Galaxy A52 camera can trade shots with Galaxy S21 Samsung just released

Galaxy A52 camera can trade shots with Galaxy S21

Samsung just released the

Galaxy A52

4G and

Galaxy A52 5G

as successors to the Galaxy A51, the company's best-selling Android phone of 2020. Both devices cost around $400-$500, depending on region, but they come surprisingly close in performance and functionality to typical flagship smartphones. They both have large screens with high refresh rates (90Hz on the 4G model, 120Hz on the 5G), fast Snapdragon 700-series chipsets, and capable cameras.

We're still working on a full Galaxy A52 5G review, but in the meantime we thought a camera showdown with Samsung's entry-level flagship might be interesting. Turns out the Galaxy A52 5G's camera is impressive for a budget phone, and can even trade shots with the flagship

Galaxy S21

.

Camera Hardware

For starters, the 4G and 5G versions of the Galaxy A52 have an identical camera setup. The main rear camera is a 64MP f/1.8 lens, but it combines pixels for an effective resolution of 16MP. There's also a 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide lens, a 5MP f/2.4 macro camera and a 5MP depth sensor which helps the other lenses.

Meanwhile, the entry-level Galaxy S21 has a 12MP f/1.8 main camera and 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide lens. Instead of the low resolution macro camera of the Galaxy A52, the Galaxy S21 has an additional 64MP f/2.0 camera dedicated to zoom photos. Even though some prefer taking close-up shots over improved zoom performance, the Galaxy A52's 5MP macro resolution generally gives poor results.

It should be noted that the Galaxy S21+ has the same camera array, but the Galaxy S21 Ultra replaces the main camera with a 108MP sensor and adds a second telephoto lens. We're just comparing the base Galaxy S21 to the Galaxy A52 here.

Photos

I was surprised by the Galaxy A52's camera capability, although other phones at this price (like the Pixel 4a/4a 5G) can also capture excellent photos.

In standard outdoor shots, the Galaxy A52 leans slightly more on contrast and color saturation than the Galaxy S21, but the difference is almost indistinguishable.

Galaxy S21

Galaxy A52

The slight differences shouldn't be too surprising, given that the camera hardware and photo processing software are nearly identical. Still, it's a $400-500 phone, so it's worth the money with a $700-800 phone.

Galaxy S21

Galaxy A52

Galaxy S21

Galaxy A52

Photos taken indoors are more or less the same, with the image quality of the two phones being more or less related. The Galaxy A52 sometimes created slightly darker images, but the results are always close.

Galaxy S21

Galaxy A52

Galaxy S21

Galaxy A52

However, the Galaxy S21 clearly comes out on top whenever you need to zoom in, with its extra dedicated 64MP camera. It's not a true telephoto lens, but it produces better results than the Galaxy A52's zoom performance. The photo below was captured at 10x zoom on both phones, and the Galaxy S21 is the winner by a mile.

Galaxy S21

Galaxy A52

Conclusion: The Galaxy A52 can compete with the Galaxy S21

The last few years have seen a growing trend of budget phones getting better and better, and the Galaxy A52's camera quality is another example. Zoom performance aside, the Galaxy A52's photo quality is close to what you can get from

Galaxy S21

, which itself is comparable to most flagship Android phones. The gap between budget and flagship phones in terms of features seems to be closing with each generation.

Samsung Galaxy S21

The Samsung Galaxy S21 is the starting point for the new 2021 flagship series, in a flagship SoC, with a decent display and camera setup.

Buy from Samsung

Samsung Galaxy A52 5G

The Galaxy A52 5G is Samsung's latest ranger, bringing features like a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, Snapdragon 750G SoC, 64MP quad camera setup, Waterproof and dustproof to IP67, and more, in an easy-to-handle polycarbonate body.

Buy from Samsung

Keep an eye out for our full Galaxy A52 5G review, coming soon. The A52 isn't just about the camera.