With the Galaxy A53 5G, Samsung is trying to prove that a mid-range Android smartphone can be just as convincing as a more expensive model. Is the South Korean manufacturer achieving its goal? Read our test to find out!
Summary
- Samsung Galaxy A53 5G: the technical sheet
- Get started: pure Samsung
- A Super AMOLED screen that convinces at lightning speed
- Performance dependent on a new Exynos
- Interface: you don’t change a winning recipe!
- A photo part generally successful
- Exemplary autonomy
- A correct fast charge but nothing more
Samsung’s Galaxy A line of smartphones tends to outpace the Galaxy S in terms of sales. It must be said thatover the years, the brand has been able to sharpen its argumentsby offering ever better performing midrange terminals at reasonable prices. The Samsung Galaxy A53 is one of the newest on the market and the proposal is immediately interesting: 120 Hz Super AMOLED screen, 5G connectivity and quadruple dorsal photo sensor, all for about 450 euros when it comes out. It remains to be seen whether the attractive proposal on paper is also attractive in practice.
Samsung Galaxy A53 5G: the technical sheet
| Galaxy A53 5G | |
| screen size | 6.5 inch |
| Screen type | Super-AMOLED |
| Screen definition | 2400 x 1080 pixels |
| Refresh rate | 120Hz |
| SoCs | Samsung Exynos 1280 |
| RAM | 8/ GB |
| Storage | 128/256GB |
| Battery | 5000mAh |
| Fast Charging | 25W wired |
| Connectivity | 5G / WiFi 5/BT 5.1 |
| Main photo sensors | 64MP + 12MP + 5MP + 5MP |
| Secondary Photo Sensors | 32MP |
| Waterproofing | Yes (IP67) |
| Dimensions | 159.6 x 74.8 x 8.1mm |
| Weight | 189 grams |
| Price | From 459€ |
Get started: pure Samsung
From the first grip there is no doubt that we are facing a Samsung smartphone† Characteristic of the brand are the metal contours and the glass backrest. Like most models in the Galaxy A line, the A53 is quite thickbut shows rounded corners that give it a certain softness in the grip.
On the right side is the ignition button and the one for the sound. The SIM card cover is located below, next to the USB Type-C port and speaker. Small flat: the 3.5 mm jack is gone! It was still present on the A52, but Samsung has clearly decided it was time to do without.
behind, the photo block is hardly noticeable and goes against current trends† This is quite a good thing, because the sensors seem perfectly protected. Finally, this 6.5-inch smartphone with a weight of 189 grams is quite light on the scales, which contributes to the good handling. The device is IP67 waterproof.
A Super AMOLED screen that convinces at lightning speed
Master in OLED Panels, Samsung once again shows off its expertise with the Galaxy A53’s 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display† The screen diagonal is the same as that of the A52 and visually there is not much that distinguishes the two devices. The main difference lies in the fact that: the Galaxy A53 offers a refresh rate of 120 Hzwhere the Galaxy A52 was satisfied with 90 Hz.
The tariff is fixed: in the menus the choice is limited to 60 Hz or 120 Hz, but the proposal remains very interesting and tends to confirm that this functionality is becoming more democratic on mid-range smartphones. As for the screen brightness, it is also very good. : Samsung offers to switch the terminal’s menus from a “vivid” to a “natural” setting, which changes the color temperature. The screen of the Samsung Galaxy A53 is therefore of very good quality: we would have been very disappointed if we had known the manufacturer.
Performance dependent on a new Exynos
If the Galaxy A52 series was equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G SoC, Samsung is taking a different path with the Galaxy A53, which is equipped with a new internal processor: theExynos 1280† It is engraved in 5 nm and is equipped with two Cortex-A78 at 2.4 GHz and six Cortex-A55 at 2 GHz on the CPU side, and an ARM-Mali G78 GPU. The balance sheet after a few benchmarks shows that: if the CPU part of the SoC convinces, then the GPU part is lesswith limited but stable performance.
