The Samsung Galaxy A40, one of the rumored mid-range smartphones from Samsung expected to launch this year, has been tested on Geekbench. The device has the model number SM-A405FN and its benchmark results reveal a number of details about its specs. According to the source, the handset will sport the Exynos 7885 chipset. The SoC itself features two ARM Cortex A73 cores running at a maximum clock speed of 2.2GHz and six Cortex A53 cores clocked at up to 1.6GHz, in addition to sporting the Mali-G71 MP2 GPU. Furthermore, the device includes 4GB of RAM, according to the recently spotted benchmark listing, which also suggests the Galaxy A40 will ship with Android 9 Pie, i.e. Samsung’s custom implementation of the firmware – One UI.
In overall, the Galaxy A40 will likely be a cookie-cutter competitor in the lower mid-range segment that won’t offer any particularly noteworthy performance.
Background: The Samsung Galaxy A40 will be a part of the company’s revamped Galaxy A lineup. Aside from the Galaxy A40, other Galaxy A smartphones that Samsung will reportedly release this year are the A30, A50, A60, A70, and the A80. There is limited information available about the design and specifications of the Galaxy A40, and there are conflicting reports about the features of the Galaxy A handsets. Some reports claim that the Galaxy A series will feature OLED displays, which should differentiate the devices from the cheaper Galaxy M lineup. However, other reports mention that not all Galaxy A smartphones will sport OLED displays.
While the Galaxy A30, A40, A70, and the A80 may feature either an OLED or LCD display, the Galaxy A50 and Galaxy A60, which Samsung will reportedly sell in India and Southeast Asia, will almost certainly ship with LCDs. The possible inclusion of cheaper display technology will allow the device maker to sell the device at a lower cost despite the incorporation of more powerful internal hardware. Furthermore, reports also mention that Samsung will introduce new handset features with the more expensive Galaxy A devices, and there are also rumors stating that all Galaxy A smartphones will have four rear cameras, similar to the setup found in the Galaxy A9 that Samsung released in October 2018.
The inclusion of powerful internals and more premium features into Samsung’s mid-range and entry-level products is a part of the company’s efforts to improve the sales performance of the company’s less expensive smartphone offerings. Other efforts of the company to boost its market share in the mid-range segment of the smartphone market include the consolidation of handset brands, which should reduce confusion among potential consumers, and lower price tags, which enables Samsung to compete with the cheaper offerings of Chinese device makers.
Impact: While there is limited information available about the design of the upcoming device and the benchmark itself does not supply much information about its specifications, the newly emerged benchmark listing seems to confirm that the Galaxy A40 is in the works. Furthermore, it appears to be using a weaker chip than what’s expected to be used by the Galaxy A50, which suggests Samsung will continue using a naming scheme that’s rather telling in the context of illustrating the approximate level of performance consumers can expect.