The Samsung Galaxy A32, left, and A52 smartphones prove you don't have to overspend to get a 5G ... [+]
DWIGHT SILVERMAN(Note: This story originally appeared in my Release Notes newsletter. Get the good stuff first by signing up. Release Notes drops each Tuesday morning.)
Typically, brand new smartphones cost a lot of money, particularly those at the very top of the electronics pyramid. The latest Apple and Android-based devices approach and soar beyond the $1,000 mark. And in the early days of a cellular tech transition such as the one we’re going through now with 5G, devices designed to use the newtech have an even higher premium.
But we’re far enough down the road that you can find relatively affordable phones with 5G capabilities. Earlier this year, Samsung refreshed its line of Galaxy A series phones, mid-priced to downright cheap handsets that are still pretty capable. I got my hands on a Galaxy A52 and an A32 for testing, and depending on your needs, each is a satisfying device. Make no mistake, though, there are sacrifices to be made. Whether what you give up is worth it is the question.
There are some things the A52 and A32 share in common. Both have 6.5-inch displays, though the A52 is of higher quality. Both have 5G capabilities – I tested them on T-Mobile’s network – but neither support super-fast millimeter wave connections that offer jaw-dropping downloads but can’t penetrate solid objects and are generally hard to find. Both come in black – take it or leave it – and both accept microSD memory cards to add up to 1 terabyte of storage. Both come with Android 11.
Galaxy A52 5G, $499.99.
This phone’s 6.5-inch screen is a Super AMOLED with 1,080 x 2,400-pixels at a 120-Hz refresh rate. It’s an excellent display, and considering you’d pay close to $1,000 last year for the S20 with this screen, it’s a great deal.
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The phone feels good in my hand, and although it’s mostly made of plastic, it feels solid, with some heft. The fingerprint sensor is under the display and works very well, unlocking quickly and reliably. I had less luck with the face recognition, but then I’m spoiled with Face ID on my iPhone 12 Pro Max.
The A52 5G uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G processor with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of built-in storage, but that’s expandable as mentioned earlier. It’s fast and responsive, with apps opening quickly and screens scrolling smoothly – it feels like a flagship phone. Mid-range games played well.
The phone has a 32-megapixel front selfie camera, and there are four cameras on the back: A 64-MP main camera with optical image stabilization; an ultra-wide 12-MP camera; a 5-MP macro camera; and a 5-MP depth camera to help with portrait mode shots. Video can be captured in up to 4K resolution.
Images don’t have the usual hyper-saturated look you expect from Samsung’s flagship Galaxy phones, with more natural tones. Low-light photos lacked the detail and depth I get with my iPhone, but did a good enough job with available light.
Portrait mode occasionally blurred foreground objects, and zooming to capture distant objects sometimes resulted in an odd blurring of things in the foreground. But the camera system does include a lot of the fancy features found in the higher-end Galaxys, such as Single Take, which lets you capture both stills and videos in one extended shot.
Note how some of the leaves on the left are blurred, even though they're part of the primary subject ... [+]
DWIGHT SILVERMANThe 5G connectivity on the A52 matched my iPhone 12 Pro Max, which also is on T-Mobile’s network. With 2-3 bars, I was able to get download speeds over 200 Mbps, and in some areas where all five bars lit up, I got speeds close to 300 Mbps. However, it does not support Wi-Fi 6.
Battery life is good, and I typically got a day and half’s worth of charge on moderate use. It supports 25-watt fast charging but won’t do wireless charging, as it’s got a plastic back.
Galaxy A32 5G, $279.99.
When Samsung launched its A-series lineup in April, the A32 was then the least-expensive 5G smartphone you could buy. Now there’s at least one cheaper 5G phone: the Motorola one 5G ace at $264. Still, if you specifically want a Samsung device, this is your lowest-cost 5G option.
The Galaxy A32 5G has a 6.5-inch HD+ LCD display with a 720-by-1,600 pixels resolution and a 90-Hz refresh rate. It’s neither as bright nor as crisp-looking as the A52, but scrolling is smooth.
The fingerprint sensor for the A32 is embedded in the lock button on the right edge of the phone. It wasn’t quite as responsive as the under-screen sensor on the A52, sometimes complaining that I wasn’t covering the entire button with my thumb when I was. But I found that I liked the convenience of the button sensor more than the version on the more expensive phone – placing my thumb on the button felt more natural. I’d love to see this on other phones, with the sensitivity improved.
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The A32 5G is powered by a MediaTek 720 processor with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage, but like the A52, it’s expandable to 1 TB. I was pleased with the speed of popular apps – Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Microsoft’s Office app, which is included on the phone, were quite snappy. But some mid-range games I tried didn’t play as smoothly as on the A52.
The A32 has a four-camera system on the back similar to the A52, but there’s no camera bump – the lenses for the camera have raised rims. (The A32 is noticeably thicker and heavier than the A52, which is likely why the bump is MIA.) The rear cameras include a 48-MP main, an 8-MP ultra-wide; a 5-MP macro; and a 2 MP depth camera. It also shoots video up to 4K resolution. There’s has a 13-MP front selfie camera as well.
The A32 sometimes oddly blurs foreground objects when you zoom in on a distant one.
DWIGHT SILVERMANLike the A52, colors are more subdued than on Samsung’s flagship phones. The out-of-focus smearing I mentioned in some zoomed photos was worse on this device. Portrait images were of decent quality, and low-light images were not nearly as well-lit. I would not recommend this model for anything beyond casual smartphone photography.
The 5G connectivity was as good as on my iPhone or the A52. Like the A52, it doesn’t support Wi-Fi 6.
The A32 has a larger battery, and battery life was very good. But it only supports 15-watt charging, and no wireless charging.
I was excited about the possibility of the A32 as a decent 5G phone, and for undemanding users who prefer Android devices it would likely suffice at an excellent price. But the A52’s higher cost gets you a much better display, a beefier camera system and more power for gaming. If you need more muscle, it’s worth it.
Have questions about 5G smartphones? Ask me!
June 28, 2021 at 07:47PM
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Samsung Galaxy A52, A32: You Don’t Need To Pay $1,000 For A Decent 5G Phone - Forbes
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