Samsung Galaxy A52 5G review
The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G is an upgraded version of the regular Galaxy A52, with some notable improvements, but also a higher price tag. The design is similar to other recent Samsung mid-rangers, with a pastel color scheme and soft matte finish that feels nice to touch. However, it's made of plastic and doesn't feel cheap. One major difference from the regular A52 is the display, which is a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED with a 1080p resolution and Gorilla Glass 5 protection, but also features a 120Hz refresh rate. This makes swiping and scrolling content on screen look smoother. The camera setup is also improved, with a 64MP quad-camera main cam, a 12MP ultra-wide-angle camera, a 5MP macro camera, and a depth sensor. The phone's performance is solid for a mid-range device, with good thermals and decent gaming capabilities. Battery life is also improved, with an endurance rating of 111 hours in our tests. However, the charging speed is not exceptional, taking around an hour and 40 minutes to fully charge from zero. Overall, the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G offers a great package, including a snazzy design, a high-quality display, good performance, decent battery life, and excellent camera capabilities. However, its price may be a major deterrent, as it's more expensive than the regular A52 and some competitors that offer more powerful chipsets and faster charging speeds.
Build Quality and Design
The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G boasts a sleek design that's sure to turn heads. The phone features a pastel color scheme and soft matte finish, making it a joy to hold and gaze at. While the design is identical to its regular counterpart, the Galaxy A52 5G's build quality is undoubtedly premium. Made of plastic, but feeling anything but cheap, this device exudes a sense of sturdiness that inspires confidence. The IP67 water and dust resistance rating provides an added layer of peace of mind, ensuring that your phone can withstand the rigors of daily life. The matte finish also offers excellent grip, making it less likely to slip out of your hands. The attention to detail in the design is impressive, with a seamless integration of the various components. The Galaxy A52 5G's build quality is on par with its more expensive counterparts, and it's clear that Samsung has invested time and effort into crafting a device that feels substantial and well-made. Whether you're holding it in your hand or sliding it into your pocket, this phone feels like a premium product. Overall, the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G's design and build quality are major strengths of this mid-range device. While some may argue that it's not significantly different from its regular counterpart, the attention to detail and commitment to craftsmanship make it a standout in its class. If you're in the market for a reliable, feature-packed phone with a premium feel, the Galaxy A52 5G is certainly worth considering.
Battery Life
While the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G has its fair share of impressive features, one area that stands out is its battery life. The phone's 4500mAh battery is identical to its non-5G counterpart, but our testing revealed a slight improvement in real-world use. In our proprietary tests, the Galaxy A52 5G earned an endurance rating of 111 hours, which is a respectable score for a mid-range device. This translates to approximately 4 days of average use, assuming you're making regular phone calls, browsing the web, and using social media. One reason for this improved battery life could be the optimization of Samsung's One UI 3.1 software, which seems to have made better use of the 5G-enabled chipset. Whatever the reason, it's clear that the Galaxy A52 5G can last a full day with heavy usage and still have enough juice left over for another day or two. Charging speeds are decent but nothing special, taking around an hour and 40 minutes to fully charge the battery from empty using the included 15W adapter. While not spectacular, this is still a welcome improvement in charging times compared to some of its competitors. Overall, the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G's battery life is a pleasant surprise, making it easier to justify the purchase for those who value long-lasting power in their device.
Display
The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G boasts an impressive display, featuring a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED screen with a 1080p resolution and Gorilla Glass 5 protection. While the regular Galaxy A52 has a similar display, the 5G variant takes it up a notch with a 120Hz refresh rate, making swiping and scrolling content on-screen look smoother than ever. However, unlike some other smartphones that offer an adaptive refresh rate, the Galaxy A52 5G's 120Hz is either on or off, depending on your settings. This means it won't dial down further to save energy when you need it most. Despite this limitation, the display itself is quite nice, with deep contrasty blacks and great color accuracy. The max brightness of the screen is also impressive, measuring up to 380 nits in manual mode and boosting up to 790 nits in auto mode under bright sunlight conditions. While not officially advertised as having an HDR10 screen, we were able to stream HDR content from YouTube without any issues. Overall, the display on the Galaxy A52 5G is a significant upgrade over its non-5G counterpart, offering a more immersive viewing experience for users. However, it's worth noting that some competitors in this mid-range segment are running flagship-grade silicon and may offer even better displays at similar price points.
