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Google Pixel 4a review: Back and better than ever

The Pixel 4a is a fabulous smartphone: compact, lightweight, streamlined and very reasonably priced

Pros

Amazing camera

Refined software

Cheaper than Pixel 3a at launch

Cons

Shorter battery life than rivals

No 5G (yet)

No IP rating

The Pixel 4A has been on and off for months now but Google’s cheapest smartphone is finally with us. It costs less than last year’s phone at launch, has a larger screen housed in a slim, polycarbonate body and its camera continues to impress.

READ NEXT: Best mid-range smartphone

But with strong contenders recently launched by OnePlus, Motorola and Apple, the Google Pixel 4A is going to have a much tougher time convincing potential customers this time around.

Google Pixel 4a review: What you need to know

The main news is that Google has produced only one of these low-priced Pixels for 2020, where last year we had two to choose from. The new handset sits neatly between the old pair on screen size, offering a larger 5.8in AMOLED display and a similar 1,080 x 2,340 resolution.

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Aside from this, the Google Pixel 4a continues in the same vein as its predecessors. It has a simple, polycarbonate plastic body, and is powered not by Qualcomm’s top-end 8-series CPU but by a processor one rung down on the performance ladder: a 2.2GHz octa-core Snapdragon 730G, accompanied by 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

The Pixel 4a also keeps things simple on the camera front, too, with a single 12MP module and an 8MP unit on the front, an approach that’s at odds with the six cameras adorning the similarly priced OnePlus Nord and Moto G 5G Plus.

The Google Pixel 4a has no 5G support, however, which is surprising when rivals are beginning to move their mid-range handsets over to the new technology already. Google has announced that a special 5G version, helpfully titled the Pixel 4a 5G, will be launching alongside the Pixel 5 in the autumn.

Google Pixel 4a review: Price and competition

As mentioned, the Google Pixel 4a launches in October at a lower price than the 3a did originally, at a very reasonable £349.

That sets it squarely against a host of strong alternatives. The superb OnePlus Nord is probably the strongest of these, with 5G support, a total of six cameras and a larger 6.44in display for £369.

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The Motorola Moto G 5G Plus is another. It has a similar set of features and an even bigger 6.7in screen at the cost of £300. And, if battery life is your thing, why not opt for the Samsung Galaxy M31 with its massive 6,000mAh battery for just £245?

At the smaller end of the spectrum, and if you don’t mind opting for an Apple handset, there’s the iPhone SE (2020). Just like the Pixel 4a it’s small and light and fairly basic, it has only one camera and costs £70 more at £419 for the 64GB model.

Google Pixel 4a review: Design and features

The Google Pixel 4a certainly bucks the trend when it comes to offering just one size but that’s not the only unusual thing about it. There’s also only one colour – “Just black” – and as the 3a did in 2019, it’s built from a block of matte-finish polycarbonate rather than more exotic materials.

Despite this, I rather like the look of the Pixel 4a. It has a simple, functional appearance that, despite the lack of glossy glass and gleaming aluminium or steel, doesn’t feel cheap at all. It barely picks up fingerprints and it’s filled with nice user-friendly touches.

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I love the way the circular fingerprint reader at the rear seems to blend seamlessly into the plastic housing, with the white power button on the right edge making it easy to differentiate from the volume buttons so you don’t switch off the phone by accident.

It’s also great that it’s small enough to hold and operate with one hand without being so small that you’ll yearn for something bigger. Indeed, at 69 x 8.2 x 144mm (WDH), the Pixel 4a is only a fraction larger than the iPhone SE (2020), which has a smaller 4.7in display. That’s largely due to the edge-to-edge AMOLED display and the slim bezels that surround it, of course.

Image of SIM Free Google Pixel 4a 128GB Mobile Phone - Just Black, The Google phone, at a helpful price

SIM Free Google Pixel 4a 128GB Mobile Phone - Just Black, The Google phone, at a helpful price

£379.00

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The only things I’d complain about, in fact, are the lack of official water-resistance and memory expansion capabilities, although it’s worth noting that you do get double the storage than you do with the iPhone SE (2020).

