More purple yoghurt color!
Specs
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G |
| Memory | 8GB / 256GB |
| Display | 6.5″ FHD+ (2400 x 1080) Super AMOLED @ 90Hz |
| Camera | 65MP – Wide 12MP – Ultra Wide 5MP- Macro 5MP – Depth Sensor 32MP – Front-facing |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 5.0,USB Type-C 2.0, LTE, Up to WiFi 5 Dual-SIM standby (Hybrid with MicroSD) |
| OS | One UI 3.1 (Android 11) |
| Battery | 4500mAh, 15W Fast Charging (25W fast charge capable but sold separately) |
| Available Colors | Awesome Black, Blue, Violet, White |
| Retail Price | 8GB/256GB – RM 1499 (LTE) | RM 1899 (5G) |
Design
“A huge bump, A huge statement “
The Galaxy A52 LTE is pretty much a smaller sized version of the Galaxy A72, following the same design language and eye-catching design of this year’s release. It’s a premium feeling plastic that’s molded perfectly to fit the camera module, making it look like one unique piece in total. It does away with fingerprints well, but I’d still slap a case on if I can.
The only buttons are the volume and power buttons and they’re on the right. It’s clicky but a little hard to press at times, with no added flair to them so it’s just simple and easy here. The bottom will be your speaker grille, USB Type-C port and a 3.5mm audio jack (yay!)
Display
In front is a 6.5″ AMOLED display capable of smooth 90Hz operation. It’s good to see higher refresh rate panels making its way to the Galaxy A family. The display’s a lot brighter too, ideal for use under direct sunlight since it could go up to 800 nits.
Colors were perfectly accurate, and I enjoyed watching Netflix on the A52, since there’s Widevine L1 support, which compensates for the lack of HDR support, which is fine since I don’t even use HDR by default when I watch anything on my phone anyway. With comprehensive Full HD support like this, it was hard to believe that at such a price point, we could still be pampered with a good viewing experience, especially if it’s Samsung’s latest display tech. It may not be the highest tier, but neither is this device. It was simply designed to be mid-range with some promising extras.
It performs well for apps, but not games
The Galaxy A52 LTE packs the Snapdragon 720G chipset, and running games were not particularly impressive. Even alternating between 60Hz and 90Hz barely made a difference to the overall gaming experience. It barely managed to stay on 60FPS on most commonplace 3D games, but did respectably well on 2D/2.5D titles as it doesn’t require that much resources to run.
Games like CODM / PUBG Mobile: Not Good
Games like Cookie Run: Ovenbreak / Guardian Tales: Good
I’m pretty sure this is expected right ? Clearly we don’t buy a device like this for gaming. If you actually thought so, we recommend going for the slightly stronger A72, if not a used Pocophone.
It uses the same camera sensors as the A72
The A52 LTE packs an identical set of cameras as the A72, with the exception of the telephoto as seen on the latter. Expect great daylight photos with fast focusing and fair color reproduction in your shots.
Main sensor shots were sensible and bright, with the same quirks like the A72, such as overexposure in extra sunny places and noise in overcast, damp areas. Editing them using the built-in editor was fast and easy, and made shots stand out better.
In high resolution mode (64MP 3:4), images were a lot better but with limited zoom. Usually in shot like these it’s best to just crop directly into what you were trying to shoot and more than half the time the level of detail is a lot better than shooting in normal 3:4 mode.
Daylight Wide Angle 10x zoom main sensor
Ultra wide was nice, but doesn’t capture as much detail as I’d like and sharpening them wasn’t much help. Things looked a little muddled and wet. It’d be a better ideal to take shots using the Full 3:4 64MP mode and cropping it to get the best possible images this device could churn out.
Portrait Selfie Regular Selfie
The 32MP front-facing camera shoots more confidently, packing good detail and dynamic range. Even though it’s the same specs as the A72, it didn’t produce equal results. It just seemed a little less detailed here and it’s not because of the chipset either as both models use the same processor. Perhaps it’s just software optimization for now.
Portraits turned out nice, with good separation and detail. It performed better than regular selfie mode, with simple better definition as you can see on the comparison above.
Long Battery Life, Long charging times
The Galaxy A52 LTE has a 4500 mAh battery, a nice bump for 2021 standards compared to last year’s A52 with 4000 mAh instead.
Battery life was expectedly impressive, lasting up to 2 days of medium use. It’s not our first dance with the Snapdragon 720G chipset, so we have great idea on how focused this chipset is on being long lasting.
As for charging, here are the results using the bundled 15W charger. It took slightly over 2 hours to fully charge, something that doesn’t sit well with me, as other brands fighting in this price range could easily out charge the A52 at even twice the speed.
Charging Results
| From 1% | Unplug % |
|---|---|
| 15 mins | 18% |
| 30 mins | 35% |
| 140 mins | 100% |
Is it for you?
