Samsung Galaxy A53 5G price in India
Samsung Galaxy A53 5G comes in two variants in India. Both variants have 128 GB of storage. Its 6 GB RAM model costs Rs 34,499 while the 8 GB variant costs Rs 35,999. Of the two, the model with more RAM seems to offer better value for money. The phone has been launched in four finishes. These include Light Blue, Awesome Black, and Orange. I got its Light Blue variant with 8 GB of RAM for review.
Design of the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
The design of the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G is based on the Galaxy A52s 5G and some elements are also seen on the recently launched Galaxy S22 series. In general, the design of the phone looks quite different and fresh. The mid-frame of the phone is made of polycarbonate but on the sides it is wide and flat as seen on the Galaxy S22 devices. The design of the Galaxy A52s 5G has been taken from the rear panel. It is in matte finish with polycarbonate. The phone is quite smooth and feels premium in the hand. Fingerprints or smudges don’t fall easily on it either. Its camera module appears to be integrated into the rear panel but sticks out slightly. This phone is slightly thicker than the previous model. The obscurations given to the camera lens look quite attractive.
Along the lines of the Galaxy A52s 5G, it also has a 6.5-inch Full HD Plus Super AMOLED display. It is flat and comes with Gorilla Glass 5 scratch protection. The left and right edges of the phone are thin, but the phone feels a bit chunky at the top and bottom. The fingerprint scanner is also displayed on the screen. It works as expected and is reliable. I really like the way Samsung has positioned the display and earpiece on the top frame as it’s barely visible. Like the previous model, it has been given an IP67 rating for protection against dust and water.
Samsung Galaxy A53 specifications and software
Galaxy A53 5G has Exynos 1280 processor. Samsung used Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G processor with Galaxy A52s in Galaxy A73 5G. The Galaxy A53 5G has 5G, Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5.1, NFC and the usual satellite navigation system. The 3.5mm headphone jack is not included in the headset. Also, on this occasion the USB Type C audio adapter has not been provided with the box. The phone supports 5G dual standby. It comes with a hybrid dual SIM tray that supports microSD cards up to 1TB.
Talking about the interface, Samsung’s One UI 3.1 is available on it. It is based on Android 12 and will provide the best personalized Android experience. The theme engine changes the colors of the interface and app icons based on the wallpaper selected for the home screen. There’s also a lot of bloatware on the phone, which also has a long list of Samsung apps. In addition, there are also Microsoft and third-party applications. But you can remove most of these.
Samsung Galaxy A53 performance
Limiting the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G SoC to the Galaxy A73 5G did not turn out to be a profitable business for Samsung. In regular use, the Exynos 1280 SoC performs well, but there was no significant difference in the benchmark test. The Galaxy A53 5G scored 498 points in Geekbench’s single-core test and 1806 points in its multi-core test. The phone scored 3,72,582 points on AnTuTu. These scores only hover around smartphones priced lower than this. This shows that in this price segment the phone is less powerful than its price. By comparison, the older Galaxy A52s scored 739 points in the single-core test and 2,733 points in the multi-core test on Geekbench. In this sense, the old model is more powerful.
Talking about the graphics quality, it managed to reach the medium level in Call of Duty: Mobile with the frame rate set to ‘Max’. The game was being played on the phone, but lags were also encountered somewhere between the matches. The display’s touch sampling rate didn’t impress much either. The game ran best on “low” graphics and “medium” frame rate settings, which is disappointing for a premium smartphone. I also felt hot on the phone after playing Call of Duty: Mobile, but there was no effect on performance. Asphalt 9: Legends ran smoothly with default settings.
The screen refresh rate varies between 120Hz and 60Hz. During the test period, I found that it stayed at 120Hz even when browsing a web page, streaming videos on Instagram or YouTube. Only the camera dropped to 60hz when using the app and playing games. The phone’s Super AMOLED screen is quite bright. Its colors are striking and shine clearly even in direct sunlight. There’s no HDR support, but content looks good on streaming video and blacks look deep too. The sound from the stereo speakers is balanced and loud enough.
Compared to its previous model, it proves to be good in battery life. It has a massive 5000 mAh battery. It lasted 19 hours and 44 minutes in the HD video loop test, which is pretty impressive. In normal use, the phone lasted a full two days, which is good. The company does not provide a charger in the phone booth. I put my 61W USB PD charger on it. The phone supports 25W charging. It charged from zero to 100 percent in 1 hour 51 minutes, which isn’t bad but not as fast as the rivals.
Samsung Galaxy A53 5G cameras
The cameras of the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G are the same as those of the previous model. The rear has a 64-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera, a 5-megapixel macro camera, and a 5-megapixel depth sensor. It has a 32-megapixel selfie camera. The camera app can be customized and many shortcuts are also available in the viewfinder.
Photos taken in daylight were decent, and dynamic range along with detail was decent. Like the Galaxy A52s 5G, the colors in the photo were slightly oversaturated and there was also a slight blue cast to it. The macro camera is quite useful, with good image details. Portrait shots from the selfie camera were also sharp and clear, with no shortage of detail and dynamic range. Edge detection was pretty good too.
When shooting auto in low light, the camera showed good dynamic range, but I did notice some noise as well. At the same time, in Night Shot mode, it took a second longer for the camera to capture the shot. Photos became brighter but details were reduced. Standard Night mode also took a few seconds to capture low-light landscapes, but the quality was decent. Even after turning on night mode, selfies taken in low light looked blurry and noisy.
Its ultra-wide camera takes decent photos in daylight, but the photo looks blurry and stretched at the edges. Low light shots were poor quality and looked soft even at the best quality.
1080p videos shot at 30fps in daylight were fairly stable, and dynamic range was decent. The same footage was recorded at 60fps with slight movement. Videos shot in 4K were excellent in detail but lacked stabilization. Low-light video quality dropped significantly. Low-light 1080p videos shot at 30fps looked blurry and had a glowing effect. The main camera had trouble focusing at night.
Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy A53 5G smartphone has a lot of potential, but it suffers in performance. This is due to your new processor. I think this processor was good for the mid-range Galaxy M33 5G (Rs 18,999) and not for a phone above Rs 35,000. The daylight performance of the phone is quite good. It is the only phone in this segment that comes with IP67 rating. The Galaxy A52s 5G (Review) offers better gaming performance, has a headphone jack, and comes with a charger in the box. The phone is also priced (Rs 32,499) less than the new model, making it a better option.
Talking about its rivals, the iQoo 9 SE (starting at Rs. 33,990) gives it the most competition. We haven’t reviewed this phone yet, but it packs a better Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC and comes with a 66W charger in the box. 8 GB of RAM is available in its base variant. If you want a clean Android experience, you can check out Motorola’s Moto Edge 20 Pro, which comes with the Snapdragon 870 SoC and also has a 108-megapixel main camera.