Samsung Galaxy A52 comes in four different colour variants.
Samsung Galaxy A52 is the latest addition to the company’s popular A-series. With the tagline ‘Awesome for Everyone’, the company is trying to target the new A family to all age groups. The youngsters get a high refresh rate display and a decent processor, whereas the more mature audience gets a bigger battery and good cameras.
At a starting price of Rs. 26,499, does the Samsung Galaxy A52 offer enough? Let’s find out in this review:
Samsung Galaxy A52 Review: Specifications
Samsung Galaxy A52 sports a 6.5-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display. The smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G processor paired with up to 8GB of RAM. It packs in 128GB of onboard storage, which is further expandable using a microSD card. The smartphone runs on One UI 3.1 based on Google's Android 11 operating system. All of this is powered by a 4,500mAh battery.
On the optics front, the Samsung Galaxy A52 features a quad-camera setup at the back consisting of a 64-megapixel primary sensor, a 12-megapixel ultrawide lens, a 5-megapixel macro lens and a 5-megapixel depth sensor. For selfies, the phone comes with a 32-megapixel shooter upfront that lies inside the punch hole.
Samsung Galaxy A52 Review: Design and Display
Samsung has designed the Galaxy A52 as a funky smartphone made for the millennials. The handset comes in four different colour options. While the Black and White colour variants look quite subtle, the Blue and Violet ones manage to stand out. Unlike the Galaxy A51, this one does not get any colour shifting or any special effect. Instead, it just flaunts its pastel colour on the back.
A drawback that I felt with the new design was that the back now feels more flimsy. One can literally feel the back panel going inwards by pressing in the middle area. The company could have worked on offering a better experience here considering the phone is priced well over the Rs. 20,000 mark.
Also, both the back panel as well as the frame of the smartphone are made out of plastic. That is not necessarily a bad thing as this helps in bringing the weight of the phone down. The Galaxy A52 does feel quite lightweight in hand.
The Galaxy A52 comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack.
As for the placements, the Galaxy A52 sports the power button and the volume rockers on the right edge while the left edge is left clean. The top edge of the handset holds the SIM tray and the secondary microphone. The bottom edge features the USB Type-C port, primary mic, speaker grille and a 3.5mm headphone jack (Yes, In 2021!).
As for the display, the Galaxy A52 features a 6.5-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED panel. It offers vibrant colours and deeper blacks. This helps in elevating the movie watching experience on the smartphone. Furthermore, the display is bright enough and I had no issues using it even under direct sunlight.
Samsung Galaxy A52 Review: Performance, Software and UI
The Galaxy A52 draws its power from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G processor. It is paired with either 6GB or 8GB of RAM. The combination delivers enough power to offer a smooth user experience. During my time with the device, I had no issues performing day-to-day tasks like texting, listening to music, watching TV shows and more. I even had plenty of apps open in the background and I did not notice much lag.
It sports an in-display fingerprint scanner.
However, if you are looking for a smartphone to play graphic-intensive games, you might wanna lean over to something like the OnePlus Nord or the Realme X7 Pro 5G.
Coming to the user interface, Samsung has matured a lot. With the new Android 11 based OneUI 3.1, the company offers a plethora of features along with plenty of customisation options while keeping performance in check. The animations feel quick enough and the overall experience feels a lot smoother when compared to the OneUI 2.5. Also, the cherry on top here is that the company has promised 3 major OS updates and 4 years of security patches for the Galaxy A52.
Samsung Galaxy A52 Review: Camera
This time around, Samsung opted for a higher-res 64MP primary camera sensor at the back. For reference, the phone’s predecessor Galaxy A51 came with a 48MP unit. Along with the new primary camera, the company has placed a 12MP ultrawide lens, a 5MP macro lens and a 5MP depth sensor. Upfront, there is a 32MP selfie snapper.
The back panel is made out of plastic.
Samsung Galaxy A52 managed to capture decent pictures in bright daylight conditions. The dynamic range is wide enough and it offers plenty of detail in the images. As expected from a Samsung smartphone, the colours are not the most accurate as the phone tries to make the colours pop out a bit. Lastly, the camera UI was able to focus on objects and people quick enough.
Under low lighting conditions, the Galaxy A52 offered an average photo shooting experience. The phone does manage to preserve a lot of detail but the images suffer due to the noise. The Night Mode offered in the Camera UI does manage to crank up the brightness in low light images.
As for the selfies, the Galaxy A52 a narrow and wide mode for single and group selfies, respectively. The two modes do offer versatility. The selfie shooting experience was good enough on the smartphone, especially under good lighting conditions.
Samsung Galaxy A52 Review: Battery
Samsung Galaxy A52 is backed by a reasonable 4,500 mAh battery. While it is a 500mAh bump up from the Galaxy A51’s 4,000mAh battery, it feels on the lower side when compared to the Galaxy A32, which comes with a 5,000mAh battery.
During my usage, the phone managed to last me a full working day before I needed to plug in a charger. My typical workday included a lot of texting, a few phone calls, taking pictures and more. When needed to charge, the included 15W charger was able to charge the device from 0-100% in just a little over 2 hours. It is worth mentioning that the device supports 25W fast charging and it would have been great to see a 25W Fast Charger in the box.
Samsung Galaxy A52 Review: Verdict
It features a punch-hole camera on the front.
Samsung Galaxy A52 is a great package and does offer significant improvements over its predecessors. It does have its fair share of shortcomings like the plastic body and a bland design. But it makes up for it by offering a lightweight smartphone with a great display, a good set of cameras and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
If you are looking for a smartphone in the Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 30,000 price band, the Galaxy A52 could be a great contender. However, if you are hungry for more raw performance or would like to get 5G right now, you can consider the OnePlus Nord instead.
