Samsung scored high with the Galaxy A52 earlier this year, but does the slightly modified A52s also convince? You can read this (and more) in this concise review.
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Read the Samsung Galaxy A52s review
Samsung’s Galaxy A phones are very popular and the A52, released about six months ago, shows exactly why. The affordable smartphone has good hardware, fine cameras, a good battery life and excellent software support, but you don’t have to pay the top price for that. The A52 came on the market with a suggested retail price of 349 euros, but you now pay a few tens more at many online stores.
This probably has to do with the worldwide chip shortages, which means that the Galaxy A52 (also in the Netherlands) is not always readily available. Now Samsung comes with the Galaxy A52s: a device that offers much of the same, but is slightly faster and more expensive. However, it is widely available everywhere. In this short review we discuss the A52s with you.
Same design, smoother screen
On the outside is the Samsung Galaxy A52s identical to the ‘normal’ A52. The device has a plastic housing and IP67 certification. This means that the A52s is dust and waterproof and can therefore survive a rain shower and a splash in the toilet. The plastic used does feel a bit cheap, but because most people put their device in a case anyway, it doesn’t matter much.
Different: the Galaxy A52s has a 120Hz screen. With the A52 from earlier this year, the display refreshes a maximum of 90 seconds and the A52s looks slightly smoother. We have placed both phones side by side and although you can see the difference, you hardly notice it in daily use.
Fortunately, the screen quality is still very good. The amoled display shows nice colors, good blacks and can be quite bright. Due to the large size (6.5 inches) and the high resolution (2400 by 1080 pixels), the A52s is a great phone if you play a lot of mobile games, or like to watch movies and series.
Faster processor as a major improvement
The big change with the Samsung Galaxy A52s can be seen under the hood. The midranger has received a faster processor in the form of the Snapdragon 778G. In comparison, the regular A52 had a Snapdragon 720G. The amount of RAM (6GB) and storage space (128GB) has remained the same and you can expand the storage again with a micro-SD memory card.
Although the Galaxy A52 was certainly not a slow smartphone, there were also devices in the same price range with better performance. The A52s solves this flaw and that is due to the faster Snapdragon 778G chip, which we also know from the Motorola Edge 20. The processor is powerful, runs all apps and games smoothly and does not consume too much energy. 5G support is also available as standard, while a 4G version of the A52 also appeared.
The Samsung Galaxy A52s is a nice and fast smartphone, where the smooth 120Hz screen also gives you the feeling that you are dealing with a powerful device. We are therefore very satisfied with the performance. The fingerprint scanner under the screen is sometimes a bit slow, but it works fine otherwise.
Software: Android 11 en lang updates
Like you in our Galaxy A52 review can read, the Samsung software is fine. The One UI shell, which the company empties over Android, is nice to use and clear. Samsung also has its affairs in order in terms of updates. The Galaxy A52s runs on Android 11 and gets three major version updates.
This means that you can count on updates to Android 12, 13 and 14. So you’ll be fine in the coming years and that also applies to security patches. The A52s gets an Android security update every month and Samsung promises to support the smartphone for at least four years. We don’t see that often in this price segment.
Cameras: no improvements
The Samsung Galaxy A52s has the exact same cameras as the Galaxy A52 from earlier this year. That is why we refer you to the Samsung Galaxy A52 review for a discussion of camera performance. To summarize it very briefly: the A52s takes good photos in much and little daylight, but it does have a variable night mode.
Another (but small) downside is that Samsung has not added a telephoto lens to the Galaxy A52s. In addition to the main camera, the device has a wide-angle lens, macro camera and depth sensor, but a camera to zoom in is missing. The Galaxy A72 – which is admittedly a few tens more expensive than the A52s – does have this camera.
Battery life
We also see no improvements in the battery of the Samsung Galaxy A52s. The battery again has a capacity of 4500 mAh, which is average in 2021. Due to the smooth 120Hz screen (instead of 90Hz), we were briefly afraid that the battery life would be much less good, but fortunately this is not the case. On a full charge, the A52s always lasts a whole day, even if you use the smartphone intensively.
We think it’s a bit of a shame that Samsung has not addressed the charging speed with the Galaxy A52s. In our opinion, a faster device also includes faster charging and that is not the case. The A52s charges with a maximum of 25 Watts, but – just like the A52 – comes with a slow 15 Watt plug.
Samsung is not a runner when it comes to the charging speed of its smartphones, but we would have liked to see the 25 Watt adapter in the Galaxy A52s box. After all, many devices in this price range charge faster. The OnePlus Nord 2 for example, has a 65 Watt charger, which fully recharges the phone in about half an hour. The Samsung A52s can only dream of this speed.
Conclusion Samsung Galaxy A52s review
The Galaxy A52s is not a full-fledged successor to the A52, but only a slightly modified and faster version. The more powerful processor and the 120Hz screen are nice improvements, but otherwise there is little new under the sun. This makes little difference, however, because the A52 was already an excellent mid-range car with a good price-quality ratio.
The Galaxy A52s is now about the same price as the A52 and we therefore recommend going for the s version if you are in doubt between the smartphones. The device has no major flaws, gets Android updates for a long time and offers a lot for little. For around 400 euros, the A52s is again an excellent choice.
Buy Samsung Galaxy A52s
Do you want to buy the Samsung Galaxy A52s? In the price comparator you will find the best deals for a losse Samsung A52s. At the time of writing, you pay 399 euros for the device. You can of course also Samsung Galaxy A52s with a subscription take home.
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