Samsung has officially pulled the curtain on its Galaxy A53 5G, revealing its latest mid-range smartphone. It’s one of Samsung’s best-selling series due to its bang-for-buck style bundling. And though it isn’t as flashy as the company’s flagships, it does offer some premium-grade specs, like a gorgeous display and a quad-camera system.
The Galaxy A53 5G comes stocked with a 6.5-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display, capable of a maximum of 800 nits. Like its predecessor, it has a refresh rate of 120Hz, which is a flagship-level spec. Most smartphones in this price range tend to dial down their screen resolution and capabilities, so it’s nice to see Samsung continue to flex where it knows it has some leverage.
The Galaxy A53 5G runs Samsung’s Exynos 1280 processor, and that’s in addition to 6GB of RAM. There’s also a 5,000 mAh battery, which is a pretty massive pack to include in this device. The battery is bigger than what’s in the Pixel 5a, which comes from Google’s mid-range equivalent. Considering the battery life we saw with the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s same-sized battery, we’re hoping to see better numbers with the Galaxy A53 5G’s less-taxing silicon. Samsung promises up to two days of battery life.
As the name says, the Galaxy A53 5G is 5G capable. It’s also IP67-rated for water- and dust resistance, which is a nice value-add for a phone in this particular price range.
It’ll be interesting to see if the Galaxy A53 5G’s improved camera system can hold a candle to the Pixel A-series and its impressive Night Sight. There are four cameras on the A53 5G: a 12-MP ultra-wide camera, a 64-MP primary camera with an aperture of f/1.8 and OIS, a 5-MP depth camera, and a 5-MP macro lens. The front-facing camera is 32-MP with an aperture of f/2.2.
The Galaxy A53 5G runs Android 12 and One UI 4.1 right out of the box. Samsung guarantees four generations of One UI and Android OS updates and five years of security updates. The A53 5G also works with Link to Windows, enabling the ability to control and access apps on your smartphone without leaving your PC.
The Samsung Galaxy A53 5G will start at $450, which pits it directly against the Google Pixel 5a in terms of pricing, too. It’ll be available beginning March 31 at T-Mobile and Verizon and on April 1 at AT&T, Samsung.com, and everywhere else.