The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G is the company’s latest entry in the cheaper phone market, and the company has made steps to make this handset its best yet for an affordable price. The A52 5G isn’t the lowest price smartphone you’ve ever seen, but it’s certainly much cheaper than the company’s flagship offerings like the Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21 Ultra.
That means the Galaxy A52 5G won’t be able to compete with the absolute best phones, but it also isn’t trying to do that. What Samsung is trying to do is make a conscious effort to bring features such as a high-refresh rate screen and improved rear camera to its cheaper A series.
As with any phone, even a good one, not everything is roses and sunshine. The in-screen fingerprint reader is so annoying to use that I preferred to enter my PIN to unlock the phone. The mediocre macro camera seems like a frivolous add-on that is only there to boost the total number of cameras on the phone. More is definitely not better. There are many duplicate apps like Samsung’s version of an internet browser and photo gallery app in addition to the ones from Google.
But after two months, when I step back and consider everything, the Galaxy A52 5G is an all-around good phone with some great features and a few minor and annoying flaws. It’s a solid buy for $500.
The display is improved from previous Galaxy A50 models with the upgrade to a 120Hz refresh rate – that means you’ll find it has a smooth experience when scrolling through menus or playing mobile games. It’s a 6.5-inch screen with good brightness levels and enough detail for most people as well.
The camera has had some improvements too, but the highlight is the 64MP main shooter that can perform well in its automatic mode. There is little to get excited about here, though, with a limited feature set on the rear shooter.
Related: Download Google Camera for Samsung Galaxy A32, A52 and A72 | GCam APK
Samsung Galaxy A52 5G Specifications
- Body: 159.9×75.1×8.4 mm, 189g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass 5), plastic back; IP67 dust/water resistant (up to 1 m for 30 mins).
- Display: 6.50″ Super AMOLED, 120Hz, 800 nits (HBM), 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 407ppi.
- Chipset: Qualcomm SM7225 Snapdragon 750G 5G (8 nm): Octa-core (2×2.2 GHz Kryo 570 & 6×1.8 GHz Kryo 570); Adreno 619.
- Memory: 128 GB 6 GB RAM, 128 GB 8 GB RAM, 256 GB 8 GB RAM; microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot).
- OS/Software: Android 11, One UI 3.1.
- Rear camera: Wide (main): 64 MP, f/1.8, 26 mm, 1/1.7″, 0.8 µm, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 123˚, 1.12 µm; Macro: 5 MP, f/2.4; Depth: 5 MP, f/2.4.
- Front camera: 32 MP, f/2.2, 26 mm (wide), 1/2.8″, 0.8 µm.
- Video capture: Rear camera: [email protected], [email protected]/60fps; gyro-EIS; Front camera: [email protected], [email protected]
- Battery: 4500mAh; Fast charging 25W, 50% in 30 min (advertised).
- Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); 3.5 mm jack; Virtual proximity sensing.
Samsung Galaxy A52 5G pros and cons
Pros
- 120Hz high refresh-rate display
- Good battery life on 5G
- Wonderful software upgrade support
- Simple, clean, unified design
- Good main camera with OIS
Cons
- Fingerprint sensor is too low on screen
- Macro camera is mediocre
- Duplicate apps
- 4K video recording lacks stabilization
Samsung Galaxy A52 5G design and display
The Galaxy A52 5G is designed to have a solid build without the bells and whistles you’ll find on flagship smartphones. For that reason, you may feel the build of the handset is a touch cheap with its plastic rear and aluminum frame.
With dimensions of 159.9 x 75.1 x 8.4 mm it’s fairly large despite being a cheaper handset. It weighs 189 grams, which is neither heavy nor light for a smartphone of this type.
The phone comes in four colors, and two of them are particularly bold and bright. Your options are black, white, blue or violet. The handset is also IP67-certified dust and water resistant.
That sits alongside the USB-C port, and you’ll find a volume rocker alongside the power button on the right-hand edge of the phone. There’s also a punch-hole camera in the screen, so there isn’t a big bezel at the top to house this tech.
That display uses Super AMOLED and has a Full HD+ resolution, and we found the 800 nits of brightness to look fantastic when we turned the screen all the way up to its maximum brightness setting.
The exact resolution is 1080 x 2400 – which equals a pixel density of 407 pixels per inch – so you will likely find this satisfactory, but it won’t compare to QHD smartphone screens like older Galaxy S series models.
One of the big upgrades from the previous Galaxy A phones is the introduction of a 120Hz display, which is a feature usually reserved for flagship handsets. This essentially means the image on your screen refreshes faster than on most other smartphones, which gives a smoother experience when scrolling through social media or playing mobile games.
There’s also an in-screen fingerprint scanner, which generally work well. It could sometimes take a touch longer than we’d hope for to be able to read our digits, but it is usable, and it’s likely you’ll opt to use this to unlock the phone.
Related: August 2021 Security Patch Update for Galaxy S20 FE
Samsung Galaxy A52 5G camera
This won’t give you a flagship camera experience, but the main shooter worked well in automatic mode, and capable of getting a lot of shots with ease.
There are few truly exciting features on this camera, but for most people that won’t be a problem.
There is a powerful 64MP main sensor with optical image stabilization and an aperture of f/1.8. That’s only one of four elements on the rear shooter, too. There’s also a 12MP ultra-wide camera, a 5MP depth scanner and a 5MP macro camera.
On the front, there’s a 32MP selfie camera inside that punch-hole in the top center of the screen. We found selfie shots to be satisfactory, and it was useful for video calls as well. We’d be surprised if you have any issues with the camera quality on the front of the phone.
Samsung Galaxy A52 5G battery life
The A52 5G has a 4,500-mAh battery. Samsung claims two days of use when fully charged. I reliably got one day with the display at 120Hz. On days with lighter use or when the display was set to 60Hz, it easily lasted a day and a half.
It doesn’t have wireless charging, which is a wise omission, but it does support 25-watt fast charging. It’s just that the included charger is only 15 watts.
At the end
Samsung Galaxy A52 5G battery life is the perfect fit for you if you want to have 5G connectivity, bold display, and a solid battery life. If you want a top power phone, high-end camera or the cheapest phone is the category, don’t buy this phone. You can find your desirable smartphone elsewhere if you are looking for the mentioned specifications.
