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Galaxy A72 review gallery

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Analysis of the Samsung Galaxy S72 by sections:

Following the lines of the family with a nice, if somewhat chunky, plastic body

And we are going to start talking about the design, since here we begin to see those decisions between two waters of the company. We have the Galaxy A72 in white and, honestly, I find it beautiful. Of course, in this range they bet on colors and we have other shades (lilac is also very pretty), but they also bet on plastic.

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It's not a particularly premium plastic. There are times when we may like a plastic body a lot because of its finish, its touch or its appearance. And, honestly, if you are not going to offer fast charging, I do not see the need to mount glass if you put a good plastic on me, which was what the Galaxy S20 FE had -analysis-.

The A72 is pretty, a lot, yes, but the touch reminds us of mobile phones that are easily 300 euros less. And it is that, we are talking about a terminal that starts at 400 euros at the moment in its most basic configuration and we expected something more in materials.

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The traces are not left, but I already say that the sensation is too plastic, far from what touch should mean in a mobile of this price. In fact, if you squeeze the back cover minimally, we see that it sinks a bit.

What I like is that the camera module is very well integrated into that set. It doesn't stand out too much and the set is nice. Well here, Samsung, because it helps to create that feeling of an 'expensive' mobile at sight... although when you touch it I already say that we feel something else.

The sides are made of plastic with a glossy finish and we have all the buttons on the right side. In the upper part we see a micro and the DualSIM LTE slot that we can use for two cards or for a SIM and a microSD of up to 1 TB and in the lower part we have a 3.5 mm jack, another micro, USB-C and one of the speakers.

The other speaker is at the top, using the earpiece for calls and the audio is one of the best points of the mobile.

It is a large terminal of 165 mm in height with a width of 77.4 mm and a thickness of 8.4 millimeters, something that is explained by the capacity of the battery (5,000 mAh), but what does not 'weigh' a bit more is... well, the weight. They are 203 grams that are noticeable in the hand, and that in a plastic mobile is quite a lot.

Its 6.7" panel in 20:9 format will not make it easy to operate the mobile with one hand, but it is something you get used to, especially if you like to consume content, since it is the strong point of this terminal.

Before talking about the screen, it should be mentioned that we have IP67 certification, which allows us to submerge the phone for 30 minutes at a depth of one meter. We do not recommend swimming with it of course, but you can afford to use it in light rain or in environments where there is grit in the environment.

SuperAMOLED panel at 90 Hz for lovers of gaming and video consumption

Now yes, let's talk about the panel of the Galaxy A72 because it is the strong point, along with the battery, of the mobile. As I say, we have a 6.7" screen that occupies 84.4% of the front. The frames could have been more used, but well, you get used to it and, although the chin is asymmetrical, the good thing is that it is not one of those wide chins we've had on other phones.

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The panel is SuperAMOLED and has a refresh rate of 90 Hz, and it was about time that Samsung took advantage of its 'good' panels for its own mid-range. The Galaxy A52 mounts a SuperAMOLED at 120 Hz and here we have those 90 Hz that still seem like a substantial improvement over the 60 Hz panels.

The content looks very, very good and thanks to that big screen you are going to enjoy video games, series, YouTube, Stadia and xCloud. The colors are somewhat saturated, typical of Samsung, but without going overboard and, in addition, we have different configuration options on the panel to change the tone and intensity of the color.

I think the viewing angles when we are viewing content with a white background can be improved, but on other occasions we have a very good panel. The sensitivity is correct and the 90 Hz are greatly appreciated.

And another thing that has surprised us is the brightness. The auto-brightness sensor works well and the system is quick to adjust screen brightness depending on ambient brightness, but it's also very well behaved outdoors.

Samsung speaks of a peak of 800 nits and we have measured 614 Lux on average with a deviation of 2.5 Lux. It is a good figure that allows the content to be seen correctly outdoors.

If you are one of those users who love the Always-on Display, you should know that you can activate it and have it always on. Notifications appear correctly and it is not something that affects autonomy too much thanks to its huge battery.

And, to finish with the screen, we must mention the hole for the camera. It's a center hole, as we're used to with Samsung, and the diameter is less than 3 millimeters.

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It goes unnoticed when there is color on the panel, but when we are playing something with black side stripes, the truth is that the silver ring that Samsung has placed draws quite a lot of attention.

The multimedia system is complemented by stereo speakers that I have loved, in a nutshell. It has a high volume, it is resounding and I think the bass could be a little more powerful, but the truth is that the sound quality is very, very good.

ttps://www.dailymotion.com/video/x80v3n6

In addition, there are software options such as Dolby Atmos or a manual equalizer that we can activate whether we use headphones or not. At this point, it is one of the best 'sounding' phones in the mid-range.

