Samsung Galaxy A52 Hands-on Review
The Samsung Galaxy A52's main highlights are its 64-megapixel quad cameras, new design, and powerful processor. We're able to get our hands on this latest Samsung midrange smartphone and here's our hands-on review.
Note: The Galaxy A52 we used for this review is not a retail unit so there might be some differences in its features and capabilities.
Design and Built
Samsung significantly improved the design of the new Galaxy A52, compared to its predecessor Galaxy A51. The Galaxy A52 features a slim with sleek curved seamless design.
The back has a matte finish which is great since it does not get easily attract smudges and fingerprints. It's available in Awesome black, violet, white, and blue which is the color of our review unit, and it's really an eye-catching color and design that leaves a good impression when held in hand.
The quad-camera housing blends with the back cover so it looks seamless but this makes the camera bump very thick and it does not lay flat on its back when placed on the table, so it's better to get a good case to protect the camera lens.
In terms of build, this phone is well-made and has a solid build that you can feel on your hand. It looks like it has a metal frame since it's a bit heavy at 189 grams. The panel is protected by Gorilla Glass 5 and its rated IP67 so which means it's water-resistant and can withstand being submerged in water for 30 minutes.
There is a 6.5-inch display on the front with a punch-hole at the center top where the selfie camera is placed. It also has an under-display fingerprint reader which is fast and reliable in unlocking the phone.
To the right side are the power button and the volume rocker both are easy to click and it's responsive so no complaints here. While the left side is totally clear just the smooth metal frame.
The SIM slot is located at the top together with the microphone it has a hybrid design, which means you can choose to use two nano SIM or one nano-SIM and one microSD card slot but since this phone already got huge storage capacity it's better to use two nano-SIM to enjoy both Telcos.
At the bottom is the usual connectivity port like the 3.5mm audio jack is still present and accounted for, a type-C port, a single speaker, and a microphone. Also, no complaints here since it got all the ports we need.
AMOLED display
This midrange smartphone features a 6.5-inch Infinity-O Full HD+ Super AMOLED display with a 90hz refresh rate. Not only the display has a faster refresh rate, but it also has 800 nits brightness thus making it usable outdoors even in direct sunlight.
In terms of colors, given its AMOLED display the colors look amazing, it has two profiles available - Vivid (default) with custom white balance adjustment and Natural. It also has advanced settings where RGB colors can be adjusted by using the toner slider. Personally, we prefer the Vivid mode with the default settings since the colors already look great.
For eye comfort, Samsung included an Eye comfort shield to keep the eyes comfortable by limiting blue light and using warmer colors. According to so Samsung using this at night can make it easier to fall asleep. At default 90Hz, apps run well such as YouTube, Netflix, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat to name a few.
For games, it does not seem to take advantage of this most if not all runs on 60pfs so it adapts and runs smoothly with the help of the performance optimizations and resolution scaler by the Samsung Game Launcher.
Performance and Samsung One IU 3.1
The Galaxy A52 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G octa-core chipset with up to 2.3GHz clock speed, it has Kryo 465, an Octa-core CPU with 64-bit architecture. For graphics, it's powered by Adreno 618 GPU. It has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G octa-core mobile platform is also used by realme 7 Pro, realme 8 Pro, and OPPO Reno5.
Benchmark app results on the Samsung Galaxy A52
AnTuTu: 226,707
GFXBench : 18fps (ES 3.1 onscreen)
Geekbench 5: 533 Single-core / 1464 Multi-core
The Qualcomm 720G chipset is one of the most popular chips used on midrange smartphones, given its performance not only in terms of multitasking but also in gaming. Thanks to Android 11 with Samsung IU 3.1, which takes advantage of the capability of the chipset, it makes the user experience without lag and smooth overall performance.
