Samsung Galaxy A52 5G review: a mid-range that does not lack assets

Summary

Video Data sheet Design Screen Software Audio Performances Camera Autonomy Network & communication Price and availability Conclusion Comments See the product sheet Available at 345 €

New mid-range smartphone from Samsung, the Galaxy A52 5G has the difficult task of succeeding the enormous success of its predecessor. Challenge met ? We will see it in this complete test.

The Samsung Galaxy A2 5G // Source: Arnaud Gelineau for TechnologiesTips

Last year, Samsung's Galaxy A51 was the Korean manufacturer's best-selling smartphone. During the first six months of the year, it was even the only model from the firm to climb into the top 10 of the best-selling smartphones in the world. Suffice to say that his successor was expected at the turn. Here is the complete test of the brand's new mid-range smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G.

This test was carried out from a copy purchased by the editorial staff.

Samsung Galaxy A52 5GOur video test

Samsung Galaxy A52 5GFiche technique

Samsung Galaxy A52 5GDesign

We already mentioned it when we got to grips with the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G, alongside its cousins, the Galaxy A52 and A72: the smartphone looks like a real toy. It must be said that its matte plastic back in blue, purple, white or black is not without giving it a fairly pronounced plastic appearance. Beware though, this is not a negative review. The smartphone is pleasant in the hand and plastic has certain advantages – such as resistance to shocks – that glass does not. The fact remains that this toy side attracts the eye and makes the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G rather attractive.

The back of the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G // Source: Arnaud Gelineau for TechnologiesTips

For the front of the smartphone, the Galaxy A52 5G presents nothing but very classic. We are facing a 6,5-inch diagonal screen with a simple punch positioned in the center in the upper part. Said like that, the smartphone could look like Galaxy S21, but its flat display clearly distinguishes it from Samsung's most high-end models. Here, the edges of the display are not curved, and it is clearly felt in use. The borders around the screen are clearly visible, especially in the lower part which we will gladly call the chin. We can thus measure a lower border around 5,5 mm, an upper border of 4,5 mm and side borders of 4 mm.

In addition to the plastic, the back of the smartphone is also distinguished by its photo module. Indeed, unlike last year's models, Samsung has chosen to use the same color for the back as for the photo block. The result is a uniform result, rather pleasant to look at and which allows the photo block to be better integrated into the rest of the frame, without having the impression that it has simply been placed on top. To a lesser extent, it's a bit of the same feeling that Oppo offers with its Find X3 Pro, even though it's a plastic back, not a glass one.

The hallmark of the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G // Source: Arnaud Gelineau for TechnologiesTips

As for the contours of the smartphone, we will be able to find, on the lower edge, a USB-C socket, a speaker and a headphone socket. On the upper edge, Samsung has integrated the drawer for microSD card and SIM card – you can accommodate a SIM card and a microSD card, or two SIM cards. On the right, the standby buttons and the volume bar are available. Overall, the relative compactness of the Galaxy A52 makes it relatively easy to access the sound controls, although we would have liked the keys to be placed a little lower.

Note also that the Samsung Galaxy A52 is IP67 certified. The smartphone is therefore waterproof and can withstand immersion in water up to one meter deep for 30 minutes. It will therefore be necessary to avoid taking it with you to the swimming pool, but it will withstand a fall into a bathtub or a sink full of water.

Samsung Galaxy A52 5GÉcran

For the screen of its Galaxy A52 5G, Samsung has integrated a 6,5-inch panel with a Full HD + definition of 1080 x 2400 pixels. Enough to offer an image ratio of 20:9 and a display density of 405 pixels per inch. A largely adequate resolution so as not to allow each pixel to be individually distinguished and thus have a clear and precise display.

The screen of the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G // Source: Arnaud Gelineau for TechnologiesTips

As always with Samsung, even on the mid-range it is a Super Amoled display technology which has been adopted by the Korean manufacturer. In fact, the smartphone offers an excellent contrast ratio with very deep blacks. Logical, since the black pixels remain off. No luminous halo is thus visible on the dark areas of the screen, even in the dark.

According to Samsung, the screen brightness of the Galaxy A52 5G can go up to 800 cd/m². On our side, armed with a probe and Calman Ultimate software from Portrait Displays, we were able to measure a maximum brightness of 732 cd / m². It's a little less than what Samsung announced, but it's still an excellent result for a mid-range smartphone. We will have no trouble consulting its content on the screen, even in broad daylight, the sun only slightly hindering reading.

