Samsung Galaxy A72 is available in four colour options.
Whenever you think of Samsung smartphones, the flagship S-Series or the mighty Note series or the innovative Galaxy Fold series comes to mind. However, the company is trying hard to conquer the mid-range segment battling with the likes of Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi and Realme with their A series of smartphones. The newly announced A72 aims to compete in the sub-Rs 40,000 price segment.
The competition is tough in that segment. However, with a big battery, high refresh rate display, IP67 and good cameras can the Samsung Galaxy A72 really stand out? Let’s find out.
Samsung Galaxy A72 Review: Specifications
Samsung Galaxy A72 sports a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display with an aspect ratio of 20:9. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G processor paired with 8GB of RAM and 128 or 256GB of onboard storage. The storage is further expandable using a microSD card slot in the form of a dual-hybrid sim card slot. It runs on Android 11 based OneUI 3.1 out of the box. All of this is backed by a 5,000mAh battery.
n the optics front, the Galaxy A72 features a quad rear camera setup including a 64-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel telephone lens, a 12-megapixel ultrawide sensor and a 5-megapixel macro sensor. Upfront, there is a 32-megapixel selfie snapper.
Samsung Galaxy A72 Review: Design and Display
Samsung has designed the Galaxy A72 as a colourful, funky smartphone, made for the younger generation. Like the A52, 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.
The Plastic colourful back feels flimsy and I can feel the back panel flexing a bit in the middle and the side body rail flexing a bit below the power button. The issues may be related to our unit only. Slapping a case will solve these issues though.
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 A72 does feel quite lightweight in hand.
On the front, the Galaxy A72 sports a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED panel with a centre punch-hole display. It has thin bezels offering a great experience.
As for the placements, Galaxy A72 sports a USB Type-C port on the bottom edge along with a 3.5mm headphone jack, speaker grille and the primary microphone. The right edge houses the power button and volume buttons. The left side does not feature any buttons. The top edge of the phone is mostly left clean with the exception of the secondary microphone and a dual hybrid sim card tray.
Coming back to the display, it is a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED panel with a resolution of 1080x2400 pixels. Overall, the display get’s bright enough to read in direct sunlight and the viewing angles are good enough for day to day usage. The display offers vibrant colours and deeper blacks.
Samsung Galaxy A72 Review: Performance, Software and UI
Samsung Galaxy A72 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G processor paired with 8GB of RAM. With the phone being priced between Rs 35,000 to Rs 40,000 range, no 5G support is a disappointment. The 765G with 5G support would have been a way better option here. Overall, in day to day usage, you feel a bit of lag probably due to the long animation times of the OneUI. For the price you pay, you feel a bit cheated out on the smooth end-user experience. The 90Hz adaptive display helps, but not as much as you would expect.
It sports a punch-hole design.
I also tried playing Call of Duty: Mobile and Asphalt 9 on the Galaxy A72. The phone managed to perform well in the gaming area. There is minute heating after long sessions but nothing major.
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 A72. Whether the company actually delivers or not that is to see, but with Samsung, they will probably deliver.
Samsung Galaxy A72 Review: Cameras
It features a quad-camera setup at the back.
Samsung Galaxy A72 sports a quad rear camera setup including a 64-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel telephone lens, a 12-megapixel ultrawide sensor and a 5-megapixel macro sensor. The smartphone also gets Live Focus, Pro Mode and companies AR facial features. The camera app is straightforward and offers a good amount of features.
During our tests, the Galaxy A72 managed to click some good shots. Under good lighting conditions, the phone managed to lock focus quickly. The colours were natural and in true Samsung fashion, the images did churn out a bit more saturated than one would prefer. The story changes a bit when we go into the low light mode. The phone struggled to gain focus and the images churned out to be grainy. The 5-megapixel macro lens is present, and the quality is just passable. The ultrawide has the same story. However, we noticed a shutter lag, which is fixable by software easily.
Also Read: Samsung Galaxy A52 Review: Brings colours to your life
As for the selfies, the Galaxy A72 comes with 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 A72 Review: Battery
Samsung Galaxy A72 manages to impress in the battery segment. The handset comes with a massive 5,000mAh battery. During my time with the device, light to medium usage got me around a day and a half of usage. Even with heavy usage, the phone lasted more than a workday. This makes it a great smartphone for people who travel a lot and like to consume a lot of content.
When a top-up is needed, the Galaxy A72 manages to quickly charge up with the help of the included 25W fast charger.
Samsung Galaxy A72 Review: Verdict
Samsung Galaxy A72 starts at Rs 34,999 for the 128GB storage variant and the 256GB variant comes in at Rs 37,999. It is a great package and does offer significant improvements over its predecessors. It does have its fair share of shortcomings like the plastic body, bland design and no 5G support. 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. 35,000 to Rs. 40,000 price band, the Galaxy A72 could be a great contender. However, the likes of the OnePlus 9R offer better performance and 5G support, but if you don’t care about the lack of 5G support and want a better camera experience, the Galaxy A72 offers a good overall package.
