Download Samsung Galaxy A72 Review: Worth the Premium Over the Galaxy A52? for free
The duo Samsung Galaxy A52 and Galaxy A72 has been on the market for a few months. We have already tested the Galaxy A52 and now it’s the turn of the Galaxy A72. It costs about Rs. 7,000 higher than the Galaxy A52, and for the extra money you get a slightly larger screen, bigger battery, and a telephoto camera.
However, at Rs. 34,999 for the basic variant with 8 GB of RAM and 128 memory or Rs. 37,999 with 256 GB of memory, the Samsung Galaxy A72 has pretty strong competition from the OnePlus 8T, Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro and the Vivo X60, among others. If your budget is close to Rs. 40,000 you could even get the Mi 11X Pro with a Snapdragon 888 SoC. The Galaxy A72 really has to be a strong argument if we are to recommend it over the competition. Let’s see if it’s good enough.
Samsung Galaxy A72 design
The Samsung Galaxy A72 has a fresh new design, similar to what we saw on the Galaxy A52. It is simple and elegant and available in various pastel colors. The Awesome Violet Finish I have looks soothing and thanks to the matte finish, fingerprints are not a problem. The frame and back are made of plastic and this phone appears to be relatively sturdy, although it doesn’t feel very high quality when you hold it. I understand the use of an all-plastic case for the Galaxy A52, but I would have expected at least a glass back on the more expensive Galaxy A72. The phone is a little heavy at 203 grams, but not too thick at only 8.3 mm.
The 6.7-inch Super AMOLED screen has Full HD + resolution and a refresh rate of 90 Hz and supports HDR display. I liked the quality of the screen with above average brightness and punchy colors. There is a noticeable blue color shift when viewing off-axis white backgrounds, but I didn’t find this too bothersome. The connections and buttons of the Samsung Galaxy A72 are clearly arranged. You even get a 3.5mm headphone jack. All openings are weatherproof as the phone has an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance.
The Samsung Galaxy A72 looks great in this shade of purple
The second slot in the SIM tray can accommodate a second nano-SIM or a microSD card. In the box you will find a 25 W power supply unit with a USB Type-C connection, a corresponding USB cable and the SIM eject tool. This phone does not include a headset or case.
Samsung Galaxy A72 specifications and software
The core specs of the Samsung Galaxy A72 are almost identical to the Galaxy A52, which is a bit of a disappointment given the price difference. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G is simply not meant to compete with its own more expensive siblings, the Snapdragon 865, 870, and even the 888, all of which can be found in phones under Rs. 40,000. This phone has 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB or 256 GB of storage. You also get Bluetooth 5, dual-band WiFi, NFC and the usual selection of sensors and navigation devices.
The Samsung Galaxy A72 has an in-display fingerprint sensor, but I found it to be very inconsistent when it comes to authentication and also a bit slow. Face recognition works better, but not by much, and it didn’t recognize my face in dark places.
The Samsung Galaxy A72 has a 3.5 mm headphone jack
Software tasks are performed by OneUI 3.1, which is exactly what we saw on the Galaxy A52. OneUI is feature rich and looks polished. Samsung Pay is available for in-store contactless payments. I didn’t notice any ads on apps like Weather, but there are plenty of pre-installed apps, most of which felt unnecessary. Fortunately, it is possible to remove them all. Some of Samsung’s own apps, like the My Galaxy app, have a tendency to clutter your notification screen, and little you can do to prevent it from happening.
Performance and battery life of the Samsung Galaxy A72
The Snapdragon 720G SoC is quite underpowered in this price range compared to the competition, but still powerful enough to handle Android 11. During my test, there were a few instances where I felt a little sluggish multitasking, but that wasn’t too severe. Scrolling through lists in apps felt quick thanks to the screen’s fast refresh rate. The benchmark performance was also quite solid, with the Samsung Galaxy A72 achieving a respectable 336261 points in the AnTuTu. The phone has a physically large footprint so that one-handed operation is not exactly convenient.
