The 2024 Samsung Galaxy A16 5G is replacing the bestselling Galaxy A15 5G. If all goes well, it will sell just as well in core markets like the United States, Canada, and the UK. But does the Samsung Galaxy A16 5G have IR blaster? If the terminology is new to you, an IR blaster is the same thing as an infrared port.
If anything, I am excited that more and more phone brands are including an Infra-red port in their products. It isn’t quite mainstream yet, but the pattern is clear: there is a growing trend of the return of infrared ports in smartphones.
Back in the early 2000s, the most advanced mobile phones would have an infra-red port. It was used for data transfer, including internet sharing. Yes; those were the days before Wi-Fi became a thing. To share your phone’s internet, you used an old-school data cable or infra-red.
With the presence of Wi-Fi, the need and demand for infra-red blasters diminished. In recent years, Xiaomi has put an IR blaster in many of its phones. This time, these ports enable the phones to be used as TV controllers. Yes; mobile phones have taken over the roles of everything else; why not add TV controller to it?
It also enables the ability to control the DVD player, air conditioner, and some other household appliances. But a more accurate version of Face ID uses infra-red and, so, we are seeing an upsurge of IR ports in smartphones. So, perhaps, a new IR revolution may yet happen based on this.
I have owned or reviewed a number of phones with an infra-red blaster and enjoyed using the feature. However, I cannot say that I have missed it in all the other phones I have used that did not have it. It has never felt like an essential to me.
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Does Samsung Galaxy A16 5G Have IR Blaster?
The Samsung Galaxy A16 5G does not have an infrared port/IR blaster. The thing is, even brands like Xiaomi do not include an IR blaster in their entry-level models. The whole idea of entry-level is a balance between keeping costs low and features. Which means that features found in high-end smartphones often do not make it to lower models.
And some Samsung fans are bitter about this omission. Some have based their phone buying decision on this factor and moved on to other smartphone brands. Here is an example of one of such conversations on Samsung’s own community website.
There are scores of other online platforms where fans are griping about the matter. But I doubt that the answer to the simple question, “Does Samsung Galaxy A16 5G have IR blaster” will have any impact on Samsung’s sales in any way. There are no alternative models with the feature. In this price bracket, forget about infrared in smartphones. Of course, you can always buy an infrared dongle.
The Last Samsung Phones With IR Blaster
The last Samsung models that had an IR blaster were the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy Note 4. Since then, Samsung has ignored infra-red. And it does not look like the S10 range of phones will have this feature.
Your Best Options For Phones With IR Blaster
If you want a smartphone with an infra-red blaster, your best options are in the direction of Xiaomi and Huawei. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro+ and other models in the Note 13 range are extremely popular with young people and both have IR blaster built in. Others include Xiaomi 14 series. Huawei has a number of models with an IR blaster. These include P20 Pro, Mate 10 Pro, and Honor View 10, among others.
Outside of North America and most of Europe, TECNO has released a number of smartphones with IR blaster this year. The brand is fully embracing the trend.
Gionee produced a few smartphone models with infra-red blaster. It is unfortunate that the company has declared bankruptcy. Some of their phones are still available in the market though.
Deal-breaker?
There is a vocal enough community of smartphone enthusiasts who are put off by higher Samsung smartphones not having an Infra-red blaster. I am not sure that it is a large enough community to make a big dent in the fortunes of these products.
Who knows? Part of why Xiaomi and Huawei devices are selling so well (besides pricing) might be that those brands are now on the heels of Samsung? What are the chances that having an IR blaster in key models could be a factor? After all, so many people around the world watch TV, play videos and play music on infra-red controlled home systems.
As said already, entry-level smartphones just don’t get this feature. But wouldn’t it be sweet if a brand like Samsung took up the challenge? If there is any brand with the financial muscles to do it, Samsung is one.
Before we end this article, let’s have a look at the key specs of the Galaxy A16 5G.
Other Specs of the Samsung Galaxy A16 5G
The Galaxy A16 5G will launch with the following specs:
- 6.7-inch 1080×2340 Super AMOLED screen, 90 Hz refresh rate, 800-nit peak brightness
- Software: One UI 6.1 based on Android 14.
- Exynos 1330 SoC or Dimensity 6300 chipsets depending on market/region.
- 4/6/8GB of RAM
- 128/256GB of built-in storage,
- IP54 dust and splash resistance rating,
- 164.4 x 77.9 x 7.9 mm in dimensions
- 200g in weight.
- Colors: Light Green, Blue Black, and Gold.
- Side-mounted fingerprint scanner.
- 5,000 mAh battery
- 25W fast charging
Software Updates
Samsung says the Galaxy A16 5G will get 6 years of major Android updates and 6 years of security patches. This means that the phone will be supported till 2030.
Last Words
Samsung could easily have included an infrared port in this entry-level smartphone. We have seen a few other brands do it already this year. It appears that Samsung is content playing catch-up in certain areas.
Anyway, over to you. Will you be buying one, IR blaster or not?