![]() I also think Google offers more helpful software features through its tightly integrated Assistant and Pixel-exclusive additions to other Google apps. I like the Pixel 4A 5G more because camera quality matters more to me than most other features. Doesn't the $500 Pixel 4A 5G have better cameras? Absolutely. It's reliable, and it will stay that way for years thanks to the long software support period.Ĭan you get most of the way there with the $350 Pixel 4A? Yes. The full-featured Galaxy A52 5G does almost everything you want in a phone without costing anywhere near $1,000. Samsung also fares a little better with the 32-megapixel front camera. Portrait mode, where the background behind a subject is blurred like a DSLR's bokeh effect, gives the Pixel 4A 5G a run for its money. If judged in a vacuum, most folks will be fairly satisfied with the results out of the A52. These notes are all relative to the Pixel, which is our top midrange camera phone. When you use the Samsung's dedicated Night mode in low-light scenes, photos can look over-sharpened or flat, as the image-processing software tends to strip out shadows too much. Also, the A52's camera doesn't do a great job of handling high-contrast scenes the sky or windows are usually blown out. More often than not, the Samsung's photos are lacking in detail compared to the Pixel's shots. Looking over the A52's images, they're usually oversaturated, sometimes delivering an unnatural color for the sky or for trees. The trees aren't that green in real life. Safe to say, you probably won't notice much of a difference when you switch between 5G and 4G. ![]() The next-gen network is still sparse around the US, and even if it's available in your area, the A52 only supports sub-6 5G, the version that's not dramatically faster than current 4G LTE speeds. The other major addition here is 5G connectivity, which is nice for future-proofing, but don't buy this phone for 5G. The phone looks simple but modern, and that aesthetic is aided by the slim bezels around the screen as well as the floating hole-punch camera on the front. And sure, it only comes in black, but the matte plastic design means you won't have to worry about the rear cracking when you drop it. It's big but slim, which makes it feel not too unwieldy. I usually ended the day with around 40 percent left in the tank. Better yet, the large 4,500-mAh battery cell won't give you any cause for concern. With dual speakers that also sound pretty good, I didn't mind catching up on Star Wars: The Bad Batch on this device before bed. It's sharp, with a 2,400- x 1,080-pixel resolution, while also being wonderfully bright and colorful. The 6.5-inch AMOLED screen picks up the slack a bit. It does! But when the aforementioned stutters pop in now and then, they take away from that fluidity. By doubling this rate to 120, everything on the screen looks more buttery smooth. Traditional phones have a 60-Hz refresh rate, which means the display refreshes 60 times per second. Such a high-performance screen spec is rare in a phone at this price. Those hiccups somewhat spoil one of the new headline features, though: the 120-Hz screen refresh rate. (A ton of preinstalled bloatware furthers this suspicion.) I can still easily get stuff done, so really, it comes down to how much the stutters annoy you. I suspect the software just isn't as well optimized. Whether it's switching apps, zooming into Google Maps, or scrolling through Twitter, the A52 5G randomly sputters. However, unlike these two phones, I'm still treated to regular, noticeable stutters in day-to-day use. Sure, gaming isn't as silky smooth as it is on pricier phones like the Galaxy S21, but it's far from a frustrating experience.īenchmark tests I ran even put the A52 a notch higher than similarly priced phones like the Pixel 4A 5G ($500) and the new Moto G Stylus 5G ($400). Inside is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G chip with 6 gigabytes of RAM, a pairing powerful enough to speedily launch my apps and run graphically demanding games like Sky: Children of the Light and Genshin Impact. I'm hard on the A52 because its performance really could be better. Don't get me wrong-it's no slouch.
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