This year, the Galaxy S21 Ultra took the crown of the best overall flagship on the market. Despite coming out months after the Galaxy S21 Ultra, devices like the iPhone 13 Pro Max and the Pixel 6 Pro failed to be as good of an all-rounder as Samsung's top dog. But perhaps a more interesting Galaxy phone than the S21 Ultra in 2021 was the Galaxy A52, Samsung's star player in its mid-range lineup.
The Galaxy A52 is nothing like the Galaxy A51 and Galaxy A50. Those phones didn't really have any high-end features, but the Galaxy A52 has plenty of them, including a high refresh rate screen, IP67 water and dust resistance, an optically stabilized main camera, and stereo speakers. It also has a fairly capable Snapdragon chip under the hood instead of something from Samsung's infamous Exynos series of processors, which makes it an excellent performer for most use cases.
Galaxy A52 was a surprise package, so the Galaxy A53 excites me
And next year, with the Galaxy A53, Samsung can only fly higher. We'll certainly see an upgraded Snapdragon chip, a bigger battery is all but certain, and should Samsung decide to add a 3x zoom camera to the A53, it could be the most perfect mid-range phone the company has ever produced. Well, that's unless you consider a headphone jack a part of a ‘perfect' package, in which case it could miss the mark.
Still, Samsung has the chance to make the Galaxy A53 extremely exciting, though I guess it probably won't make the phone as good as it can be. Remember, there's also the Galaxy A73, and with the Galaxy A72 already having very few advantages over the Galaxy A52, I'm assuming Samsung will want to keep a few things — like a zoom camera — exclusive to the A73 so it has a chance to attract some customers.
But whatever ends up happening, one thing is clear: The Galaxy A53 is the most interesting 2022 Samsung phone for me, and I can't wait to see what Samsung cooks up. The Galaxy S22 series will probably be great, too, but Samsung's flagships have been mostly excellent for so long that it's hard to keep getting excited about them, so my eyes are on the company's mid-range lineup instead.