Google Pixel 4a review: Software

The Pixel 4a is a thoroughly modern-looking phone and, coupled with the very latest Google Pixel launcher software, based on Android 10, it’s a dream to use, too.

Indeed, the Pixel 4a comes with all the features the Pixel 4 did with some new and refined ones thrown in for good measure.

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So you’re getting the Pixel 4’s fabulous Recorder app, which turns voice recordings into text almost magically (and without the need for an internet connection), but with extra features. On the Pixel 4a you can now start, stop and search voice recordings, using Google Assistant, and you can now export directly from Recorder to Google Docs.

It’s also now possible to use the same voice recognition tech to add a “Live Caption” box (essentially, a high-technology version of subtitles) to audio and video calls on your phone, even in third-party apps. Previously, this was only available for general audio and video playback, not calls.

On the camera front, there are upgrades to Google’s Night Sight and astrophotography modes, Live HDR+ and the clever Super Res Zoom feature, which uses hand shake to fill in the missing details as you zoom into a scene.

There’s a lot more besides this, including Google’s gesture navigation and some new updates to the Personal Safety app, but above are the main highlights and big new features.

Google Pixel 4a review: Display

That body-filling display is another great feature. It’s an AMOLED screen measuring 5.8in across the diagonal with a pin-sharp resolution of 1,080 x 2,240 and a pixel density of 443ppi. It supports HDR content, too, and the selfie camera punched into a small hole in the top-left corner, is mercifully unobtrusive.

As you’d expect of an AMOLED display, the contrast ratio is effectively perfect. Brightness is excellent, too, peaking at 437cd/m². It isn’t the brightest display I’ve come across in a smartphone but it’s bright enough to ensure readability in all but the sunniest of days.

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As usual with modern smartphones, there’s a number of different colour modes to choose from in the Settings menu. The phone comes set to “Adaptive” by default but you also have the choice of Natural and Boosted presets.

In Natural mode, the phone covers 93.7% of the sRGB colour gamut out of a total volume of 94.5% with an impressive average Delta E score of 1.05 (the lower the better). That’s slightly worse than the Pixel 3a’s result from last year but still an excellent set of figures for a phone that costs as little as this.

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In Boosted mode, colour coverage most closely matches the DCI-P3 colour space, with coverage of 83.9% out of a volume of 84.2%. The adaptive mode appears to fall between Boosted and Natural, with a DCI-P3 coverage of 80.5% (out of 80.6% volume).

HDR playback is less impressive. With Boosted or Adaptive mode enabled, HDR video tends to look a touch too dark for my liking, although it’s not a whole lot worse in this respect than the OnePlus Nord, which is guilty of the same sin.

Google Pixel 4a review: Cameras

The Pixel 4a’s camera is much more impressive. There may only be one camera at the rear – with no ultrawide angle shooter, no zoom or macro, and no depth sensor for portrait shots – but that doesn’t really matter.

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SIM Free Google Pixel 4a 128GB Mobile Phone - Just Black, The Google phone, at a helpful price

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The 12.2MP f/1.7 camera on the Pixel 4a’s rear, combined with Google’s computational photography genius, is capable of serving up some truly astonishing results without the need for all those extra beady eyes. The phone’s Super Res Zoom feature is amazing at providing convincingly sharp digital zoom shots without requiring a separate zoom camera.

Likewise, portraits shot on the Pixel 4a look simply brilliant. Whether in good light or bad, backlit or indoors, every portrait I captured came out looking sharp and crisp with lovely neutral colours, flattering skin tones and a creamy, simulated bokeh background with my subject isolated in sharp relief in the foreground.

Indeed, for zoom and portrait shots, the Pixel 4a beats the OnePlus Nord hands down and I’m of a mind that it’s better than the iPhone 11 Pro Max for portraits, too. And remember that’s a phone that costs nearly three times as much.

For regular photographs and video, there’s a lot less between the two cameras. But the Pixel still puts in a sterling performance. Low light shots, in particular, are impressive, especially captured in Night Sight mode.

And although you’re only able to shoot 4K video at 30fps (you have to drop to 1080p for 60fps), it’s stabilised effectively and with marginally fewer glitches than on the Nord.

