Samsung Galaxy A72 review

Introduction

Samsung's Galaxy A family has been a major success for the Korean giant in recent years. In fact, it now represents the largest portion of the company's sales. That's no coincidence either. There is only one way to pull off that level of success - and it's by offering competitive features under high-profile branding for a reasonable amount. A daunting task that Samsung has been tackling like a true smartphone champ in nifty incremental steps throughout the last few Galaxy A generations.

The A family seems to constantly be growing as well. The lineup is sprawling, with new models seemingly popping up every few weeks. There is so much choice now, ranging from budget to nearly flagship-grade models, that Samsung could have easily spun it off into a sub-brand of its own. Not that we are suggesting they should.

As of writing this review, the Galaxy A72 represents the highest-end model in the family. It is actually quite similar to the Galaxy A52, we recently reviewed. The vanilla version, that is, not the 5G one. Compared to the A52, the A72 offers a slightly bigger 6.7-inch, 90Hz display, an extra 8MP telephoto camera and a slightly bigger 5,000 mAh battery. Other than that, the vanilla A52 and the A72 are pretty much identical, including physically rocking a particular modern Samsung design.

Samsung Galaxy A72 specs at a glance:

• Body: 165.0x77.4x8.4mm, 203g; Glass front, plastic back; IP67 dust/water resistant (up to 1m for 30 mins).
• Display: 6.70" Super AMOLED, 90Hz, 800 nits, 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 394ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM7125 Snapdragon 720G (8 nm): Octa-core (2x2.3 GHz Kryo 465 Gold & 6x1.8 GHz Kryo 465 Silver); Adreno 618.
• Memory: 128GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM; microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot).
• OS/Software: Android 11, One UI 3.1.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 64 MP, f/1.8, 26mm, 1/1.7X", 0.8µm, PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 8 MP, f/2.4, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 123-degree, 1.12µm; Macro: 5 MP, f/2.4.
• Front camera: 32 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide), 1/2.8", 0.8µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60fps; gyro-EIS; Front camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps.
• Battery: 5000mAh; Fast charging 25W.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); 3.5mm jack.

At the time of writing, the A52 starts at €350 for a 4GB/128GB unit, while the A72 costs €450 for its base 6GB/128GB tier. So the upgrades in the higher-tier model will set you back around €100 on top of the A52. Arguably, not quite as competitive on the value scale, but not bad either. Especially with features like the IP67 rating under its belt. Also, actual retail prices on both models have already come down a bit since their release, and the price difference should eventually shrink even further. Samsung is all too familiar with the kind of stiff mid-ranger competition it is facing in the space.

One more thing worth noting is that currently, there is no 5G variant of the A72 on offer. It is likely in the works, though, and has already been popping up in leaks. We can probably expect it to offer a 120Hz display, like the 5G variant of the A52 does. Potentially with a chipset swap from the Snapdragon 720G to the 750G 5G as well. That would make for yet another exciting model in the Galaxy A family. For now, however, we have a regular Galaxy A72 in for review in Awesome Blue, with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of expandable storage. Let's dive in.

Unboxing

The Samsung Galaxy A72 ships in a fairly plain two-piece box. Nothing too fancy, no plastic, just paper. Thick and rigid, it gets the job done. You don't get much in the way of accessories either - just a wall charger and a few leaflets, and that's about it.

That being said, unlike the Galaxy A52, which ships with a simple 15W charger, the A72 comes with a proper 25W PD one, including a white USB Type-C to Type-C cable. This is great news since the phone can, in fact, charge at up to 25W, and you don't need to go out and buy a compatible charger to make use of the higher speed charging with the A72 like with the A52.

Depending on how you look at this, a proper charger in the box can be deducted from the total price of owning the A72, or rather added to the potential math of getting the A52 instead and have you adjust the value calculation a bit.