The Samsung Galaxy A52 is this year's hero device off from the popular Samsung's mid-range lineup - the Galaxy A series. The smartphone still comes with a stunning display with high refresh rate, a capable processor, and a good set of cameras. Design-wise, you can expect this handset to be patterned with the flagship Galaxy smartphones of 2021.
Samsung Galaxy A52 Review
With that being said, the company gave the A series a set of vibrant color options to make it appealing to the younger demographics. Fans of the Galaxy A series are looking forward to this smartphone to replace their aging Galaxy A50. But is it worth the upgrade? Let's find out in this review of the Samsung Galaxy A52.
Design
The Samsung Galaxy A52 is a solid smartphone. Though made of plastic, it doesn't come off as cheap. It has an aluminum metallic railings which completes the spot-on look. From afar, you would think that this smartphone looks like a piece of slab with matte finish. That changes when you try to hold it, it's actually smooth and has rounded corners which facilitates better handling.
Our Awesome Blue review unit is such an eye candy with its baby blue tone. The placements of ports and buttons are also very effective when it comes to reachability and accessibility. The right side is a home to the power button and the volume rocker. The top side has the three-slotted SIM tray and secondary microphone; while the bottom houses the 3.5-mm audio jack, primary microphone, USB-C port, and the speaker grill.
The back panel is an eye candy for minimalists. You only have the subtle Samsung branding at the lower portion and the elevated camera module on the upper left. It's also the same story when we talk about the front panel. We have the simplified Infinity O display and thin bezels. The chin is slightly thicker than the other bezels though.
Overall, the Samsung Galaxy A52 is a simple yet appealing smartphone. It's still on the big side, so this means that you'll prefer to use it with both hands. Personally, I love to rock this color in public places, it keeps on getting the attention it needs.
Display
Samsung still stretches some muscle when it comes to display. It is very evident even on a mid-range smartphone like the Galaxy A52. We have a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display with Full HD+ resolution. Samsung says it could reach up to 800 nits in terms of brightness, and I think that it's very prevalent on the panel itself.
Other things you'll need to know is that the phone packs 407 ppi pixel density and 90Hz refresh rate (more on this later). The Samsung Galaxy A52's display makes use of the hole-punch design which could easily camouflage when you apply dark-themed wallpapers.
Going back to the 90Hz display, the Galaxy A52 hits jackpot on having this feature in this segment. The high refresh rate on top of the stunning Super AMOLED display dwarves the displays of its competitors. Thus, playing shooting games with the Galaxy A52 is such a worthwhile experience. Likewise, using 90Hz refresh rate does not significantly take toll on the battery.
There are lots of customizations you can do with the display with One UI and Android 11. For one, you can opt to shift between Light and Dark Modes. Plus, you can adjust Motion smoothness, Screen Mode, and other toggles based on your preference. Just like any other Samsung phones in this price point, the viewing angles are almost perfect.
The Samsung Galaxy A52 supports in-display fingerprint scanner which is very zippy in terms of unlocking the phone. The face unlock is also very convenient.
Performance
Our Galaxy A52 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G and 4GB of RAM. There are also 6GB and 8GB RAM configurations. The chipset is powerful enough to get you through most of your tasks including taking photos, browsing social media apps, going through mail and messenger apps, and more.
You'll generally have the feeling that everything is smooth. I think the chipset is more than enough to handle all your basic activities - that is if you're not into graphic-hungry apps.
For gamers, the Samsung Galaxy A52 can handle MOBA games with ease. Apps like Mobile Legends, Wild Rift and Legends of Runeterra run fluid with the Snapdragon 720G. Heavy games like PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty, and Asphalt 9 take extra time to load. In-game, you'll also experience occasional stuttering especially if you're in Medium to High settings.
The smartphone could flex some processing muscle. This is evident in our Benchmark tests. The 4GB Galaxy A52 hits 1497 multi-core score and 538 single-core score in our Geekbench Benchmark test which is quite a pleaser among its peers. Furthermore, it scored 1188 in the OpenCL category.
The Samsung Galaxy A52 has a capable loudspeaker. Most of the time, it could get loud and may lack bass definition but it's still a good phone for multimedia consumption. I also have no issues in taking calls or connecting thru the internet. If you want to future-proof your handset, the Galaxy A52 also has a 5G version.
