Samsung’s new budget phone costs $50 more despite downgrades

The Galaxy A27 has been announced, and at $349.99 it’s $50 more than last year’s A26. That’s understandable in the current economic climate, but a harder sell given that Samsung has also downgraded a few key specs.

Compared to last year’s phone, the A27 has lower resolution 12-megapixel selfie and 5-megapixel ultrawide cameras, worse IP64 waterproofing, and is very slightly thicker at 7.8mm. Other specs are simply unchanged, like the 6GB RAM and 128GB storage, 5,000mAh battery, 6.7-inch 120Hz display, and 50-megapixel rear camera. There’s only one real upgrade to the phone, but it is a welcome one: a move from the Exynos 1380 to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chipset.

Samsung isn’t entirely to blame here. Prices are up across the industry, and budget phones risk being especially hard hit — Nothing has even cancelled planned smartphone additions to its budget-friendly CMF line. Even Apple increased prices today, though for now its iPhones haven’t been affected.

The Galaxy A27 goes on sale in the US from July 14th, and only in black. International markets will also get blue and pink options, and an earlier July 3rd release.