Samsung’s A-series smartphones have a reputation for solid performance at a pocket-friendly price. The A5x series has fast become one of the company’s best-selling phone lineups to date, not to mention one of the most popular Android phones worldwide.
New rumours give us a few clues as to how the new generation is shaping up; so here’s all we know so far about the upcoming Samsung Galaxy A53.
When will the Samsung Galaxy A53 be released?
Traditionally, the bulk of the Galaxy A series usually makes its debut in the early part of the year. As a guide, here’s when the last few generations arrived:
By December 2021, reports from sites like Gadgets360 stated that the A53 was already in production at Samsung’s site in Greater Noida, India; suggesting the device is likely to be released very soon.
While there was brief speculation that the Korean giant might launch the new A53 at its 4 January 2022 keynote event, during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), no such announcement was made, pushing expectations later into the first quarter of 2022.
The phone has since been spotted (by MySmartPrice on 17 January) as having received 3C certification in China, hinting at a formal launch relatively soon.
The range itself is currently composed of three models: the A52, A52 5G and A52s. Whether Samsung continues with this is something we’ll have to wait and see, but it seems likely that a non-5G version may not make the cut this time around. The A52s was very similar to the A52 5G; with a processor bump being the main difference.
How much will the Samsung Galaxy A53 cost?
Prices have been reasonably consistent with the A-series over the years. Again, as a guide, here’s how much the last few models have cost:
- Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G – £409/€459/US$549.99
- Samsung Galaxy A52 – £349/€349/$449.99
- Samsung Galaxy A52 5G – £399/€429/$499.99
- Samsung Galaxy A51 – £329/€370/$399.99
- Samsung Galaxy A51 5G – £429/€470/$499.99
With most phones now adopting 5G capabilities as standard, it’s likely that the Galaxy A53 could come in just a 5G model this time around; meaning the price should be along the lines of the Galaxy A52 5G. As such, expect to pay around £399/€429/$499.99.
What features will the Samsung Galaxy A53 offer?
As Samsung is yet to confirm any details of the Galaxy A53, we don’t have any official specs for the new device; at least not from Samsung directly…
Although there have been numerous leaks already, WinFuture.de has offered up the most recent and complete picture of what the A53 will likely be working with.
Design-wise the phone looks set to share in its predecessor’s proportions and component placement, with a colourful polycarbonate frame and casing that carry across the current A52 series’ familiar camera bump, albeit with heavier rounding at the element’s corners. The whole will also reportedly weigh approximately 189 grams.
A familiar quad-camera setup features, with a lead 64Mp sensor, accompanied by a 12Mp ultrawide (although 91Mobiles claims that this sensor will get an upgrade to 32Mp) and a pair of 5Mp sensors, expected to handle macro shooting and depth sensing, respectively. Meanwhile, there’s a 32Mp front-facing hole-punch camera.
Here comes your very first look at the #Samsung #GalaxyA53! (360° video + stunning 5K renders + dimensions)
On behalf of @digitindia -> https://t.co/pSt7eyDjsK pic.twitter.com/06bhosIjGs
— Steve H.McFly (@OnLeaks) November 8, 2021
Previously, renders from Digit India and @OnLeaks, show additional angles that suggest Samsung may have removed the 3.5mm headphone jack. Thankfully, these days it’s much easier to find good wireless earbuds for a price befitting a mid-range phone, as you’ll find in our best budget wireless earbuds chart.
According to @Onleaks, the A53 features chassis dimensions of 159.6 x 74.7 x 8.14mm, with the camera bump extending that depth to 9.73mm.
WinFuture’s sources claim that there’s a 6.5in 120Hz Super AMOLED Full HD+ (1080 x 2400 resolution) on the front, as on the A52 5G. Digit also states that the back will be flat, rather than curved, as on the older model. Echoing other rumours we’ve heard.
A TENAA listing filed by Samsung China also cropped up in late January (spotted by GSMArena), which suggests some additional specs associated with the A53 (model number SM-A5360), retreading the aforementioned camera resolutions, along with mention of 8GB RAM, 128GB or 256GB storage and an under-display fingerprint sensor. WinFuture’s information also makes mention of microSD expandability up to 1TB too.
Tipster Abhishek Yadav shared what many think to be the developmental A53 (named the ‘Samsung SM-A536U’) benchmarking results from Geekbench’s database; revealing additional details about the handset in the process.
Samsung Galaxy A53 appears on Geekbench.
– Mediatek Dimensity 900 CPU
6 x 2.0GHz
2 x 2.4GHz
6nmTSMC
Supports Upto ( UFS 3.1 storage, LPDDR5 ram)– Mali – G68 GPU
– Android 12 ☑️
– 6GB ramGeekbench:https://t.co/GV0aL1tVik#Samsung #Android pic.twitter.com/3NjJoun8LS
— Abhishek Yadav (@yabhishekhd) December 15, 2021
The device in question is thought to be running on a 6nm MediaTek Dimensity 900 SoC – pulling away from the Qualcomm-made Snapdragon 700 series chips used by the A52 line – while 5G, Android 12, 6GB RAM and UFS 3.1 storage are also detailed.
Contrary to this, there are separate reports of the phone relying on Samsung’s own unannounced Exynos 1200 octa-core chipset, featuring a 2.4GHz clock on the two main cores and a 1.8GHz clock on the subsequent six cores.
The 3C certification spotted by MySmartPrice references a 15W fast charger, which isn’t particularly fast when the like’s of Xiaomi‘s mid-rangers offer 33W (and up) fast charging. However, it was spotted (again, by MySmartPrice) that FCC certification makes mention of a 25W charger instead, so it’s still unclear what the A53 will ship with and whether it’ll top out at 15W, 25W or some other wattage. Dual SIM functionality was also alluded to in the certification.
Finally, GSMArena reports that there will be at least four colour options, including black, white, light blue and orange.
As more details become available, we’ll be updating this article. Although, hopefully, we’ll know the full spec sheet before too long.
While you wait, you can get to know the other devices that the Galaxy A53 will be up against, by reading our rundown of best mid-range phones.