Camera
The camera experience on the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G is impressive, with a quad-camera setup that includes a 64-megapixel primary sensor, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens, a 5-megapixel macro camera, and a depth sensor. The primary camera takes excellent photos in good lighting conditions, with plenty of detail, accurate colors, and wide dynamic range. The images are sharp and well-exposed, making them perfect for everyday use. Additionally, the phone offers two times lossless zoom from the main camera, which is achieved by cropping from the center of the full 64-megapixel image. These zoomed-in shots have excellent detail, accurate colors, and superb contrast and dynamic range. The ultra-wide-angle lens produces excellent 12-megapixel photos, with good levels of detail and commendable colors and contrast. The distortion correction is also proficient, making it ideal for capturing expansive landscapes or cityscapes. In low light conditions, the primary camera takes outstanding photos with nice detail, low noise levels, saturated colors, good contrast, and praiseworthy exposure and dynamic range. However, the ultra-wide-angle lens struggles in low light conditions, producing noisy images that could benefit from a bit more processing power. Night mode shots from the main camera are also not a significant improvement over auto mode photos, with some blown highlights and dark shadows restored at the cost of fine detail. Selfies taken with the 32-megapixel front-facing camera are good, with excellent contrast, colors, and dynamic range, even if they may not be the sharpest around. The phone can also capture 4k video at 30fps with both its main rear camera and the ultra-wide-angle lens, producing excellent footage with plenty of detail, low noise, and accurate colors. Overall, the camera experience on the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G is solid, making it a great option for those looking for an all-around capable smartphone.
Price and Value
The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G boasts some impressive upgrades compared to its non-5G counterpart, but does the higher price tag justify these improvements? In this review, we'll dive into the value proposition of the A52 5G. Firstly, let's talk about the elephant in the room - the price. The A52 5G costs significantly more than the regular A52, which makes it harder to recommend unless you're specifically looking for a phone with 5G capabilities and a faster refresh rate. For this kind of cash, you can find other mid-range devices that offer more powerful chipsets and faster charging speeds. In terms of value, the A52 5G feels like a incremental upgrade rather than a game-changing one. While the 120Hz AMOLED display is indeed smooth and enjoyable to use, it's not a drastic improvement over the regular A52's screen. Similarly, the 5G enabled chipset provides increased connectivity, but it's not a huge leap forward compared to other mid-range devices. So, what justifies the higher price tag? The answer is simple - the A52 5G offers a snazzy soft matte design, good battery life, stereo speakers, and Samsung software support. These are all solid features, but they don't necessarily scream "worth the extra cost". Ultimately, unless you're specifically looking for a phone with 5G capabilities or want to future-proof your device, it's hard to justify spending more money on the A52 5G over the regular A52. The value proposition just doesn't feel like it's there. In conclusion, while the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G is a solid mid-range device, its price and value are questionable. If you're not in dire need of 5G capabilities or faster refresh rates, it might be worth considering other options that offer more bang for your buck.
Performance
The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G's performance is a mixed bag. On one hand, the phone delivers solid CPU and GPU performance for a mid-range device, making it suitable for gaming and other resource-intensive tasks. The Snapdragon 750 G 5G chipset provides decent processing power, although not as impressive as some of its competitors in this price range. One area where the A52 5G excels is thermals. The phone does a commendable job of keeping its temperature in check, even during extended gaming sessions or demanding tasks. This ensures that you can use your phone without worrying about overheating issues. However, when it comes to charging speed, the A52 5G falls short. With a 15-watt adapter included in the box, charging times are nothing special. It takes around an hour and 40 minutes to fully charge the battery, which is not particularly impressive considering the phone's price tag. In terms of overall performance, the A52 5G feels like a solid mid-range device rather than a flagship. While it gets the job done, there are other phones in this price range that offer more powerful chipsets and faster charging speeds. The A52 5G's strengths lie in its design, display, and camera capabilities, but its performance is merely average. If you're looking for a phone with excellent performance, the A52 5G might not be the best choice. However, if you value style, display quality, and camera capabilities over raw processing power, then this phone could still be worth considering. Just keep in mind that there are other options available at similar price points that may offer more bang for your buck.
Pros
1. The device boasts a snazzy soft matte design that's really nice to look at and touch.
2. The 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display is a highlight, with a 1080p resolution, Gorilla Glass 5 protection, and a 120Hz refresh rate that makes scrolling content on screen look incredibly smooth.
3. The camera experience is great, with a 64MP quad-camera setup, excellent contrast, accurate colors, and wide dynamic range.
4. The device offers good battery life, with an endurance rating of 111 hours in our proprietary tests, and fast charging capabilities.
Cons
1. The Galaxy A52 5G is quite expensive, making it hard to justify spending that much more money just for 5G and a faster refresh rate.
2. While the camera takes great photos in good light, it's not as sharp as some other mid-range devices.