When we took a first look at the Galaxy A52s 5G it impressed us with features that most flagship phones do not have.
READ MORE: The Galaxy A52s 5G And It’s Flagship Killer Features [Impressions]
But first impressions can be deceiving and after the honeymoon phase was over, it was time to see what the A52s 5G can do.
But even before we can get started, it had another trick up its sleeve.
We didn’t notice this during the initial setup, but the A52s 5G has an in-display fingerprint reader. A boon for when wearing a mask is a part of the daily routine.
Not that I’d recommend using facial recognition to unlock the phone anyway — more on that later.
A Do It All Display
The face of the A52s 5G is a 6.3in Super AMOLED display with 1080 by 2400 pixel resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate.
In other words, it is big for watching videos, the resolution is average, and the high refresh rate compensates by making the animation look smooth.
It’s a basic display that’s an all-rounder and is perfectly fine for everyday tasks like streaming videos, browsing the web, reading the feeds, and playing games.
It’s not extraordinary, but it gets the job done.
At the top of the display is a small punch-hole where the front camera hides.
A Very Samsung Set Of Cameras
Ultra-Wide 
Main 
Wide 
Zoom 
Ultra-wide 
Main 
Noon 
Evening 
Night
There are five cameras on the A52s 5G. The one in front is a 32MP shooter that is very liberal with face tuning by default. The option to turn it off if buried deep in a few layers of menus.
It shoots wide and slightly wider.
Of the four cameras at the back of the phone, only three take pictures. They give the option of shooting a close up, a wide, or an ultra-wide. The fourth camera is used as a sensor.
If you are used to images taken with a Samsung phone, you know what you’re getting here.
In bright daylight, certain colours are so punchy, they look artificial. It’s the same with the front and rear cameras.
However, with the A52s 5G, we found that shooting in shaded areas, or indirect light, yielded the most pleasant results.
Night shots are surprisingly good as well.
Because of the huge difference in resolution between the rear cameras, we tend to shoot using the 64MP camera with the f1.8 aperture and Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) almost all the time.
We just walk closer if we want to zoom in or walk back if we want a wider shot.
Better Than Expected Performance
We honestly didn’t expect much from the phone’s Octa-Core processor. The 8GB of RAM and the 120Hz helps a lot with multitasking and making the experience of using the A52s 5G feels smoother.
We experienced no issues using the A52s 5G. However, if you are used to top of the line phones, it does feel like the phone is a half step behind.
This is most evident with the facial recognition that is just slow enough that we prefer to use the pin or the fingerprint reader instead.
Social media apps, video streaming, and games run just fine. We especially love running retro game emulation on the A52s 5G. Pair it with a Bluetooth controller and it makes a great retro gaming device.
Does Everything Without Breaking The Bank
The best feature of the A52s 5G has to be its price. At RM1,899, it is tough not to recommend this smartphone to most people, if it fits their budget.
Anyone who gets one can easily be happy with its performance and features for at least 3 years.
And its compatibility with the Samsung ecosystem of apps and services is just icing on the cake.
Also, rumour has it, this could be the last phone in the series to still have an audio jack.
Prive & Availability
The Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G is available now, directly from Samsung for RM1,899.
It comes in black, violet, mint, and white.
