Samsung Galaxy A53 5G Review: The Samsung Galaxy A53 5G is no doubt one of the most anticipated smartphones of 2022. Maybe this is because its predecessor the Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G was such a sweetheart. And as always, there were high expectations for the Galaxy A53 5G which is normal as users expect the Galaxy A53 5G to be an upgrade of the Galaxy A52s 5G. But is it?
There are various areas where lots of users expected the Galaxy A53 5G to be an upgrade of the Galaxy A52s 5G. But things didn’t go quite as expected because Samsung has other surprises for users. So, in this Samsung Galaxy A53 5G Review, I’ll be highlighting the upgrade you hoped for and showing you the upgrade you really get.
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Samsung Galaxy A53 5G Review
Display, Design, and Build
The Samsung Galaxy A53 5G comes with a 6.5-inch display, FJD+ display resolution, Super AMOLED panel, support for a 120Hz refresh rate, and a peak brightness of 800 nits. It has a flat display and a punch hole at the top center of the screen that houses a selfie camera. The real camera module houses quad-camera sensors and it’s placed vertically on the topside of the back cover.
The build materials of the Galaxy A53 5G are Glass front, plastic back, and aluminum frame. The phone is also rated to be IP67 dust and water-resistant. The display is protected by the Gorilla Glass 5 and the rear plastic has a matte finish and it’s not all glossy. The Galaxy A53 5G comes without a charger in the box, without a protective case in the box, uses a shared SIM and memory card slot and has no 3.5mm jack port.
See Also: Samsung Galaxy A53 5G Price in UK and Availability
Comparing this with the package of the Galaxy A52s 5G released last year shows that the A52s 5G offers so much more. To be honest, the Galaxy A53 5G feels premium when you hold it and its design is really beautiful. But note that the focus of this review is on value for money and if it’s actually a device you should upgrade to. And so far from the display and build, there is no need to upgrade from your Galaxy A52s 5G to this one.
Camera
The Samsung Galaxy A53 5G comes with a quad rear camera setup and a single selfie camera. It has a 64MP main camera with PDAF and OIS features, a 12MP ultra-wide lens, a 5MP macro lens, a 5MP depth sensor, and a 32MP front camera. This is the exact same camera setup and sensor you get inside the Galaxy A52s 5G from last year.
You can take good photos and shoot nice videos with the cameras of the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G. The camera has stabilization features, portrait mode, digital zoom, and night photography features. The photography experience when using the Galaxy A53 5G is really good. The same can be said about the videography experience of this phone.
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When it comes to videography, both the 64MP and 32MP cameras of the phone can shoot videos in 4K resolution. It also comes with the gyro-EIS and OIS feature that enables you to make stable videos. All these features are awesome but they’re not an upgrade to the photography and videography experience you get with the Galaxy A52s 5G. Granted, the cameras of the Galaxy A53 5G are better than those of most phones out there but compared to the A52 5G, you get the same quality.
Chipset and Performance
The chipset inside the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G is the Samsung Exynos 1280 5G. Ths chipset is built on the 5nm process technology with a CPU speed clocked at 2.4GHz and is paired with the Mali-G78 MP14 GPU. It is important to note that Samsung did not reveal anything about the chipset inside the phone during its launch and infographics released by the company.
But, the Inside Man on Tech Rann channel did a teardown video to reveal the model number of this chipset. You can watch the video here. The chipset inside the Galaxy A53 5G is a good performing chipset especially when it comes to heat efficiency. And when compared with some other phones in the market, the chipset is pretty nice.
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But when compared to the chipset inside the Galaxy A52s 5G, the chipset is an underperforming one. When it comes to speed, playing games, and rendering high graphics, the snapdragon 778G 5G chip inside the A52s 5G is better. See the average Geekbench score result in the table below.
Geekbench Score for Snapdragon 778G 5G and Exynos 1280
| Cores | Snapdragon 778G 5G | Exynos 1280 5G |
| Single Core | 777 | 732 |
| Multi-Core | 2833 | 1894 |
Both in single-core and multi-core, the chipset inside the Galaxy A52s 5G has a better score. And this translates to real-life use, especially when playing graphic-intensive games. So, if you own a Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G and performance is important to you, then you don’t need to upgrade to the A53 5G (it’ll be more of a downgrade).
RAM and Storage
The Samsung Galaxy A53 5G comes in three storage configurations. It comes with 6 + 128GB, 8 + 256GB, and 8 + 256GB of storage. The device uses a shared SIM and memory card slot. This means, when you have two SIM cards inside the phone, there is no room for a microSD card. And when you have one SIM card and a microSD card inside, there is no room for a second SIM card. You choose.
See Also: Samsung Galaxy A53 5G vs iPhone SE 2022: Which is better
Battery
The Samsung Galaxy A53 5G is powered by a 5,000mAh battery with support for a 25W fast charge. You can charge this device from 0 to 100% in about 70 minutes. And a single charge can give you up to 6 hours of use (for intensive users). But note that the phone does not come with a charger in the box. So, you’ll have to buy that separately.
For light users who are not constantly on their phone playing games or surfing the internet, you can get more than a day of battery life when rocking a 120Hz refresh rate. And if you switch to using just a 60Hz refresh rate, then you can get about two days of battery life.
Software
The Samsung Galaxy A53 5G boots One UI 4.1 based on Android 12 out of the box. Samsung is promising four years of major software updates and five years of monthly security patches for this phone. You can download updates, apps, and games from the Google Play Store and you have access to use the Google Mobile Services (GMS).
Other sensor features are Fingerprint (under display, optical), Google Assistant, GPS, proximity sensor, NFC, Bluetooth 5.1, and Radio. Samsung Galaxy A53 5G comes in the following colors: Black, White, Blue, and Peach.
See Also: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 Review: Samsung is finally getting it Right
Samsung Galaxy A53 5G Review: Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy A53 5G is not the upgrade we hoped for. We expected the Galaxy A53 5G to be an upgrade of the Galaxy A52s 5G in most areas but in some cases, it is equal to or less than the A52s 5G. But, the Galaxy A53 5G is still an upgrade over many phones out there and I guess that is the upgrade we got instead.
Why some won’t like to buy the Galaxy A53 5G
- Lower performing chipset compared to the Galaxy A52s 5G
- No 3.5mm jack port
- Its price is a little expenisve
- Comes without charger in the box
Why you should buy the Galaxy A53 5G
- Really good cameras for photograhy and videography
- Its certified to be IP57 dust and water resistant
- Really good software update plan for years
- Has a massive 5,000mAh battery with long battery life
- Premium design with colorful and bright display
Alternatives of the Galaxy A53 5G
From the review of the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G, there are a few phones you might want to consider as alternatives. The Galaxy A52s 5G is at the top of the list, the Realme 9 Pro+, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G, the Infinix Zero 5G, the Galaxy S20 FE, and for an extra $100 you can go premium with the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE.
Samsung Galaxy A53 5G Review: Price
The starting price of the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G is $450 for the 6GB + 128GB storage (without a charger). And the price goes as high as $550 for the 256GB of storage model. You can buy the Galaxy A52 5G using any of the links in the table below.
Buy the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
| Galaxy A53 5G | Price |
| Buy on Amazon | $449.99 |
| Buy on Amazon DE | €509.00 |
Images: RedSkull
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