Where the Nord does pull ahead somewhat is with its ultrawide cameras, both on the rear and in its 32MP selfie camera. I can’t say I’d miss those all that much if they were taken away, though.

Google Pixel 4a review: Performance and battery life

What I might miss, is the ability to upgrade my phone contract to 5G, because that’s the big feature missing from the Google Pixel 4a’s arsenal at the time of writing. Even the phone’s 4G speeds aren’t that spectacular, with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G’s embedded X15 4G modem capable of up to 600Mbits/sec downloads and 75Mbits/sec uploads. A special 5G model is coming alongside the launch of the Pixel 5, but as it stands all we have is 4G connectivity at the moment.

With 6GB of RAM onboard, however, that processor helps the Pixel 4a largely keep up with its close rivals. Only the iPhone SE (2020) is significantly faster and, while it’s nice to have a little extra performance headroom, the Pixel 4a feels perfectly responsive in day to day use.

In the stamina stakes, the Google Pixel 4a is held back by its 3,140mAh battery, which is somewhat smaller in capacity than its rivals. The OnePlus Nord’s is larger at 4,115mAh in size and the Motorola Moto G 5G Plus’ is a huge 5,000mAh, not to mention that the cheaper Samsung Galaxy M31 is equipped with a huge 6,000mAh power pack.

Hardly surprisingly, the Pixel trailed these rivals in our video rundown test. However, it still managed to post a respectable time of 18hrs 43mins and it’s a whole lot better than its compact rival, the iPhone SE (2020), which only lasted 11hrs 35mins in this test.

Google Pixel 4a review: Verdict

So, where does that put the Pixel 4a? If you’re after a compact phone that won’t make too much of a bulge in your pocket, then it’s definitely the phone for you. Although it isn’t as fast as the Apple iPhone SE (2020), it is a better all-rounder, with a bigger screen, superior portrait photography and far superior battery life.

Image of SIM Free Google Pixel 4a 128GB Mobile Phone - Just Black, The Google phone, at a helpful price

SIM Free Google Pixel 4a 128GB Mobile Phone - Just Black, The Google phone, at a helpful price

£379.00

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Compared with the OnePlus Nord and the Moto G 5G Plus, it’s a more nuanced decision. While both these rivals have bigger screens, more cameras and better battery life, the Pixel 4a has a charm all of its own; and with the Google Launcher on board as well as that amazing camera, there are plenty of reasons to pick one up.

Google Pixel 4a specifications

Xiaomi 13T hands-on review: The perfect compromise?

With very few corners cut from the Pro version, the Xiaomi 13T could be the brand's best-value phone in years

The Xiaomi 13T has just been announced at the brand's September showcase, and upon first glance, I had to do a double take. I was sure I had just written about this phone, only then it was called the Xiaomi 13T Pro. It took some searching, but I eventually found the areas of difference that denote that Pro suffix, or the lack thereof, but the list is not as expansive as you might think, given the price difference.

Unless you're eager to squeeze every last drop of performance prowess possible from your new smartphone, the déjà vu here could well prove to undermine the sales potential for the Pro model, such is the value for money that the Xiaomi 13T appears to be offering . How well it holds up in our benchmark tests will have to wait for the full review, but for a brief hands on, the Xiaomi 13T certainly makes a very good first impression.

Xiaomi 13T hands-on review: Specifications, price and release date

6.67in, 144Hz FHD+ AMOLED display

Octa-core 3.1GHz MediaTek Dimensity 8200 Ultra processor

8GB of RAM

256GB of storage

Triple rear cameras: 50MP (f/1.9), 50MP (f/1.9) telephoto, 12MP (f/2.2) ultrawide

Selfie camera: 20MP (f/2.2)

5,000mAh battery

67W fast charging

IP68-rated waterproofing

162 x 76 x 8.6mm (Alpine Blue), 162 x 76 x 8.5mm (Black, Meadow Green)

193g (Alpine Blue), 197g (Black, Meadow Green)

Alpine Blue, Black, Meadow Green

UK release date: 26 September

UK price: £555 

Xiaomi 13T hands-on review: Design and key new features

If you don’t have the time to read my Xiaomi 13T Pro hands-on review, I can briefly summarise the latter’s specs as “cannily similar”. The design, display and camera setup are all identical across both devices, with the main differences happening beneath the surface. The Xiaomi 13T runs off a slightly less powerful MediaTek Dimensity 8200 Ultra chipset, clocked up to 3.1GHz. Where the Pro has several RAM and storage options, we’re only getting one variation of the Xiaomi 13T in the UK, with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of onboard storage.

