Looking for an affordable mid-range phone? The new Samsung Galaxy A53 could be a perfect fit.
Samsung Galaxy A53 review: Wrap-up
The Samsung Galaxy A53 is a well-rounded mid-range offering from Samsung that packs a lot of notable features, solid performance, and a smartly attractive exterior.
It combines top-of-the-line features with some smaller components, resulting in an attractive combination of value, performance, and design.
What is the Samsung Galaxy A53?
The Samsung Galaxy A53 is a new mid-range smartphone from Samsung. It’s the successor to the A52, a highly-rated mid-ranger that wowed fans and reviewers alike with a pleasing combination of performance and value.
The idea behind the A52 and A53 is to offer some high-end features and a compromise or two to keep the price down.
We’ve been impressed by the S22 range, but with a starting price of £769 for the base Samsung Galaxy S22 phone, it’s not for everyone.
But if you’re looking for a Samsung phone and have a higher budget, your best bet is to check out our Samsung Galaxy S22+ and S22 Ultra review. In our opinion, the Ultra is one of the best Android phones out there, if not the best.
Samsung Galaxy A53 Features
The Samsung Galaxy A53 is feature-packed for a £400 phone. It’s particularly well equipped with a display and battery, which will be discussed in more detail later.
The camera offering is solid and easy to use. While the 5-megapixel macro lens doesn’t help much, we found it easy to capture compelling photos using the main camera array, led by the 64-megapixel main camera. The phone’s image processing gives them the bright, colorful style typical of Samsung phones.
It’s powered by the Exynos 1280 chip — a new 5nm processor from Samsung that seems to fit the bill perfectly. There’s also 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage. If you want more storage, you’re in luck! The A53 can be expanded up to 1 TB of memory using a microSD card.
Samsung Galaxy A53 display
Getting a 6.5-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate at this price is pretty good. Of course, the 120Hz refresh rate isn’t customizable, which is a small tradeoff. So if you turn on the highest setting, the battery will drain faster.
The bezels can be a bit wide and noticeable, but that’s a minor issue — in general — with region when it comes to price.
Overall, though, we found the display to be pleasing, and it worked flawlessly during the streaming, scrolling, and downloading sessions we performed.
Samsung Galaxy A53 battery
The A53 comes with a 5000mAh solid-state battery, but no plug adapter. Instead, it’s a USBC-to-USBC cable, so you’ll have to use the connector you already have or plug it into a USBC port on your laptop. Samsung’s argument for not including the charger is clearly environmentally friendly. The company estimates that each probably has a matching connector or wire from a different device. But if you don’t, it’s sure to be an irritant.
However, when it came to battery performance, we were impressed. The A53 performed well in testing, and its battery life was decent. For example, an hour and a half of non-stop video streaming drained 10 percent of the battery, while in more moderate use cases the A53 drained very little.
Samsung Galaxy A53 camera
The A53 packs a solid camera array with a 64-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera, and a 5-megapixel macro camera. Add that to a 5-megapixel depth sensor and flash, and you’ve got all five of the array’s capabilities.
As with Samsung phones, the camera delivers attractive but very colorful photos. The phone’s image processing delivers images that are brighter than reality, which looks great, but is an acquired taste. If you want pure realism and accuracy, Samsung cameras are not the right choice for you. Overall, though, we found the images captured by the A53 to be impressive.
Samsung Galaxy A53 Theme
The A53 is slim and tactile, with a pleasing matte finish on the back. It’s a shame it’s mostly plastic, but apparently that’s one of the necessary sacrifices Samsung made in production to keep costs down. Honestly – although it’s mostly plastic – it doesn’t feel as “plastic” as some plastic phones.
Conclusion
The phone is available in blue, black, white, and peach, and all phone color options have this matte finish on the back.
