We purchased the Samsung Galaxy A50 so that our expert reviewer could thoroughly test and review it. Read on for our full product review.

Much like Google did with its Pixel 3a, Samsung’s Galaxy A50 takes the essence of a hundreds-of-dollar flagship phone and transplants it into a much, much cheaper mid-range handset. It does so with compromises, of course: you get plastic instead of glass on the back, for example, and the phone doesn’t pack nearly the same kind of horsepower.

What’s impressive is how much of the Galaxy S experience has been retained on the Galaxy A50, which still looks like a high-end phone, has a very good triple-camera setup, and has an excellent display. And it’s half the price of the top-end phones it’s emulating.

At first glance, the Samsung Galaxy A50 appears to fit comfortably alongside its more expensive brethren. It has a sleek design that’s almost all-screen on the front, save for a small waterdrop notch for the selfie camera, and a “chin” of bezel at the bottom. And the back has the same sort of shiny, reflective finish that makers like Samsung and Huawei are putting on their phones, with the blue finish casting iridescent flourishes when the light hits it just right.