Samsung Galaxy A18 4G vs Galaxy A12

Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.7-inch Samsung Galaxy A18 4G (with Exynos 1610) that was released on September 15, 2026, against the Samsung Galaxy A12, which is powered by MediaTek Helio P35 and came out 5 years and 10 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

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Memory

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A18 4G
  • Water-resistant body (IP64 classification)
  • 3x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (608K versus 204K)
  • Higher display refresh rate – 90 Hz
  • 43% higher pixel density (385 vs 270 PPI)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • Optical image stabilization
  • The phone is 5 years and 10 months newer
  • More recent OS version: Android 17 versus 13
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Exynos 1610
  • Has 2x more RAM: 4GB versus 2GB
  • Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR4X 2133 MHz
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 5 wireless networks
  • Slow-motion recording at 120FPS
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A12
  • Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy A18 4G and Galaxy A12 crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
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Value for money (Beta)

Should I update?
No 80% Yes
Yes, this is a clear and meaningful upgrade.
Updating from Samsung Galaxy A12 to Samsung Galaxy A18 4G is a clear step forward, and the improvements should be easy to notice.
Main improvements: display, performance, and camera.
Be aware: the newer phone is weaker in battery life.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type Super AMOLED PLS TFT
Size 6.7 inches 6.5 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2340 pixels 720 x 1600 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 20:9
PPI 385 ppi 270 ppi
Refresh rate 90 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 800 nits 450 nits
HDR support No No
Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 3 Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 86% 82.1%
Display features - DCI-P3 -
Display tests
RGB color space - 96.3%
PWM - 337 Hz
Response time - 52 ms
Contrast - 864:1
Screen space comparison
Galaxy A18 4G
6.7″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 17.1 in2
Galaxy A12
6.5″ (20:9 ratio) = 15.8 in2
~8% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
473 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3]

Design and build

Height 164.4 mm (6.47 inches) 164 mm (6.46 inches)
Width 77.9 mm (3.07 inches) 75.8 mm (2.98 inches)
Thickness 7.7 mm (0.3 inches) 8.9 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 196 g (6.91 oz) 205 g (7.23 oz)
Waterproof IP64 No
Rear material Plastic Plastic
Frame material Plastic Plastic
Colors Black, Gray, Blue White, Black, Blue, Red
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-button Yes, in-button
Screen-to-body ratio
86%
82.1%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Samsung Galaxy A18 4G and Samsung Galaxy A12
SoC
Chipset Exynos 1610 MediaTek Helio P35
Max clock 2400 MHz 2300 MHz
CPU cores 8 (2 + 6) 8 (4 + 4)
Architecture - 6 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 2.4 GHz: Cortex-A78
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A53
- 4 cores at 2.3 GHz: Cortex-A53
Manufacturing Samsung TSMC
Lithography process 5 nanometers 12 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Yes No
GPU
Graphics Mali-G68 MP4 IMG PowerVR GE8320
GPU shading units 64 32
GPU clock 949 MHz 680 MHz
FLOPS ~121.5 GFLOPS ~43.5 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Samsung Galaxy A18 4G and Samsung Galaxy A12
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
962
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
1987
Compute Score (GPU)
Compute Score (GPU) 1309 -
Single-core score 962 300
Multi-core score 1987 824
Sources: Geekbench [3]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
608564
204161
CPU 262139 98355
GPU 42910 9461
Memory 111676 57623
UX 191839 38722
Total score 608564 204161
Samples Less than 3 [2 tests]

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Samsung Galaxy A18 4G
No benchmark results yet
Samsung Galaxy A12
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-25 -> a05stechAnTuTu 12261637
📘 2026-08-09 (Fintex)AnTuTu 11193141
📘 2026-06-12 -> Karlue392007CPU Throttle78%
📘 2026-06-03 (Renzs)AnTuTu 11204161

Memory

RAM
RAM size 4 GB 2 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4
Memory clock 2133 MHz 1866 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 64 GB 32 GB
Storage type UFS 2.2 eMMC 5.1
Memory card MicroSD MicroSD
Memory card max size Up to 2048 GB Up to 1024 GB

Software

Operating system Android 17 Android 10.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 13)
ROM One UI 9.0 One UI Core 5.1
OS size 22 GB 13 GB
OS updates 6 years 2 years
Security updates 6 years 4 years

Battery

Capacity 5000 mAh 5000 mAh
Max charge power 25 W 15 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No No
Reverse charging No No
Fast charging Yes (50% in 30 min) Yes (20% in 30 min)
Full charging time - 3:03 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing - 11:00 hr
Watching video - 13:25 hr
Gaming - 06:03 hr
Standby - 133 hr
General battery life
26:02 hr

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 48 megapixels
Image resolution 8160 x 6120 8000 x 6000
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Optical Digital
8K video recording No No
4K video recording No No
1080p video recording Up to 30FPS Up to 30FPS
Slow motion 120 FPS (720p) No
Angle of widest lens - 123°
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Ultrawide: 5 MP
3) Macro: 2 MP
1) Standard: 48 MP
2) Ultrawide: 5 MP
3) Macro: 2 MP
4) Depth: 2 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
Standard lens
Image resolution 50 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/2.0
Focal length 26 mm 26 mm
Sensor - Samsung S5KGM2
Sensor size 1/2.76" (≈ 0.36 inch) 1/2" (≈ 0.5 inch)
Pixel size 0.64 micron 0.8 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Optical Digital
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 5 MP 5 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Sensor size 1/5" (≈ 0.2 inch) -
Pixel size 1.12 micron -
Stabilization No Digital
Macro lens
Image resolution 2 MP 2 MP
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.4
Stabilization No No

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Samples - Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy A12 from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 13 megapixels 8 megapixels
Image resolution 4160 x 3120 3264 x 2448
Aperture f/2.0 f/2.0
Focal length 27 mm -
Sensor - CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.1" (≈ 0.32 inch) -
Pixel size 1.12 micron -
Autofocus No No
Stabilization No Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) Wi-Fi 4 (802.11 b/g/n)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
Bluetooth version 5.3 5
Bluetooth features LE PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort No -
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo
NFC* Depends on the region Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 2 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* No No
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* - 7
5G support No No

Sound

Speakers Mono Mono
Headphone audio jack No Yes
FM radio - Yes
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness

Other

Category Mid-range Budget
Announced September 2026 November 2020
Release date September 2026 December 2020
Launch price (MSRP) $279 $180
Successor - - Samsung Galaxy A18 4G
SAR (head) 0.54 W/kg 0.67 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.37 W/kg 1.38 W/kg
Sensors - Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Proximity sensor
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Not included -
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy A18 4G is definitely a better buy.

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