Snapdragon 720G in a mobile of 450 euros that is doing well, but we expected more

At the heart of the team we find the Snapdragon 720G, a processor that has been around for a while. its back and yes, it is still solvent, but it is not the most efficient, the most powerful and the most modern, in short, that can be assembled right now.

It is a good processor and, in fact, recent mobiles such as the realme 8 Pro -analysis- mount it, but the difference is 150 euros between the two mobiles and we believe that Samsung should have been more enthusiastic with the SoC.

It is an eight core with two at 2.3 GHz and six at 1.8 GHz with the Adreno 618 GPU and accompanied by 6 or 8 GB of RAM. The gross performance, what the processor gives of itself, is as follows:

	Galaxy A72	realme 8 pro	Redmi Note 10 Pro	Oppo Reno 4	Oppo Reno 4Z	Oppo reno 4 Pro	Redmi Note 9T	Redmi Note 9 Pro	Redmi Note 9S
Processor	SD 720G	SD 720G	SD 732G	SD 765	Dimension 800	SD 765	Size 800U	SD 720G	SD 720G
Geekbench 4 Single	2,502	2,647	-	2,887	2,525	2,844	-	2,639	2,638
Geekbench 4 Multi	6,559	6,902	-	7,375	8,696	7,237	-	6,997	6,978
Geekbench 5 Single	546	568	-	616	518	598	601	567	564
Geekbench 5 Multi	1,666	1,707	-	1,803	2,161	1,765	1,794	1,768	1,709
3D mark	2,571	2,596	-	3,278	3,284	-	-	2,499	2,466
AnTuTu	344,504	287,264	290,775	325,121	309,446	323,134	294,894	262,461	249,809
PC Mark	8,532	8,999	8,186	7,998	7,720	7,803	8,780	7,772	7,473

The performance within applications and games is correct. It is true that titles like Genshin Impact have some framerate jerk, but the truth is that others like CoD Online, PUBG in its medium configuration or Asphalt 8 go like silk.

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The memory, on the other hand, is UFS 2.1 and we have 256 GB in this unit. Its speed is as follows:

memory performance	Galaxy A72	realme 8 pro	Redmi Note 10 Pro	Redmi Note 9 Pro	little x3	Oppo Reno 4Z
sequential write	177.96MB/s	167.72MB/s	209.29MB/s	102.88MB/s	200.24MB/s	157.41MB/s
sequential read	323.78MB/s	239.25MB/s	415.19MB/s	420.32MB/s	495.76MB/s	488.54MB/s
random write	16.42MB/s	14.78MB/s	19.38MB/s	19.29MB/s	14.73MB/s	23.50MB/s
random read	16.62MB/s	11.84MB/s	17.25MB/s	14.06MB/s	19.03MB/s	15.51MB/s
memory copy speed	4.91GB/s	4.89GB/s	4.83GB/s	4.75GB/s	4.76GB/s	6.10GB/s

However, even though the power is there, I think the phone is a bit lazy, and that's OneUI's fault. I think that Samsung is turning OneUI into what it tried to leave behind with Touchwiz, a very, very heavy layer that was poorly optimized and that was regular even with the most powerful processors.

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We have OneUI 3.1 with Android 11 and everything is updated to the latest version... and we notice that there is lag in the system. Discover, curiously, works reasonably well for me, but I notice that the mobile takes longer than necessary to respond to my gestures and keystrokes.

It is a somewhat lazy terminal in this sense and it does not matter if we have 90 Hz activated, since with 60 Hz it is also the same. It is not that it cannot be used, but it is a mobile that definitely does not give you that sensation of speed that its direct rivals have (and much cheaper).

And I am convinced that the fault lies with OneUI and not with the hardware because there is some error that I have had in this use of two weeks that should not have occurred. And it is that, I think that the RAM is not well managed and there are times when the phone is very slow with a few apps in the background and returns to its normal state (which is still slow) when we close those apps in the background.

It is something that had not happened to me in any modern mobile, the truth is, the truth is that the first time I found it I did not know what to do. I closed YouTube and when I reopened the app, the video was just as slow. I had to close all the apps and, as I say, everything was going as it should.

Of course, we are going to have a mobile with three major Android updates, something that is greatly appreciated and that puts Samsung at the same level as Nokia in terms of software support over time. It is to applaud, but I don't know if a user with a mobile that feels lazy will take three years to update...

