Samsung Galaxy A16 5G Review: Can Good Software Save Average Hardware?

Samsung Galaxy A16 5G price is Rs.18,999. This is the price for the base variant with 8GB RAM and 128GB of storage. Furthermore, the 8GB+256GB variant retails for Rs.21,999.

The phone is available in Light Green, Blue, Black and Gold. It is available for purchase on Samsung India website, Amazon and Flipkart.

Samsung Galaxy A16 5G packs the following items inside the box:

• Phone
• Cable
• Manual
• SIM Ejector

Before we talk in detail about the device, let’s see what the on-paper specs look like:

• Display: 6.7-inch Super AMOLED with 90Hz refresh rate

• Chipset: MediaTek Dimensity 6300

• RAM & ROM: 8GB 128GB, 8GB 256GB

• Software: OneUI 6.1 based on Android 16

• Rear camera: 50MP+5MP+2MP

• Selfie camera: 13MP

• Battery: 5,000mAh

• Weight: 200 grams

• Dimensions: 164.4 x 77.9 x 7.9 mm

The Samsung Galaxy A16 5G offers a design that is familiar to other phones in the A series lineup. You get the same traffic light design on the back with a triple camera setup. An LED flash and a subtle Samsung branding at the bottom accompany it.

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I have the gold colour of the Samsung Galaxy A16 5G for review, and it looks shiny. The phone has a flat frame with rounded corners that make it ergonomic and easy to hold. However, it does feel bulky due to its brick-like design and a hefty weight of 200 grams.

There is no case included in the box, so you will need to buy one separately. Coming to ports and placements, the phone has the volume rocker on the right, while the left has the SIM tray.

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Similarly, the top has the secondary microphone, and you will find the USB-C, primary microphone, and speaker grille at the button. The phone has an IP54 rating for water and dust resistance.

The Samsung Galaxy A16 5G sports a triple camera setup on the back. It has a 50-megapixel primary camera, a 5-megapixel ultrawide and a 2-megapixel macro sensor. On the front, there is a 13-megapixel selfie camera.

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During the day, the phone can take decent photos with plenty of contrast and detail.I did enjoy taking photos during my review of the Samsung Galaxy A16 5G.

However, it does struggle with maintaining the details when zoomed in. The 5-megapixel ultrawide camera is best suited for occasional usage, while the 2-megapixel macro lens is only good on paper.

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Similarly, when it comes to night shots, the phone struggled to capture photos in Delhi’s toxic air. However, I won’t blame it entirely, as the visibility is bad enough even for human eyes.

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The 13-megapixel selfie camera is excellent, though, as it takes good photos with plenty of detail and accurate skin tones. When it comes to video recording, the Samsung Galaxy A16 5G falls behind the competition as it can only shoot at 1080p and 30 FPS. This is due to the limitation of the chipset.

Samsung Galaxy A16 5G packs a 5,000mAh battery, which is great, and I did not experience any battery anxiety during my review. The phone easily lasted an entire day with casual usage, including taking photos, scrolling through social media, watching reels on Instagram, and more.

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The phone does support 25W wired charging, but no charger is included in the box. This is disappointing because even entry-level phones provide one in the box. Given that most consumers buying a budget phone have a constraint on their budget, buying an additional charger apart from other accessories will only affect their buying decision.

The Samsung Galaxy A16 5G sports a 6.7-inch Full-HD+ Super AMOLED screen with a 90Hz refresh rate. Moreover, the phone has a teardrop notch on the front and a huge chin at the bottom, which will remind you of budget phones.

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What’s worse is the fact that even the Samsung Galaxy M35 5G, which is cheaper than the A16, has a centre punch hole cutout instead of a teardrop notch. I strongly feel Samsung should have offered a punch hole cutout given that the phone costs almost Rs.20,000, and competitors like the iQOO Z9s even boast curved panels.

The screen is perfect for consuming content, and I enjoyed watching Season 2 Of The Silo. The dark scenes looked great on the AMOLED panel, and the Widevine L1 certification is great for streaming it in 1080p

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With a peak brightness of 800 nits, the outdoor legibility isn’t the best, and you might need to struggle to view the phone under bright sunlight. Thankfully, the 120Hz refresh rate makes navigating the user interface smooth and fluid.

For security, you get a side-mounted fingerprint sensor that is fast and accurate. Although I would have preferred an in-display one given that other phones in this range do offer one.

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When it comes to audio, you get a single bottom-firing speaker, which can get pretty loud, although I would have preferred a stereo speaker setup. Sadly, there is no 3.5mm headphone jack, so you will need to rely on your Bluetooth earbuds.

The Samsung Galaxy A16 5G uses the Dimensity 6300 processor paired with up to 8GB of RAM. It is worth noting that this is the same processor found in much cheaper phones like iQOO Z9 Lite, which costs Rs.10,000. For review, I have the 8GB+256GB variant of the Samsung Galaxy A16 5G.

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The phone felt smooth and fluid during day-to-day tasks as I faced no lags or stutters. Thanks to the 8GB of RAM, most apps remained in memory. There is also 8GB of virtual memory support to help you keep your apps in memory.

When it comes to gaming, the Samsung Galaxy A16 5G can handle BGMI at Smooth and Ultra (40 FPS) and CODM at Medium and High (40 FPS). Sadly, unlike other competitors like the Realme P1, which offers 90 FPS gaming, the A16 cannot even reach 60 FPS. The good thing is that the Samsung Galaxy A16 5G did not heat up during my review.

This lacklustre performance is also evident in benchmarks where the A16 5G scores 724 in single-core and 1967 in multi-core. Furthermore, the phone throttles to 86 per cent in the 15-minute CPU throttling test and achieves 99.2 per cent stability in the 3D Mark Wildlife Extreme Stress Test.

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It has an AnTuTu score of 413125, which is average at best, apart from a score of 38483 in the storage test. Overall, if you want a performance-centric phone, then it’s best to go for the Realme P1 or the iQOO Z9.

The Samsung Galaxy A16 5G ships with OneUI 6.1 based on Android 14 out of the box. Furthermore, Samsung has promised six years of OS updates, and it is one of the first mid-range phones to receive such long-term support.

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To provide context, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has been promised 7 years of updates. Even the more expensive Galaxy A54 will only receive 4 years of OS updates, so Samsung does deserve some appreciation here.

However, given that it’s a budget phone, you can expect the usual bloatware, including PhonePe, Map My India, Snapchat, Truecaller, and more. Thankfully, you can easily uninstall all of them.

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I enjoyed using the software during my Samsung Galaxy A16 5G review, as you had a proper OneUI, unlike the OneUI core found on budget models. You get plenty of useful features such as a multi-window, gestures, and a customizable side button.