Hands-On

Samsung Galaxy A42 5G Hands-On: Surprisingly decent

A 5G phone that deserves some of your attention

Published

December 21, 2020

Midrangers with 5G are slowly becoming abundant as 5G connectivity expands around the world and in the Philippines. Samsung wants in on this market with the introduction of the Samsung Galaxy A42 5G.

At first glance, it looks like a phone from yesteryears.

The vertical pattern on its back notwithstanding, the camera array as well as its overall form factor feels like its a 2019 A-series phone. Which isn’t entirely a bad thing.

That back does get this nice glimmer when hit with light.

In front you’ll see a tear-drop-ish notch — definitely a relic of the past — housing a 20MP selfie shooter.

Also clearly visible are the bezels on the screen. It’s thicker than what you’ll find on flagships, but there are still a handful of phones like this in the midrange arena.

Going down under, you’ll see the 3.5mm jack. USB-C port, and speaker-grilles.

Over to the left is the SIM card tray.

And on the right are the volume rockers and power button.

It has a 6.6-inch SUPER AMOLED display, as expected of Samsung.

And is surprisingly easy to hold in one hand despite the rather large screen and device footprint.

Whether you’re browsing or making calls, this shouldn’t put too much of a strain on your hand.

And of course, it has 5G.

More than satisfactory performance

Equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 750 5G SoC with up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, the Galaxy A42 5G won’t leave you wanting when it comes to performance.

Stalking your crush on IG, ranting on Twitter, or leaving sassy comments on your friends’ Facebook posts — these are just some of the menial things we do on our phones. They, in no way, push the phone to the limit, but you’ll get a generally lag-free experience on this phone.

The Super AMOLED display is as vibrant as ever. It’s fantastic for consuming all kinds of content. For instance, this episode of Start-Up where Chul-San and SaHa finally get together making you feel, even more, the pain of your singlehood.

The overall smooth experience is felt throughout the interface. This phone, after all, is running Android 10 with ONE UI 2.5 on top.

Battery life lasts at an expected entire day. You also wouldn’t break a sweat should you forget to charge it overnight. The chip’s power management along with the 5000mAh battery make for a good combo. Nothing mind-blowing, but very serviceable. It also supports 15W fast charging.

Let’s talk cameras

Cameras because, like most other midrangers, the Galaxy A42 5G comes with four (on the rear) and one on its front as mentioned earlier.

The four cameras are: 48MP wide, 8MP ultrawide, and a couple 5MP shooters for macro and depth. You’ll find some sample shots below.

Most of these were taken in low light conditions. It took a couple of tries before getting shots we like but they’re more than good enough for taking quick snaps with your date — assuming you can actually get one.

Under a good light source, the camera performs admirably. Par for the course for most midrangers these days.

The selfie is… okay. This wasn’t the ideal lighting condition but the result is a solid 7/10.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

At PhP 19,990, there’s not much else you can ask for. It delivers a better than decent overall performance for its price range, the Super AMOLED display looks fantastic, and you get 5G connectivity wherever available. It’s a sweet deal.

Of course, you’ll have to contend with those bezels and that less than appealing teardrop notch. If you can get past these, what you’re getting is a rather affordable 5G-capable smartphone that performs well and takes decent photos.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

Hands-On

OPPO Reno15 F 5G hands-on

More question marks than exclamation points?

Published

March 6, 2026

Manila Connoisseur

The OPPO Reno15 Series 5G made its way to the Philippines last month, and reception has been pretty great so far.

With a powerful camera package, AI, and a slew of upgrades, there’s a lot to love and not much negative to say. But that’s with both the standard and Pro models.

On the other hand, with the Reno15 F 5G — the series’ supposed budget-friendly “lite” variant —there were more question marks than exclamation points.

I attack this piece once more from a consumer standpoint: shelling out PhP 23,000 to PhP 26,000 for a midrange smartphone that feels and performs like it’s a few notches below its segment doesn’t sound too pleasant.

Performance

With a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor, the OPPO Reno15 F performs pretty much like any sub PhP 20,000 mid-ranger. It’s acceptable, but does not punch above its weight as expected.

No major hiccups for light and casual usage. But performance struggles a lot for demanding video games.

It also heats up significantly just 10 minutes into a title like Honkai: Star Rail. This is a stark contrast to the marketed 25℃ and up to 10 hours straight of smooth gameplay.

Although, the experience was still enjoyable with several wins and MVP runs in Call of Duty Mobile. It only means the F variant remains a more camera-centric phone rather than an a hard-hitting all-arounder.

As with other devices, the 7000mAh battery with 80W SUPERVOOC is a strong suit. You’re fueled from dawn ’til dusk, with much to spare. Recharging takes a breeze, too.

Display

The OPPO Reno15 F has a 6.57-inch 120Hz display, with a 92.8% screen-to-body ratio. At least, that allows you to focus on content on the screen.

Content leans more towards the cooler tone, so you’ll have to adjust it manually if you want a warmer or more vivid look.

The 397ppi pixel density is fine to ensure sharper visuals, while the 1400 nits peak brightness is helpful outdoors.

Camera

The device’s 50MP main camera captures decent quality. The color science leans on being natural anew, without being too dull nor washed out. You can pull off smooth portraits too.

I hardly used the phone for stills as I focused on videos, but here are some samples, on the occasions I was able to take the handset with me:

The 50MP front camera is an intriguing add-on, as it is capable of up to 4K video and a wide 100° field of view.

What this does is it essentially removes the need to flip your phone for the popular “0.5” shots. And the quality doesn’t get compromised given the pixel count.

Here are some selfies from different focal lengths:

To its credit, filming with the back camera at 60fps does look and feel smooth, although it can be improved.

Same with the front camera; and the zoom range can be switched from 0.6 to 2x without cutting the recording.

Although, it’s still best to use a selfie stick or small tripod if you’re just after talking head videos.

Speaking of which, here are a few I’ve made with just this device:

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But for travel and on-the-go captures, as OPPO markets for the series in general, even the Reno15 F can cover a lot of background along with your or your groups’ faces.

Make no mistake, there are some useful AI editing features here. In particular, AI Portrait Glow gives your raw capture an effect to make it look it was taken with flash.

I do not recall the device heating up as well when taking many photos or videos, so you can say it’s more optimized for that task rather than gaming.

Connectivity issues

Meanwhile, AI LinkBoost 3.0, as in the case of the OPPO A6 Pro, doesn’t seem to punch above its weight either.

Once, I also played Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and the session opened to a jittery start despite being on Wi-Fi and having a stable connection. I don’t know what triggered this.

Design, feel

We got the Aurora Blue variant which does kind of resemble the northern lights when you tilt the phone a certain way and when light hits its back panel.

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The cursive “Reno” on the large, protruding camera island gives it more style.

However, it’s all just aesthetics. On the downside, the phone is all sorts of slippery.

I couldn’t hold it properly without think of it slipping away from my hands; nor could I put it on my lap with confidence.

So I guess it’s good that it has structural integrity and waterproofing, because you’ll need that.

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The 6.57-inch body does have a good balance between being too compact and too large, like ultras and pro maxes.

It has a squarish body and has already adapted to the premium, aluminum frame look from the sides.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

Sadly, the OPPO Reno15 F 5G is a Swipe Left unlike its bigger, more capable siblings. There are plenty of plus points for the camera package but take that away, and I don’t see much difference between the Reno15 F and something like the A6 Pro.

Granted, the asking price of this phone will drop significantly in a few months. But throw in a little more, and you’ve got a legitimate mid-ranger that’s more on the premium side rather than the cheap end of the spectrum.