Samsung Galaxy Awesome Unpacked 2021 reveals new midrange kings the Galaxy A52, A52 5G and A72

The latest Samsung Galaxy Awesome Unpacked 2021 global live stream revealed a new triumvirate of midrange Galaxy A series phones dubbed the Galaxy A52, the Galaxy A52 5G and the Galaxy A72 that redefine affordability and performance.

Traditionally, most smartphone manufacturers typically make a midrange phone with a gimmick to make it an appealing one-trick pony of sorts such as having superior battery life, a better selfie camera or whatnot while keeping the rest of the hardware as middling as possible to save on cost. 

The new Samsung Galaxy A series phones revealed at Galaxy Awesome Unpacked 2021 ditch all that bollocks and just gets straight to maxing out almost every feature that users have been asking for without the need to pay an arm and a leg.

In comparison to their immediate predecessors, the Galaxy A51 and Galaxy A71 released last year, the new Galaxy A 2021 series ramp up the list of features to an impressive degree on top of the obligatory processor upgrade.

The new Galaxy A series range even has quite a few features that the flagship Galaxy S21 series phones don’t have like expandable storage as the new Galaxy A series all have microSD card slots as standard for expandable memory support up with cards up to 1TB in size.

The series also has another feature that’s becoming increasingly scarce – a 3.5mm audio jack so that you can use wired headphones.

The most immediate upgrade for the new Galaxy A series for 2021 are super smooth scrolling 90Hz refresh Super AMOLED displays with one model – the Galaxy A52 5G packing a staggeringly smooth 120Hz panel. All of the range also have a tiny centre punch hole up top of the display for a 32MP selfie camera.

The new series also has both stereo speakers and IP67 water resistance as standard as well as optical image stabilisation in their rear cameras. One model, the Galaxy A72 has OIS on both its main 64MP camera and its 8MP 3x zoom telephoto camera.

All of the new phones run the same Snapdragon 720G 2.2GHz octacore processor but vary slightly in terms of specifications and, save for the Galaxy A52 5G which has 5G support, are limited to 4G LTE connectivity as a concession to cost. 

Aesthetically speaking, the new phones are all made of polycarbonate with what they call a matte haze finish which translates to a soft pastel tone in either black, white, purple or a baby blue finish that’s pleasantly fingerprint resistant.

And yes, the new range will all come with wall chargers and cables as standard though it will be the standard charger. Here’s a closer look at how the Galaxy A52, A52 5G and Galaxy A72 stack up.

While it didn’t make an onstage debut, Samsung also released the Galaxy A32, an affordable 4G LTE phone with a 90Hz Super AMOLED refresh display, a quad camera setup and the same colour choices as its sibling that you can check out in our Galaxy A32 feature here. 

Galaxy A52 and Galaxy A52 5G

The Galaxy A52  has a very respectable 6.5-inch Super AMOLED FHD+ display with a 90Hz refresh rate. It sports a rear quad camera array with a 64MP camera that has optical image stabilisation, a 5MP macro camera, a 5MP depth sensor and a 12MP ultrawide angle camera. The front sports a 32MP camera. Other mod-cons include a 4,500mAh battery with 25W fast charging and the aforementioned stereo speakers.

The Galaxy A52 5G is an upgunned version that is mostly similar to the standard A52 save for the A52 5G packing – you guessed it – 5G connectivity and a higher 120Hz refresh rate 6.5-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display, the highest in the new Galaxy A series.

Galaxy A72

The larger Galaxy A72 has the same processor as the Galaxy A52 and A52 5G but is limited to 4G LTE like the A52. It has a larger FHD+ Super AMOLED display at 6.7-inches with a 90Hz refresh rate along with a pair of stereo speakers.

Storage and RAM for the Galaxy A72 depends on region with either 6GB or 8GB RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of expandable storage via a microSD card slot. The battery is slightly larger as well at 5,000mAh.

What makes the Galaxy A72 impressive is its more powerful quad camera array. You get a main 64MP camera with OIS much like the Galaxy A52 though it ditches the A52’s 5MP depth sensor for an impressive 8MP camera with 3x lossless zoom plus OIS to boot. It also comes with a 12MP ultra wide angle camera and a 5MP macro camera.

