Samsung Galaxy A51 review

Android 10 and One UI 2 out of the box

The Galaxy A51 is one of the first Samsung phones to boot Android 10 out of the box, complete with the latest custom One UI 2.0. It's nice to see that new models are launching with their software already up to date, as opposed to having to wait several months for an OTA.

We've already seen the 10/2.0 combo on several flagship Galaxies, where it arrived as an update. On top of that, the second version of One UI isn't all that different from the original, save for the new take on gesture navigation. Even so, the A51's build comes with a small surprise - you get Edge screen.

Previously reserved for the flagships where they would go together with the curved edge displays, the Edge screen set of features have made their way to the mostly flat-screened Galaxy A51. Edge panels is a well-known, long-standing feature that gives you quick access to apps, actions, tools, etc. with a single swipe from the side. You can choose which side the handle is located on, as well as adjust its position along the edge of the phone. In the Edge screen sub-menu, you will also find Edge lighting - it's a feature that can light up different types of peripheral glow for notifications, and as you've probably guessed, there are tons of options and styles to choose from.

Edge screen

Gesture navigation is also available, and you get to pick between the One UI 2 set of actions or go back to the One UI 1 way of doing things. The former is similar to the current native Android 10 approach with a swipe-in from the sides for 'Back' and swipe-up from the bottom for Home or task switcher. The old way is by swiping up from three separate areas on the bottom that do what the on-screen buttons before them used to do. If you can't be bothered with gesturess, the conventional onscreen nav bar remains an option too.

Navigation options

Other cool recent developments have made their way to the A51, including Dark mode. It skins UI elements in black and shades of dark gray and also invokes the dark modes of supported apps, which include the in-house ones as well as the Google suite (not Maps, though, not yet).

Dark mode

Biometrics on the Galaxy A51 include an optical fingerprint reader and basic camera-only face detection. The fingerprint reader experience is trouble-free, with the usual multi-step setup feeling a bit tedious but rewarding when it comes to accuracy afterwards.

It's not the fastest of sensors and feels more like Samsung's ultra-sonic units in the flagships as opposed to a good, nearly-instant optical one, and the laggy animation doesn't help with perceived speed, but it's mostly a usable reader that doesn't get in the way.

Settings • Biometrics

Other than that, the Galaxy A51's UI is One UI as we've come to enjoy. The shift of actionable UI elements towards the bottom for easier reach has been widely praised, and we're also digging the iconography.

Lockscreen • Homescreen • Folder view • App drawer • Notification shade • Task switcher

Synthetic benchmarks

The Galaxy A51 is powered by the in-house Exynos 9611 chipset - a minor refresh on the 9610 found in last year's model, and a refresh that only addresses high-res camera support. In fact, we did see an uptick in performance on the M30s, which uses the 9611 too, so there's probably more than meets the eye in the specsheets.

Anyway, this particular Exynos is built on a 10nm process and packs an octa-core CPU in a classic 2x4 configuration - 4x2.3GHz Cortex-A73 & 4x1.7GHz Cortex-A53. The GPU is Mali-G72 MP3. Three RAM/storage versions are in existence - 4/64GB, 4/128GB, and 6/128GB, with our review unit being the mid spec.

In our benchmarking session, the Galaxy A51 proved it's not up to the standard set by competitors in the price range. The Snapdragon 730 present in the Realme X2 and the Xiaomi Mi 9T is significantly more powerful in all applications, be it CPU- or GPU-intense. The Huawei Nova 5T that relies on the once flagship Kirin 980 SoC is in a class of its own, yet fits the budget. The A51 is keeping company to the Nokia 7.2 in terms of CPU performance, but even that ancient Snapdragon 660 in the 7.2 has better graphics than the Galaxy.

GeekBench 4.4 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Huawei nova 5T
  10013
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  7008
• Realme X2
  6926
• Xiaomi Mi 9T
  6863
• vivo V17 Pro
  6629
• Samsung Galaxy A70
  6584
• Samsung Galaxy A60
  6582
• Motorola Moto G8 Plus
  5641
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T
  5620
• Samsung Galaxy M30s
  5566
• Nokia 7.2
  5440
• Samsung Galaxy A51
  5401
• Samsung Galaxy A50
  5396
• Samsung Galaxy M30
  4188

GeekBench 4.4 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Huawei nova 5T
  3342
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  2558
• Xiaomi Mi 9T
  2537
• Realme X2
  2508
• Samsung Galaxy A70
  2391
• Samsung Galaxy A60
  2388
• vivo V17 Pro
  2382
• Samsung Galaxy A50
  1715
• Samsung Galaxy A51
  1668
• Nokia 7.2
  1534
• Motorola Moto G8 Plus
  1530
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T
  1519
• Samsung Galaxy M30s
  1489
• Samsung Galaxy M30
  1311

