Great features held hostage by lag

Stellar screen, Capable cameras

So sluggish, Cheaper rivals are smoother

The Galaxy A53 is a brilliant mid-range phone, with an excellent display, top camera, and software support bested only by Apple. But it suffers from one massive flaw: poor performance. At this price a phone shouldn’t be so slow, and it makes the A53 difficult to wholeheartedly recommend.

Stylish design, Great display, Impressive cameras, Excellent software support

Extremely sluggish performance, Slow charging, No charger included

An excellent midrange feature set at the right price

Very good battery stamina, OS updates for four years, security updates for five years, High-quality screen

No charger included, Samsung software is still cluttered, Saturated camera colors aren’t for everyone

Used to success. The Samsung Galaxy A53 5G builds on a best-selling series with a whole new SoC and a more powerful battery. However, nothing has changed in other areas, such as the camera. Our review will reveal whether the Galaxy A53 can still get a recommendation from us.

bright, color-accurate display, good stereo speakers, no throttling under load, decent camera setup, accurate positioning, promise of long-term updates, IP certification

slow Wi-Fi, hardly any performance headroom, slow storage, moderate reception strength

Great screen for video; Decent battery life; Good camera system; Fairly attractive design;

No adaptive refresh rate; No wireless charging; No charger included in the box; No 3.5mm headphone jack;

The Samsung Galaxy A53 5G is great value for money. It's a cheap but good-looking phone with a 6.5-inch FHD+ display and a 5,000mAh battery, but the best part is the camera system which can take some brilliant shots. Its performance may not be quite up to scratch but you can't have it all.

6.5-inch Super AMOLED display, 120Hz, Fantastic three-lens rear camera, Astonishingly good battery life

Lacking in performance, No wireless charging, Can’t shoot 4K video at 60fps

An attractive phone with a good-looking screen and impressive cameras for the price, the Samsung Galaxy A53 offers good value for money overall; but with its slow charging and stuttery performance, it’s not for everyone.

Good cameras for price, Attractive design, Good-looking screen

Slow to charge, Slow to navigate, Battery life could be better

Samsung's Galaxy "A" series phones promise to deliver a powerful mid-range experience. Let's see if the Galaxy A53 5G delivers on it.

Gorgeous display, Really powerful and full-sounding speakers, Samsung One UI 4.1 out of the box, Solid build quality, Battery life is pretty great

Performance is really slow at times

Long battery life, long software update life, it's like carrying a little Samsung TV in your pocket

Cameras are fine but not the best in low-light, onboard storage is limited unless you get an SD card, it's quite clear at times you're using a mid-range device and not a flagship one