Samsung Galaxy A52s long-term review

Camera image quality

The Galaxy A52s' rear camera setup is an area where it stands out compared to some of its competitors thanks to the presence of optical image stabilization (OIS) on its otherwise run of the mill main camera. It also has a higher-res than usual for this price point ultrawide shooter, so we were very curious to put these to the test.

The main camera produces decent images in daytime conditions, which are good for the price but don't really stand out in any particular way. There's reasonably wide dynamic range, and a very pervasive 'Samsung look' throughout, with high contrast and sharpness as well as colors that 'pop' perhaps a little too much at times.

People seem to love this look for social media shares, so we understand why it's there, but it can still feel a little bit over the top in some shots to our eyes. While these images are in no way bad for the price, we have to confess we expected a little bit more from the A52s, given how much experience Samsung has in making phones with great cameras. Alas, those are still confined to higher price points.

Daytime samples from the main camera

The ultrawide cam produces good images too. We appreciate the extra resolution compared to what most competitors provide in their 8 MP ultrawide cameras. Softness is visible around the edges, as you might expect from a non-flagship ultrawide, and the color science seems to be quite different compared to the main camera. It's not really noticeable unless you look for it, but once you do, you'll see it. This snapper definitely won't win any awards, but it's good at its job and dependable, and probably better than any 8 MP ultrawide on any competing device.

Daytime samples from the ultrawide

While the A52s lacks a proper telephoto camera (like practically all phones at this price), there is unsurprisingly a 2x toggle in the viewfinder. Engaging this will use crops from the main camera, and the results can get overly soft at times. They're usable in a pinch, but we probably wouldn't recommend shooting in this mode a lot, as the quality delta compared to the 1x shots is quite noticeable. On the other hand, you do still get plenty of detail and reasonably low noise.

Daytime zoom samples

At night the main camera produces decent shots with a good levels of detail and relatively low noise. These can get overly sharpened, however, in a lot of scenes.

Nighttime samples from the main camera

Using Night Mode does help restore highlights and results in even more detailed photos, but the sharpening is even more aggressive than in Auto mode, and shadows can get crushed.

Night Mode samples from the main camera

The ultrawide camera struggles in low light, but much less than the 8 MP sensors generally fitted on smartphones at this price. The photos it produces are understandably softer than those from the main sensor, and they're also less detailed, but still look barely usable most times - at least if there are some light sources around. Dynamic range is also better than we expected, while not winning any awards.

Nighttime samples from the ultrawide

Using Night Mode generally boosts shadows and restores highlights, at the expense of very aggressive oversharpening in some scenes, which can result in artifacts that might make an image unusable. So it's not very easy to recommend which mode to shoot in at night, as both Auto and Night Mode have their advantages and disadvantages.

Night Mode samples from the ultrawide

The 2x shots at night have much more noise than the 1x images, and they also come with sharpening artifacts a lot of times, while otherwise not being very bad. Good for a quick social media share if you must.

Nighttime zoom samples

Applying Night Mode to these usually results in a watercolor painting-like effect, as all of the aggressive processing proves to be too much to handle. Every few shots you'll get one that's (barely) usable, but otherwise, unless you like the watercolor look, this mode is best avoided when zooming.

Night Mode zoom samples

Selfies can be captured in two "field of view" modes, narrow and wide, and the former is the default, although you can change it if you don't like it. You probably won't, since it's a bit too close for comfort, and if you want to fit more than one person in a shot you can just forget it. That's where the wide mode comes in handy.

The photos are good, with plenty of detail and not much noise. Skin tones aren't always accurate, but otherwise these shots are fine during daytime. At night things change, and even with the screen fill flash, you'll get some dark and noise-infested shots unless you're around a light source. If you do happen to find one of those, you'll get visibly worse quality than during the day, but you might manage to still get a few usable selfies to send your friends.

Selfies day and night, normal/wide

Overall the Galaxy A52s' camera system is good for the price tier this phone is in, with a better ultrawide than most competitors, and a decent main sensor that adds the peace of mind of OIS for longer Night Mode exposures. It's not a bad main camera, but quality-wise it doesn't always stand head and shoulders above the similarly priced crowd either.

We should also mention that throughout our many weeks of using the phone for this long-term review we never encountered any bugs in the camera app. Although it's slow to switch sensors and to save your shots sometimes, it never crashes or freezes, so the photo shooting experience isn't impaired.