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Samsung Galaxy A52s Review: The best A series from Samsung that fits all requirements well with few corners cut but comes at a cost!!

Samsung Galaxy A52s Review

A more powerful Galaxy A52 with some good upgrades.

Samsung A series smartphones play a perfect balance for Samsung as they offer the best specifications for a good price. The Galaxy A52 (Review) was a great mid-range smartphone as it had a great AMOLED display, good cameras, a Snapdragon 720G chipset. However, with the Galaxy A52s, Samsung has brought in some very good upgrades that make it a good buy while keeping the design the same.

The Galaxy A52s packs in a 120Hz AMOLED display, a powerful Snapdragon 778G chipset which is a very powerful chipset for gaming and performance compared to Snapdragon 720G chipset on the Galaxy A52, a triple camera setup with OIS, a good-sized 4500mAh battery with support for 25W fast charging. This makes a very good deal but the price has also gone up. 

There are also some other contenders like the OnePlus Nord 2 (Review), Realme GT Master Edition (Review), etc that are almost priced closely to the Galaxy A52s. This smartphone holds a good position between the premium mid-range segment and budget flagship segment. So is the Galaxy A52s worth considering over the Galaxy A52 with a slightly higher price tag or should you go for any other smartphone? 

Let's find out in the full review.

Samsung Galaxy A52s Design:


Samsung Galaxy A52s Review

In terms of build and design, the Galaxy A52s does not have anything to differentiate from its previous iteration, the Galaxy A52. There is the same design found on the Galaxy A52 with a polycarbonate back and a rectangular camera module which looks like that of the Samsung Galaxy S21 series smartphones. The camera bump is slightly protruding and the camera module also has the same color as the back.

This is a small letdown as Samsung could have spruced up the looks and had provided a glass back as its own competitors like the OnePlus Nord 2, POCO F3 GT (Review), etc have a glass back that makes them slightly premium. Though you have a polycarbonate back, there is an IP67 rating which makes it water and dust resistant as the smartphone can survive under fresh water for 30 minutes up to 1 meter.

Samsung Galaxy A52s Review

The weight is kept at 189 grams which makes it quite good to hold as it is not heavy and the back has a smooth matte finish that does catch some fingerprints though. Samsung has also cut corners as around the sides, there is no metallic frame and instead, you have a plastic frame with the right side having the volume buttons and the power button. The left side is completely clean.

On the top, there is a secondary noise-canceling microphone with a hybrid slot that accepts one SIM card with a microSD card or two SIM cards. The bottom has the USB Type-C port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a primary microphone, and a loudspeaker grille. The presence of a 3.5mm headphone jack is a big bonus as most of the smartphones in this price range do not have.

Samsung Galaxy A52s Review

On the front, there is a single punch-hole display with minimum bezels to the sides. The Galaxy A52s is available in four different colors- Awesome Black, Awesome White, Awesome Violet, and Awesome Mint. Overall, the design is not striking or refreshing as you have the same look like the Galaxy A52 but still, it is a very well-built smartphone but it does miss out on a glass design.

Samsung Galaxy A52s Display:


Samsung Galaxy A52s Review

The Galaxy A52s packs in a 6.5-inches Full HD+(1080x2400 pixels) Super AMOLED display with a screen-to-body ratio of 20:9. This display is the same as found on the Galaxy A52 but has a higher 120Hz refresh rate which makes it faster and smoother while scrolling or multitasking between applications. And since this is an AMOLED panel, the color reproduction and viewing angles are great.

However, you do not have an Adaptive Refresh rate or an Auto-Select option for switching between refresh rates as you have to keep either at standard 60Hz or higher 120Hz. Combined with the 120Hz refresh rate, there is a 240Hz touch sampling rate also This seems to be a good upgrade from the 90Hz refresh rate and 180Hz touch sampling rate on the Galaxy A52. 

Samsung Galaxy A52s Review

On the front, Samsung has not skipped in terms of protection as you are getting Corning Gorilla Glass 5. This display supports Widevine L1 so streaming HD content from OTT platforms is a breeze and also you can stream HDR10 content from YouTube. But due to some reason, you cannot run HDR still on Netflix and Samsung may fix this issue in a future software update. 

In terms of brightness, this display can achieve 800nits of peak brightness while watching HDR content which is good. Still, it is not the brightest display but still good for watching content. Under direct sunlight, the display is easily visible. For the display, you have two different color profiles - Vivid and Natural where in Vivid you have a color temperature setting to set either warmer or cooler tone. 

Samsung Galaxy A52s Review

As this is an AMOLED display, there is an optical in-display fingerprint scanner that is fast and accurate. Overall, this seems to be a great display for media consumption considering the higher 120Hz refresh rate that makes everything smoother.