And finally, let's talk about unlocking. We have a fingerprint on the screen and unlocking by photo and the truth is that I did not like one system or another. They are precise and I have not had to change the position of the finger to catch the fingerprint, and the camera with a little light in the room already unlocks, but it is a slow system.

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Follow OneUI's trail in this regard and I don't know if it's because of the unlock animation or because Samsung can't find the key on the optical sensor (in the ultrasonic they do get better and better), but to put this unlock on the screen Honestly, I prefer a capacitive sensor on the side.

Connectivity good in the physical, not so much in the wireless

Samsung likes to put the 5G tagline on all its products that support this technology and, as you can guess, the A72 that we have is not 5G. For the price, we believe that it is another section in which they have fallen somewhat short.

And it is that, there are mobiles, again, cheaper with 5G, but the A72 is a mobile that its buyers will want to have for two years, easily, and I think that in one or two years 5G should be mandatory in certain price ranges .

There is NFC, yes, and we can pay perfectly in stores, as well as synchronize devices such as a router or wireless headphones. And we also have Bluetooth 5.0 and Wi-Fi 5. That there is no Wi-Fi 6, in fact, does not bother me as much as the absence of 5G because I consider that its advantages are not very noticeable at the moment.

An optical stabilization not common in the mid-range and three cameras that meet

The camera is one of the main reasons for changing smartphones and before we could only find good (but really good, no, "decent") cameras and sensors in the high-end and premium range, but the situation has changed a lot.

Mid-range mobiles increasingly offer better results in the photographic section and Samsung is a classic in these matters. They lagged behind a while ago, but it seems that they want to lead the way by offering competent cameras in all ranges.

Before looking at examples and talking about the different sensors, let's take a look at the app and its performance. It is the classic Samsung application that we have had in the latest versions of OneUI and that still seems somewhat overloaded to me.

We have options like the portrait (which, finally, is called 'Portrait' and not 'Double Exposure' like last year) in the 'More' section, something I don't understand because it's still something main, as well as a bit of a hodgepodge in some respects.

I like that when capturing video it's very easy to change the resolution and fps without messing with settings and we have very good control over the different lenses (although the macro is also in that 'More' section).

However, there are details that I do not like and I think it is the fault of the chosen processor. The shutter is a bit slow and takes a little longer than necessary to take the photo when we press the button and the HDR is also processed on the reel and, if the situation is demanding, it takes longer than necessary.

But hey, for the user who wants to shoot automatically, it is an app that complies and is stable, since it has not been closed to me in these weeks of review.

Main goal

If we go to the objectives, we have a main 64 megapixel with a pixel size of 0.8 microns and f / 1.8. In addition, it is optically stabilized. This is a "novelty" in the mid-range and the truth is that it is appreciated. We will be able to shoot in full resolution, but the automatic mode does a pixel binning 4 to 1, so the result is 16 megapixel photos.

The daytime result is very spectacular, not because of the quality of the image, but because of the overprocessing that makes it. I think Samsung has gone a little too far in this regard and there are elements that come out with little information (such as shadows even with HDR) and the color in some elements (blues and greens) is so high that it is difficult to fix it in editing apps.

BEWARE, this is not bad and, in fact, those Samsung or Huawei colors are liked by millions of users and, as I say, they are very colorful at first, ideal for uploading photos to social networks. I prefer something flatter so I can play around with Snapseed later, but that's a personal thing.

At night or indoors, the noise appears soon and we have, indoors, quite exaggerated colors in some situations. At night, however, and without being the best mobile on the market, it does not take bad photos, respecting the white balance and colors.

And to say that about the night photography of a mid-range is saying a lot, so good in this sense, Samsung.

The white balance I think is good and, in addition, we have a lot of detail in the image. They are very... "dramatic", as the Americans say.

telephoto

And if the optical stabilization is not conventional, the optical telephoto is not in the mid-range either. We have, According to Samsung, a 3x optical and a 30x digital, and I say "according to Samsung" because doing tests... I think it's an 8 megapixel sensor with a 1.1x optical zoom (like in the Galaxy S20+) that drinks from the 64 megapixels of the main lens to achieve that 3x hybrid.

For sample, a button:

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When I cover the telephoto camera, we can continue to take photos, but the image moves as if with lag. If I uncover the lens, we have the same quality, but the preview is much more fluid because the hardware part of the lenses and the main sensor, the 8 megapixel one, is working, but a lot of the work is done by that main 64 sensor Mpx.

That said, it seems like a good telephoto to me. We are not going to be able to crop or enlarge because we still have 8 megapixels and the seams are quickly visible due to the size of both the sensor and the pixels, but they are photos that have good color and that, again, we are going to be able to use in social networks without problem.

