Samsung launched the Galaxy A53 5G in India earlier this week as the successor to last year’s Galaxy A52s. The phone retains the 6.5-inch Super AMOLED screen with 120Hz refresh rate, IP67 dust and water resistance, 64MP main camera with OIS, but it replaces the Snapdragon 778G SoC while with the new Exynos 1280 SoC, and also bumps up the 4500mAh battery to 5000mAh. We got to check out the smartphone, here are our first impressions.
Box Contents
- Samsung Galaxy A53 5G smartphone 8GB RAM, 128GB storage version in Light Blue colour
- USB Type-C to C Cable
- SIM ejector tool
- Quick Start Guide and Warranty information
Samsung has started removing chargers even from its mid-range phones recently, so this doesn’t come with a charger in the box.
The A53 5G has a 6.5-inch Full HD+ Infinity-O Super AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, same as the predecessor. Since the screen has up to 800 nits brightness, it is bright even in outdoors. The phone has HDR support, but it didn’t work with YouTube or Netflix.
The Galaxy A53 5G is powered by the latest Exynos 1280 5nm SoC with 6GB / 8GB LPDDR4x of RAM and 128GB storage. The performance is good for daily usage, but the gaming performance is not on par with the Snapdragon 778G. It has support for 10 5G bands. The phone runs Android 12 with One UI 4 on top. Samsung has promised 4 OS updates and 5 years of security updates for the phone, a year more compared to the predecessor. It also has Samsung Pay with NFC, Knox security and Secure Folder.
Inside the tiny punch-hole there is a 32-megapixel camera with f/2.2 aperture. It has the usual set of proximity and ambient light sensors. The earpiece grill is on the top edge, which doubles as up as a secondary speaker.
It has an in-display fingerprint scanner, which is quick to unlock the phone, immediately after you keep the finger in the area, but the side-mounted fingerprint is way faster. There is a small chin below the display.
Coming to the button placements, the power button and the volume rockers are present on the right side. There is nothing on the left side. The hybrid dual SIM slot, primary microphone, USB Type-C port and the loudspeaker grill are on the bottom. The secondary microphone is on the top. The phone doesn’t have a 3.5mm audio jack. Since the sides have a plastic frame with a glossy finish, they attract fingerprints easily.
The phone has a quad camera arrangement that includes a 64-megapixel main camera with Sony sensor, OIS, 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera, 5-megapixel camera for depth sensing in portrait shots and a 5-megapixel macro camera, same as the A52 and the A52s. Both the front and rear cameras support up to 4K 30 fps recording, but rear camera stabilization works only in 1080p. Check out some camera samples below.
Even though the phone has a plastic back, the build quality of the phone is good. Since it has a soft matte finish, it doesn’t attract fingerprints. The phone also comes in Black, White and Peach colours. It also has IP67 ratings for water resistance. Even though it has a bigger 5000mAh battery, the phone weighs 189 grams, same as the predecessor. It has support for 25W fast charging.
The Samsung Galaxy A53 5G is priced starting at Rs. 34,499 compared to the Rs. 35,999 starting price of the 6GB RAM with 128GB storage for the A52s. It is available from Samsung.com, retail stores and select online portals. Pre-book customers get bank cashback worth Rs. 3000 or Samsung Finance+ cashback worth Rs. 2000.