In practice, this results in delays in the most demanding games but also in titles that display a lot of information on the screen† To take advantage of better fluidity, it is possible to shrink the graphics a bit. The experience remains satisfying for the middle class and in everyday use, the terminal performs very well: watching videos, surfing the internet, using social networks and all associated applications is no problem.
In total, the Samsung Galaxy A53 does not disappoint for standard everyday use, but has limitations when it comes to greedy games. However, all applications launched by us during our test worked without major problems, even if technical compromises were sometimes necessary.
Interface: you don’t change a winning recipe!
The Samsung Galaxy A53 benefits from the combination of Android 12 and One UI 4.1† This proposal is similar to that on all the most recent terminals of the manufacturer, so it is not surprising that we are confronted with the same, starting with the side panel with shortcuts on the reception page.
There are also the traditional interface customization features specific to Android 12, as well as Samsung, as well as the Game Launcher, true to the post. Samsung regulars will therefore not be out of place!
A photo part generally successful
Samsung hasn’t particularly innovated on the photo side compared to the Galaxy A52† The Galaxy A53 is equipped with four sensors on the back:
- A 64-megapixel wide-angle main sensor
- A 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle sensor
- A 5-megapixel macro sensor
- A 5 megapixel portrait sensor
During the day, the main sensor and the ultra-wide angle sensor give great proposals. The colors are beautiful and the photos are sharp and clear. Sometimes you have to focus manually to focus precisely on the element to be highlighted: if you let the smartphone do everything itself, the subject is not always the most noticeable.
The macro sensor, for its part, gives convincing results when approaching the subject, but the quality tends to drop when you activate the “macro mode”, which is quite surprising. Unless you really take the time to capture the light well and choose the best angle, the proposition is hardly satisfying to take snapshots.
Finally, the portrait mode is quite convincing and it’s a good surprise, because it’s not really on this functionality that we expected this device.
When night falls, the quality of the recordings varies. In total or near total darkness, the result is generally not very good, especially due to a grainy image. With a little indirect light, we manage to get better quality photos. In all cases, it is essential to be stablebecause the sensors of the Samsung Galaxy A53 are not the fastest at night and the result quickly becomes blurry.
Finally, a word about the 32 megapixel sensor that is present on the front of the smartphone. This is one of the strengths of the device., which gives some clues about the intended audience. There is nothing to say about the quality of this highly accurate sensor, with excellent sharpness. A few features make it possible to take nice selfies.
Exemplary autonomy
Another excellent surprise of the Galaxy A53: its autonomy! With a battery with a capacity of 5000 mAh and an energy-efficient SoC, the terminal is brilliant on this point. During our test, we were able to use it from Saturday morning to late Sunday afternoon without having to charge it. This included taking lots of photos, surfing the web (social networks, emails) and even a few short gaming sessions over the two days. A fairly classic use of a mid-range smartphone, and the Samsung terminal has responded particularly well to it.
If you use the Samsung Galaxy A53 more, especially for playing, the autonomy necessarily drops faster. However, it’s not complicated to make it last 24 hours, and even more so if you’re frugal the rest of the time. This is really a positive result that we would like to see more often with Samsung devices!
A correct fast charge but nothing more
The Galaxy A53 is compatible with Samsung’s 25W fast charging, but as usual the correct charger is not included. Do you have a fast charger from Samsung or another brand, you can charge your terminal in about 1h20 in 25WThere is no option to charge it wirelessly.
Conclusion
Strengths
- A sweet design
- An attractive 120 Hz AMOLED display
- Photo modules that provide variety during the day
- Excellent autonomy
Weak points
- Inaccurate night photography
- Performance sometimes a bit fair
- The disappearance of the headphone jack
- The absence of a charger
The Samsung Galaxy A53 presents itself as an overall satisfying mid-range 5G smartphone. The performance is in line with what you would expect from a terminal of this level. We would have liked to see a bit more power and more efficient photo sensors at night, but the manufacturer has made some coherent compromises to stay in a correct price range. In addition, the device shows good surprises, especially in terms of autonomy and the screen. In short, a good smartphone to take advantage of the advantages of Android and 5G in good conditions.
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