By default, the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G screen is set to vivid mode. With this configuration, we were able to measure 125% coverage of the DCI-P3 colorimetric spectrum and 186% of the sRGB spectrum. Nevertheless, the Delta E, which comes to measure color fidelity, is a little high, with an average delta E on the DCI-P3 space of 5,63. The smartphone had particular difficulty in correctly reproducing green or red. The color temperature also tends a little too much towards blue with a measurement at 6965 K when the ideal is at 6500 K.

Fortunately, it is possible to calibrate the smartphone screen more precisely. You can not only adjust the intensity of the red, green or blue sub-pixels, but also modify the overall temperature of the display. By sliding an additional notch towards warm hues, we were able to measure a delta E of 5,55 – the lower the value, the more faithful the colors – and a temperature of 6700 K.

Obviously, since it is an OLED screen, the measured contrasts are infinite, or in any case imperceptible to the naked eye.

In addition, one of the main qualities of the Galaxy A52 5G screen – especially compared to the Galaxy A52 and Galaxy A72 – is its refresh rate. The smartphone can indeed go up to a rate of 120 Hz, thus allowing much more fluid navigation in the menus or for scrolling on social networks. This function may be incidental for some, but once you have tasted it, it is difficult to do without it.

Samsung Galaxy A52 5GSoftware: One UI 3.1

By way of software, the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G embeds One UI in version 3.1, based on Android 11. It is therefore the most up-to-date version of Samsung's mobile interface, the same as that already embedded on the Galaxy S21. The smartphone, however, benefits from the security patch of December 1, 2020. We would have appreciated a slightly more recent version.

As a reminder, Samsung's One UI is a particularly functional interface, simple in its design, but rich in its customization functions. We will find a well-designed multitasking, two navigation systems by gesture – or the possibility of keeping navigation keys, reversed or not – and, above all, the possibility of easily navigating the smartphone with one hand. Since the arrival of One UI, this has also been one of its main qualities: the interactive elements displayed on the screen are located at the bottom of the smartphone. We therefore never need to stretch our fingers to access the options displayed at the top.

Another good point concerns the management of pre-installed applications. And there, we can see the glass half full or half empty. Indeed, during the initial configuration of the smartphone, the Galaxy A52 5G invites you to install a number of Samsung applications (Calculator, Wearable, Health, Internet Browser, SmartThings, etc.), but also several partner applications (Twitter, Pinterest, Opera News, Coin Master, etc). It is always frustrating for the experience, but it is possible to refuse all these suggestions. In fact, you can configure the smartphone so that it only includes a small number of partner or Samsung applications. For example, Facebook, Spotify or Netflix will necessarily be on board, as will Microsoft applications. But it will still be possible to uninstall them later and, above all, Samsung has – for once – not drowned its software applications that duplicate those already offered by Google. So it's Google Messages that acts as the default texting app, and even Google Discover has a place on the left of the home screen if you don't want to install Bixby.

For security, the Galaxy A52 5G benefits from the service of the Korean manufacturer, Samsung Knox. It also allows unlocking by 2D facial recognition, using the selfie camera, or thanks to the optical fingerprint reader integrated into the screen. On this last point, if Samsung has made progress in improving the speed of fingerprint detection, we are still far from the speed allowed by the high-end models and it will generally take a second between the moment you press the sensor and the moment of unlocking the smartphone. Fortunately, there are fewer false negatives than on the firm's previous mid-ranges.

Samsung Galaxy A52 5GAudio

For playing audio files, games or videos, the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G is equipped with stereo speakers. In addition to the speaker located on the lower edge, the one – smaller – at the top of the screen will thus allow you to take advantage of two channels. As is often the case on this type of system, the volume is not identical between the two speakers, but the one at the top of the screen compensates by being oriented directly towards the user.

The speaker of the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G // Source: TechnologiesTips

Note also that the maximum sound volume of the Galaxy A52 5G is rather high and can easily cover a conversation with several people. However, the sound is quite average and sorely lacking in bass.

As we saw earlier, the smartphone also has a headphone jack located on the lower edge. Samsung also provides a pair of wired in-ear headphones. Once headphones or earphones are connected, the user will be able to access the UHQ converter supposed to improve the clarity of the titles listened to. In fact, I did not detect any major difference with this mode activated. A nine-band equalizer is also offered in the settings of One UI 3.1.

Finally, on the audio transmission side via Bluetooth, the Galaxy A52 5G is compatible with the SBC, AAC, aptX, LDAC codecs and Samsung's in-house Scalable Codec.

Samsung Galaxy A52 5GPerformances

To run its Galaxy A52 5G, Samsung has equipped it with a Snapdragon 750G chip. As a reminder, this is a processor launched last September by Qualcomm, embedding a 5G modem, Kryo 570 cores and an Adreno 619 GPU. Alongside it, the manufacturer has integrated 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of expandable storage up to 1TB via microSD card.