Once again, we’ve got a 5,000mAh battery here, but the 13T only supports 67W fast charging, as opposed to the ludicrously fast 120W that features on the 13T Pro. For me, 67W is plenty, and Xiaomi claims that it can take the phone from empty to full in 42 minutes, with just five minutes on charge yielding around 26% battery life. As with the Pro, I would have liked to see wireless charging folded in alongside its impressive wired sibling, but it’s more forgivable at this price.

The final thing that sets the two phones apart is that the Xiaomi 13T Pro is one of the first phones to support the brand new Wi-Fi 7, whereas the Xiaomi 13T tops out with Wi-Fi 6. Alongside this, you’ve got Bluetooth 5.4 support, a dual-SIM tray and the same IP68 rating as the Pro model. This certifies the phone as dustproof and able to withstand being submerged in 1.5m of water for up to 30 minutes – this is a big improvement over the Xiaomi 12T, which lacked an official rating.

Otherwise, the Xiaomi 13T is a dead ringer for its pricier sibling. Given how much we loved the Xiaomi 13 for offering a powerful compact flagship in a market that is woefully underserving small-handed folk, it would have been nice to carry that setup into the mid-range, but the 6.67in AMOLED display we get is a good consolation prize. The 2,712 x 1,220 resolution produces a sharp 446ppi pixel density, the maximum refresh rate of 144Hz should deliver silky smooth scrolling, and the layer of Gorilla Glass 5 will hopefully fend off cracks and scratches. Like the 13T Pro, this screen supports Dolby Vision and HDR10+, with twin stereo speakers covering the audio with Dolby Atmos support.

6Xiaomi 13T hands-on review camera module

Flip the phone over, and you’ll be met with one of two materials, depending on the colour you choose. The Black and Meadow Green versions have a standard glass cover, but the Alpine Blue gets a soft vegan leather that adds an elegant edge, while also feeling much nicer in the hand. The back marginally affects the depth and weight of the phone too; the glass models measure 8.5mm thick and weigh 197g, while the vegan leather model weighs less, at 193g, but is also a tiny bit thicker, at 8.6mm.

Getting the one negative out of the way, the design is a bit bland. It’s not aggressively ugly, it’s just that the standard flat edges and rounded corners feel overdone. The

camera module also needs a redesign; it’s a big raised square that’s black, regardless of which colour you choose. If you go for black, it looks too drab, whereas if you pick either the Alpine Blue or Meadow Green colourways, it sticks out like a sore thumb. Something in a more subtle two-tone aesthetic would go a long way to adding some class, and making it smaller wouldn’t hurt, either.

6Xiaomi 13T hands-on review rear Blue

I may not be thrilled about the housing, but the cameras themselves have my attention. The most eye-catching of the new setup is the 50MP (f/1.9) telephoto lens, which is a direct carry-over from the Pro model, and is quite unique at this price. Joining that, we’ve got another 50MP (f/1.9) sensor for the main lens, a 12MP (f/2.2) ultrawide shooter and a 20MP (f/2.2) selfie camera. Like the Pro model, the Xiaomi 13T can shoot HDR10+ video in 4K at 30fps, and supports OIS but lacks the 8K recording.

The Xiaomi 13T doesn’t miss out on the Leica collaboration, at least. There are two shooting modes on offer – Leica Authentic and Leica Vibrant – with the former being better for your natural shots and the latter dialling up the colours and contrast for a bigger visual impact. You’ve also got a range of Leica filters and watermarks that can be applied, as well as the option to create your own custom style that can be saved and quickly applied to future shots.