Samsung Galaxy A52s Performance:


The Galaxy A52s gets the biggest upgrade in terms of performance over the Galaxy A52. It is powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G chipset which is based on a 6nm process and is based on a tri-cluster setup which has 4x2.4 GHz Kryo 670 Gold cores (based on Cortex-A78) and another 4x1.9 GHz Kryo 670 Silver cores ( based on Cortex-A55) coupled with an Adreno 642L GPU.

This is the same chipset that powers smartphones like the Realme GT Master Edition, iQOO Z5, and Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite NE 5G. The performance is really good as the smartphone can handle all tasks with ease and also all heavy games like Call Of Duty Mobile, BGMI, etc. run smoothly at the highest graphics settings. BGMI can run at Ultra frame rate with HDR graphics and gameplay was smooth.
 
Samsung Galaxy A52s Review

There was no lag as such during the gameplay as the fps rates in all games were well maintained with no major drops. After long hours of gaming, the back of the smartphone felt slightly warmer as Samsung has not equipped any cooling system but still the Snapdragon 778G is one of the most stable chipsets out there in the market. 

In CPU throttling tests, the Snapdragon 778G chipset offers better stable performance with very little throttling compared to other chipsets like the Mediatek Dimensity 1200 chipset found on the OnePlus Nord 2 and also the Snapdragon 888 chipset found on the flagships of 2021. In benchmarks like Antutu v8, the smartphone scored around 492239 and in Geekbench 5.1, it scored 739 and 2810 respectively.

This chipset also supports 5G so as a result, you are getting around 12 bands of 5G that make it future proof, and also there is 4G+ carrier aggregation available. The Galaxy A52s is available in two variants - 6/8GB LPDDR4X RAM with 128GB storage and the speeds are of UFS 2.1 which is quite good but still lacks behind the competition as other smartphones have faster UFS 3.1 speeds. 

Like Realme, Vivo, etc. Samsung also provides virtual RAM using which you can add an extra 5GB RAM which is good for multitasking. Overall the performance and gaming remain good not the best as there are many other smartphones that have more powerful Snapdragon 870 and Mediatek Dimensity 1200 chipsets that provide slightly better gaming performance but still the Galaxy A52s handles everything well.

Samsung Galaxy A52s Software:


Samsung Galaxy A52s Review

The Galaxy A52s runs on the latest OneUI 3.1 with Android 11 out of the box. OneUI 3.1 provides a lot of features and you get all standard features like Samsung Pay, Good Lock, Alt Z, Security folder, etc. There are a lot of customizations available from icon shape and size, look and feel, and also different styles for Always-On display. With the OneUI 3.1, you have more features to cameras and also security features have been enhanced.

Samsung Galaxy A52s Review

There is support for NFC, Bluetooth 5.2, etc. But Samsung has a bunch of bloatware present from MX Takatak, Moj, and other applications that can be uninstalled. Other applications include Samsung-specific applications also which cannot be uninstalled but can be disabled. However, there were some ads noticed as the AppCloud throws in a lot of notifications to complete the device setup.

Samsung Galaxy A52s Review

There are some Google-specific applications like dialler, messaging, and contacts. Sliding to the left of the home screen, there is a Google Feed. But in one area where OneUI holds the edge is in terms of software updates as Samsung guarantees three years of Android OS updates and four years of security updates which is the best in class. Overall, the software experience remains good but still Stock Android and OxygenOS are slightly better.

Samsung Galaxy A52s Cameras:


Samsung Galaxy A52s Review

The Galaxy A52s has a triple camera setup that includes a 64MP f/1.8 main camera, a 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera, a 5MP depth sensor, and a 5MP f/2.4 macro camera. The main camera takes images with good dynamic range and the color saturation is also on the natural side. There is some oversharpening present but with AI Scene Optimizer, it does boost the colors.

Samsung Galaxy A52s Review

There is some amount of noise present but it is very minimal. The images during the night come out with good dynamic range and the noise is also less since there is OIS present. The colors look natural and the dynamic range is quite wider also. With the dedicated Night Mode, the dynamic range does improve a bit and the blown away highlights in shadows are restored.

Without Night Mode:


Samsung Galaxy A52s Review

With Night Mode:


Samsung Galaxy A52s Review

The 12MP ultrawide camera does a good job in terms of dynamic range and the color saturation is also on the natural side. There is not much edge distortion and you are getting a larger 123-degree field of view. There is some noise present though but when you zoom in, the images have slightly softer details but still, this is one of the best ultrawide cameras out there.

Samsung Galaxy A52s Review

At night, the ultrawide camera does a good job but still, the details look softer and the colors look overexposed at times. There is a lot of noise present around the edges and the details in shadows are crippled. The dedicated Night Mode does improve the dynamic range and also reduces the noise but not by much.

Samsung Galaxy A52s Review

There is no dedicated telephoto camera as the main camera can do 2x zoom and the images have good dynamic range and the noise is also lower. The details look sharper but beyond 2x zoom, there is a lot of noise and the images do have softer details. Even at night, the zoomed-in shots at 2x look good but there is a considerable amount of noise present and the dynamic range is just average.

