The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G is a solid midrange contender
The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G is currently one of the top-spec offerings under the Korean tech company’s A-series of smartphones.
With a price tag of P23,990, the A52 5G variant comes equipped with the essential features of a mid-tier device, including a vibrant screen, a good set of cameras, an excellent battery life, and most importantly, a 5G connection.
I recently had the opportunity to review the A52 5G following its unveiling last March, and after using it for a couple of days, here’s what I realized:
Design
First off, the A52 5G’s frame as well as its rear panel are both made from plastic, which makes the device lighter and easier to hold. The back has a matte finish and also features the same protruding camera module of the S20 and S21 series.
On the front, the A52 5G sports a bright and colorful 6.5-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED screen with a smooth 120Hz refresh rate – a very uncommon feature for a device at this price point. Additionally, the A52 5G is IP67-rated water- and dust-resistant, which means that it can be submerged in up to one meter of freshwater for 30 minutes.
As for the device’s bezels, the SIM card tray is on top, the power button and volume rocker are placed on the right, while the speaker grille, USB-C port and 3.5 mm headphone jack are all situated at the bottom.
Cameras
The A52 5G has a quad camera setup on the rear composed of a 64-megapixel f/1.8 main shooter, 12-megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide, 5-megapixel f/2.4 macro, 5-megapixel f/2.4 depth and a 32-megapixel f/2.2 selfie camera.
Images taken with the A52 5G all came out sharp and vibrant. The device’s camera configuration managed to capture photos with impressive detail despite any kind of lighting conditions.
Aside from the versatile cameras, the A52 5G also has some nifty features that can help enhance your shots. One of them is the optical image stabilization, which ensures that all of the photos and videos you’d take come out sharp and steady. There’s also a night mode option, which uses a multi-frame processing solution, resulting in bright and crisp images even in poor lighting.
Performance
Powering the A52 5G is a Snapdragon 750G processor, paired with 6GB of RAM, and 256GB of internal storage.
In terms of benchmark results, the A52 5G managed to score 1,905 points in multi-core and 637 points in single-core of Geekbench 5. In another benchmark test using 3DMark’s Wild Life Extreme, the A52 5G yielded a score of 640 points.
As a daily phone, the A52’s hardware combination delivered a fairly smooth performance while playing graphically-demanding games like Call of Duty: Mobile and Genshin Impact. The graphics were also fluid on Ragnarok Eternal, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, and Among Us.
Apart from playing games, swiping between home menus and scrolling through social media applications like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram also felt great too, all thanks to the A52 5G’s high refresh rates.
The A52 5G’s 4,500mAh battery also did not disappoint during my review period. With moderate usage on social media, video streaming, browsing and playing games, the A52’s battery life lasted for almost two days with a single charge.
Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G is a well-rounded smartphone that comes equipped with a solid hardware. Although it has a steep price for a mid-tier phone, the A52 5G gives you a display with higher refresh rate, a great set of cameras, and long-lasting battery life. Of course, Samsung also has a 4G variant of the A52, but if you live in a place where there's a decent 5G connectivity, then this A52 model should be a better fit for you.