Xiaomi 13T hands-on review: Early verdict

It could well be that, when we come to running the Xiaomi 13T through our rigorous testing process, it falls flat on its face with terrible performance and an ugly, inaccurate display. Barring something that dramatic, however, we may be looking at the best value-for-money phone we’ve seen from Xiaomi in a long time.

We’ll be getting a sample in for a full review in the near future, at which point we’ll see for sure how well it performs in our usual benchmark tests. Until then, anyone who is looking for flagship-level features at a mid-range price will want to keep their eye firmly on the Xiaomi 13

 

Technics EAH-AZ60M2 review: The capable but less-talented sibling

 

The Technics EAH-AZ60M2 sit alongside the Technics EAH-AZ80 in the Panasonic-owned brand's true wireless earbuds lineup and share a number of the qualities with their more expensive stablemates.

They're some of the best earbuds around where making and receiving calls is concerned, audio quality is impressive, and active noise cancellation isn't bad either. Wear detection, wireless charging and three-way Bluetooth multipoint connectivity further increase their appeal, but they struggle somewhat to step out of their superb sibling's shadow.

Technics EAH-AZ60M2 review: What do you get for the money?

The basic specifications of the Technics EAH-AZ60M2, which are available for around £200, are fairly similar to the £260 Technics EAH-AZ80. Both operate wirelessly over Bluetooth 5.3 and support the Hi-Res LDAC codec in addition to SBC and AAC.    

The pair use different driver arrangements, however, with the AZ60M2 housing 8mm biocellulose drivers in place of the 10mm free-edge aluminum diaphragm drive units found in the AZ80. The AZ60M2 are slightly more compact as a result but weigh the same as their sibling and lack the sculpted housing designed to sit more comfortably in your conchas. Both are rated IPX4 for water resistance, meaning they can withstand sweat and light rainfall. 

Like the AZ80, the AZ60M2 can connect to up to three devices simultaneously thanks to their industry-first inclusion of three-way Bluetooth multipoint support. Both pairs of headphones also have four microphones in each earbud to handle calls and active noise cancellation.

Battery life is identical on the two models, clocking in at seven hours in-ear with ANC on and 24 hours when you take into account the juice held in the charging case. Just 15 minutes on charge will net you 70 minutes of ANC-powered listening and wireless charging is supported for those who own a Qi charging pad. 

Technics EAH-AZ60M2 review: What do we like about them?

When it comes to sound quality, the AZ60M2 are an elite performer in their price bracket. Rich and robust at high volumes and across different genres, there's little to grumble about, with the varied instrumentation and vocals on indie rock track Range Life by Pavement showcasing a detailed presentation that is only marginally bettered by the AZ80.  

While their audio reproduction might fall slightly below the AZ80's high bar, the noise-cancelling microphone is just as excellent on the AZ60M2. External noise has little to no impact on your speech when making voice recordings or chatting on the phone, with the only exceptions being high-frequency interruptions such as screeching buses and bird songs. 

The active noise cancellation on offer is decent, too, although it's not quite as impressive as it is on the AZ80. You can read a full explanation of the ANC system in my review of the AZ80 and, as with those earbuds, how effective the AZ60M2's noise cancellation is highly dependent on how well the buds fit inside your ears.

After achieving a reasonably snug fit, I was shielded from office hubbub with music playing at around 25% volume. While on a noisy commute, the ANC was able to drown out most external distractions with volume levels set to roughly 70%. The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II deliver class-leading ANC for not that much more money, which makes the AZ60M2 look a little less appealing, but I was happy enough with their performance overall.

They may not be able to quite match the AZ80 in the audio reproduction or noise-cancelling departments, but the AZ60M2's touch controls work equally well and can be fully customized in the Technics app. The ability to connect to three devices at once is another of their great strengths and worked flawlessly during testing.

Technics EAH-AZ60M2 review: What could be improved?

The AZ60M2 don't get too much wrong but their shortcomings were highlighted when using them side-by-side with the AZ80.

There was a small but noticeable difference in sound quality, with the AZ80 delivering a more full-bodied listen thanks to a bit of extra punch in the bass and sub-bass frequency bands. Low-end extension is reasonable on the AZ60M2 but it doesn't delve quite as deep and the mid-range doesn't sound quite as clean.

