Samsung Galaxy A12 vs Galaxy A04s

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Samsung Galaxy A12 vs Galaxy A04s

Here we compared two budget smartphones: the 6.5-inch Samsung Galaxy A12 (with MediaTek Helio P35) that was released on November 24, 2020, against the Samsung Galaxy A04s, which is powered by Exynos 850 and came out 21 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A12
  • Shows 19% longer battery life (41:00 vs 34:19 hours)
  • Delivers 21% higher peak brightness (472 against 391 nits)
  • Has an ultra-wide angle camera lens
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A04s
  • Higher display refresh rate – 90 Hz
  • Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR4X 1866 MHz
  • 22% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (162K versus 133K)
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 5 wireless networks
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Exynos 850
  • The phone is 1-year and 9-months newer

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy A12 and Galaxy A04s crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation

Value for money

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type PLS TFT PLS TFT
Size 6.5 inches 6.5 inches
Resolution 720 x 1600 pixels 720 x 1600 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 20:9
PPI 270 ppi 270 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 90 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 450 nits 400 nits
HDR support No No
Screen protection Tempered glass Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 82.1% 80.7%
Display tests
RGB color space 96.3% 95.1%
PWM 337 Hz Not detected
Response time 52 ms 20 ms
Contrast 864:1 1291:1
Peak brightness test (auto)
472 nits
391 nits

Design and build

Height 164 mm (6.46 inches) 164.7 mm (6.48 inches)
Width 75.8 mm (2.98 inches) 76.7 mm (3.02 inches)
Thickness 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) 9.1 mm (0.36 inches)
Weight 205 g (7.23 oz) 195 g (6.88 oz)
Waterproof No No
Rear material Plastic Plastic
Frame material Plastic Plastic
Colors White, Black, Blue, Red White, Black, Green, Orange
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-button Yes, in-button
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Samsung Galaxy A12 and Samsung Galaxy A04s in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset MediaTek Helio P35 Samsung Exynos 850
Max clock 2300 MHz 2000 MHz
CPU cores 8 (4 + 4) 8 (8)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A53
- 4 cores at 2.3 GHz: Cortex-A53
- 8 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55
Lithography process 12 nanometers 8 nanometers
Graphics PowerVR GE8320 Mali-G52 MP1
GPU shading units 32 24
GPU clock 680 MHz 820 MHz
FLOPS ~43.5 GFLOPS ~39.4 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
162743
CPU 49721 60921
GPU 16841 16172
Memory 34529 44078
UX 32377 41259
Total score 133842 162743
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature 44.1 °C 41.9 °C
Stability - 97%
Graphics test - 3 FPS
Graphics score - 508
PCMark 3.0
Web score - 5370
Video editing - 5828
Photo editing - 8393
Data manipulation - 4091
Writing score - 5665

Memory

RAM
RAM size 3, 4, 6 GB 3, 4 GB
Memory type LPDDR4 LPDDR4X
Memory clock 1866 MHz 1866 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 32, 64, 128 GB 32, 64, 128 GB
Storage type eMMC 5.1 eMMC 5.1
Memory card MicroSD MicroSD
Memory card max size Up to 1024 GB Up to 1024 GB

Software

Operating system Android 10.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13)
ROM One UI Core 5.1 One UI Core 5.1
OS size 13 GB 12 GB

Battery

Capacity 5000 mAh 5000 mAh
Max charge power 15 W 15 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No No
Reverse charging No No
Fast charging Yes (20% in 30 min) Yes (28% in 30 min)
Full charging time 3:03 hr 2:14 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 16:07 hr 12:16 hr
Watching video 12:14 hr 13:10 hr
Gaming 06:08 hr 06:12 hr
Standby 153 hr 120 hr
General battery life
41:00 hr
34:19 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 48 megapixels 50 megapixels
Image resolution 8000 x 6000 8192 x 6144
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Digital Digital
8K video recording No No
4K video recording No No
1080p video recording Up to 30FPS Up to 30FPS
Slow motion No No
Angle of widest lens 123° -
Lenses 4 (48 MP + 5 MP + 2 MP + 2 MP) 3 (50 MP + 2 MP + 2 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 48 MP
- Aperture: f/2.0
- Focal length: 26 mm
- Pixel size: 0.8 micron
- Sensor: 1/2", Samsung S5KGM2 (ISOCELL CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- 50 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8
- Phase autofocus
Ultra-wide lens - 5 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
-
Macro lens - 2 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- 2 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
Depth lens - 2 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- 2 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- Bokeh mode
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy A12 from DxOMark -
Selfie camera
Megapixels 8 megapixels 5 megapixels
Image resolution 3264 x 2448 2560 x 1960
Aperture f/2.0 f/2.2
Sensor type CMOS CMOS
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS

DxOMark camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 4 (802.11 b/g/n) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5 5
Bluetooth features PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS
NFC * Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM * 2 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support * No No
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat * 7 4
5G support No No

Sound

Speakers Mono Mono
Headphone audio jack Yes Yes
FM radio Yes Yes
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
80.9 dB

Other

Category Budget Budget
Announced November 2020 August 2022
Release date December 2020 September 2022
SAR (head) 0.67 W/kg 0.52 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.38 W/kg 1.23 W/kg
Sensors - Proximity sensor
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Fingerprint
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger - Not included
* Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

If the display, gaming, and design are more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy A04s . But if the battery life is more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy A12 .

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