen

Samsung often has the best displays you can get on the market in its premium smartphones, and I will say, even though the A03s only features a 720p resolution, it's still a pretty pleasant screen to look at. The 6.5-inch LCD is nice and big, making it a great screen to watch YouTube videos or scroll your social needs feeds. However, the resolution is low, so if you like to hold your phone closer to your face, you'll notice a bit of pixelation. Also, it only has a 60Hz refresh rate, so you don't get that super smooth scrolling you would get on more expensive phones, but all in all, the screen doesn't disappoint. The 720p isn't that noticeable of a difference on a small screen if you're viewing it at arm's length.

Its design is basically the same as the previous A02s, which is to say, it's a plastic body. The back still has a texture and pattern; it's a pinstripe instead of the geometric design we saw before, so it's a little less fingerprint-prone than the glossy plastic you may see on other cheap phones. Surprisingly, I found the plastic on the back to be decently durable. My clumsy hands have dropped the Galaxy A03s a few times since grabbing it about a month ago, and I'm pretty happy to report that the plastic on the back hasn't gotten scuffed or scratched up. I'm not saying you should feel safe dropping the phone, but I'm pleased that the device wasn't obliterated when it fell on the floor from the height of my coffee table and writing desk.

Close up of the camera module on the back of the Samsung Galaxy A03s

If you like using wired headphones, you'll be happy to know the Galaxy A03s retains a headphone jack that its predecessor had. Right next to it on the bottom of the phone is the USB-C port for charging, and living in the power button on the side is the fingerprint sensor. It's been a great addition to the budget phone, and I'm glad it's there. It's quite reliable and pretty quick to recognize your biometric ID when you're trying to open the phone. Sometimes it's too short, and you can see the phone's software trying to catch up, but I'll touch on that a little later.

Lastly, with only 32GB of onboard storage, you'll probably want to use that microSD slot, which will support up to 1 TB, and the phone even supports dual SIM.

Software and performanceSamsung Galaxy A03s in a hand with the settings panel displayed on screen

What's cool about picking up any Samsung phone is the commitment to updates and software support. Right out of the box, I could update the Galaxy A03s to Android 13. Samsung's One UI 5 is a decent Android skin; its focus on swipe gestures is intuitive enough to simplify navigating the software on the phone. Of course, there's still a bit of Samsung bloatware to manage, but it's not so egregious to be a constant annoyance. You'll likely want to switch out a few things, like the keyboard and calendar apps that Samsung put into its phones, but you shouldn't have to do too much retooling to find a setup you'll like.

While it's nice to have Android 13, the MediaTek Helio P35 chipset powering the phone needs to work to get the simplest tasks done, and the measly 3GB of RAM (while an upgrade from its predecessor) does the phone no favors. You shouldn't expect a ton of speed from a phone that only costs 160 dollars, yet I still found that loading apps, downloading updates, or even just trying to navigate around the UI quickly was a tad slower at times than you want it to be.

The good news is that once an app is loaded up, like Twitter, for example, and you give the phone a minute to catch its breath, you can scroll through a social media feed relatively easily. I found TikTok to be the same unless trying to flip through videos at breakneck speeds. All in all, for a budget phone, it performs okay. You'll get your basic tasks done, but don't expect to do any gaming or multitasking. Just embrace the "slow and steady wins the race" mentality.

Cameras

Unfortunately, Samsung didn't give us any upgrade in the rear camera array, leaving the Galaxy A03s with a 13MP primary sensor, a 2MP macro lens, and a 2MP depth sensor — none of them perform super well.

The primary lens is the best of the bunch, and with proper lightning, it can yield some decent results. Honestly, you need lots of light to make it work consistently. You can see by the picture of my cat, Lily, that the daylight in the living room still wasn't enough to take a clear shot. What's worse than needing bright light is that the camera app is so sluggish and seriously suffers with any bit of movement. For example, if your hands are unsteady while taking a shot — or your subject moves even in the slightest — right as you press the shutter button, that photo won't have sharp edges.

Anytime my cat moved slightly, or I tried to readjust the camera and take a picture too quickly, the picture did not turn out great. Sometimes it was just me not holding my hands steady enough, like in the picture holding the Google Pixel.

The macro and portrait lenses are so bad that they aren't even worth mentioning. All the photos I attempted (like the ones with the keyboard and the portrait of my cat posted above) never turned out to be photos I'd ever want to use. Even with as much light as I could muster, they often ended up dark, lacking contrast and very little detail.

Bottom line: don't buy the Galaxy A03s for the camera. The primary lens can work in a pinch if you have patience and lots of light, but the picture-taking experience is frustrating for the most part.

Battery lifeSomeone with a Samsung Galaxy A03s up to their ear

Since the phone can't do too much when it comes to super battery-draining activities, the battery life is pretty stellar. With average use, I consistently got around 36–48 hours of battery life out of my Galaxy A03s. The major exception was when I spent a couple of hours mindlessly scrolling through TikTok one evening (don't judge me). I noticed it was eating my battery much faster than all the web browsing and Twitter scrolling usually do. Still, even with pushing it pretty heavily on some days, it was easy to get through an entire day and then charge it overnight.

Unfortunately, charging is slow. Capped at a max of 15W, the 5,00mAH battery inside definitely takes a good few hours to charge up. Not a problem if you're just plugging it in while you sleep overnight, but if you want to top up quickly before you leave the house for the evening, that's not something the A03s can do.

Should you buy it?Samsung Galaxy A03s laying screen side down on wooden bookshelf

As someone typically running with some sort of flagship phone as my daily driver, be that a Google Pixel, a Samsung S-series, or even an iPhone, the Galaxy A03s took me a little while to get used to. However, if you are a budget phone expert, you won't make the same mistake I did and try to use this phone the way you would a flagship device. Once I got used to using the phone a bit slower, I didn't hate the experience too much. As long as I didn't have to take a picture, the phone felt like it had enough going for it.

With a budget phone, some compromises are expected. It's unsurprising that the Samsung Galaxy A03s is a bit slow, doesn't have great cameras, and can be frustrating when trying to do too much on it. Still, the phone is $160 or less, making it a perfect match for someone looking for a barebones phone at an incredibly affordable price.