How do you make an excellent midrange telephone higher? If you’re Samsung, you swap in a house-made processor, bump up the battery capability, ditch the in-box charger, and decrease the worth by $50. Follow that recipe and also you get the $449 Galaxy A53 5G.

Samsung additionally adopted the cardinal rule of not fixing what wasn’t damaged. The cameras, display, and design are all unchanged from final 12 months’s mannequin. Performance is about the identical, too, even with the swap from a Snapdragon processor to a brand new, unproven Exynos chipset. Losing the beforehand included charging brick is a bummer, however it was going to occur finally.

Even higher than the minor spec upgrades, Samsung has improved its already sturdy software program assist coverage. The A53 5G will get 4 years of Android OS platform updates and 5 years of safety updates. That’s so long as Google helps its flagship Pixel 6 telephones with safety updates. Don’t anticipate to get frequent updates towards the tip of its lifespan, however getting any sort of replace 5 years after launch is implausible for a midrange Android machine.

Samsung has addressed a few of our software program complaints, too. The A53 5G ships with Android 12-based One UI 4.1, which is just a little tidier than the model that got here earlier than it. It continues to be a Samsung machine, although, and Samsung nonetheless desperately needs you to reside in its world with its personal app retailer, digital assistant, and constellation of pre-downloaded apps.

If you’re glad dwelling in Samsung’s world, or at the least don’t thoughts placing up with it, then the Galaxy A53 5G ought to reward you with a superb return in your funding.

The Galaxy A53 5G is the primary Samsung telephone bought within the US to make use of an Exynos chipset since 2015. Samsung has continued utilizing its own-brand chips in worldwide variations of its telephones (they usually’ve proven up in current wearables). But within the US, it’s been all Qualcomm or MediaTek beginning with the Galaxy S7. The A53 5G and A33 5G are the primary units wherever to make use of this explicit 1280 Exynos processor. It’s paired with 6GB of RAM, which is greater than you’ll discover on most different midrange telephones.

Performance appears to be about on par with the A52 5G. Using them aspect by aspect, generally there’s a barely longer lag after tapping on the search bar earlier than the keyboard pops up on the A53. But simply as usually, the A53 will open an app quicker than the A52. In sensible use, I’d name it a toss-up between the 2. I discover slight hesitations right here and there all through my every day use, however all throughout the regular vary for a midrange telephone and nothing I couldn’t reside with. It will even run Genshin Impact, albeit with some frequent stutters when there’s loads taking place on display. I’d anticipate total efficiency to carry up moderately nicely, even after three or 4 years of software program updates, too.

Whether you purchase the telephone unlocked or by way of a service within the US, you’ll have one alternative of storage choices: 128GB. That’s a wholesome quantity for this worth vary, and in the event you run out of house after a couple of years, there’s a microSD slot for extra storage.

The A53 5G contains a 6.5-inch OLED with a 120Hz refresh charge, and it gives an excellent stage of element with 1080p decision. It could be a little difficult to see in very vibrant outside circumstances, however in all different conditions, it’s a wealthy, vibrant show, and the quick refresh charge retains issues wanting clean. At this worth level, it’s about the perfect you’ll be able to anticipate from a telephone display.

There’s an in-display fingerprint scanner for biometric unlocking. Samsung says it’s the identical one used within the A52 5G, and I imagine them. But I’m having a better time with it than I did within the earlier mannequin, and I really feel like I’m getting fewer prompts to retry. Maybe the software program received higher. Maybe I’ve extra persistence now. Who can say? It’s a beat slower than the very finest optical fingerprint sensors in flagships, just like the OnePlus 10 Pro, however it’s usually correct and fast sufficient to not trigger any main frustration each day.

The A53 5G options IP67 mud and water resistance, which continues to be uncommon on this class. That means the A53 5G ought to stand as much as splashes, spills, and a few water submersion. If you’ve ever seen a telephone die a watery demise after an unintentional drop in a physique of water (let’s not discuss what occurred at West Seattle Summer Fest 2019), then you understand how worthwhile that water resistance is.

The different key spec enchancment is the improve from a 4,500mAh battery to a 5,000mAh capability. Samsung claims the brand new battery will get you thru two full days of use, and in the event you’re a light-weight consumer or on Wi-Fi more often than not, then that’s a good declare. I can get by way of a full day no downside, even streaming some video and spending most of my time on 5G, however not fairly two days. I did push it fairly exhausting on day two by downloading Genshin Impact, however I solely received to about 2PM after I began getting prompts to cost the telephone. Light customers can anticipate to get by way of two days on a cost, however in the event you’re a average or heavy consumer, it is likely to be finest to recharge in a single day to keep away from dipping into the single-digit percentages.

There’s no charging brick included within the A53’s field, and never even a USB-C cable is included. The headphone jack that the A52 included is gone, too, as a result of all good issues should finish. These are a few flagship options trickling right down to the A53, and I want they hadn’t.

