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Samsung Galaxy A53 5G goes on sale, will take on iPhone SE

Nadeem Sarwar
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The Samsung Galaxy A53 5G is finally hitting the shelves in the U.S. carrying a $450 price tag. Samsung’s latest mid-range phone is up for grabs from AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and the company’s official website. Folks purchasing it from Samsung.com will get the Galaxy Buds Live earbuds as a freebie for a limited time. That’s a sweet offer, as the bean-shaped noise-canceling earbuds cost $170 when they made their debut in 2020.

As for the phone itself, the Galaxy A53 5G has a lot going for it. Samsung has armed its “iPhone SE 3 killer” with a 6.5-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with some 120Hz refresh rate goodness on top. Apple’s latest budget phone is far behind due to its LCD display with an HD resolution and outdated bezel-heavy design.

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The in-house Exynos 1280 processor keeps things running under the hood. Buyers get to pick between configurations offering 6 gigabytes or 8 gigabytes of RAM, and a choice between 128GB and 256GB of onboard storage. A neat addition is the micro SD slot that can accept cards of up to 1TB in capacity for storage expansion. A 5,000mAh battery powers the innards, and can be topped up at a peak charging output of 25 watts. Unfortunately, there is no bundled charger in the retail package.

A hand holds the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G in blue.
Samsung Galaxy A53 Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

There are a total of four cameras at the back. The main snapper is a 64-megapixel unit, sitting alongside a 12-megapixel camera for ultrawide photography. A 5MP shooter is there for capturing macro scenes, while depth information for portrait shots is collected by another 5-megapixel camera. Selfie and video calling responsibilities are shouldered by a massive 32MP sensor. As far as imaging hardware and camera versatility go, the Galaxy A53 5G absolutely crushes the 2022 iPhone SE refresh.

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On the software side, Android 12-based One UI 4.1 runs the show. Samsung has promised four Android OS upgrades and security updates for five years. Those figures are unmatched in the Android ecosystem, and go head–to-head with Samsung’s pricey flagship phones. The build is IP67-certified, while color options on the table are black, white, light blue, and a beautiful peach shade. Overall, the Galaxy A53 is a pretty compelling package, especially for buyers who want more bang for their bucks than what Apple has to offer with the $430 iPhone SE 3.

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Nadeem Sarwar
Nadeem Sarwar
Contributor
Nadeem is a tech journalist who started reading about cool smartphone tech out of curiosity and soon started writing…
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