The Galaxy A51 was Samsung's big mid-range hit of 2020. It features an immersive 6.5-inch OLED display with a centered hole-punch camera, quad rear cameras with a 48MP sensor, and a competitive price tag of $399 in the U.S. With the influx of more affordable 5G smartphones, Samsung is adding its own mid-range 5G smartphones to its catalog. Hence, earlier this year, the Samsung Galaxy A51 5G was announced with the same design, display, and cameras, but with added support for 5G connectivity. A few months after its initial announcement, the Galaxy A51 5G will soon become available in the U.S. starting at $499—making it Samsung's cheapest 5G smartphone.

Samsung Galaxy A51 5G XDA Forum

The Galaxy A51 5G is an important smartphone both for Samsung and for the U.S. market as most 5G devices are expensive flagships. 5G-capable flagship smartphones cost anywhere between $800 to a jaw-dropping $1200, which is partly due to the fact that 5G connectivity is mandatory for all phones powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865. The Galaxy A51 5G, on the other hand, is powered by the cheaper Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G, which features an integrated 5G modem (the Snapdragon X52). It's pretty much identical to the LTE version of the device in all other aspects.

Now, for availability. The Galaxy A51 5G will become available on Samsung.com and T-Mobile starting August 7th and soon after on Metro by T-Mobile as well. Verizon users can expect the device to become available starting August 13th for $22.92 a month for 24 months on Verizon Device Payment ($549.99 retail). The Galaxy A51 5G UW for Verizon will support the carrier's mmWave network.

Additional carrier availability will be announced at a later date according to Samsung's blog post. Samsung says the phone starts at a price of $499.99 which is far from "budget" but still a pretty decent price to pay for a 5G smartphone, all things considered. In comparison, the Samsung's other mid-range 5G smartphone, the Galaxy A71 5G, has a retail price of $599.99.

Are you planning to pick one up?