Benchmark app results on the Samsung Galaxy A52
AnTuTu: 226,707
GFXBench : 18fps (ES 3.1 onscreen)
Geekbench 5: 533 Single-core / 1464 Multi-core
The Qualcomm 720G chipset is one of the most popular chips used on midrange smartphones, given its performance not only in terms of multitasking but also in gaming. Thanks to Android 11 with Samsung IU 3.1, which takes advantage of the capability of the chipset, it makes the user experience without lag and smooth overall performance.
The Samsung IU 3.1 offers a lot of features and cool add-ons most of these features are found in the settings menu.
Playing games like the popular shooting game Call of Duty Mobile played well with smooth performance on high graphics settings, the gameplay is amazing and touch commands in precise and accurate, and with its AMOLED display its more immersive when playing games. The speakers at the bottom are actually quite good even at high volume, but still, nothing beats using wired or wireless earphones for a better audio experience.
Playing games like the popular shooting game Call of Duty Mobile played well with smooth performance on high graphics settings, the gameplay is amazing and touch commands in precise and accurate, and with its AMOLED display its more immersive when playing games. The speakers at the bottom are actually quite good even at high volume, but still, nothing beats using wired or wireless earphones for a better audio experience.
Installing games such as PUBG, War Robots, Asphalt 9, Genshin Impact, and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, and playing these games with be smooth and enjoyable. We just wish that developers should take advantage of the 90Hz refresh rate for a smoother and clearer gaming experience.
Camera
Samsung equipped the Galaxy A52 with a quad-camera at the back with 64-megapixel, f/1.8 main sensor, a 12-megapixel, f/2.2 ultra-wide lens, a 5-megapixel macro lens, and a 5-megapixel depth sensor, it also has LED flash. While at the front at the punch-hole is the 32-megapixel selfie camera.
Camera
Samsung equipped the Galaxy A52 with a quad-camera at the back with 64-megapixel, f/1.8 main sensor, a 12-megapixel, f/2.2 ultra-wide lens, a 5-megapixel macro lens, and a 5-megapixel depth sensor, it also has LED flash. While at the front at the punch-hole is the 32-megapixel selfie camera.
The Samsung camera IU is easy to familiar with, the menus are accessible and the camera setting can be easily full-up when needed.
In terms of camera modes, it features Fun, Single Take, Photo, Video, Bixby Vision, AR zone, AR Doole, Pro, Panorama, Food, Night, Macro, Portrait, Pro Video, Super Slow-mo, Slow-mo, and Hyperlapse. Now that's a lot of camera modes to choose from, but mostly you might want to stick to the Photo mode with 3:4 (64MP) mode which is the easiest way of taking pictures, but if want to play around you can use the other modes to see what the camera can do.
By default, it produces 16-megapixel images in its standard photo mode, and photos taken look saturated but still look pleasant. But the camera sensor is very capable of capturing great images using its 64-megapixel sensor.
Photos taken with 3:4 (64MP) modes looks great with good details in daylight and even in dim places, it can still produce good pictures.
In terms of camera modes, it features Fun, Single Take, Photo, Video, Bixby Vision, AR zone, AR Doole, Pro, Panorama, Food, Night, Macro, Portrait, Pro Video, Super Slow-mo, Slow-mo, and Hyperlapse. Now that's a lot of camera modes to choose from, but mostly you might want to stick to the Photo mode with 3:4 (64MP) mode which is the easiest way of taking pictures, but if want to play around you can use the other modes to see what the camera can do.
By default, it produces 16-megapixel images in its standard photo mode, and photos taken look saturated but still look pleasant. But the camera sensor is very capable of capturing great images using its 64-megapixel sensor.
Photos taken with 3:4 (64MP) modes looks great with good details in daylight and even in dim places, it can still produce good pictures.
Samsung Galaxy A52 camera samples here
Due to strict quarantine implementation, we did not have a chance to fully test the capability of the camera, but we still manage to get some sample pictures and we are impressed by how the camera performs.
Battery Life
The Galaxy A52 is packed with a 4,500mAh battery it's a bit lower compared to the Galaxy A32 which comes with a 5,000mAh battery. This could be the trade-off since the Galaxy A52 has a slimmer body. It also supports fast charging up to 25W but too bad it has no wireless charging capability.