While the difference there is relatively minor, I found the AZ80 fitted me significantly better than that the AZ60M2. The smaller buds never felt completely secure in my ear canals, prompting concerns that they might fall out were I to get overexcited by what I was listening to and start shaking my head vigorously. I'd have thought that with seven sizes of eartips to choose from, I'd be able to find one that was completely stable in my ears but sadly this wasn't the case. Your mileage here will vary, however. 

Technics EAH-AZ60M2 review: Should you buy them?

Viewed in isolation, the Technics EAH-AZ60M2 are a very solid pair of true wireless earbuds. Sound quality is up to snuff, ANC does what it's intended to do, while wear detection, wireless charging and three-way multipoint pairing round out a comprehensive suite of features.

But if you like the look of the AZ60M2 I'd highly recommend stretching your budget a bit further and picking up the AZ80 instead. They're better performers in the key areas of audio quality and noise cancellation, are more stylish and more comfortable to wear, too. You may also wish to consider the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II and Sony WF-1000M5, both of which offer excellent ANC and top-notch sound.      

Samsung Galaxy A52 5G review: Agreeable affordability

Sure, its name might be a bit of a mouthful, but the Galaxy A52 5G intends to plug the ever-widening gap between the top and bottom ends of the phone-buying scale. However, with seven Samsung phones already launching in the UK since the beginning of the year, does the Galaxy A52 5G have what it takes to stand out from the crowd?  

Samsung Galaxy A52 5G review: What you need to know

At almost half the price of the Galaxy S21, there’s a good chance you’re thinking that the Galaxy A52 5G is only half as good. However, Samsung’s newest mid-ranger has plenty in common with its own flagship lineup, as it turns out, including a 120Hz screen, a quad-camera array and 5G connectivity at no extra cost.

Of course, Samsung has made some savings in the design department, with a plastic rear and reasonably thick bezels, and it also uses a weaker Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G chipset as well. But with Android 11 out of the box, IP67-rated waterproofing and a large 4,500mAh battery, there’s not much else you could possibly want from a new smartphone.

Samsung Galaxy A52 5G review: Price and competition

Especially when that new smartphone only costs £399. By comparison, the Galaxy S21 starts at £769, so you’re saving a decent chunk of cash (£370) if you decide to buy the Galaxy A52 5G instead. As for contracts, you can expect to pay between £22 and £30 a month with a small upfront cost, depending on how much monthly data you want.

You might have also heard that there’s a slightly cheaper non-5G version (€349), but sadly this isn’t available to buy in the UK at the moment.

The A52 also launched alongside the Galaxy A72, which adds a 3x telephoto zoom camera, a slightly bigger 6.7in display and a larger 5,000mAh battery for an extra £20. There are a handful of caveats, though: the A72’s screen is 90Hz, it doesn’t have 5G and it uses a not-so-powerful Snapdragon 720G processor.

Unfortunately, there’s already plenty of competition in this price bracket. Apple’s 2020 iPhone SE (£399) sits at the top of the pack, although the Pixel 4a (£349) isn’t far behind, with its as-yet-unmatched camera. There’s also the OnePlus Nord N10 (£329) to consider, as well as the Moto G 5G Plus (£299).

Samsung Galaxy A52 5G review: Design and key features

Design-wise, the Galaxy A52 5G certainly looks the part, although you can tell that it isn’t quite as lavishly furnished as the Galaxy S21 on closer inspection. It has a soft-textured plastic back, with a slim camera housing and a shiny aluminium frame and is available in four colours; “Awesome Violet”, “Awesome Black”, “Awesome White” and “Awesome Blue”. I was sent the latter for review. Awesome.

READ NEXT: Best phone camera

It isn’t quite as eye-catching as its predecessor, though, lacking the Galaxy A51’s dazzling multi-coloured pearlescent finish and subtly curved sides, but it’s still a rather snazzy look. The front of the phone is reasonably unassuming, too, with a simple hole-punch notch in the top-centre portion of the screen, and fairly chunky bezels on all

four sides.

