Samsung’s Galaxy A 52 5G smartphone, part of Samsung’s new line-up of mid-range A Series smartphones, is packed with features you’d typically expect from a flagship phone but with a more affordable price tag of $499.
Upgraded features include a 120Hz refresh rate display for smoother scrolling and better gaming, and, exclusive to this device in the A series, IP67 water and dust resistance. The A 52 5G also supports 25-watt fast charging, stereo speakers, and expandable storage up to 1TB.
It has a 6.5-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display, a quad-camera system with Optical Image Stabilization, facial recognition, and optical fingerprint sensors, along with 5G sub6 capability. Here’s a closer look at the most important features.
Cameras
Samsung’s phones are known for excellent cameras, and the A52 5G continues the tradition with near pro-level photography. There are four rear-facing lenses: a 64-megapixel primary lens, a 12-megapixel ultrawide lens, a 5-megapixel macro lens, and a 5-megapixel depth camera (for portrait mode and bokeh effects). Those four lenses can seamlessly cover most shooting situations, ensuring you get great shots. There’s no telephoto lens, but 10X Digital Zoom is pretty good.
The primary and ultrawide lenses can shoot 4K video. With 4K Video Snap, you can take 8 MP still images while you’re shooting video 4K video and want some stills.
On the front, the A52 5G has a 32-megapixel camera. With Samsung’s new Fun Mode feature created in partnership with Snapchat, you can use fun AR effects right into the camera app.
Battery and power
The A52 5G has an impressive 4500 mAh battery and offers 25-watt fast charging, which can charge a phone up to 50% in half an hour. Unfortunately, it only comes with a 15-watt charger in the box (though you can buy one for under $35 on Amazon), and it is not capable of wireless charging.
The A52 5G runs on a mid-range Snapdragon 750 chip instead of the faster 888 chip in the Samsung Galaxy S21. However, the A52 5G has user-expandable memory, MicroSD storage up to 1TB, which the S21 does not have.
Audio
Samsung put stereo speakers with support for Dolby Atmos surround sound in the Galaxy A52 5G, something you see on the higher-end Galaxy S21. It also has a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, which the iPhone and Galaxy flagship devices no longer have.
Update commitment
The A52 5G runs Android 11 and is the first of the A series line-up to offer Samsung’s update commitment, offering three years of Android updates and regular security updates for a minimum of four years, something previously provided only on the more expensive flagship devices.
The bottom line
The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G is a solid mid-range device offering high-end features and innovations at an affordable price. If you don’t need the fastest processor or the latest most innovative camera lenses, this phone offers best-in-class features in an attractive and affordable device.
The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G comes in four colors: Awesome Violet, Awesome Blue, Awesome Black, and Awesome White and goes on sale starting on April 9. for $499.
[Image credit: Samsung]
