[Samsung Galaxy A71 5G Real Life Review] SkedAddled:
I can't fault this phone much, other that hating Samsung's Bixby

and a few minor apps or adjustments. I'm on Sprint; the box is labeled for T-mobile,

so it should be good for the imminent absorption of Sprint.

I'm coming from an HTC EVO 4G LTE, which is from 8 or more years ago.

Remember that much: I don't change my device every year or two.

It worked great for my purposes until it started randomly restarting

and developing dark spots which grew on the display.

I rooted that device the day I brought it home, and unlocked the bootloader and unlocked the device

within a week or less. Just my history.

My wife got one of these as replacement of her old Galaxy S5 a week or two ago,

eliminating her troubles of the same random reboots and other issues.

It's a bit larger than I'd like it to be, but I understand that most people

are not like me, and want gigantic displays.

The display is of high quality, to be sure.

I cannot tell if I'm connecting to 5G; I suspect it hasn't yet been implemented here.

I get only an "LTE" icon in the status bar, as well as signal strength of Sprint radio, which is 100%

This is my first day with the phone; I have not yet commuted to work

or otherwise moved around with it.

I'm having trouble with accepting the main button's placement nearly in the middle of the righthand side

of the device, as my previous device placed it at the top. It's awfully easy to hit that button

just when picking up the device. Nevertheless, I've a case/holster arriving soon,

which should help to alleviate that inconvenience and decrease the likelihood of the button press.

I deactivated/uninstalled as much as I could, Googling each as I went along.

Sadly, Bixby has limited ways of disabling, and I don't like Bixby at all.

Samsung's bloatware is actually far more than HTC's was, and they don't

provide options as HTC used to.

As expected, there's an awful lot of Samsung-specific software I don't want.

Most of it can be uninstalled or disabled, but a handful cannot be dealt with.

[EDIT to add:]

So, I find some weird things on the Google Play Store which are shown as installed,

but don't show in any app lists locally: ANT Radio Service/Ant+ Plugins Service, Mobile Installer

(Apparently from SOFTBANK CORP), a couple of others. I get the SoftBank thing,

as they funded Sprint a while back, but ANT Radio -- ? I suppose it's maybe radio

hardware drivers?

I do get a 5G signal at work and home. It's a stronger signal at my workplace,

not so much at home, but throughput is significantly faster than 4G.

The display is indeed a very nice one, far better than my old device.

It's similar to my upgrade of desktop PC's 1920x1200 monitors to a pair

of full-on 4K monitors; that's how much sharper this display appears.

Battery life is fantastic compared to the incredibly-aged HTC EVO 4G LTE

this phone replaced. I could commute 15 minutes to work from 100% charge

on the HTC, and it could be anywhere from 15-35% depleted by the time

I got there, even with all radios off. Today, the A71 got me from a 98% charge

upon going to bed last night, to a final value of 87% battery upon returning home.

That's a significant difference over the 60-some to 40-some percent the HTC

would end my workday with.

5G is incredibly fast, far more so than 4G. I think I got almost 60Mb/s actually got 205Mb/s when

testing from SpeedTest, while 4G gave me around 25Mb/s max.

Even with only 2-3 signal bars out of 6, on a 5G signal, I'm getting as high as

a 25Mb/s throughput, which is better than 4G will do at my home location.

The phone responds well, and maybe a bit too readily, to touch even with

a 9H glass protector on it. There's a setting somewhere for this, and I may

explore its' options. It's not a major detractor to me.

This thing is super-thin as compared to what I've had, which is one major reason

I have a case/holster on the way. I expect it to knock down sensitivity of the

main button, as well as make it easier for me to simply pick up the phone

without pressing a button, along with general handling.

And the holster is is also something of my needs, as I don't like to carry

bulk like this in my pockets.

It seems very well-made, with excellent fit & finish of the outer shell.

It was incredibly annoying to pull off the flimsy and very-well-stuck

protective film on the outer edges. Samsung could easily apply a film

which isn't as well-adhered as the infuriating crap they currently

apply to the device.

It's kinda heavy for its size, which would indicate a rather strong

construction of substantial materials. Then again, maybe it's just

that high-capacity battery inside it.:p

Camera output is actually extremely good, to someone(me) who owns a Pro-Grade

Canon EOS 5D Mk IV. I'll have to spend time with the optional settings,

but I can say that the Auto-HDR gives quite good results, producing

fairly impressive images with scenes lit unevenly.

The Ultrawide option is also reasonably impressive, delivering perhaps

a wider field of view than my Rokinon 14mm super-ultra-wide lens

on a full-frame camera.

Colors appear true on my 4K calibrated monitors, while sharpness,

dynamic range, noise, and overall accuracy of the scene are also very good.

Overall, the camera and app produce a very high-quality output.

After a few days' use of this phone, I very much like it overall.

The things I'd like to change now will require root access,

so I'll keep checking in here in hopes of some progress.