Face recognition on the Samsung Galaxy A72 is not the most reliable in low light
In addition to benchmarks, games also ran very well. Even demanding games like Genshin Impact ran at very playable frame rates, with occasional small stutters. The stereo speakers get loud and sound good. You can also enable Dolby Atmos for the speakers, which slightly improves the overall sound quality. With the Samsung Galaxy A72, I couldn’t find any overheating even in graphically demanding games. Videos were great fun too, especially HDR content that really made the screen sparkle.
The Samsung Galaxy A72 has a larger 5000 mAh battery than the Galaxy A52, but our HD video loop test ran about an hour less (16 hours 28 minutes) on this phone. The included 25W charger managed to charge the phone’s battery from zero to around 48 percent in half an hour and to 87 percent in an hour, which is not bad.
Samsung Galaxy A72 cameras
The Samsung Galaxy A72 has a similar camera setup to the Galaxy A52, except that the depth camera has been swapped out for a more convenient 8-megapixel telephoto camera. The latter has an f / 2.2 aperture, a 3x optical zoom range and optical stabilization. The other cameras are a 64-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens, and a 5-megapixel macro camera. You also get a 32-megapixel selfie camera.
Samsung Galaxy A72 main camera preview (tap to view full size)
Samsung Galaxy A72 ultra-wide camera preview (tap to view full size)
The photos taken with the main camera were generally above average in good light. Landscapes had good detail, colors looked natural, and the dynamic range was decent. The ultra-wide-angle camera’s field of view is quite good, although objects appear stretched along the edges of the image. Close-ups looked very good, with nice depth and sharp details. The macro camera was a little disappointing, but I wasn’t expecting much from it.
Samsung Galaxy A72 3X Telecamera Preview (tap to view full size)
Even in good light, the telecamera took strictly average photos. Details and textures weren’t very sharp even at the original zoom level and got softer as I went beyond it. In fact, I have often noticed that even in good lighting with the primary sensor at 3X, the phone would digitally zoom in without any problems.
Samsung Galaxy A72 night mode camera preview (tap to view full size)
Samsung Galaxy A72 Night Mode ultra-wide camera preview (tap to view full size)
In low light, the Samsung Galaxy A72 automatically uses long exposure, which means that there is usually no difference between a normal photo and a photo taken in night mode. However, if you want to take photos with the ultra-wide camera, the night mode makes a big difference. The phone almost never switches to the telecamera at night, and even if the subject is well lit, it can go either way.
Samsung Galaxy A72 Selfie Camera Preview (tap to view full size)
The selfie camera isn’t bad whether you’re shooting during the day or in low light. Selfies looked good, with nice details and skin tones. Night mode for selfies doesn’t help much, so it’s better to use the screen flash.
The Samsung Galaxy A72 can record videos at up to 4K 30fps with the front and rear cameras. The video quality is good during the day and in poor lighting conditions. Little to no stabilization seems to be applied at 4K (at least electronically), but as a result there is no jitter in low-light video when you go out and record. With the camera app, you can switch between the main and ultra-wide camera when recording in 4K.
You can play with many capture modes including Single Take which takes multiple shots from the rear sensors and automatically applies filters, creates GIFs, etc. depending on what you captured. There’s also a fun recording mode that lets you apply Snapchat filters to your subject.
verdict
As it turns out, the Samsung Galaxy A72 isn’t much different from the Galaxy A52, and that’s a problem. The telephoto camera is a nice addition, but I didn’t find it very useful as the image quality was average at best. Apart from that, you pay an extra charge compared to the Galaxy A52 for a slightly larger battery and the included 25 W charger. It’s hard to justify spending at least Rs. 34,999 for the Galaxy A72 when you get almost the same performance and features with the Galaxy A52 for Rs. 26,499, and some phones under Rs. 30,000 offer even better specifications and capabilities.
The Samsung Galaxy A72 is a nice phone, but others too at this price point, which makes them all better choices. There’s the Mi 10T Pro and OnePlus 8T, both of which deliver better gaming performance and cameras. The Vivo X60 also looks good on paper, although we didn’t test it.
If Samsung’s name and features like its IP rating and stereo speakers got you to the Galaxy A72, I’d recommend getting the Galaxy A52 instead and saving some cash. If you are absolutely ready to spend more, any of the above competitors is a better buy.