In everyday use, the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G proves to be quite efficient. It doesn't hurt to switch between apps when multitasking, browsing social media is smooth, and web pages load without lag. Also for 2D games, the smartphone does well.

In game: it's difficult in 3D

However, the Galaxy A52 5G is going to have a harder time when it comes to graphics-intensive 3D games. This is for example the case on Fortnite. The Epic Games game launches by default in medium graphics quality, with a fluidity of 30 FPS and a graphics resolution of 75%. Unfortunately, you can't push the graphics quality to high, nor is it possible to switch the fluidity to 120 or even 60 FPS - despite the screen refresh rate at 120 Hz. bit the smartphone in its entrenchments, I mounted the 3D resolution to 100%.

Le Samsung Galaxy A52 5G // Source : TechnologiesTips

In this context, the smartphone manages most of the time to maintain fluidity at 29 or 30 FPS. However, the smartphone will regularly struggle to generate all the graphics and drop to 14 or 15 FPS. Even more annoying, over a 30-minute game, I suffered three big framerate drops, with fluidity dropping to 3 or 4 FPS. Moments that significantly altered the gaming experience for two or three seconds.

In the benchmarks: close to the OnePlus Nord

To evaluate the performance of the Galaxy A52 5G, I also compared it to a series of benchmarks, allowing it to be compared to other smartphones sold at the same price level: the OnePlus Nord and the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro, but also to its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy A51.

Overall, therefore, we have performances that are close to those of the OnePlus Nord and its Snapdragon 765G processor without however reaching them. It is especially in graphics management that the Snapdragon 750G of the Galaxy A52 will most easily show its limits. Note also that the Snapdragon 865 of the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro is much more efficient.

However, it's hard to deny how far Samsung has come in a year, as the results of the Galaxy A52 5G are much better than those of the Galaxy A51 last year. It is a real increase in performance that the Korean manufacturer offers here.

Samsung Galaxy A52 5GPhoto

Regarding the photo, Samsung has integrated four modules into the back of its Galaxy A52 5G. We will thus be entitled to three modules positioned vertically and a fourth integrated on the side. For the modules positioned vertically, we will find, from top to bottom:

• 12-megapixel 123-degree ultra-wide-angle camera, 13mm equivalent (f/2,2)
• 64-megapixel wide-angle camera with optical stabilization, 24mm equivalent (f/1,8)
• 5-megapixel (f/2,4) portrait mode sensor

On the right of this trio of sensors aligned vertically, we will find a device dedicated to macro mode of 5 megapixels (f / 2,4). As we can see, Samsung has therefore not integrated a real telephoto lens into its photo module. Nevertheless, the 64 megapixel sensor is sufficiently defined to offer 16 megapixel shots with x2 digital zoom. Note also that if the smartphone has a 64-megapixel main sensor, the Galaxy A52 5G uses the pixel binning method by default to capture less defined, but brighter 16-megapixel images.

The photo module of the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G // Source: Arnaud Gelineau for TechnologiesTips

In the photos below, I was able to capture different scenes first with the ultra wide-angle sensor, then with the main module, then using the digital x2 zoom:

Photo in automatic mode of the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G, in ultra wide-angle // Photo in automatic mode of the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G, in ultra wide-angle // Photo in automatic mode of the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G, in ultra wide-angle // Photo in automatic mode of the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G, in ultra wide-angle // Photo in automatic mode of the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G, in ultra wide-angle Photo in automatic mode of the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G, in wide-angle // Photo in automatic mode of the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G, in ultra wide-angle //

Overall, regardless of the light conditions — outdoors, indoors, or at night — the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G does pretty well. The smartphone manages to manage the dynamic range well, even in shots with the sun visible in the image. The images are well detailed and, finally, the main defect that we can do to the smartphone concerns its ultra-wide-angle module. It indeed tends to offer not only darker images – logical, since the sensor is smaller – but also to manage the colorimetry differently. The shots indeed tend more towards green hues on this sensor, unlike the main camera. It's a shame, since it prevents the smartphone from keeping good color consistency between its different sensors.

As we have seen, the main photo sensor of the Galaxy A52 5G is a 64 megapixel sensor. If it captures 16 megapixel snapshots by default, it is however possible to take 64 megapixel photos with a dedicated mode. In the photo below, I zoomed in the image to see in detail the difference between the two modes:

16 megapixel mode 64 megapixel mode

While the 48, 64 or 108 megapixel modes are often quite incidental, that of the Galaxy A52 5G is particularly effective. It clearly allows you to have a much sharper image than in the default mode. In addition, the rendering is more natural by avoiding artificially pushing the contrasts to simulate details. The shades of green are also more natural, logical since the contrast is less artificial.

