The Galaxy A53 5G might appear to be a modest update to its predecessor, the A52s, but it is quite a big leap of faith for Samsung, one that might make or break its grand ambitions to bag 40% market share in the Rs 20,000-45,000 segment in H1, 2022. It’s no secret that both the Galaxy A52s and A52 before it (and even the A51) were well received by consumers, giving Samsung a commanding lead in the 20K-45K price bracket last year with 28% market share, as per data released by research firm Counterpoint. Frankly, there was no need for Samsung to tweak much of that formula and it’s good that it didn’t.
There’s one thing it did change, though. The chip. The A53 5G is powered by the Exynos 1280, a fairly new chip that’s actually making its debut with this phone (the Galaxy A33 5G which is launching alongside also has the same chip). The A52s came with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 778G. It is a little surprising why Samsung would choose to outfit one of its best-selling product series with an untried and untested chip like this. Surely there are areas where it is better, say for instance it could be more efficient since it’s 5-nanometre and its Mali-G68 GPU has a higher frequency but the Snapdragon 778G is hands-down a faster chip overall and it’s been around for a while –even from a Samsung standpoint—which entails greater optimisation in apps and games. Samsung, for some reason, is keeping it reserved for the higher-tier Galaxy A73 5G this year.
Performance has been nippy so far, in our brief usage, but we will have more to say about it in our full review. Samsung has bumped up the battery capacity by 500mAh in this generation –which is always a nice thing to have—and going by the nature of the chip inside, we’re expecting the A53 5G to have good battery life. More on this (including how well it fairs against the A52s) in our full review. There is support for 25W fast charging in this phone, but you’ll have to buy a charging brick separately. You only get a USB C to USB C cable in the box.
Software is also getting a big shot in the arm in this generation. Not only does the A53 run the latest and greatest One UI 4.1 with Android 12 on top, but it is also eligible for 4 major OS and 5 years of security updates— same as the Galaxy S22 series. No other brand, except Apple, comes close to it in this regard.
Rest of the package is familiar. The phone has a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display with 1080p+ or FHD+ resolution and hole punch cut-out at the centre—this housed a 32MP selfie camera. The panel has a refresh rate of 120Hz.
You get up to 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. This is expandable.
For photography, the phone has a 64MP main camera with f/1.8 aperture and OIS. This is paired with a 12MP ultra-wide-angle camera and two 5MP cameras, one for macros and another for portraits.
Rounding off the package are IP67 dust and water resistance, dual stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support and in-display fingerprint reader for biometrics.
Samsung Galaxy A53 5G first impressions
The Galaxy A53 5G price in India starts at Rs 34,499 for 6GB/128GB going up to Rs 35,999 for 8GB/128GB which is broadly in line with what the A52s cost at launch (it is in fact a bit cheaper). The A52s had a lot going for itself. The A53 is similar in more ways than one and yet, it’s a phone we would like to spend more time with to give you a better picture. The A53 has all the right ingredients, question is, if the output will be as sumptuous as before. Watch this space for more.
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