Samsung Galaxy A73 First Look and Unboxing – Defining Awesome

Mention Samsung and what comes to mind for most people is a mental image of their highest end flagship phones like the recently launched Galaxy S22 series and their industry-leading Galaxy Z Fold3 and Flip3 foldables but they’re equally well known for their midrange Galaxy A line-up too as not everyone needs the smartphone equivalent of a Lamborghini. This is where their midrange Galaxy A series phones come into the picture. 

We managed to get our hands on a retail sample of the Galaxy A73 5G intended for the Malaysia market for field testing and we’ve taken it for a quick whirl around the block.

The majority of the Galaxy A series phones for 2022 which include the Galaxy A33, A53 and the Galaxy A73 have a 5G suffix to their names and, of course, 5G support though the budget Galaxy A13 and A23 do exist in the sub RM1,000 price category that are capped at 4G LTE connectivity. 

For the sake of brevity, we’re omitting the suffix for the purposes of this Galaxy A73 first look and initial impressions. Here’s our Galaxy A73 first look and unboxing where we give an initial hands-on of their most powerful Galaxy A series phone for 2022.

Samsung Galaxy A73 First Look – What’s in the Box

In keeping with the size of the phone, the Samsung Galaxy A73 box is markedly larger than the packaging of its smallest sibling the Galaxy A33 that we tested recently.

Much like its smaller sized brethren the Galaxy A53 and Galaxy A33, the packaging for the Galaxy A73 only has the bare essentials which consist of the phone itself wrapped in a protective sheaf of plastic, a USB-C charging cable, a SIM eject pin and the usual quick start literature. 

Much like many of Samsung’s other phones for 2022, the packaging omits a charger so you’ll have to get one on your own if you don’t happen to have one lying around and one which has support for 25W fast charging if you aim to take advantage of the Galaxy A73’s fast charging support.

 

@hitechcentury What does the new @samsungmalaysia Galaxy A74 5G in Awesome Mint look like? Check our unboxing to find out! #sembanggadget #tech #fyp #viral #galaxya735g ♬ MONEY – 리사 (LISA)

 

Samsung Galaxy A73 First Look – Build and Design

The Samsung Galaxy A73 has similar aesthetics as the smaller Galaxy A33 and Galaxy A53 albeit scaled up on account of its much larger display with a backplate that’s made of polycarbonate for cost and weight savings.

Our Galaxy A73 first look sample is done up in a paint job unique to the Galaxy A73 dubbed Mint Green all across its backplate which doesn’t translate too well on camera but is a pale shade of green bordering on teal and aquamarine with a semi-matte finish. This has the side benefit of wonderfully repelling fingerprints and smudges. The phone can also be acquired in Awesome Black and Awesome White.

The huge 108MP quad camera housing on the rear has a similar design as its smaller brethren with a slightly raised camera housing that seamlessly flows into the polycarbonate backplate.

Not only does the 108MP camera outgun a good chunk of the competition, it also has optical image stabilisation too. Complementing this huge camera is a 12MP ultra wide angle camera with a 5MP macro camera and a 5MP depth sensor riding shotgun. 

Closer observation of the sides of the Galaxy A73 reveal that it’s made of aluminium finished with a slightly shinier metallic green tint that matches the Mint Green backplate, creating a more harmonious look with gently rounded sides that meet an otherwise flat front and rear though the camera housing does just out slightly.

On the Galaxy A73’s right side is a power button and volume rocker while its left side is otherwise bare. 

The top of the phone hosts a hybrid SIM card slot that also supports microSD cards with up to 1TB cards supported to augment the onboard memory. On the base of the Galaxy A73 is the obligatory USB-C port and a grille for one of the two speakers that form a stereo speaker pair for the phone. 

Following the march of time much like the other Galaxy A 2022 series phones, the Galaxy A73 lacks a 3.5mm jack this time around unlike its predecessor the A72 but it’s fortunately not that big of an issue now seeing how cheap wireless earbuds are.

Up front, the Galaxy A73 has a generously sized 6.7-inch Super AMOLED Plus display which has slim side and top bezels that afford it a generous amount of screen real estate.

The bottom bezel is slightly thicker than usual, forming a characteristic chin of sorts though this doesn’t detract from its size which has a tall 20:9 aspect ratio.

The flat touchscreen is among Samsung’s better ones with FHD+ (1080 x 2,400) pixels resolution and a smooth 120Hz refresh rate while possessing a small rounded punch hole for the front-facing 32MP selfie camera along with a tiny slit for the earpiece and stereo speaker.  On the bottom quadrant of the touchscreen is an under-display fingerprint reader for biometrics. It’s also protected by Gorilla Glass 5 which protects from nicks and scratches.

In terms of overall build quality and design, our Samsung Galaxy A73 first look sample doesn’t break new ground but gets all the basics right with a solid chassis that has an even heft while the matte, slightly grippy finish makes it easier to fish out from a pocket. 

The power and volume rocker buttons are well positioned, offering easy access to an index finger without having to feel around for it. Of particular note here is that the Galaxy A73 has an IP67 dust and water resistance rating which means it’s able to survive in up to 1 metre of freshwater for up to 30 minutes at a time which is a feature that many other competing midrange phones lack. 

Add in the robust Gorilla Glass 5 protection on the display and you have what is otherwise one of the most solidly built midrange phones for 2022 much like its smaller sibling the Galaxy A33 which has a similar IP67 rating and Gorilla Glass 5 on the display.

Samsung Galaxy A73 First Look – Specifications at a Glance

The Samsung Galaxy A73 is kitted out with better hardware across the board compared to its smaller brethren the Galaxy A53 and Galaxy A33 and while it certainly won’t outgun a Galaxy S22 series phone, it has a number of features and advantages that can give flagships from competing brands a run for their money.

Unlike the Exynos 1280 processor used in the A53 and A33, the Galaxy A73 uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G processor. Both are octacore processors though the Exynos 1280 SoC is built on a 5nm process making it a wee bit more power efficient versus the Snapdragon 778G which is built on a 6nm process. However, the Snapdragon 778G has slightly better performance than the Exynos 1280. 

Our Samsung Galaxy A73 first look sample pairs the Snapdragon 778G with 8GB RAM and 256GB of expandable storage. The 256GB of storage is substantial and will last awhile for all but the heaviest users but the key advantage here is that the phone has a microSD card slot that supports cards up to 1TB in size which is an advantage even the Galaxy S22 series does not have in its substantial arsenal.

Running under the hood of the Galaxy A73 is the latest Android 12 firmware with Samsung’s own OneUI 4.1 which confers several advantages to the phone, not least of which being the ability to assign up to 8GB of virtual RAM at will though this requires a phone restart. That’s not all as the phone also benefits from Samsung’s update policies which means that it will enjoy up to 4 years of OS updates and 5 years of security updates, making it an investment that will last for a long time.

Keeping the phone charged is a 5,000mAh battery with 25W wired fast charging though there’s no reverse wireless charging or wireless charging options here.

At RM2,099, the Galaxy A73 is the priciest of the Galaxy A 2022 series but for your money you get an array of hardware that maximises the full potential of the Galaxy A series – you get the largest, highest refresh rate display, a more powerful CPU, a potent rear quad camera and a huge battery to boot. Stay tuned for our full review where we share our unvarnished thoughts on this beefy workhorse phone.

Samsung Galaxy A73 first look sample courtesy of Samsung Malaysia. To purchase and for more details visit their official online store at https://www.samsung.com/my/smartphones/galaxy-a/galaxy-a73-5g-awesome-mint-256gb-sm-a736blghxme/