Samsung Galaxy A53 5G smartphone review: Galaxy phone with bright AMOLED display

Every year, one of the most popular Samsung Galaxy phones stems from the A5x series. So it’s not surprising for Samsung to only evolve the series through cautious modifications to each new model in order to avoid putting off fans. Once again this year, the Galaxy A53 5G is a phone that doesn’t present any major changes. Maybe apart from the fact that there’s no longer a 4G model this year.

But can the manufacturer keep up with the competition? By now, rivals also offer high-end processors in the upper mid-range price segment, such as in the Motorola Moto G200 5G, or fast Wi-Fi 6, like in the Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE.

Note: The manufacturer may use components from different suppliers including display panels, drives or memory sticks with similar specifications.

The case is already very reminiscent of the predecessors, the Samsung Galaxy A52 and Galaxy A52s: A plastic chassis with a prominent camera module, in which the lenses are arranged in the same way as in the previous generation.

While the back is still matte, the four color options are now white, black, light blue, and a bright peach orange, which is also the color of our review sample. The glossy frame has been extended a bit further over the edges of the front and back, creating a somewhat more uniform and high-quality impression in terms of looks.

Furthermore, the front is protected by Gorilla Glass 5, and the device’s stability hardly leaves anything to be desired. The smartphone features an IP67 certification, which means that the device is well protected against dust and water penetration.

      Motorola Moto G200 5G       Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G       Samsung Galaxy A53       Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE       Sony Xperia 10 III 168.1 mm / 6.62 inch 75.5 mm / 2.97 inch 8.9 mm / 0.3504 inch 202 g0.4453 lbs159.9 mm / 6.3 inch 75.1 mm / 2.96 inch 8.4 mm / 0.3307 inch 189 g0.4167 lbs159.6 mm / 6.28 inch 74.8 mm / 2.94 inch 8.1 mm / 0.3189 inch 189 g0.4167 lbs160.53 mm / 6.32 inch 75.73 mm / 2.98 inch 6.81 mm / 0.2681 inch 158 g0.3483 lbs154 mm / 6.06 inch 68 mm / 2.68 inch 8.3 mm / 0.3268 inch 169 g0.3726 lbs

Android 12 is now preinstalled out of the box, namely Samsung’s One UI 4.1, which is based on it. Samsung’s software interface is in fact a pretty comprehensive customization compared to vanilla Android, but users of other phones will still be able to adjust well after a short familiarization period. That’s also due to the fact that you have many options to customize the interface and the operation.

We received an update to the latest security patches from May 2022 during our review, which are completely up to date at the time of writing.

Praiseworthy: Although for a long time Samsung was reluctant to make any concrete statements about how long the phones would receive updates for, there have been good news since the Galaxy S22’s Unpacked event. Select phones, including the Galaxy A53 5G, will receive four major updates and five years of software support. Now it’s Samsung the one that has set a standard for other providers.

Outdoors, a short moment is needed, but then our location is determined with an accuracy of a good four meters. Numerous satellite networks are used for positioning, including GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo.

In order to be able to give a realistic assessment of the phone’s tracking accuracy, we go for a bike ride with the Galaxy A53 and the Garmin Venu 2 as a comparison device. Our review sample is actually a bit more accurate than the Garmin smartwatch in some places, so you can confidently use the phone for navigation purposes.

Compared to the Samsung Galaxy A52s, there are no differences in terms of the camera setup on paper: Four camera lenses continue to be built-in at the back, three of which can actually take photos.

The main camera is optically stabilized and typically uses its 64-pixel resolution to combine every four pixels into one light-sensitive, large pixel, resulting in 16-megapixel photos.

In our opinion, the image quality remains unchanged compared to the predecessor: The camera is good at HDR shots, but details quickly become washed out, and colors are very vivid in some cases. When looking at the sky in the surroundings picture, it’s noticeable that areas aren’t as pixelated in detail as in cheaper phones. The smartphone is quite good at taking low-light pictures; only in very dark areas could one wish for a bit more brightening.

The ultra wide-angle camera keeps distorting quite badly at the corners, and you should avoid enlarging the pictures too much, but it’s still suitable for snapshots. Unfortunately, you still can’t zoom between the main camera and the ultra wide-angle lens, since you can only toggle between them.

The video options also remain limited to a maximum of 30 fps at 4K and up to 60 frames per second at Full HD. When it comes to shooting videos, the smooth autofocus and the fast brightness adjustment continue to be highlights worth mentioning.

The front-facing camera also uses pixel-binning to increase light sensitivity, so it only takes pictures of 32 megapixels in a special mode. In most cases, 8-megapixel pictures are taken. The quality is sufficient for social media or mobile phone use, but you can’t enlarge the images too much, since details are only displayed in a blurry way.

Thanks to the 120 Hz display, the device feels very smooth to use. The touchscreen also allows fingers to glide well. However, you’ll have to live with occasional stutters in the system software, especially when more complex processes are running in the background.

The fingerprint sensor is located under the screen. It recognizes the finger placed quite reliably, but it takes a bit for the screen to actually unlock. Face recognition is also available for the unlocking process, but it’s not that secure due to the lack of an infrared sensor.

The AMOLED display has been a highlight of Samsung’s higher-end devices for a long time now, and the A53 also features a self-illuminating display with a refresh rate of 120 Hz. The Full HD resolution is absolutely standard for the class, and it’s usually completely sufficient to display a sharp image.

The screen can get quite bright at up to 761 cd/m² when the brightness sensor is fully illuminated, but the average brightness is still slightly lower than that of the Samsung Galaxy A52s predecessor’s display. The display can fully deactivate individual pixels, which theoretically results in a color that is completely black; this in turn leads to vibrant colors and deep blacks.

We detect PWM at 250 Hz, and we couldn’t find a DC dimming mode that is easy on the eyes in the settings.

… smaller is better

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To dim the screen, some notebooks will simply cycle the backlight on and off in rapid succession – a method called Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) . This cycling frequency should ideally be undetectable to the human eye. If said frequency is too low, users with sensitive eyes may experience strain or headaches or even notice the flickering altogether.

Color accuracy is very good, especially when you select the “Natural” preset for color reproduction. In this case, only red tones are slightly exaggerated, but even here, the color deviation should hardly be noticeable to the naked eye.

We detected a very subtle shift towards green when looking at the grayscale, but the reproduction is overall very accurate here as well.

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Display response times show how fast the screen is able to change from one color to the next. Slow response times can lead to afterimages and can cause moving objects to appear blurry (ghosting). Gamers of fast-paced 3D titles should pay special attention to fast response times.

Thanks to the AMOLED display, the screen content is very easy to recognize from all viewing angles, and it barely becomes distorted.

The smartphone can be used outdoors without any issues; the high display brightness is helpful here. In direct sunlight, however, you should preferably move to a place in the shade because of the reflections on the screen.