Samsung Galaxy A53 vs. A52: What are the major differences?
Your Rating
Your comment has not been saved
The Samsung Galaxy A53 5G is a perfectly fine mid-range phone with a great 120Hz display, but minor downgrades from the Galaxy A52 5G make it a weaker value.
The Galaxy A52 5G is Samsung’s nod to the budget-conscious, yet tech-hungry crowd, offering 5G connectivity without breaking the bank. It features a refreshing 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, making your TikToks look smoother than ever. Under its hood lies the Snapdragon 750G chipset, coupled with a quad-camera setup led by a 64MP main shooter, ensuring you get more bang for your buck. The Samsung Galaxy A52 should still be supported with some important updates in the future; however, the device is starting to show its age.
Samsung’s Galaxy S and Z Fold/Flip lineups may get all the media attention, but the Galaxy A series offers some incredible devices at much more affordable prices. As a follow-up to 2021’s Galaxy A52, the Korean smartphone maker announced theGalaxy A53in March 2022. While it’s been supplanted by this year’sGalaxy A54on our list of thebest Samsung phones, it still finds its place among thebest budget Android smartphones. But how does the A53 compare to its predecessor, and is it worth upgrading from an A52? Let’s find out.
Price, availability, and specs
Interestingly, the Samsung Galaxy A53 arrived at a lower MSRP than the A52 5G, at least in the U.S. The latter started at $500, while the A53 5G came in at $450 when it first launched. This is despite the Galaxy A53 having a more efficient chipset and a longer battery life.
It’s clear that Samsung was aggressively attacking the similarly-priced Pixel 6a with its mid-range phone. However, today, you can still get the Galaxy A53 at a discount on Amazon and other retailers. Even before the newer Galaxy A54 came along, the Galaxy A53 sold at prices as low as $300 during the 2022 holiday season, making it $150 cheaper than its retail price. Now that the Galaxy A54 has arrived, you can typically find last year’s Galaxy A53 selling for around $350 on Amazon, but you’ll undoubtedly be able to find other discounts as time goes by.
The Galaxy A52 is no longer being sold new — at least not in an unlocked form. However, it’s still available from some carriers like AT&T, where it’s being sold for its original 2021 $500 asking price. That makes it a non-starter, although if you’re looking for a bargain, you may find some pretty good deals on renewed or gently-used Galaxy A52 models on Amazon.
Design and build
At first glance, you’ll find it hard to find the differences between theGalaxy A52and A53. Both phones look the same, with the latest A-series entrant featuring a slightly tweaked rear camera housing. Samsung’s 2022 mid-ranger also misses out on a headphone jack, but it is unlikely that many people will be bothered by its absence. They also sport Gorilla Glass at the front, a plastic back, an in-display optical fingerprint scanner, a punch-hole display, stereo speakers, and IP67 certification. The Galaxy A53 is 0.3mm thinner than the older model, but there’s no change in its weight.
The Galaxy A53 and A52 5G are identical in the display department. They feature a 6.5-inch AMOLED FHD+ 120Hz display with HDR10+ certification protected by Gorilla Glass 5. With a 120Hz refresh rate, animations and UI interactions will look silky smooth on both phones. The 4G-only variant of the A52 also featured a similarly-sized display but with a lower 90Hz refresh rate.
Unlike high-end Galaxy S and Fold devices, the mid-range Galaxy A-phones don’t feature an adaptive refresh rate. This means the display will not adjust its refresh rate dynamically to save battery life. In direct sunlight, the display panels on the two Galaxy A phones can reach 800 nits.
Samsung’s phones are known for excellent displays, and its mid-range offerings won’t disappoint in this aspect. Both Galaxy devices feature theAlways On Display, which you may customizea fair bit.
The Galaxy A53 comes with Samsung’s mid-range octa-core Exynos 1280 chipset fabricated on the 5nm node, one of the first in the A-series to opt for an Exynos processor over a Snapdragon chip. The Exynos 1280 packs two performance-oriented Cortex-A78 cores clocked at 2.4GHz and power-efficient Cortex-A55 cores running at 2GHz. This is paired with ARM’s Mali-G68 MP4 GPU clocked at 1000Mhz.
It is not really an upgrade over the Snapdragon 750G ticking inside the Galaxy A52 5G and even a downgrade compared to the A52s 5G’s Snapdragon 778G chip. On the bright side, since the Exynos chip is based on a newer process node, it is more power-efficient than the Snapdragon SoC. We also did not face any performance hiccups on the phone, even while playing heavy games. And this was after switching to the phone from the Galaxy S22 Ultra. The camera app is the only place where you might see a bit of lag and stutters.
The Exynos 1280 chip uses a newer modem that supports both mmWave and sub6GHz 5G connectivity. This is a major upgrade, especially if you live in a city where 5G networks are already live and want the fastest possible mobile data speeds, though it’s still outclassed by the current list of thebest 5G phonesout there.