If you purchase the A53 by way of AT&T, T-Mobile, or unlocked, you’ll get a model of the machine that’s appropriate solely with low- and mid-band 5G — no superfast high-band millimeter wave (mmWave). This is okay — mmWave is tough to search out anyway. The model of the telephone bought by way of Verizon does supply mmWave assist and prices $50 extra.

If you’re shopping for your telephone by way of Verizon, you’re seemingly paying for it in your month-to-month invoice moderately than on the full retail worth — through which case the mmWave model is your solely alternative. If you do have the choice of shopping for the telephone unlocked, go forward and save your self $50 and simply purchase it with out mmWave even in the event you’re on Verizon. You gained’t miss it, and your wi-fi plan won’t even embrace it to start with.

The Galaxy A53 5G borrows its predecessor’s digicam system, headlined by a 64-megapixel f/1.8 normal large. It options optical stabilization, which is a uncommon and welcome function within the midrange class. (You’re extra prone to get a pointy shot in average lighting circumstances.) There’s additionally a 12-megapixel ultrawide, together with 5-megapixel macro and depth sensors.

Expect good high quality pictures in vibrant gentle, with punchy, saturated colours. The most important digicam holds its personal in dim and even very low gentle, with an evening mode that brings out an excellent quantity of element offered your topic isn’t shifting a lot. Portrait mode pictures are serviceable, too, particularly when there’s loads of gentle, however not as spectacular as we noticed on the Galaxy S22. There’s additionally no telephoto lens right here, so your solely choice for portraits is the broader view of the usual digicam.

Grid View

Video recording tops out at 4K / 30p, with 30 and 60p choices in 1080 decision. Video clips look high-quality; the digicam’s autofocus hunts just a little bit in low gentle. There’s extra stabilization out there in 1080 / 30p mode, however it’s finest fitted to vibrant outside gentle. (Clips in average and low gentle with this function enabled look darkish and noisy.)

Altogether, it’s a digicam system that’s good for the worth. You’d definitely get higher from a flagship — together with a telephoto lens — however it does an ample job. The A53 doesn’t fairly measure as much as the midrange class chief: the Google Pixel 5A. Portraits and low gentle pictures look just a bit higher from the Pixel, and colours are rather less saturated. There are good causes to go for the Samsung over the Pixel 5A (extra on that in a bit), but when it’s pure digicam high quality you’re after, the 5A continues to be the perfect you are able to do for underneath $500.

The A53 5G’s {hardware} leaves me with little or no to complain about; it does nearly all the things you might moderately anticipate a $450 telephone to do. But I can discover some nits to select in Samsung’s software program — primarily that it’s Samsung software program.

If Samsung has its approach, you’ll wind up with a complete bunch of Samsung apps downloaded in your telephone if you begin utilizing it. Thankfully, you’ll be able to decide out of downloading loads of these throughout setup. Still, you’ll have an additional app retailer and an additional voice assistant in your telephone, whether or not you need them or not. Bixby, I discovered, tends to mishear sure radio DJs saying “KEXP” as its personal title. This is a really Pacific Northwest downside, however I used to be already irritated with Bixby, and this hasn’t helped issues.

To be truthful, Samsung has achieved just a little cleanup since One UI 3.0, like eradicating the advertisements on the prime of the climate app. You can cover the entire superfluous Samsung apps in a folder, and it’s attainable to make use of the telephone with out ever making a Samsung account if you wish to reside your life with out an additional login. Just know that you could be sooner or later determine to alter the font in your telephone and uncover that you simply’ll want a Samsung account to obtain one from the Galaxy Store. Win some, lose some.

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

The Galaxy A53 5G is a straightforward choose in the event you reside within the US and also you’re seeking to spend lower than $500 on an Android telephone. The Google Pixel 5A is mainly the telephone’s solely competitors, however it’s seemingly to get replaced quickly and has a shorter shelf life at this level with solely a pair extra OS updates headed to it. You’d get a greater digicam and higher software program with out the entire Samsung duplicates, however it’s not bought by way of any carriers in the event you’re seeking to subsidize it together with your wi-fi plan.

Aside from ready for the Google Pixel 6A, the opposite choice could be to spend extra and go for the Pixel 6. Google appears to have addressed some early bugs with Android 12 safety patches, and for $599, it’s a implausible machine with a superb digicam and wonderful software program. But it’s considerably costlier — an additional $150. If you’re not choosy about getting the perfect picture high quality and you want (or at the least don’t thoughts) Samsung’s model of Android 12, then there actually isn’t a compelling case for spending the additional cash.

Samsung gives loads of A-series finances telephones, they usually’re usually among the many finest choices of their respective worth brackets. The A53 5G is the Samsung A-series at its best possible. It retains up with day-to-day duties now and may final nicely into the subsequent 4 or 5 years in the event you care for it. The A52 was an excellent purchase for $50 extra, and the A53 provides you with an excellent higher return in your funding — even when you must convey your personal charger now.

Photography by Allison Johnson / The Verge