Samsung Galaxy A52s Review

The 5MP macro camera does a good job in terms of details as this camera can go as close as 4cm but the dynamic range is just average and the noise is also quite prominent. The colors look washed out so instead, you can use the main camera for 2x zoomed images for better details. In terms of portraits, the dynamic range and edge detection are good but there is some amount of noise present.

The background blur is well implemented through and this portrait can work well with non-human subjects in terms of dynamic range. The selfies come out good from the front camera as you have a large 32MP camera and the dynamic range is very good with sharper details. There is a larger field of view and the noise is very less. There is no skin smoothening but colors do look oversharpened.

The selfie portraits come out good with proper edge detection and the background blur is well implemented. There is minimal noise present but there is quite some oversharpening present. In terms of videos, the back main camera can record 4K videos at 30fps. There is no 60fps option which is a slight letdown. The videos have a good dynamic range and the colors also look natural.

Due to the presence of OIS, there is not much noise but some oversharpening is present. The ultrawide camera can also record 4K videos at 30fps and the videos have good dynamic range but a larger amount of noise and the details do not look sharper much. The 1080p videos at 60fps come out good with both OIS and EIS working together resulting in excellent dynamic range with sharper details.

The color saturation in both cameras is slightly boosted and the videos from the front camera come out with good dynamic range as you can record 4K videos at 30fps. There is EIS present which results in stabilized videos and the color saturation is also on the natural side with good dynamic range. Even the portrait videos come out with dynamic range and the oversharpening is quite present.

Overall, the cameras are good but in terms of videos, it is great as you have OIS and the ultrawide camera has the ability to record 4K videos is a good addition as most of the cameras do not have this feature.

Samsung Galaxy A52s Battery Life:


The Galaxy A52s packs in a 4500mAh battery which can easily last for a single day with heavy usage that includes streaming content from Netflix, playing BGMI for 3-4 hours continuously, and also scrolling through webpages with the display set to 120Hz. However, the lack of an Adaptive refresh rate is felt as it would have provided a good and balanced battery life.

With normal usage at 120Hz, you can get an even slightly better battery life and with the display set to standard 60Hz, the smartphone easily lasts two days with some battery left. Samsung OneUI battery optimizations are much better and since the chipset is built on a 6nm process, the battery life is really good. The smartphone had an average standard screen-on time of 7-8 hours which was really good.

However, for better battery life you can switch to the standard 60Hz also. The Galaxy A52s is bundled with a 15W fast charger which is not the fastest as it takes around 2 hours to charge completely from 0 to 100 percent. However, there is support for 25W fast charging which charges the smartphone from 0 to 100 percent in 1 hour 30 minutes. 

Samsung has done a cost-cutting by bundling a 15W charger only which is a letdown considering the competitors like the Realme GT Master Edition and the OnePlus Nord 2 that offer a massive 65W fast charging support. But still, with OneUI optimizations and an efficient Snapdragon 778G chipset, the battery life is pretty good.

Samsung Galaxy A52s Audio Quality:


Samsung Galaxy A52s Review

The Galaxy A52s ships with a stereo speaker setup where the loudspeaker grille and the earpiece at the top together produce a good sound experience. The sound is not the loudest but still, the bass level is very good and there is no issue of back vibrating while hearing the sound at the loudest settings. There is also a 3.5mm headphone jack and the sound output through it is good.

Verdict:


The Galaxy A52s is a good all-rounder smartphone that packs almost everything found on a premium mid-range smartphone. It has a nice 120Hz AMOLED display for watching content and playing games, a capable Snapdragon 778G chipset that handles all tasks and provides good battery life, then the cameras are very capable with good images and videos and also the software experience is good.

You are getting good 5G network connectivity as you have support for almost 11 5G bands instead of one found on some smartphones priced higher than this. In terms of updates, Samsung is holding a very good track update of all security and OS updates to all its smartphones as you are getting four years of security patches which are very rare on other smartphones. 

There are some very noticeable features available like IP67 rating and OIS in the main camera which very few of the smartphones offer in this price segment. But Samsung has cut some corners like the build and design does not feel unique as you have a polycarbonate back instead of glass which most of the smartphones priced similarly or lower offer.

The design is good but the same design of the Galaxy A52 is boring and Samsung should have provided a metallic frame around as it is priced quite higher than the competition. The Snapdragon 778G offers great performance and gaming capabilities but still lacks behind the Mediatek Dimensity 1200 and the Snapdragon 870 chipset that does deliver better gaming performance as we have seen on many smartphones. 

Though OneUI is good the presence of bloatware does hamper the software experience. So as an overall package, the Galaxy A52s brings a lot to the table with good specifications but still, Samsung could have made it a value proposition by pricing it is slightly lesser but if you are out for a premium and a powerful Samsung smartphone, then the Galaxy A52s is a perfect choice and is worth buying.






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