For the following photos, I took several night scenes with the main photo module. The first shot was taken in automatic mode with scene recognition, while the second was captured with the dedicated night mode:

Photo in automatic mode of the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G, in wide-angle // Photo in automatic mode of the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G, in wide-angle // Photo in automatic mode of the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G, in wide-angle // Photo in automatic mode of the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G, in wide-angle //

The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G is already doing very well with its main camera in automatic mode. It manages to capture sufficiently bright shots despite the low ambient light. A point that we already found on the photos available above.

However, the night mode further greatly improves the brightness. In particular, it improves the darkest areas of the image in order to record more light. It's particularly stunning in the third photo, where the tree was barely visible to the naked eye and where I hadn't realized before taking the photo that there was a flowerpot in front of me. . On the other hand, it should be noted that the night mode slightly cuts the image with a narrower field of vision, a priori without reason.

Portrait mode

In portrait mode too, the Galaxy A52 5G does quite well and manages to correctly outline the face. Only a few strands of hair are sacrificed, but overall the smartphone manages the figure very well. We appreciate, as always with Samsung, the choice of the intensity of the background bokeh which can be adjusted before or after shooting.

Photo in automatic mode of the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G //

For selfies, the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G is equipped with a 32-megapixel main camera, combined with a lens opening at f/2,2. It also benefits from a portrait mode.

Selfie in automatic mode of the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G // Selfie in automatic mode of the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G //

Unlike many smartphones, the Galaxy A52 5G does a good job of handling both HDR – for backlit scenes – and portrait mode. However, the clipping is not at the level of the main camera. It is much coarser here and there are many strands of hair that fall by the wayside once the background blur is activated.

Samsung Galaxy A52 5GBatterie

It is a 4500 mAh battery that Samsung has decided to integrate into its Galaxy A52 5G.

With this battery, I was able to last 34 hours before dropping to 12% battery. Over this period, the screen will have been on for 4h37 before a fairly diverse use of my applications. For example, I consulted TikTok for 53 minutes, browsed Chrome for 35 minutes, consulted Twitter for 20 minutes or communicated on Messenger for 15 minutes. In addition, it was also during this test phase that I carried out the benchmarks to measure the performance of the smartphone, tasks that consume enough resources that can be likened to video games. For example, an hour of playing on Fortnite will also have caused me to lose 10,7% of battery.

Also note that over these 34 hours, the screen remained permanently configured in 120 Hz mode. With 60 Hz mode, the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G can logically last longer.

The USB-C socket of the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G // Source: Arnaud Gelineau for TechnologiesTips

For charging, the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G is compatible with a wired power of 25 W. However, as is too often the case with Samsung, it is a less powerful charger that is provided in the box, in this case a 15 W charger (9 V, 1,67 A). With this charger, the smartphone will take 1h38 for a full charge, from 10 to 100% battery.

Note also that the phone is not compatible with wireless charging by induction.

Samsung Galaxy A52 5GNetwork and communication

The presence of 5G

The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G is obviously 5G compatible. The phone thus supports bands n78 (3500 MHz), n1 (2100 MHz), n3 (1800 MHz), n7 (2600 MHz), n20 (800 MHz) and n28 (700 MHz). We thus find all the frequency bands currently used for 5G in Spain. Please note, however, that the smartphone is not compatible with millimetric 5G, the deployment of which is expected for the next few years and which should significantly improve the speed and latency of the network.

Regarding Wi-Fi, the smartphone is compatible with the 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac standard, but is therefore not compatible with the latest generation Wi-Fi 6. For Bluetooth, the 5.0 standard is on board the Galaxy A 52 5G.

Note also that the phone has an NFC chip for contactless payment, and is compatible with GPS, Galileo, Glonass and Beidou satellites for geolocation.

Regarding voice calls, the microphone of the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G will be able to capture the sound of your voice with good quality for your interlocutor. Above all, the smartphone does very well at canceling outside noise, even when people nearby start talking at high volume. In this case, the noise reduction processing may slightly alter the sound of your voice, but the difference will be barely perceptible for the person you are talking to. You will be more disturbed by outside noises than him.

Samsung Galaxy A52 5Price and availability

The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G is available in four colors: black, blue, white or purple. It is already available at a price of 449 euros. In addition, any order placed before April 7, 2021 also allows you to benefit from a pair of Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus.

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