Samsung Galaxy A52 5G review: Everything done right ?!

The middle class from Samsung has always enjoyed great popularity. The Samsung Galaxy A51 was even the best-selling Android smartphone last year. This year Samsung presented two successors to the blockbuster with the Galaxy A52 and A52 5G.

I have now taken a closer look at the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G and how it fared in everyday life, you can find out in this review.

Design, feel & workmanship

I anticipate it right away. For me personally, the feel is one of two major points of criticism of the device. With dimensions of 159,9 x 75,1 x 8,4 mm, it's definitely not a small phone, but it's still relatively smallprodifficult to operate with one hand. Here the weight of 189 grams is really helpful and the smartphone feels quite good in the hand. Although the frame and back are made of plastic, they still offer a good grip. The matte back is certainly helpful here, but appearances are deceptive, because you quickly notice that Samsung has cut corners here. Not only is the white color of my device susceptible to dirt, no, it can also be dented easily, which unfortunately devalues ​​the feeling in the hand somewhat. It definitely feels more comfortable than its predecessor, but for 429 euros you can expect a little more in my opinion.

Picture: TechnikNews

Display

We all know that Samsung is capable of making excellent displays. And here it is no different. The 6,5-inch AMOLED display, which has a resolution of 2.400 x 1.080 pixels, is a stunner. The colors are strong and a bit cooler, the sharpness of 407 PPI is perfectly adequate and the brightness of 800 nits ensures that you don't even have to worry about sunnier days Proproblems with readability.

The highlight, however, is clearly the smooth refresh rate of 120 Hertz. After 90 and 120 Hertz panels were only reserved for high-end smartphones last year, we are now seeing more and more mid-range smartphones with such high refresh rates and OLEDs this year. The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G belongs next to the Redmi Note 10 Pro and the Poco F3 are among the cheapest smartphones that have a 120Hz OLED display. There is simply nothing wrong with the panel and it could just as easily be found in more expensive smartphones.

Performance

Samsung doesn't equip the A52 5G with an Exynos SoC, but with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G. In combination with the optional 6 or 8 GB RAM and the expandable 128 or 256 GB internal memory, it should theoretically have enough reserves. That all sounds good, but I would personally rate the performance as neutral because on the one hand I have the feeling that the UI slows down the device a bit and on the other hand it seems to me that the Proprocessor does not cope very well with the 120 Hz. This is particularly noticeable when scrolling, for example through Twitter. One simply has the feeling that the SoC is slowing down the display a bit, but the manufacturer can improve this with updates in the future. In my opinion, a 90 Hz refresh rate would be the better option herepromissed. But it is definitely more pleasant than 60 Hz.

Software

For me, One UI is now one of the top 3 Android interfaces. As one might expect, the device runs Android version 11 with the security patch from April 1st. Even if this is a mid-range smartphone and the updates here will definitely appear later than the flagships, it is still commendable. Samsung promises to deliver software updates for three years and security updates for four years. No other manufacturer can score points in the Android camp with this.

The UI itself is the same as we are used to from Samsung. It offers various features, such as an eye protection mode, an ingenious gesture control or a very good always-on display. Furthermore, the UI can also be easily operated with one hand, which can definitely be helpful with the ever-larger smartphones.

Camera

As almost usual in the middle class, the Galaxy A52 5G also has a quad camera on the back. Wide-angle, ultra-wide-angle, depth and macro cameras can be found in the left corner. These have a resolution of 64, 12 and 5 megapixels each for the depth and macro cameras. I don't want to worry about the depth camera at this point either, as it doesn't offer any added value. Portraits are good, but nothing special either.

I really like the pictures from the wide and ultra wide angle cameras. As is typical for Samsung, the colors are a bit oversaturated, which creates a strong, but not natural look. Personally, I'm not a friend of it, although of course this always corresponds to personal taste. Nevertheless, the images can really be seen in terms of image sharpness and dynamic range.

As far as night shots are concerned, you shouldn't expect miracles here. The optical image stabilizer of the main camera definitely helps and the pictures are quite impressive, given the price. Nevertheless, you should be aware that this is a mid-range smartphone, which is quickly apparent when taking night shots. At night only the main camera can really convince.

Last but not least, the 5 megapixel macro camera needs to be mentioned. I actually liked this one very much. You shouldn't expect miracles here, of course, but these are images that you shouldn't be ashamed of.

Macro shot of the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G. (Picture: TechnikNews)

Battery

The 4.500 mAh battery provided really good runtimes in my test phase. This is where the Snapdragon SoC comes into play, because although we have a smaller battery than the S120 Ultra despite the 20 Hz, the battery of the A52 5G lasted at least as long, if not a little longer. I always got through a day. The average screen-on-time was always 6 hours. Sometimes a little more, sometimes less. In contrast to the S21 series, Samsung also includes a 15 watt power supply. This means that it takes a certain amount of time until the smartphone is fully charged again. With the maximum supported 25 watts, this period is a bit shorter, but it still does not match the charging times of the competition.

Other

In addition to a jack plug, the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G also offers really good stereo speakers, which surprised me positively. They get loud and don't overdrive at high volume. In addition, the Galaxy A52 5G is also certified according to IP67, against the ingress of dust and water, which is not a matter of course in this price range and is definitely worth mentioning.

But unfortunately we also have to talk about the vibration motor and the fingerprint sensor. In addition to the feel, the biggest point of criticism. The fingerprint sensor itself is actually relatively reliable, it only feels like an eternity before it unlocks the device and, quite honestly, that bothers me. I actually deactivated the vibrations relatively quickly because the vibration motor is simply not good.

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G is one of the cheapest 5G smartphones in Samsung's line-up. But is that why I recommend it? In principle yes. There is a catch, however, and that is that Samsung Galaxy S20FE. With a current street price of around 485 euros, it is not significantly more expensive than the A52 5G and offers better performance, a better camera including 3x optical zoom and wireless charging. You only make compromises here with the battery life and the fact that the S20 FE is only the 4G version. So personally I would wait a little longer before making a purchase. I assume that the prices will quickly settle below 400 euros and then it is definitely worth considering.

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