Galaxy A53 5G Unboxing, Reviews, Cases, Q&As

Unboxing

Specs

The specifications of the reviewed unit.

Price: ~US $430
Color: Awesome Blue
Display: 6.5-inch Super AMOLED, FHD+, 120Hz
Audio: Dual speakers
Processor: Exynos 1280
RAM/Storage: 8GB/256GB
Battery: 5000mAh, 25W fast charging
Back cameras: 64MP main + 12MP ultrawide + 5MP macro + 5MP depth
Front camera: 32MP
Software: One UI 4.1 (Android 12)
Dimensions / weight: 159.6 x 74.8 x 8.1mm / 189g

Review

Here is a list of pros and cons to help you decide if the Galaxy A53 5G is the right phone.

i. Design and Display

Pros

The 6.5-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display offers vibrant output with crisp details.
Navigating through the phone feels buttery smooth with the 120Hz refresh rate display.
The matte finish of the back plastic panel doesn’t attract many fingerprints.
While it isn’t light and slim, having no sharp edges make it comfortable to hold.
Its IP67 rating offers dust and water resistance.

Cons

There’s no headphone jack.
The display doesn’t support an adaptive refresh rate. So, you can either set it at 120Hz or at 60Hz
It comes with a hybrid SIM card slot, meaning you can have dual SIMs or a SIM and a microSD card at the same time.
It’s a bit challenging to see the screen in the brightest sunlight.

Performance and battery

Pros

The phone executes the day-to-day tasks such as web browsing, app opening, and multitasking smoothly.
You can play graphic-intensive games such as Fortnite, Genshin Impact, and PUBG Mobile on this phone but not at the highest graphics settings.
The storage can be expanded up to 1TB by adding a microSD card.
With the massive 5000mAh, you won’t have trouble getting through a full day with mixed usage, including light gaming, chatting, web, and social media browsing.
The dual speakers offer outstanding volume and clarity, making the phone great for enjoying videos.
It supports 5G connections.

Cons

The Exynos 1280 is a downgrade when compared to the Snapdragon 778G chipset used in the Galaxy A52s.
The 25W fast charging isn’t fast. It took about 1hr 25 mins to charge from 0% to 100% in my tests.
It doesn’t support Wi-Fi 6

Camera

Pros

Similar to its predecessor, the Galaxy A53 5G comes with a quad-camera array at the back, consisting of a 64MP main with Optical Image Stabilization, 12MP ultrawide, 5MP macro, and 2MP depth. The versatile setup allows you to take photos in a variety of different scenarios.
The main camera produces beautiful and detailed photos in good light.
In the low light environments, the photos captured using the standard Photo mode look bright. But, you can use the Night mode for sharper images.
The main camera also includes Optical Image Stabilization for smoother videos.
Shots from the macro camera look okay for a mid-range phone.
Both front and back cameras support 4K videos at 30fps.
The camera app supports the newly added Object eraser function.

Cons

There’s no optical zoom. Instead, you get up to 10x digital zoom.
With the 12MP ultra-wide camera, you can squeeze more stuff in the frame, but the distortion around the edges can be noticeable.

Check out the photo samples below.

Others

Pros

The phone comes with Samsung’s One UI 4.1 (the latest One UI version) on top of Android 12. Samsung also guarantees 4 years of major software updates and 5 years of security updates.