(Pocket-lint) – Samsung announced the sub-flagship Galaxy A52 5G, Galaxy A52 and Galaxy A72 smartphones at an event in March, all of which sit below the company’s flagship S21 series, but offer a few of its great features and some of its design traits.

We’ve covered off how the Galaxy A52 5G compares to the Galaxy S21 in a separate feature, but here we are looking at how the Galaxy A52 devices and A72 compare to each other to help you work out which Samsung Galaxy A device could be right for you.

Design

• A52 5G: 159.9 x 75.1 x 8.4mm, 189g
• A52: 159.9 x 75.1 x 8.4mm, 189g
• A72: 165 x 77.4 x 8.4mm, 203g

The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G, Galaxy A52 and the A72 all share a very similar design. The Galaxy A72 is the larger and heavier of the three devices, but it also offers a larger display.

All three offer a centralised punch hole camera at the top of their screens, they all have a rectangular camera housing on the rear with a quad camera offering three large lenses and one smaller lens and they all come in the same four colour options.

All three devices are also IP67 water and dust resistant and they all feature flat displays and under-screen fingerprint readers.

Display

• A52 5G: 6.5-inch, Super AMOLED, Full HD+, 120Hz, 800nits
• A52: 6.5-inch, Super AMOLED, Full HD+, 90Hz, 800nits
• A72: 6.7-inch, Super AMOLED, Full HD+, 90Hz, 800nits

The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G comes with a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display with a Full HD+ resolution. It’s Samsung’s Infinity-O display and it offers a 120Hz refresh rate, like the Galaxy S21 series, though it isn’t adaptive.

The Galaxy A52 LTE model has the same size and resolution display as the 5G model but it has a 90Hz refresh rate instead. Both the 4G and 5G models have a maximum brightness of 800nits.

The Galaxy A72 meanwhile, has a slightly larger 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display, which is also Samsung’s Infinity-O display like the A52 models. It also offers a Full HD+ resolution, 800nits maximum brightness and a 90Hz refresh rate like the standard A52 model.

Hardware and specs

• A52 5G: Qualcomm SD750G, 5G, 6/8GB RAM, 128/256GB storage, 4500mAh
• A52: Qualcomm SD720G, LTE, 4/6/8GB RAM, 128/256GB storage, 4500mAh
• A72: Qualcomm SD720G, LTE, 6/8GB RAM, 128/256GB storage, 5000mAh

The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G processor, while the Galaxy A52 and Galaxy A72 both run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G chipset. The Galaxy A52 5G is 5G-enabled, as you might have guessed, while the A52 and A72 are both LTE.

Both the Galaxy A52 5G and Galaxy A72 come in a choice of 6GB or 8GB of RAM with 128GB or 256GB storage. The Galaxy A52 has a choice of 4GB, 6GB or 8GB of RAM, with storage options of 128GB and 256GB. All three devices have microSD support for storage expansion up to 1TB.

In terms of battery capacity, the Galaxy A52 5G and Galaxy A52 4G have a 4500mAh battery, while the Galaxy A72 has a slightly larger 5000mAh capacity. All three devices have stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos.

There’s no wireless charging on board any of the models.

Camera

• A52 5G: Quad rear (64MP main + 12MP ultra wide + 5MP depth + 5MP macro), 32MP front
• A52: Quad rear (64MP main + 12MP ultra wide + 5MP depth + 5MP macro), 32MP front
• A72: Quad rear (64MP main + 12MP ultra wide + 8MP telephoto + 5MP macro), 32MP front

The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G, A52 and Galaxy A72 all come with a quad rear cameras but their compositions differ.

The Galaxy A52 5G and Galaxy A52 both have a 64-megapixel main camera with an f/1.8 aperture and OIS, a 12-megapixel ultra wide-angle lens with f/2.2 aperture, a 5-megapixel depth sensor with f/2.4 aperture and a 5-megapixel macro sensor with f/2.4 aperture.

The Galaxy A72 meanwhile, has the same 64-megapixel main camera, along with the same 12-megapixel ultra wide-angle sensor and the same 5-megapixel macro lens. It swaps the depth sensor for an 8-megapixel telephoto lens though, offering 3x optical zoom, OIS and an aperture of f/2.4. 

All three devices have the same 32-megapixel front camera with an aperture of f/2.2.

Price

The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G will cost £399 in the UK and €429 in Europe. The Galaxy A52 LTE model won’t come to the UK but will cost €349 in Europe. 

The Samsung Galaxy A72 is slightly more expensive, costing £419 in the UK and €449 in Europe.

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy A72 is the most expensive of the three devices being compared in this feature, offering the largest display, largest battery and a telephoto lens for 3x optical zoom.

It misses out on a slightly more advanced processor compared to the A52 5G, 5G capabilities and the 120Hz refresh rate display though, while the A52 5G trades the telephoto lens of the A72 for a depth sensor. 

Meanwhile, the standard A52 – which won’t come to the UK – is a mix between the A52 5G and the A72, offering the same camera, display, design and battery as the A52 5G, but with the LTE capabilities, 90Hz refresh rate display (albeit smaller) and processor as the A72. 

The decision between these devices will therefore likely come down to which features matter to you most. Do you want a fast refresh rate and 5G? Then the A52 5G is the one for you. If you want a big display, big battery and optical zoom capabilities, but you’re happy to lose 5G and the faster refresh rate display, you’ll want to pay the £20 extra for the A72.

Writing by Britta O’Boyle.