GeekBench 5.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Huawei nova 5T
  2504
• Realme X2
  1750
• Xiaomi Mi 9T
  1703
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  1692
• Samsung Galaxy A60
  1602
• Nokia 7.2
  1398
• Motorola Moto G8 Plus
  1385
• Samsung Galaxy A51
  1294
• Samsung Galaxy M30s
  1288

GeekBench 5.1 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Huawei nova 5T
  696
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  548
• Realme X2
  545
• Xiaomi Mi 9T
  542
• Samsung Galaxy A60
  507
• Samsung Galaxy M30s
  349
• Samsung Galaxy A51
  347
• Nokia 7.2
  332
• Motorola Moto G8 Plus
  310

AnTuTu 7

Higher is better

• Huawei nova 5T
  313024
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  218200
• Realme X2
  215578
• Xiaomi Mi 9T
  211915
• vivo V17 Pro
  176791
• Samsung Galaxy A60
  170102
• Samsung Galaxy A70
  167750
• Samsung Galaxy M30s
  152075
• Samsung Galaxy A50
  144574
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T
  141077
• Nokia 7.2
  139495
• Samsung Galaxy A51
  113051
• Samsung Galaxy M30
  101651

AnTuTu 8

Higher is better

• Huawei nova 5T
  395503
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  272229
• Realme X2
  257443
• Xiaomi Mi 9T
  257146
• Samsung Galaxy A60
  209933
• Samsung Galaxy M30s
  180321
• Samsung Galaxy A51
  175363
• Motorola Moto G8 Plus
  168699
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T
  167395
• Nokia 7.2
  164484

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Huawei nova 5T
  56
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  30
• Realme X2
  29
• Xiaomi Mi 9T
  27
• vivo V17 Pro
  17
• Samsung Galaxy M30s
  16
• Samsung Galaxy A70
  15
• Samsung Galaxy A60
  15
• Nokia 7.2
  15
• Samsung Galaxy A50
  14
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T
  13
• Motorola Moto G8 Plus
  13
• Samsung Galaxy A51
  10
• Samsung Galaxy M30
  8.1

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Huawei nova 5T
  48
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  27
• Xiaomi Mi 9T
  24
• Realme X2
  24
• vivo V17 Pro
  14
• Samsung Galaxy M30s
  14
• Samsung Galaxy A50
  13
• Samsung Galaxy A70
  13
• Samsung Galaxy A60
  13
• Nokia 7.2
  13
• Motorola Moto G8 Plus
  12
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T
  11
• Samsung Galaxy A51
  8.9
• Samsung Galaxy M30
  7.3

GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Huawei nova 5T
  33
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  17
• Xiaomi Mi 9T
  16
• Realme X2
  16
• Samsung Galaxy M30s
  10
• Samsung Galaxy A50
  9.2
• Nokia 7.2
  9
• vivo V17 Pro
  8.8
• Samsung Galaxy A60
  8.1
• Samsung Galaxy A70
  8
• Motorola Moto G8 Plus
  7.1
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T
  7
• Samsung Galaxy A51
  6.6
• Samsung Galaxy M30
  5.2

GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Huawei nova 5T
  29
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  15
• Xiaomi Mi 9T
  13
• Realme X2
  13
• Samsung Galaxy M30s
  8.7
• Nokia 7.2
  8.1
• Samsung Galaxy A50
  8
• Samsung Galaxy A60
  7.3
• vivo V17 Pro
  7.3
• Samsung Galaxy A70
  7
• Motorola Moto G8 Plus
  6.5
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T
  5.9
• Samsung Galaxy A51
  5.6
• Samsung Galaxy M30
  4.6

3DMark SSE OpenGL ES 3.1 1440p

Higher is better

• Huawei nova 5T
  4418
• Honor 20
  3973
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  2467
• Realme X2
  2402
• Xiaomi Mi 9T
  2182
• Samsung Galaxy A50
  1889
• Samsung Galaxy A51
  1574
• Samsung Galaxy M30s
  1425
• Nokia 7.2
  1333
• Motorola Moto G8 Plus
  1125
• vivo V17 Pro
  1089
• Samsung Galaxy A60
  984
• Samsung Galaxy A70
  974
• Samsung Galaxy M30
  636

3DMark SSE Vulkan 1440p

Higher is better

• Huawei nova 5T
  4352
• Realme X2
  2263
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  2244
• Honor 20
  2219
• Xiaomi Mi 9T
  2035
• Samsung Galaxy A51
  1554
• Samsung Galaxy M30s
  1502
• Samsung Galaxy A50
  1388
• Nokia 7.2
  1277
• vivo V17 Pro
  1163
• Samsung Galaxy A60
  1070
• Samsung Galaxy A70
  1061
• Motorola Moto G8 Plus
  1037
• Samsung Galaxy M30
  727