By Shruti Dhapola
When it comes to smartphones and their prices, everyone has an opinion. One brand that is quite often seen as ‘overpriced’ is Samsung. But this ‘increased pricing’ is something that is happening across the board in India’s smartphone market. In fact, as the latest report from data firm IDC shows, supplies are tight for the low-end segment, and there’s rising inflation leading to increased prices for devices.
So where does the Galaxy M53 5G fit in here? Well, this is a phone priced at Rs 26,499 and has all the right specifications: a 108MP camera, MediaTek’s Dimensity 900 chipset and a 120Hz display. But is all of this enough to justify the price? Let’s take a look.
Design & display
The Galaxy M53 is a rather tall phone, which might be off-putting for some users, but it is not bulky. The polycarbonate back has a glossy finish, and it gets dirty very easily. The device has a 6.7-inch full HD+ AMOLED display. It is legible in bright sunlight and if you are using this to watch shows on apps such as Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, you will be happy.
The display comes with a 120 Hz refresh rate, but you can keep it to 60 Hz as well. There’s no dynamic refresh rate support here. What is unimpressive is the audio profile though. At this price point, one expects more on the audio front.
Performance, battery
The phone runs a 5G-enabled MediaTek Dimensity 900 chipset. There is a 6GB or 8GB RAM option with 128GB storage. Given the chipset, I did not expect any major performance issues here, and the M53 lived up to the expectations. There were a few moments where I noticed a lag, especially when taking photos in Night mode.
The Galaxy M53 5G gets a 5000mAh battery, which should give a day’s worth of juice even with heavy-duty usage. Remember there is no charger in the box, though it supports 25W fast charging. I used a 22.5W charger with this and it took close to 2 hours to get to 100%.
Camera
Samsung has upgraded the camera this time to 108MP compared to the 64MP from last year’s M52. The main camera delivers sharp, detailed images when used outdoors. The colours are always a bit more saturated, but the details are nicely preserved. The pictures are pleasing for most parts when taken in a well-lit environment.
Where the Galaxy M53 did not fare so well was the Night mode. It took a few shots for the camera to get the focus right when I tried taking a picture in a low-light and slightly challenging environment. Also, for people photos taken indoors, the skin tone is not quite right. Even with selfies, the camera was just softening the details too much, even when I turned the beauty mode off.
Verdict
The Galaxy M53 5G is a device that delivers on most of its promises. The display, the performance, and the camera are all acceptable. But given the price at which it is operating, nothing here really stands out. The competition has cameras with similar specifications and many of them do perform better than Galaxy M53 and are available at a lower price.
