Samsung may be getting closer to refreshing two popular midrange devices: the Galaxy A52 and A72. Leaked press renders and prices have popped up over the last month, and now SamMobile is reporting that the phones will get higher refresh rate screens. This is a welcome feature that’s trickling down from much pricier flagship devices; faster refresh rates make for a much slicker experience, with smoother animations and scrolling than the typical 60Hz screen offers.
The A52 and A72 are both expected to sell in LTE and 5G versions; the LTE phones will allegedly have 90Hz displays, while the 5G versions get 120Hz panels. (SamMobile only indicates that the A52 5G will have the 120Hz screen, but it seems likely the A72 5G would, too.) A 90Hz panel isn’t unheard of in the A52’s budget / lower-midrange class — the $300 OnePlus Nord N10 5G is equipped with one — but it’s still uncommon.
SamMobile also reports a few more specs for the A52 5G: it will include a Snapdragon 750G chipset, 6.5-inch OLED screen, and a 4,500mAh battery with 25W fast charging. It’s also expected to ship with Android 11. Variants with 6GB of RAM / 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM / 256GB of storage will likely be offered.
On the camera front, it will allegedly include a 64-megapixel main sensor with a 12-megapixel ultrawide, 5-megapixel macro, and a 5-megapixel depth-sensing camera. It’s also reported to include a 32-megapixel selfie camera. It’s expected to cost around €450 (close to $550), while the non-5G model could cost $400.
The Galaxy A51 was one of the bestselling phones worldwide in the first half of 2020, and Samsung looks keen to build on its success with attractive features like the higher refresh rate screen. We liked the A51’s high-quality screen and good build quality but found its processor to be a bit slow loading apps — something Samsung will want to rectify in this follow-up.
The A51’s 4,000mAh battery performance was also so-so. A higher refresh rate screen would likely require even more power, which may be part of the reason why this year’s model will allegedly offer a bigger battery. Capacity is only part of the equation, though, so it’s something we’ll keep an eye on when this device eventually makes its official debut.
