Samsung A52s 5G Review: Sleek Design and Smooth Performance

Samsung A52 was launched earlier this year and it quickly became a hot seller. And recently they have launched the A52s 5G.

Samsung A52s 5G price in Nepal is Rs. 53,999 (6/128GB) and Rs. 55,999 (8/128GB). It is the successor of the Samsung A52 5G which was not launched in Nepal.

Is it a good upgrade over the Samsung A52? I’ll tell you all about it in this review of Samsung A52s 5G.

Samsung A52s 5G Review

Appealing Aesthetics

• 159.9 x 75.1 x 8.4 mm
• 189 g Nano-SIM, dual stand-by
• IP67 dust/water resistant
• Plastic back, polycarbonate frame

Samsung A52s 5G has the same matte finish plastic that we saw on the A52. While keeping the device light and thin, the smooth rear panel is eye-catching.

And it still retains the IP67 certification for dust/water resistance which is a premium feature for this segment.

Samsung A52s doesn’t bring any changes to an already appealing design.

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Upfront, A52s has a hole-punch design. It’s minimal and much smaller than the hole punch of the M52. Also on the front, it gets an in-display fingerprint scanner which works better than the predecessors. Samsung A52s 5G looks the same as the A52 and the A52 5G.

Upgraded High Refresh Rate Display

• 6.5 inches Super AMOLED
• 1080 x 2400 pixels
• 120Hz, 800 nits (peak brightness)

Samsung A52s has the same 6.5 inches AMOLED panel but now it has been upgraded to 120Hz from 90Hz.

The panel feels smooth but it is not an adaptive display. So, it stays at 120Hz even when the display is not in use. It only drops down to 60Hz while using the camera app and in-game.

Talking about the colors, it does not have a wide color gamut. But the AMOLED panel has good color reproduction and a wide viewing angle. On top of that, it can pump the brightness up to 800 nits. In my book, it is one of the best OLED panels for the price.

Performance Upgrade

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G 5G (6nm)
• Octa-core (4×2.4 GHz Cortex-A78 & 4×1.8 GHz Cortex-A55)
• Adreno 642L
• 128GB 6/8GB RAM

Samsung employed the Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G chipset on the A52. Whereas, the A52s 5G gets a Snapdragon 778G 5G.

Snapdragon 778G is a very capable chipset and a good upgrade from Snapdragon 750G used on the A52 5G.

In terms of benchmark, it comes behind the Dimensity 1200. However, there’s not much difference in terms of CPU performance benchmarks. The Dimensity 1200 takes a healthy lead in terms of GPU scores.

When tested for CPU throttling, the Snapdragon 778G does the most effective job and is better than the Dimensity 1200. So, Snapdragon 778G might not have the fastest CPU and GPU but it does provide stable performance and has much better thermals.

On to the gaming performance, you can play PUBG on HDR graphics and Ultra fps setting with stable 40fps. Likewise, it can maintain stable 60fps on Smooth graphics and Extreme fps settings.

COD can be played on Very High graphics and fps setting or High graphics and Max fps setting. COD also runs very smoothly on all the aforementioned settings.

Solid Camera

• Rear Camera: 64 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), 1/1.7″, 0.8µm, PDAF, OIS
  • 12 MP, f/2.2, 123˚ (ultrawide), 1.12µm
  • 5 MP, f/2.4, (depth)
  • 5 MP, f/2.4, (macro)
  • Video: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/120fps; gyro-EIS

• Front Camera: 32 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide), 1/2.8″, 0.8µm
  • Video: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps

Samsung A52s features the same quad-camera setup as the A52. There’s a 64MP main sensor, a 12MP Ultrawide sensor, a 5MP depth sensor, and a 5MP macro sensor.

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NORMAL IMAGES

Images from the main camera are well detailed with slightly boosted colors.

The dynamic range is pretty impressive and the exposure looks well balanced. However, the contrast was a bit off in some colorful subjects. As for the 64MP images, they do not get HDR which results in low contrast. So, normal images are appealing than 64MP images.

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LOW-LIGHT IMAGES

Images take in low light conditions are decent. The noise is under control and the HDR helps to provide good exposure. It can also handle the light sources and shadows.

The Night mode also helps to handle the clipped light sources and add a bit more detail in the picture. However, it also adds a bit more sharpness in the picture.

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ULTRAWIDE ANGLE IMAGES

The 12MP ultrawide angle also shares a similar color profile with slightly colder colors. The ultrawide images do not have the same dynamic range as the main sensor. However, the images look sharp with good FOV.

The lens correction algorithm also helps to keep the distortion to a bare minimum.

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MACRO AND PORTRAIT IMAGES

Then there’s a 5MP depth sensor and a 5MP macro sensor. The macro photos look good when HDR is enabled. But the problem is, the Auto-HDR doesn’t get activated every time.

As for the portrait photos, the bokeh effect is convincing whereas the subject separation is just average.

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SELFIES

Moving on to the 32MP front camera, the selfies have good sharpness and selfies turn out impressive in good lighting conditions.

The face tone is not inconsistent though.

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Video

Starting with the main camera, the 4k footage has close to zero noise with good details. The dynamic range is reasonably wide and the colors look good too.

The 4k ultrawide footages also have good detail but the noise is more evident. Also, 4k footage don’t get OIS but the stabilization is pretty decent.

Moving on, the 1080p footage does not have good detail and it lacks sharpness. You can also notice some noise blotches in the video. However, you get OIS in 1080p videos which does a decent job of handling jitters.

Battery Life

• Non-removable Li-Po 4500 mAh Battery
• Fast charging 25W support, 25W in-the-box
• USB Type-C 2.0

In terms of endurance, A52s gets the same battery size as the A52

I was getting more than a day of usage on moderate usage. A52s was able to provide almost 6 hours of screen on time on average. As for charging, it comes with a 25W charger that can charge the A52s from 0 to 100% in 1 hour and 30 mins.

OS & Others

• Android 11
• One UI 3.1
• Stereo Speaker

Samsung A52s runs on the One UI 3.1 on top of Android 11. And, if you read my reviews then you already know that I absolutely adore the One UI.

And, I’ve been loving the One UI even more as it now has Google Feed integration in the home screen.

Moreover, Samsung has also promised 3 generations of OS updates and 4 years of security updates. And, Samsung has been doing a great job of pushing regular updates.

Another noticeable feature is the dual stereo speaker setup. There’s a main speaker on the bottom and the earpiece works as the extra speaker. It is noticeably loud but the clarity is not impressive.

Should You Buy Samsung A52s 5G?

Yes! If you’re looking for a complete all-rounder mid-range smartphone. You can go for the A52s 5G.

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While it is much more expensive than the original A52, it gets good upgrades in terms of performance and display. It has not seen much upgrade in terms of camera prowess but it is still a good upper mid-range smartphone.

Hope you like our Samsung A52s 5G review. If you have any questions regarding the device, you can leave them in the comments!

In the meantime, you can watch our full review of the Samsung Galaxy A03s.