Samsung Galaxy A52s Review: A Worthy Upgrade, But Is It Worth the Price?
The Samsung Galaxy A52s is a mid-year upgrade to the popular Galaxy A52, boasting several headline features including a 120Hz refresh rate display, 5G connectivity, and a more powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G SoC. While these enhancements seem to make it a natural successor, its higher price tag begs the question: is the Galaxy A52s a genuine improvement over its predecessor, or does it fall short in a crowded mid-range market? Let’s dive into this comprehensive review and find out.
Samsung Galaxy A52s Price in India
The Samsung Galaxy A52s, similarly to its predecessor, comes in two variants, both priced considerably higher than the original A52. The base variant, with 6GB of RAM, is priced at Rs. 35,999. The higher-end variant, packing 8GB of RAM, is priced at Rs. 37,499. Both variants offer 128GB of internal storage and are available in three color options: Awesome Black, Awesome White, and Awesome Violet.
Samsung Galaxy A52s Design: Familiar Yet Refined
The Galaxy A52s sticks to its predecessor’s design language, featuring a polycarbonate back panel and a plastic frame. The frame boasts a smoky chrome finish, while the back panel sports a matte white surface that feels reminiscent of marble. This matte finish effectively resists fingerprints and contributes to a premium feel, even with its plastic construction.
A notable design feature is the camera module, which protrudes slightly from the back but echoes the same finish and color. This contrast makes the lens cutouts stand out, giving the phone a sleek, modern aesthetic.
Unlike many smartphones in this price segment, the Galaxy A52s retains a 3.5mm headphone jack, located on the bottom edge alongside the USB Type-C port and the primary speaker. The earpiece, nestled in a thin slit between the display glass and the frame, doubles as a secondary speaker.
Continuing the legacy of its predecessor, the Galaxy A52s proudly features IP67 dust and water resistance, a premium feature uncommon in its price range. Samsung claims the phone can withstand submersion in up to 1 meter of fresh water for 30 minutes.
The Galaxy A52s houses a 6.5-inch full-HD+ Super AMOLED display with a punch-hole cutout for the selfie camera. The display is protected by Gorilla Glass 5, resisting smudges effectively. However, the bezels, while not overly substantial, might feel thicker than those found on some other smartphones in the sub-Rs. 40,000 segment.
Samsung Galaxy A52s Specifications and Software: A Powerful Core With Familiar Software
The Samsung Galaxy A52s is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 778G SoC, a mid-range processor also found in devices like the Realme GT Master Edition and Moto Edge 20, priced starting at Rs. 25,999 and Rs. 29,999, respectively. The Snapdragon 778G delivers solid performance, but the Galaxy A52s will inevitably be compared with other sub-Rs. 40,000 smartphones like the Realme GT and Xiaomi Mi 11X Pro, both powered by the flagship Snapdragon 888 processor.
The Galaxy A52s provides up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, with a hybrid dual-SIM tray supporting microSD cards up to 1TB. It offers support for Bluetooth 5, Dual-band Wi-Fi 6, NFC, and the usual array of navigation systems. Although it has a 3.5mm headphone jack, it lacks an FM radio app.
On the software front, the Galaxy A52s is fueled by Samsung’s One UI 3.1, based on Android 11 and equipped with the August security patch. One UI, heavily customized, comes preloaded with a multitude of Samsung-branded and third-party apps. Unnecessary third-party apps can be uninstalled, and aside from occasional promotional notifications from the Galaxy Store, these apps didn’t disrupt the software experience, which felt fluid and lag-free in everyday use.
Samsung Galaxy A52s Performance and Battery Life: A Smoother Experience But Not Class-Leading
The 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display, boasting a 120Hz refresh rate, is an upgrade from the 90Hz panel found in the original Galaxy A52. The 120Hz refresh rate significantly enhances fast-paced gaming experiences, while the Super AMOLED panel delivers deep blacks, making video content truly immersive, especially with the audio output from the stereo speakers. The display effectively resists fingerprints and remains legible under direct sunlight. However, a notable omission is HDR10 support for video streaming.
While the Samsung Galaxy A52s’ Snapdragon 778G delivers commendable performance, it doesn’t quite reach the bar set by competing smartphones in its price range. Nonetheless, the Galaxy A52s achieved an AnTuTu score of 5,07,534, significantly lower than the Realme GT’s score of 8,02,974. Geekbench reflected a similar performance gap, with the Galaxy A52s attaining scores of 739 (single-core) and 2,733 (multi-core), whereas the Realme GT managed 1,138 and 3,408, respectively.
