Samsung has launched the Galaxy A30 that provides quite an improvement in terms of specs that can topple the top contenders in the mid-range price segment. With that, I will be testing it out with two other popular devices, the Huawei Nova 3i, and the VIVO V11i. How will it fare? Find out in my specs comparison below.
Author’s Note: Check out our previous specs comparison of the Huawei Nova 3i and VIVO V11i here.
Here are their detailed specs:
| Samsung Galaxy A30 | Huawei Nova 3i | VIVO V11i | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Display | 6.4-inch FHD+ 19.5:9 sAMOLED Infinity-U display @ 1080 x 2340 px, 403ppi | 6.3-inch FHD+ 19.5:9 IPS LCD FullView display 2.0 @2340 x 1080px, 409ppi | 6.3-inch FHD+ 19:9 LTPS Halo FullView display @2280 x 1080px, 400ppi |
| Glass protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | 2.5D glass | 2.5D glass |
| Chipset | Exynos 7904 1.8GHz Octa-Core | HiSilicon Kirin 710 2.2GHz octa-core | MediaTek Helio P60 2.0GHz octa-core |
| GPU | Mali-G71 MP2 | Mali-G51 w/ GPU Turbo Tech | Mali-G72 MP3 GPU |
| RAM | 3GB/4GB RAM | 4GB RAM | 4GB/6GB RAM |
| Storage | 32GB/64GB storage | 128GB storage | 128GB storage |
| Expandable Storage | expandable via microSD up to 512GB (dedicated) | microSD up to 256GB (SIM 2) | microSD up to 256GB (SIM 2) |
| Rear camera | 16MP f/1.7 PDAF + 5MP f/2.2 dual rear cameras | 16MP f/2.0 + 2MP dual rear cameras, LED flash | 16MP f/2.0+ 5MP dual rear cameras, LED flash |
| Front Camera | 16MP f/2.0 front camera | 24MP + 2MP dual front cameras | 25MP front camera |
| SIM | Dual-SIM (nano, nano) | Dual-SIM (nano, hybrid) | Dual-SIM (nano, hybrid) |
| LTE | 4G LTE | 4G LTE | 4G LTE |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.0 | Bluetooth 4.2 | Bluetooth 4.2 |
| GPS | GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS | GPS, BeiDou, GLONASS | GPS, BeiDou, GLONASS |
| USB Type | USB 2.0 Type-C | micro USB | micro USB |
| Biometrics | - Fingerprint scanner - Face Unlock | - Fingerprint scanner - Face Unlock | - Fingerprint scanner - Face Unlock |
| OS | Samsung One UI (Android 9 Pie) | EMUI 8.2 (Android 8.1 Oreo) | Funtouch OS 4.5 (Android 8.1 Oreo) |
| Battery | 4000mAh battery w/ fast charging | 3,340mAh Li-Po battery | 3,315mAh battery w/ Dual-Engine Fast Charge (9V/2A) |
| Dimensions | 158.5 x 74.7 x 7.7 mm | 157.6 x 75.2 x 7.6 mm | 155.97 x 75.63 x 8.1 mm |
| Colors | Blue, Black, White | Gradient, Classic Black, White | Starry Night, Nebula |
Here are the advantages of each smartphone:
- Corning Gorilla Glass 3
- Largest screen size
- Dedicated microSD card slot
- Widest main rear camera aperture
- Bluetooth 5.0
- USB Type-C
- Android 9 Pie out-of-the-box
- Largest battery capacity
- Fastest performing CPU (Based on max clock speed)
- Best performing GPU for 3D Mark SSE-Vulkan
- Dedicated secondary front camera for depth of effect
- Highest maximum RAM capacity
- Best performing GPU for 3D Mark SSE-OpenGL ES 3.1
- Highest front camera resolution
All three smartphones have different screen panels:
- Samsung Galaxy A30 – AMOLED
- Huawei Nova 3i – IPS LCD
- VIVO V11i – LTPS IPS
The Galaxy A30’s panel is great because it has vibrant whites and darker blacks while the V11i’s display is an upgraded version of the Nova 3i which produces natural colors. If you want to know more about smartphone displays, read our guide here.
In terms of viewing experience, all of them are great choices, but I’ll give the point to the Galaxy A30 since it has a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection.
We don’t have much data on the Galaxy A30’s Exynos 7904 chipset but based on the specs, it has the slowest maximum clock speed. We’ll know more once we have the unit on hand for benchmarking.
As for gaming experience, the Galaxy A30’s GPU is identical to the Galaxy A8+ that we previously reviewed while the V11i’s Mali-G72 MP3 is the same with the OPPO F9. Check out the 3DMark scores below:
| Specifications | Samsung Galaxy A8+ (Exynos 7885, Mali-G71 MP2) | Huawei Nova 3i (Kirin 710, Mali-G51) | OPPO F9 (Helio P60, Mali-G72 MP3) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3D Mark | 726 (SSE - OpenGL ES 3.1) 416 (SSE - Vulkan) | 943 (SSE – OpenGL ES 3.1) 1,125 (SSE – Vulkan) | 1,072 (SSE – OpenGL ES 3.1) 941 (SSE – Vulkan) |
It turns out that the Nova 3i performs better with Vulkan-powered applications while the V11i is better in terms of OpenGL ES 3.1. Note that both of these devices have their dedicated game boosting applications so you will have better performance in select games that you will play.
Note that the Galaxy A30 only has a maximum storage of 64GB while the Nova 3i and V11i have 128GB which is twice as large and provide you more space to store your files.
All of the devices have the same 16MP main rear camera resolution, but the smartphone that performs better in low-light conditions is the Galaxy A30 due to its wide aperture. As for the front shooter, the V11i has the highest resolution, but this doesn’t mean that it’s automatically the winner in terms of selfie quality. We’ll know more once we get our hands on all devices and test them out side-by-side.
For features, I can say that the overall winner in this aspect is the Galaxy A30. It offers improved specifications such as the latest Bluetooth version, a USB Type-C port, and Android 9 Pie operating system out-of-the-box which is refreshing to see in this price segment.
In terms of battery performance, the Galaxy A30 carries a 4,000mAh which surpasses the other devices’ battery capacity. However, we’re not yet sure if this will yield the longest playback time as we should consider other factors like display, chipset architecture, and user interface optimization. For this, the phones should be exposed in our video loop test so stay tuned for that.
Here are the prices of each smartphone:
- Samsung Galaxy A30 (4GB + 64GB) – PHP 13,990
- Huawei Nova 3i (4GB + 128GB) – PHP 14,990
- VIVO V11i (4GB + 128GB) – PHP 13,999
- VIVO V11i (6GB + 64GB) – PHP 14,999
The prices are very close but if you’re into updated features and viewing experience, go with the Galaxy A30. You can go for the Nova 3i if you are into faster performance (based on clock speed) while the V11i is a great choice if you are into selfies and larger RAM.
What do you guys think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Hi Vaughn I really appreciate this article. I am clueless to androide/ smartphones.
I am looking for a phone that can run different applications like Dropbox, outlook email, meetup and eventbrite.
Thank you.
Pls update or clarify…. materials made of back &/or rim, if any. Thanks.