The Samsung Galaxy A53 5G is a mid-range phone announced on March 17, 2022. The Galaxy A33 5G arrived alongside it. It went on sale in select markets on April 1, 2022. In the US, it launched at $449.99 for the 6GB/128GB model. Samsung no longer sells it, and the Galaxy A54 5G is its successor.
Design and display
The phone has a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display with a 1080 x 2400 resolution. Its refresh rate goes up to 120Hz. In direct sunlight, adaptive brightness can push the screen to 800 nits. Gorilla Glass 5 protects the front.
The frame and the matte back are plastic. The body measures 159.6 x 74.8 x 8.1 mm and weighs 189 grams. It carries an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance. Samsung sold it in Awesome Black, Awesome White, Awesome Blue and Awesome Peach. It was the first A5x model without a 3.5 mm headphone jack.
Performance
Inside is the 5nm Exynos 1280 chip. It pairs two 2.4GHz Cortex-A78 cores with six 2.0GHz Cortex-A55 cores and a Mali-G68 GPU. Versions with 6GB or 8GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of storage were sold. A microSD slot adds up to 1TB, but it shares the second SIM slot on dual-SIM models. The US version also switched from Snapdragon, used in the US Galaxy A52 5G, to Exynos.
Cameras
The rear setup has four cameras. The main sensor is 64MP with an f/1.8 lens and optical image stabilization. It sits next to a 12MP ultrawide, a 5MP macro and a 5MP depth camera. Rear video goes up to 4K at 30fps.
For selfies, there is a 32MP front camera. Samsung’s Night mode combines up to 12 frames to brighten low-light photos. The phone also includes Object eraser and Photo Remaster editing tools.
Battery and charging
A 5,000mAh battery powers the phone. It supports 25W wired charging. There is no wireless charging. Samsung does not include a charger in the box.
Software and updates
The Galaxy A53 5G shipped with Android 12 and One UI 4.1. Samsung promised four generations of Android upgrades. It also promised up to five years of security updates. At launch, few mid-range phones in the US offered support that long.
Should you buy the Galaxy A53 5G?
The phone is no longer produced, and Samsung has moved on to newer models. Its successor is the Galaxy A54 5G. Remaining units still offer a large 120Hz OLED screen and IP67 protection. They also have a 5,000mAh battery and expandable storage.
On the other hand, it lacks wireless charging and a headphone jack. Its update window, counted from 2022, is also closer to the end. Buyers who want longer support should look at a newer Galaxy A model.