Camera
The Samsung Galaxy A52 packs a powerful set of cameras. There's the primary 64MP camera with f/1.8 aperture. It also boasts a 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera, 5MP f/2.4 macro sensor, and another 5MP f/2.4 Bokeh sensor. For sure, this is not a flagship camera set but we were glad with most of the shots that we have taken with the A52.
The primary camera captures images with great details especially in a well-lit environment. Colors are a bit saturated; but that's why we love Samsung phones right? Taking zoomed shots automatically drops a significant amount of details knowing that we don't have a telephoto lens.
For the most part, the 12MP wide-angle sensor gives refreshing landscape shots. Macro shots are also capable as well as subject and background separation when taking portrait shots.
The 32MP selfie camera also shoots great photos. Both the front camera and rear camera record quality videos good for social media sharing. To make the story short, the Samsung Galaxy A52 has a dependable and solid camera.
Here are the sample photos of the Samsung Galaxy A52:
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| Selfie (from left to right): Normal, Wide and Portrait |
Software
There's a different kind of feeling when I use Samsung phones. It's the software that always keeps me satisfied. With the Galaxy A52, we are treated by the latest version of One UI - version 3.1. This is based on Android 11, with a promise of upgrades for the next iteration of One UI. Aside from that, Samsung also rolls out a slew of security updates almost every month.
One UI is a gorgeous software, it's classy and minimalist for an Android skin. However, we can still see some bloatware that you'll instantly want to delete. Apps are shaped in squares but channels rounded corners. The notification shade is clean and is integrated with quick toggles that you can customize.
You'll get access to your Google cards when swiping to the right and the app drawer when swiping up. There are tons of Android 11 features to take advantage of with the One UI. The Edge Panel is still as useful as ever in getting quick access to your favorite apps and contacts.
The overall experience with the software is quite smooth. Even though we only have the 4GB variant, the 90Hz refresh rate makes everything fluid.
Battery Life
The Samsung Galaxy A52 packs a 4500 mAh battery. It is capable of 25-watt fast charging. In my real-time usage, I can easily get a day of battery life. In most cases where I use the phone moderately, it could extend up to another 12 hours the following day.
This means that you wont be having any problem with the battery life if you're a fair to moderate user. But if you plan to use this phone as a daily driver for emails, music player, video streams, and gaming, it could die out before you wrap your day.
The Wrap
We love a Samsung phone due to its stunning display, and the Galaxy A52's panel is not an exception. Thus, streaming videos and playing games are great activities with this phone. The Samsung Galaxy A52 is a well-balanced smartphone that could offer great value for its price.
On top of that, we think that the battery life exceeded our expectations. It may not be the most affordable smartphone in its segment, but it makes up for it by giving you a better experience due to an intuitive integration of software and hardware.
If you're using a Galaxy A50 or an older mid-range Galaxy phone, this smartphone is definitely a good upgrade for your aging hardware.
Pros and Cons:
1. Vibrant colors
2. Simple and solid design
3. Stunning Super AMOLED display
4. Long battery life
Samsung Galaxy A52 Specs:
159.9 x 75.1 x 8.4 mm at 189 grams
6.5-inch Super AMOLED display, 800 nits
1080 x 2400p, 20:9 Aspect Ratio, 407 ppi pixel density
Corning Gorilla Glass 5
Qualcomm SM7125 Snapdragon 720G
2x 2.3 GHz Kryo 465 Gold and 6x 1.8 GHz Kryo 465 Silver CPU
Adreno 618 GPU
4GB/6GB/8GB RAM
128GB/256GB memory
Expandable via microSD slot
Rear Camera:
64MP f/1.8 main with PDAF, OIS
12MP f/2.2 Ultra-Wide 123 degree
5MP f/2.4 Macro
5MP f/2.4 Depth
LED Flash, Panorama, HDR
4K at 30fps video recording
Front Camera: 32MP f/2.2 with HDR
4K at 30 fps
Stereo Speakers
3.5mm audio jack
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth 5.0
USB - C v 2.0
Fingerprint (under display)
4500 mAh battery
25-watt fast charging
Awesome Black, Awesome White, Awesome Violet, Awesome Blue
₱18,990.00 (8GB RAM)