Here’s a summary of their specifications for reference:

Specification	Galaxy A52	Galaxy A72
Display	6.5” FHD+ Super AMOLED  Infinity-O Display (1080 x 2400),  407 ppi  90 Hz refresh rate	6.7” FHD+ Super AMOLED  Infinity-O Display (1080 x 2400), 394 ppi 90 Hz refresh rate
Processor	Snapdragon 720G Octa-Core (2×2.3 GHz + 6×1.8 GHz)	Snapdragon 720G Octa-Core (2×2.3 GHz+ 6×1.8 GHz)
Memory	6/8GB RAM 128GB or 256GB +microSD card (2 slots – hybrid + SIM 1)	6/8GB RAM 128GB or 256GB +microSD card (2 slots – hybrid + SIM 1)
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4G+5GHz)  Bluetooth® v 5.0   USB Type 2.0-C  Location (GPS, Glonass, BeiDou, Galileo)	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4G+5GHz) Bluetooth® v 5.0 USB Type 2.0-C Location (GPS, Glonass, BeiDou, Galileo)
Speakers	[Stereo speakers sound by AKG] Surround sound with Dolby Atmos technology [Ultra high quality audio playback] UHQ 24-bit PCM: Up to 24 bits [Audio playback format] MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MID, MIDI, XMF, MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA [Bluetooth] Dual Audio: Connect two Bluetooth devices to the Galaxy A52 and A72 to play audio through the two devices simultaneously. The two connected devices may exhibit a slight difference in sound output. Scalable Codec: Enhanced Bluetooth connection under ambient radio frequency interference. Available only for certain accessories made by Samsung.	[Stereo speakers sound by AKG] Surround sound with Dolby Atmos technology [Ultra high quality audio playback] UHQ 24-bit PCM: Up to 24 bits [Audio playback format] MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MID, MIDI, XMF, MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA [Bluetooth] Dual Audio: Connect two Bluetooth devices to the Galaxy A52 and A72 to play audio through the two devices simultaneously. The two connected devices may exhibit a slight difference in sound output. Scalable Codec: Enhanced Bluetooth connection under ambient radio frequency interference. Available only for certain accessories made by Samsung.
Camera	[Rear] Main: 64MP OIS AF (F1.8, 0.8µm) Ultra Wide: 12MP FF (F2.2, 1.12µm) Macro: 5MP FF (F2.4, 1.12µm) Depth: 5MP FF (F2.4, 1.12µm) *Zoom Digital Zoom up to 10X [Front] 32MP FF (F2.2, 0.8µm)	[Rear] Main: 64MP OIS AF (F1.8, 0.8µm) Ultra Wide: 12MP FF (F2.2, 1.12µm) Macro: 5MP FF (F2.4, 1.12µm) Tele(3x): 8MP AF (F2.4, 1.0µm) *Zoom Digital Zoom up to 30X Optical Zoom at 3X
Battery	4,500 mAh (typical) 25W Fast Charging	5,000 mAh (typical) 25W Fast Charging
Size/Weight	75.1 x 159.9 x 8.4mm  189g	77.4 x 165.0 x 8.4mm  203g
Price	TBA	TBA

Galaxy A52, Galaxy A52 5G and Galaxy A72 Price

Samsung has not yet mentioned prices for the Galaxy A52, Galaxy A52 5G and Galaxy A72. Colour choices and, of course, RAM and storage capacity for all three phones will vary based on region but you have a pool of four potential colour variants consisting of Awesome Black, Awesome White, Awesome Blue and Awesome Violet.

In terms of global pricing, Samsung has stated the following prices but they’re really only rough gauges as far as prices in Malaysia are concerned as prices in the EU are typically a bit higher:

Samsung Galaxy A52  €349 (About RM1,712)

Samsung Galaxy A52 5G €429 (About RM2,104)

Samsung Galaxy A72 €449 (About RM2,202)

There’s no confirmed word on which versions and which colour variants of the new Galaxy A series will arrive in Malaysia just yet but we’ll keep you lot posted. For more details stay tuned to www.samsung.com/my and we’ll keep you informed the moment we get local launch details for Malaysia. 

[Updated] Samsung Malaysia will be bringing in the Galaxy A52 and Galaxy A72 with 4G LTE though the Galaxy A52 5G won’t be appearing locally. No word on local prices as yet.