Galaxy A53 5G (Black) at Saturn
Galaxy A53 5G (White) at Media Markt
The Galaxy A53 with 6.5 inch OLED display.
The Galaxy A53 is housed in a waterproof plastic case.
Galaxy A53: display and design
The housing is waterproof (IP67) and made of plastic. At 8.1 millimeters (mm), it’s an imperceptible 0.3mm thinner than its predecessor. In a direct comparison with the Galaxy A52, the rounded transition to the camera block is striking. With 6.5 inches and 2400×1080 pixels, the display is just as large and sharp (over 400 ppi) as that of its predecessor – thanks to OLED technology, it shows great colors and contrasts. The increased 120 Hertz repetition rate is activated ex works, so smooth scrolling is possible. For comparison: The Galaxy A52 works at 90 Hertz, 120 Hertz is only available in the 5G versions A52 5G and A52s 5G. If desired, the display can be switched to 60 Hertz. However, there is no automatically variable Hertz control like the Galaxy S21 or Galaxy S22 in this price range.
The editors eagerly awaited the measurement of the display brightness. Because in the technical briefing, Samsung only specified this as 420 nits (corresponds to candela, cd) – quite dark. For comparison: The maximum display brightness of the Galaxy A52s is 813 candelas per square meter, the Galaxy A52 even reached 1,066 cd. However, the laboratory measurement shows that the display of the A53 has the necessary brightness reserves in very bright surroundings. With backlight stimulation and automatic brightness control, the screen reaches a very high value of 1,047 candelas.
The camera block of the Galaxy A53 with four lenses: ultra wide (12 MP), main (64 MP), depth (5 MP) and macro (5 MP).
The first A series without a jack socket
With the Galaxy A53 5G you have to make a decision: Dual SIM or a SIM and a memory card.
Galaxy A53 with new Exynos processor
The predecessors have Snapdragon processors from the 700 series. The Snapdragon 778G in the A52s in particular showed convincing speed performance in the test. In the A53, Samsung is now installing its own Exynos 1280 eight-core processor for the first time – as in the Galaxy A33 5G. In the test, it showed a mixed performance. With Geekbench values of around 730 (single-core) and 1,850 (multi-core), the speed is slightly higher than that of the LTE variant of the A52 (roughly on the level of the 5G version) – but the “speed” lags Version A52s clearly lags behind in multi-core applications.
Galaxy A53 with a strong battery
Speed comparison with Geekbench: The Galaxy A53 (left) is as fast as the A52s with one CPU core, but slower with all CPU cores (similar to A52 5G).
Camera: 64 megapixels, no tele
With the camera equipment, everything remains the same. The main camera has 64 megapixels. In good light, even without your own telephoto, there are enough sharpness reserves for zoom shots with up to two or three times magnification – and with acceptable quality. Samsung also installs optical image stabilization here. There is also a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera and, as usual, a 5-megapixel macro camera. The front camera works with 32 megapixels. In the practical test, the photo quality was similar to that of the predecessors, with a stronger emphasis on contrasts. The high resolution of the main camera makes up for the lack of a telephoto lens, at least with very small zoom levels in good lighting. Photos with higher magnification levels, however, deliver muddy images.
Comparison: The picture taken with the main camera of the Galaxy A53 delivers a somewhat higher-contrast picture than that of the Galaxy A52s.
The Galaxy A53 vs. A52s ultra wide cameras deliver similar qualities. The contrasts are better with the A53, but the A52s image shows more details.
Galaxy A53: shot with the main camera.
Galaxy A53: camera shot with double magnification.
Galaxy A53: shot with the macro camera.
Update up to 5 years
Like the new S series, Samsung is giving the A53 and A33 an extended update guarantee for the first time: four years of fresh Android updates and five years of security patches are guaranteed. That’s a year longer than the A52 and on par with the Galaxy S22.
Galaxy A53: release, price
The Galaxy A53 was released on April 1, 2022, but individual retailers started selling it at the end of March. The prices: The cheapest model, at 449 euros according to RRP, is just as expensive as the A52s when it was launched in summer 2021, while the Galaxy A33 5G, at 349 euros, has the same price tag as the LTE version of the A52 last year. The following storage variants of the Galaxy A53 are available:
- Galaxy A53 5G with 128 GB (6 gigabytes of RAM): 449 euros
- Galaxy A53 5G with 256 GB (8 gigabytes of RAM): 509 euros
The colors: black, white, light blue, light orange (“peach”).
Galaxy A53: conclusion and alternative
Is the Galaxy A53 5G worth it? Only the laboratory test will show whether it has what it takes to become a new bestseller. But it can already be said: The display was convincing in the test in terms of brightness and colors, and the stronger battery and the extended update guarantee are also selling points. When it comes to the processor, however, the A53 is stagnant, barely faster than the A52 and even slower than the A52s. A clear argument, on the other hand, is the price: Since the price of the predecessor A52s 5G has already fallen (300 euros, as of early April 2022), the A52s is still the better buy for the time being – especially for owners who have wired headphones with them want to use the smartphone.