The Galaxy A53 and the A52 are the same in the camera department. Both devices feature a quad-camera setup consisting of a 64MP f/1.8 shooter with OIS, a 12MP ultra-wide, and 5MP depth and macro cameras. Even the front 32MP f/2.2 selfie shooter remains unchanged. Samsung’s mid-range phones provide decent imaging performance, and the A53 does not disappoint in this regard despite no hardware improvements. But that’s only in daylight.
Just like the Galaxy A52, the A53’s camera performance starts unraveling in low light. And when trying to take photos of moving subjects in such conditions, they will almost always be blurry. The imaging performance of Samsung’s mid-range Galaxy A phones is poor, and it is time for the company to address this weakness. There’s not much to say about the macro and depth cameras, either. Their quality is below par, and you rarely get useful shots from them.
Overall, the Galaxy A53’s camera quality is not as good as theGoogle Pixel 6a, so if camera performance is your top priority, you may want to consider the Pixel smartphone. If you are more interested in Google’s offering, check out ourPixel 6a vs. Galaxy A53 comparisonto help you decide.
Software support
Samsung offers among the best software support in the industry for its mid-range and premium devices. The Galaxy A52 launched with Android 11 and One UI 3.1 out of the box, and the Korean smartphone giant promises to provide it with three years of OS updates and four years of security patches. This means the phone is guaranteed to receive the Android 14 update that should release in 2023. It will also continue to receive security patches for another year after that.
With the A53, Samsung promises even longersoftware support of up to four yearsand security patches for five years. Since it launched with Android 12 and One UI 4.1 out of the box, it will receive OS updates until Android 16 or March 2026, with security updates for another year after that. The Galaxy A53 sets the benchmark in terms of software support that other mid-range phones should follow, even bettering Google’s mid-range Pixel A-series.
Both phones received theAndroid 13-basedOne UI 5update in the last quarter of 2022. Android 14 will be the last major OS update for the A52, and it will only receive security updates after that.
Battery life and charging
The Galaxy A53 packs a bigger 5,000mAh battery than the 4,500mAh cell of the A52. Coupled with a more efficient 5nm chipset, the A53 easily makes it through a day of heavy use. With light-to-moderate use, we could get the phone to last more than 48 hours, with still 20% left in the tank on the third day.
Both phones support 25W fast charging, though Samsung isno longer bundling a power adapterwith its mid-range Galaxy A-series phones. If you don’t already have a USB-PD fast charger, you’ll have to spend extra money to get one, but at least that means you get to choose from among thebest USB-C PPS chargerson the market.
Due to the bigger battery, the Galaxy A53 takes slightly longer to charge than the A52. A full top-up should take roughly 75 minutes. Compared with the competition from OnePlus, Oppo, and even Xiaomi, that’s definitely on the longer end. Plus, there’s no wireless charging for added convenience.
Should you upgrade?
The Galaxy A53 5G is not really an upgrade over the A52; it’s more of a side-grade, with a slightly bigger battery and some minor tweaks. Its only saving grace is that it costs $50 less than its predecessor. If you live in the U.S., there are a few decent options in the mid-range segment. Get the Galaxy A53 if performance is not your priority, or consider picking up the Pixel 6a for its performance and camera.
Now that the Galaxy A54 has launched, it stands to be a worthier upgrade over the Galaxy A52. Although its improvements are relatively minor over the A53, those changes add up over a two-year cycle. It should also go without saying that if you’re looking at a new A-series phone, the real choice today is between theSamsung Galaxy A54 and the Galaxy A53. While you can save a few bucks by getting a renewed or used Galaxy A52, you may find yourself lamenting that choice after software support for the A52 ends with Android 14 later this year.
Outside the U.S., it’s possible to find better offerings from the likes of Xiaomi, Honor, and Realme at similar price points. If you do end up getting the Galaxy A53, you’ll want to learn about some of thebest One UI tips for your Samsung phone.
Samsung’s best 2022 mid-ranger packs a beautiful 120Hz AMOLED display, two-day battery life, and excellent software support. And at its discounted price, it is hard to beat the value it provides.
Although the Galaxy A52 is no longer available from Samsung, it can still hold its own against more recent phones, plus it’s slated to get Android 14 this year and at least another year of security updates after that. It’s worth considering if you can find a great deal and you’re on a tight budget, but otherwise, you’re much better off going with one of the newer models.
Samsung’s A52 may be an older model, but it’s aged pretty well, still delivering reasonable performance and strong battery life. It’s also due for one more update to Android 14 later this year, making it a solid budget pick if you can find it at a bargain price.
Carriers get the upper hand
From faster storage to better speakers
Google’s made several improvements over the years
Pixel 10 Pro XL charges faster wirelessly
Things get red hot for Magenta
Your new browser chrome-panion