And, although we can't enlarge, I think that at that 3x the image has enough detail and the colors are very accurate.

wide angle

Surely you are preparing for me to tell you that the wide angle is the typical 8-megapixel one that is rarely used and that it lacks detail, especially on the edges... and no. Well, not quite.

We have 12 megapixels, something that is appreciated, but the angle is quite extreme, 123º, and that makes the images very artistic if we put our minds to it, but what we want to highlight must be in the center of the composition because the edges have a Quite a pronounced washed effect.

Even so, the colors are much better than those given by the wide angles of other mid-range mobiles. Here I am glad to have that saturation of Samsung.

Macro

And the fourth in contention is a 5-megapixel macro that, well, it's there if you want to photograph something from a very close distance and that has more sharpness than the typical 2-megapixel macro, but it is not a macro that invites you to shoot photographs because we need optimal conditions and a very good pulse to achieve convincing results.

Video

In video we have the same oversaturated colors, but in this sense Samsung takes advantage of its rivals with very good stabilization both in 4K30 or 1080p60 thanks to optical stabilization and in 1080p with super stabilized mode.

ttps://www.dailymotion.com/video/x80v5n7 ttps://www.dailymotion.com/video/x80v5n8

I quite liked the video of the A72 and it is, in the end, one of the strong points of the Samsung when we talk about the camera.

selfie

On the front we have a 32 megapixel camera that allows you to shoot with the full angle or do a kind of zoom.

It respects the colors and I like both the skin tone and the portrait, but the detail drops quite a bit and the photo is absurdly heavy. I think they should have opted for a sensor with fewer megapixels, but larger, although that would also have influenced the diagonal of the hole on the screen.

That said, it seems to me a good section of cameras when the light is optimal and at night with the main lens, although we have some other problems with HDR and detail in some lenses such as wide angle or macro.

The telephoto, whether 3x optical or hybrid, the truth is that I liked it. And it is that, I am one of those who wants a telephoto in all phones, even if it is a "simple" 2x.

As always, we leave you more examples and all the uncompressed photos at this link.

The best of the A72 with almost two days of autonomy

Processing at 8 nanometers with a GPU that is not the most powerful on the market is a guarantee when combined with a 5,000 mAh battery and, in this sense, we have had a very good experience with the Galaxy A72 battery.

Maintaining 90 Hz, with automatic brightness, NFC, Bluetooth with a linked Mi Band and with a minimum daily use of Spotify for an hour and a half, videos and the occasional game, I have between 8 and 10 hours of screen time, normally.

This is something that depends a lot on each user, but I would say that the average user will have two days of autonomy without too many problems and, I repeat, with 90 Hz. Taking into account how long the 'battery' lasts, I don't know down to 60 Hz occurs.

Regarding charging, Samsung repeats its strategy of offering a significantly slower charge than that of its rivals, although, yes, at least it includes a good charger in the box because there are times when its mobiles support 25 W, but the charger that meten is less powerful.

We have a fast charge of 25 W that gives us 50% in half an hour and 100% in hour and twenty / hour and twenty-five minutes. There are terminals that offer us a much faster charge for less money, yes, but in this case we do not believe that, especially seeing the way Samsung acts, it is a negative point in this terminal.

On the contrary, the autonomy has delighted us and I think that having 50% of 5,000 mAh in 30 minutes is a good figure.

Although the market is extremely complicated, it is the best Samsung mid-range so far

The Galaxy A72 is a mobile with which I have been really comfortable in recent days, although it is a terminal with which, I think, I could not spend much more time for a very simple reason: that OneUI 3.1 lazy response.

I am a nervous person who needs the mobile to respond quickly when I make a gesture or press and this is not the case. I think that the user who highly values ​​the OneUI experience (customization, widgets, icons, the Samsung ecosystem...) will find themselves comfortable, but they will have to live with this system that weighs their ass.

And it is not because of the Snapdragon 720G that yes, it has time behind it, but in apps and games it behaves wonderfully, so I hope that Samsung will give the system a spin and polish it a little more to offer a better experience.

For the rest, we have some cameras that may be somewhat below expectations and the competition, but that comply, a spectacular screen and speakers and a battery that is one of the clear strengths of the terminal.

I think it's coming out at a bad time because there are cheaper mobiles that offer, at least, the same experience, in addition to others that also cost a few euros less and are clearly superior (and with more noble materials), but this is a good mobile, especially if what we want is battery and content consumption.

I already say, I think it's the best mid-range phone that Samsung has ever launched, but the problem is that the competition is... fierce. Of course, this is made to last since it will reach Android 14 thanks to an excellent update policy from the South Koreans.