A nice addition, however, is the inclusion of an in-display fingerprint sensor at the bottom of the screen, as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack, which sits next to the phone’s USB-C port and speaker grille. The A52 5G is also IP67-rated for water and dust protection, which is another added bonus.

Samsung Galaxy A52 5G review: Display

The A52 5G’s Super AMOLED screen measures 6.5in from corner to corner, with an FHD+ (2,400 x 1,080) resolution and a not-so-bad pixel density of 405ppi. Unlike last year’s A51, this new model also supports a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz.

The screen’s max brightness isn’t too bad, either, peaking at around 449cd/m² in auto mode with a torch aimed at the A52 5G’s ambient light sensor. As this is a Super AMOLED screen, contrast is effectively perfect, too.

Samsung Galaxy A52 5G review: Performance and battery life

The Galaxy A52 5G is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 750 processor, which is an octa-core chipset clocked at 2.2GHz with an embedded Adreno 619 GPU for graphics processing duties. The UK model also has 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, which can be expanded via microSD.

As for performance output, the Galaxy A52 5G is a significant step-up over its predecessor. In the Geekbench 5 single-core CPU benchmark, the Galaxy A52 5G almost doubled the performance of last year’s Galaxy A51, and it’s roughly 50% faster in multi-core processing as well.

Looking at the comparison graph, the Galaxy A52 5G is just as powerful as its equally-priced competitors, although it falls flat when placed next to the iPhone SE (2020) and its flagship A14 Bionic chipset.

READ NEXT: Best phone battery life

It’s a similar story in gaming terms. The Galaxy A52 5G’s average frame rate of 45fps in the GFXBench Manhattan 3 on-screen test matches the performance of the OnePlus Nord N10, Pixel 4a and Moto G 5G Plus, but the iPhone SE (2020) is on an entirely different level in terms of graphical output.

Where the iPhone can’t compete, however, is in the stamina department. Running for 18hrs 23mins in our in-house battery test, the Galaxy A52 5G lasted almost seven hours longer than Apple’s newest mid-ranger. Again, though, it mostly matched its rivals, with only the Moto G 5G Plus stretching out a bit of a lead.

Samsung Galaxy A52 5G review: Cameras

The A52 5G’s camera arrangement is mostly the same as before, with a 12MP (f/2.2) 123-degree ultra-wide camera working with a 5MP (f/2.4) depth-sensing unit and a 5MP (f/2.4) macro camera for up-close photography. However, the main camera is now a 64MP affair – an increase from 48MP – complete with a wider f/1.8 aperture and optical image stabilisation.

Quality-wise, I have no major complaints about the cameras. Images look pretty darn good, for the most part, and the A52 5G even manages to hold its own against the terrific Pixel 4a in some instances. Pictures are filled with detail, it does a good job at cutting through the darkness in low-light conditions, and HDR worked without a hitch. It did have a tendency to increase the exposure a bit too much for my liking, though, but this isn’t something that the on-screen slider couldn’t fix.

There are a couple of areas where the Pixel 4a manages to pull ahead, however. In particular, the A52 5G’s portrait modes aren’t anywhere near as crisp, with softer background blur, even at max level. I also

preferred the video stabilisation on the Pixel 4a at 1080p 60fps (4K is limited to 30fps on both phones).

Even still, the Pixel 4a only has a single camera, so the A52 5G is a much better pick if photographic versatility is at the top of your phone-buying agenda. It’s also received a few upgrades on the software front, too, including 4K video snap, which allows you to grab a still image from previously recorded 4K footage.

Samsung Galaxy A52 5G review: Verdict

This, among other things, is one of the reasons why the A52 5G might actually be a more well-informed pick. The Pixel 4a, as much as it’s an astonishing mid-range handset in a bunch of areas, isn’t quite as versatile in the camera department. Don’t forget that it also has a smaller (60Hz) screen, no expandable storage and a slightly weaker processor, too.  

If you’re weighing up your options in the mid-range space, then the Galaxy A52 5G has absolutely scaled the ranks, disrupting the recent tradition of “Pixel is best”. As long as you can afford the extra £50, then you really can’t go wrong with picking up a Galaxy A52 5G instead.