If you’re looking for a phone with high-end performance but with a mid-range price tag, it would be hard to overlook the Samsung A52. Now the Korean electronics giant has expanded on this popular model by quietly upgrading its core chipset to the potent Snapdragon 778G 5G, which delivers more power and better graphics in the new Samsung A52s 5G. And there is 5G too, obviously.
You’re still getting a large 6.5-inch AMOLED screen, but now operating at a flagship-grade 120 Hz fast refresh, which makes it ideal for gamers and for heavy social scrolling. Although these are very substantial tech upgrades, Samsung have kept the same 4 500 mAh battery to power the new chips and screen, but there doesn’t appear to be much impact on your battery life, which is a bonus.
The quad-camera set is superb across all the sensors. The 64 MP main camera produces pin-sharp 16 MP images with excellent colour balance, the 12 MP wide angle shows almost no distortion around the borders of your photos, and the 5 MP macro lens captures more than double the detail of a budget phone. Going with Pro Mode allows you to shoot full-resolution 64 MP photos, which is a nice touch. Video hasn’t been neglected either. You can shoot 4K video up to 30 frames per second, and it has optical image stabilisation too.
The soft-touch back panel feels classy, very comfortable and secure in hand, and even the camera group is integrated seamlessly into the back cover. The A52s is waterproof to IP67, just like a flagship phone, and it even has a headphone jack for the cable headphone diehards. What you have here is a midrange phone with a bunch of high-end features offered at a mid-range price. Of course, it also feels like a Samsung phone through and through, from the polished frame to the curvature of the corners and the almost-gone screen bezels.
5G, 6.5” FHD AMOLED screen @ 120 Hz. 6 GB RAM, 32 MP front/64 MP + 12 MP + 2 MP + 2 MP rear cameras, 128 GB storage, 4 500 mAh battery, R9 000
