Samsung’s Galaxy A Series starts at $110 for 4G, $280 for 5G phone in the US

Samsung’s inexpensive Galaxy A phone lineup is arriving in the US this week, with five new models starting as low as $110 for the 4G-enabled Galaxy A02S and going as high as $500 for the Galaxy A52 5G. With the new lineup, Samsung will now have one of the cheapest 5G phones on the US market, the $280 Galaxy A32 5G. (Here’s how Samsung’s 5G-enabled Galaxy A series phones compare to each other and to the Galaxy S20 FE, which also features 5G.) 

The South Korean electronics giant held an Unpacked event last month, its second of 2021, to show off the new devices. In the past, it reserved global launch events for its pricier flagship phones, but the focus on the Galaxy A devices reflect the nature of phone purchases today: More consumers are looking for affordable models rather than spending $1,000 on higher end devices. 

Now playing:
Watch this:

Samsung’s seriously cheap new Androids

4:42

Last year, three out of every four Samsung phones shipped around the world were Galaxy A devices, according to Strategy Analytics. In the US, where there’s often a bigger market for pricey phones than in many other regions, the A family’s shipments surpassed those of the flagship Galaxy S lineup, 26% to 19%, Strategy Analytics said. 

“We’re really establishing a brand where traditionally those consumers might have bought a two- or three-year-old flagship device and instead, they’re preferring a new device that has … the right innovation at the right price point,” Drew Blackard, vice president of product management for Samsung Electronics America, said in an interview ahead of the news. “It’s a really interesting tier of the market.”

Read more: Samsung’s new Galaxy A series looks good, but what about S20 FE or S21?

Starting this week, US customers will get four phones Samsung didn’t talk about at Unpacked — the 4G-only Galaxy A02S and A12 and the 5G-enabled Galaxy A32 5G and A42 5G — as well as the Galaxy A52 5G. 

Samsung kept the prices steady with last year’s A series models. The A02S will retail for $110 when it’s available on April 29, while the A12 will start at $180 when it hits the market on Friday. The A32 5G will cost $280 on Friday, the A42 5G will retail for $400 starting Thursday, and the A52 5G will start at $500 when it also arrives Friday. Of the three 5G phones, only the A42 will run on the ultra-fast millimeter wave network favored by Verizon. The nation’s biggest carrier also will offer the 4G-only A02S.

AT&T will carry the Galaxy A52 5G and the A12, while T-Mobile will offer the A52 5G, A32 5G and the A12. T-Mobile’s Metro prepaid business will sell the A52 5G, A32 5G, A12 and A02S. USCellular will sell the A52 5G and the A02S; AT&T’s Cricket prepaid business will sell the A32 5G, A12 and A02S; and Boost and Charter will offer the A02S. Samsung also will sell unlocked versions of the A52 5G and the A02S. 

The higher end Galaxy A72, a follow up to last year’s $600 Galaxy A71, won’t be coming to…