Samsung Galaxy A52 just leaked — and it could be the best cheap phone yet
Samsung's new mid-range phone offers a lot for its price
An in-depth leak of the Samsung Galaxy A52 has revealed an exciting phone that won't cost you the world.
With a price €349, (€429 with 5G), the Galaxy A52 could take on the likes of the OnePlus Nord N10, Google Pixel 4a and iPhone SE by offering a lot of tech for not a lot of money.
- Want a flagship phone? Check out our Samsung Galaxy S21 review
- Our current pick of the best cheap phones around
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Last year's Galaxy A51 was an underwhelmingly average phone. However, with the specs leaked by WinFuture, we hope that Samsung's tackled the phone's weaknesses.
Samsung has reportedly boosted the battery up to 4,500 mAh from 4,000 mAh. That's a solid jump in capacity and could fix the battery life issue we found with the Galaxy A51.
The cell can be charged at up to 25W with a wired connection; there's no wireless charging option. That puts the battery specs close to the OnePlus Nord N10, which has a slightly smaller 4,300 mAh battery but faster 30W charging.
For photography, there's a quartet of cameras on the back, matching the four on the back of the Nord N10.
The main camera uses a 64MP sensor, with the ultrawide using an 8MP sensor. There are also 5MP and 2MP cameras, which are assumed to be for macro photos and depth effects respectively. These are joined by a 32MP selfie camera on the front, kept in a punch-hole notch.
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There will be a choice of chipset depending on whether you want 5G connectivity or not. The base A52 gets a Snapdragon 720G, while the 5G version gets a slightly more powerful 750G chip.
Neither of these are particularly mighty chips. But ultimate processing power is not likely to be something people buying a mid-range phone will care about. Besides, it will beat the Snapdragon 690 chip in the Nord N10, and the 5G version will outmatch the Snapdragon 720 in the Pixel 4a.
The upgraded 6GB RAM, up from 4GB in the A51, doesn't look impressive either. However, it's still a notable improvement from the previous generation and should make using a lot of apps at once a smoother experience.
One of the standout features looks to be the 6.5-inch FHD AMOLED display. That's the same resolution as the Nord N10 and Pixel 4a, but larger than both. The Nord N10 does have the advantage of a 90Hz display, something that isn't mentioned for the A52. However, WinFuture's report leaves the possibility of a higher refresh rate open.
With this being a budget phone, Samsung's still included a headphone jack and a microSD card slot, so you won't need to splash out for cloud storage or a pair of headphones or wireless earbuds. Despite these additional openings in the phone's chassis, the A52 is still IP67 water/dust resistant, which should mean it'll shrug off an unintended fall into the sink.
Based on previous Galaxy A-series launches, the Galaxy A52 is likely to make its debut in April, so we won't have to wait too long to see if these leaked specs are correct.
When it does launch, it's looking like it has a good chance of becoming one of our picks for the best cheap phones, thanks to its broad feature set. But we'd need to get our hands on the Galaxy S52 before we make any final judgments.
Richard is based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, tablets, gaming, and whatever else people need advice on. Following on from his MA in Magazine Journalism at the University of Sheffield, he's also written for WIRED U.K., The Register and Creative Bloq. When not at work, he's likely thinking about how to brew the perfect cup of specialty coffee.