Samsung unveils new Galaxy A52 and A72 smartphones

Samsung is back with three more smartphones in its mid-range Galaxy A lineup, having just announced the A52, A52 5G and A72. These three follow their predecessors from last year, only this time, you get 5G on two of them, plus some other new perks.

Off the heels of the Galaxy S21 Ultra and Galaxy S21+ and S21, Samsung is launching these mid-range devices far sooner than usual. And certainly a lot sooner than the aforementioned flagships. Why now? Well, because the company pushed everything up this year so far. The Galaxy S21 devices came out over a month before they usually do, so the Galaxy A models seem to follow the same pattern.

Samsung is positioning these particular phones as something for everyone. More affordable alternatives that stick to the company’s ecosystem, and retain some of the standout features of their flagship counterparts. While I haven’t gotten a chance to see these phones in person yet, here’s what we know so far.

Similar design

Last year, the Galaxy A51 and Galaxy A71 looked like obvious siblings, though functioned a little differently. That appears to be the case here, on paper at least. The A52 and A52 5G have the same 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display with a 2400 x 1800 resolution. Not only is that the same as the previous A devices, but also the same as the Galaxy S21+ and S21.

Samsung also increased the refresh rate to 90Hz—for the A52. The 5G variant actually goes up to 120Hz. Refresh rates make a tangible difference when scrolling and swiping through a phone’s interface, so it’s a worthy feature.

It’s a similar story with the Galaxy A72, which has a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED with the same resolution. The 90Hz refresh rate also plays a key role in changing how the screen feels when using it.

The colour options stick to the pastels Samsung went with for the S21 lineup, and you can see that the overall design is very much in the same vein. On the inside, there is either 4GB, 6GB or 8GB of RAM for the A52 models, and either 6GB or 8GB in the A72. Internal storage is set at either 128GB or 256GB, depending on what’s available. But you can expand on that with a microSD card up to 1TB.

Samsung didn’t say much about the processor, but what is clear is that it’s an octa-core chipset with mid-range chops. I would expect good performance based on the combination of specs, but I’ll reserve judgment until I can test them.

Camera features

For the most part, it looks like Samsung is using the same image sensors and lenses from last year. I did catch a few differences, though. For starters, the Galaxy A72 has four rear lenses. Of those, the 8-megapixel telephoto will have a 3x optical zoom. The primary wide and telephoto lenses have optical image stabilization (OIS)—something their predecessors didn’t.

The same is true of the A52 models, though neither one has a telephoto lens. The primary wide lens does, but that’s it. Otherwise, the three phones share a lot in common on the camera side. The main 64-megapixel image sensor occupies the primary lens, plus a 12-megapixel ultra-wide, and 5-megapixel sensors for the macro lens and depth sensor. It looks like it’s the same 32-megapixel front-facing camera as well.

Until I can shoot photos with them, it’s hard to tell what the output will be like, but the software will be the same. Samsung’s camera software usually trickles down from the highest flagships, so I would imagine most of the modes and features will be there out of the box.

Battery size and inclusion

Each of them have big batteries, with the A52 models using 4500mAh, and a big 5000mAh in the A72. I would expect them all to last long, considering the screen resolution and mid-level chipset. One thing that you might like to know is that a wall charger does come in the box with all three phones, unlike the S21 series that didn’t. Samsung says it believes S21 owners are more likely to be repeat Samsung users, whereas the Galaxy A lineup might be more attractive to newcomers to the brand.

Available now

I will be reviewing these new phones for the blog soon. The Galaxy A52, A52 5G and A72 will come in the same colours: awesome black, awesome white, awesome blue and awesome violet. I’ll update this article when information about availability is announced: right now all we know is that these are “coming soon.”