Samsung Galaxy A53

Samsung Galaxy A53 is a mid-range smartphone with an ounce of premium

The Galaxy A53 is not one of Samsung’s premium smartphones, but it does come with a design and feature set that makes you feel like you’re holding something better than average. It won’t have all the latest features, or the fastest speeds, so its utility comes in how good everything comes together once you start using it.

It really starts with the large 6.5-inch Super AMOLED that Samsung has used in prior Galaxy A Series devices with acclaim. Better brightness levels should help keep everything visible, even in bright or sunny situations. The optical fingerprint sensor built right into the display makes it all the more convenient to move past the lock screen and onto the task at hand.

Those tasks will need the Exynos 1280 octa-core processor, which is a mid-range chipset befitting a phone at this particular level. You won’t get the high-end performance of the Galaxy S22 lineup, but you should feel like things run smoothly for you with anything you do on the Galaxy A53.

Samsung did boost internal storage to 128GB, and if you need more, the phone does come with a microSD memory card expansion slot to take that all the way up to 1TB. You also get a modest 6GB of RAM to work with when you have multiple apps going or need to play a game while other tasks go on in the background.

Four cameras to shoot with

Samsung doesn’t just go with three lenses; it gave the Galaxy A53 four lenses to work with. The 64-megapixel main camera is where the best photos are likely going to come from, but you do have options beyond that. A 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera captures a wider 123-degree field of view for those times when you need to cram more in. A 5-megapixel macro camera lets you get up really close to a subject, while the 5-megapixel depth camera works to create distance between the subject and everything else.

With the exception of the main camera, the Galaxy A53 uses the same image sensors as the Galaxy A52, so results may not be dramatically different between them. This phone also lacks a dedicated telephoto lens, as it uses the depth camera to create a similar effect, particularly for shots you take in Portrait mode.

The software driving the camera array is very similar and sports a multitude of Samsung’s modes to deliver a range of choices in how you shoot images. If you’re comfortable with setting things yourself, the Pro and Pro Video modes are there for you. You can also try using Night mode at night or capture a glorious dish with the Food mode.

The 32-megapixel front-facing camera follows the same approach the previous phones did, letting you shoot in both wide and narrower field of view. The Fun mode integrates with Snapchat Lenses to present filters you can use with the popular social media platform.

All-day battery

The Galaxy A53 has a bigger 5000mAh battery that should stand as an improvement in performance as well. A 120Hz refresh rate works to keep things running smoothly onscreen, and the battery shouldn’t take a big hit because of it. While it’s not clear if you will get much better life per charge compared to the Galaxy A52, you certainly won’t be dealing with lower battery life.

This phone doesn’t support wireless charging, so you will need to keep a charger handy to top it back up when the need strikes. It also doesn’t come with a wall charging adapter, though you do get a USB-C cable to use with any adapter you have. The Galaxy A53 can support up to 25W Fast Charging, meaning you can charge up to 50% in 30 minutes.