2021 has been a defining year for 5G not just in the Philippines, but worldwide. According to the latest Ercisson Mobility Report, the number of 5G subscriptions more than doubled in 2021, covering over 2 billion people worldwide.
It is the fastest-deployed mobile communication technology in history, and is on track to cover 75 percent of the world’s population by 2027.
That’s five years from now, a very short period in the fast-paced world of technology. To put things into perspective, 6G (or research has already begun, and is estimated to begin standardization before 2028, with commercial launch in Japan expected around 2030.
So for anyone purchasing a new phone in 2022, 5G support is a must-have feature.
Samsung’s budget M-Series is making big strides in pushing the value chain and making 5G accessible to a wider audience, starting with the Galaxy M52 5G.
At a glance: SAMSUNG Galaxy M52 5G specs
- Display: 6.7″ Super AMOLED Plus; 120Hz refresh rate
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G 5G (6nm)
- Camera: 64MP triple rear, 32MP selfie
- Connectivity: 802.11 b/g/n/ac/6 Wi-Fi
- I/O: USB Type-C 2.0
- