Verizon Samsung Galaxy A51 5G UW Released: Is It Worth The Money?

Today we're taking a brief look at the newly released Samsung Galaxy A51 5G UW as released by Verizon in the summer of 2020. This device was released as a sort of alternative to the Samsung Galaxy S20, complete with 5G connectivity. Users were given the option to pay approximately $550 retail or around $15 a month for 24 months.

This device has a larger display that the Galaxy S20 (6.5-inches vs 6.2-inches) but has fewer pixels (1080 x 2400) and a lack of HDR10+, no 120Hz image refresh rate, and a plastic back instead of glass. If you wanted only the most basic features of the Galaxy S20, but do not find it important that a nearly twice-as-expensive smartphone has a better set of cameras.

The Galaxy A51 5G UW has a set of four cameras at its back, 48MP (f/2.0, 26mm (wide), 1/2.0-inch sensor, 0.8µm, PDAF), a 12MP ultrawide camera, and two 5MP cameras – one for macro, one for depth sensing. You'll also get 15W "fast charging" and no wireless charging. There's a relatively massive battery inside this version of the phone, too, at 4500mAh, so you'll likely see all-day battery life.

This version of the A51 5G UW works with 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage, as well as a microSD card slot that'll take up to 1TB microSD cards. The processor in this version of the A51 is not the same as the others – internationally you'll get an Exynos SoC, here you'll get a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G.

There's also a variety of other Samsung smartphones available at Verizon that cost less than the A51, but do NOT have 5G connectivity. The Galaxy A51 5G UW is currently the least expensive Samsung smartphone available from Verizon.

There's an LG V60 ThinQ 5G UW for around $650 ($27.08 a month for 24 months), and an LG V50 ThinQ 5G (non-UW) for around a thousand dollars. You could also get the OnePlus 8 5G UW for around $800 (or $33.33 a month for 24 months). In addition to being the cheapest Samsung 5G UW phone on Verizon, it's also the cheapest 5G UW phone on Verizon from any brand.

If you're in need of a 5G UW phone from Verizon, this is going to be your least expensive option, by a LONG shot. Unless you're paying for the phone month-by-month, in which case it feels a lot less important that your bill is a few ten-dollar-bills more in order to get a much more high-powered phone.