Despite these benchmark results, the Galaxy A52s’ gaming performance wasn’t underwhelming. Playing Call of Duty: Mobile on the Very High graphics and frame rate settings resulted in no noticeable heating issues or lag. However, the touch sampling felt a bit sluggish. The placement of the display’s ambient light sensor to the left of the punch-hole camera can be frustrating, as it often gets blocked when holding the phone horizontally for gaming or video watching, leading to frequent, unwanted display dimming. Flipping the phone to address this simply replaces the sensor blockage with a speaker grille blockage. Fortunately, Samsung offers a solution. Open the Game Launcher app, tap "Game performance," then "Block during game," and flip the "Auto brightness" toggle to enjoy uninterrupted gaming.
In our HD video loop battery test, the Samsung Galaxy A52s lasted for 15 hours and 43 minutes, a respectable result for a premium smartphone but surprisingly lower than the original Galaxy A52. Thankfully, this difference wasn’t evident in everyday use, as the phone readily lasted a day and a half with gaming, photography, and video streaming. Charging the device using the included 15W charger took 1 hour and 37 minutes, a decent outcome. This charging time can be improved by using a 25W charger, which this phone supports.
Samsung Galaxy A52s Cameras: A Mixed Bag of Performance
The Samsung Galaxy A52s features a quad-camera system on its rear. This setup includes a 64-megapixel primary sensor, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide lens, a 5-megapixel macro sensor, and a 5-megapixel depth sensor. The front camera is a 32-megapixel selfie shooter. The camera interface, typical of Samsung devices, offers straightforward controls accessed with a single tap. The camera modes can also be customized. It’s worth noting that the ultra-wide-angle camera only captures video at 30fps in both 1080p and 4K resolutions.
In daylight conditions, the Galaxy A52s excels at capturing photos. These photos, typically characteristic of Samsung’s style, exhibit increased saturation but retain sharpness and clarity, exhibiting good dynamic range. Indoor photos, too, emerge clear, but the quality hinges heavily on the quality of artificial lighting. Dim lighting leads to a noticeable reduction in detail. The main rear camera produces sharp portraits with ample detail and accurate edge detection. The 32-megapixel front camera captures crisp selfies with excellent detail and impressive edge detection.
Photos shot with the ultra-wide-angle camera in daylight, while decent, tend to show some purple fringing in brighter areas. The camera also exhibits noticeable barrel distortion around the edges of frames, distorting photos by stretching and blurring them. Samsung’s camera feature for correcting ultra-wide distortion only exacerbates these issues. The 5-megapixel macro camera manages to take decent close-up shots, but details appear exaggerated.
Low-light performance reveals a drop in detail and sharpness. The Night mode successfully mitigates some of these shortcomings, but its effectiveness in dimly lit scenes is limited. It primarily brightens the image, failing to provide significant improvements in clarity or noise reduction. A watercolor-like effect is evident in most Night mode photos, with flattened textures, mirroring what we observed in the original Galaxy A52 review. Low-light selfies are plagued by excessive noise, even with Night mode enabled.
Video recorded across all resolutions boasts decent detail in daylight. However, only videos captured at 1080p 30fps exhibit effective stabilization, while 1080p 60fps and 4K 30fps footage appear shaky. In low light, quality takes a steep dive, exhibiting blurred textures and limited dynamic range. Stabilization performance also suffers in dimly lit surroundings.
Verdict: A Solid Upgrade, But Is It Worth the Price Premium?
The Samsung Galaxy A52s stands as a worthy upgrade for aficionados of the brand or individuals seeking a premium smartphone with an IP rating in the sub-Rs. 40,000 segment. However, when it comes to value for money, the Galaxy A52s’ high price positions it uncomfortably between competitors offering either lower prices or superior features and performance.
Motorola’s Edge 20 utilizes the same processor but packs a 108MP camera, a 144Hz refresh rate display, and a remarkably thin design, all for a lower price (Rs. 29,999). The Realme GT (Rs. 37,999) boasts a Snapdragon 888 processor and superior low-light camera performance. For a few thousand Rupees more, Xiaomi’s Mi 11X Pro (starting at Rs. 39,999) offers a larger display, a 108MP primary camera, and HDR10+ video streaming support, but it lacks an IP rating.
Ultimately, the Galaxy A52s’ value proposition hinges on individual priorities. If Samsung’s brand prestige, a premium design, and features like IP67 rating are compelling, then the A52s may be a suitable option. However, those seeking the best value for their money might find more appealing choices in the fiercely competitive sub-Rs. 40,000 smartphone market.