Samsung claims a two-day battery life of the Galaxy A52, but based on our test we're able to get a whole day of screen time and by midnight it still got 22% battery capacity. Still, it's impressive for a smartphone with an average battery capacity. On PCMark Benchmark it scores 11hr and 53min. which is close to real-time use.
In terms of charging, since Samsung did not provide a charger, we used a 50W fast charger from realme and it works fine in fine and it was able to charge the battery for more than 2 hours.
In terms of charging, since Samsung did not provide a charger, we used a 50W fast charger from realme and it works fine in fine and it was able to charge the battery for more than 2 hours.
Samsung Galaxy A52 Specs
Android 11, Samsung One UI 3.1
6.5-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display (2400 x 1080 resolution) at 407ppi
90Hz refresh rate
2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G octa-core processor
Adreno 618 GPU
8GB RAM / 128GB internal storage
Expandable via microSD card up to 1TB
64MP, f/1.8 main + 12MP, f/2.2 ultra-wide + 5MP macro + 5MP depth sensor rear cameras, LED flash
32MP selfie camera
AKG-tuned stereo speakers
Dolby Atmos
In-display fingerprint scanner, Face unlock
Dual SIM, Dual standby, Hybrid
4G LTE, 5G
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band
Bluetooth 5.0
GPS, GALILEO, GLONASS, BDS
NFC
USB Type-C
IP67 water-resistant
4,500mAh battery, 25W fast charging
Colors: Awesome Blue, Awesome Black, Awesome White
189g
Pros
Vivid 90Hz screen
Good performance
Better Quad-camera system
4K video recording
All-day battery life
One UI 3.1 offers a lot of features
6.5-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display (2400 x 1080 resolution) at 407ppi
90Hz refresh rate
2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G octa-core processor
Adreno 618 GPU
8GB RAM / 128GB internal storage
Expandable via microSD card up to 1TB
64MP, f/1.8 main + 12MP, f/2.2 ultra-wide + 5MP macro + 5MP depth sensor rear cameras, LED flash
32MP selfie camera
AKG-tuned stereo speakers
Dolby Atmos
In-display fingerprint scanner, Face unlock
Dual SIM, Dual standby, Hybrid
4G LTE, 5G
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band
Bluetooth 5.0
GPS, GALILEO, GLONASS, BDS
NFC
USB Type-C
IP67 water-resistant
4,500mAh battery, 25W fast charging
Colors: Awesome Blue, Awesome Black, Awesome White
189g
Pros
Vivid 90Hz screen
Good performance
Better Quad-camera system
4K video recording
All-day battery life
One UI 3.1 offers a lot of features
Cons
Lag on camera performance
4G only
Verdict
The new Samsung Galaxy A52 packs a lot of improved features compared to its predecessor. It has a chick design that today's youth will love. It performed well in terms of phone functionality and day-to-day tasks. It's also a great mobile gaming device with its responsive CPU and AMOLED display for great gameplay. The quad-camera offers great features and functionality that you can expect on a Samsung phone. Overall if you are looking for a great midrange smartphone the Samsung Galaxy A52 is a good candidate, but expect to pay a premium price. If you want another alternative you might check the new realme 8 Pro which packs the same chipset and have a better 108-megapixel quad camera.
Lag on camera performance
4G only
Verdict
The new Samsung Galaxy A52 packs a lot of improved features compared to its predecessor. It has a chick design that today's youth will love. It performed well in terms of phone functionality and day-to-day tasks. It's also a great mobile gaming device with its responsive CPU and AMOLED display for great gameplay. The quad-camera offers great features and functionality that you can expect on a Samsung phone. Overall if you are looking for a great midrange smartphone the Samsung Galaxy A52 is a good candidate, but expect to pay a premium price. If you want another alternative you might check the new realme 8 Pro which packs the same chipset and have a better 108-megapixel quad camera.
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