Samsung Galaxy A42 brings 5G speeds and is cheaper than the OnePlus Nord

Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
(Image credit: Samsung)

It wasn’t long ago that 5G phones cost a fortune, but now with the likes of the OnePlus Nord and Moto G 5G Plus there’s a growing number of affordable ones, with the Samsung Galaxy A42 5G being the latest such option.

The handset costs £349 (roughly $450 /AU$630 but with availability in these regions not yet confirmed) and it’s hitting UK stores on November 6. That’s a lower mid-range price, and you get more than just 5G for the money.

The Samsung Galaxy A42 5G also has a 5,000mAh battery, which is up there with the largest you’ll find in a phone, and it supports 15W fast charging. That’s not actually overly fast compared to some handsets, but it’s still better than you’d find with some other affordable phones.

A big screen and a quad-lens camera

There’s also a 6.6-inch HD+ Super AMOLED screen, and a quad-lens camera with a 48MP f/1.8 main lens, an 8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera, a 5MP f/2.4 macro one, and a 5MP f/2.4 depth sensor.

You also get a 20MP snapper on the front, plus a mid-range Snapdragon 750G chipset and 4GB of RAM. Storage comes in at 128GB, and there’s also a microSD card slot.

The Samsung Galaxy A42 5G has an in-screen fingerprint scanner, and it comes in Prism Dot Black, Prism Dot White, and Prism Dot Grey shades.

The specs are roughly in line with what we’d expect for the money and should put the phone in direct competition with the handsets mentioned above. Whether it will stand out remains to be seen, but if you want an affordable 5G phone from Samsung specifically then the Galaxy A42 5G could be a good option.

James Rogerson

James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.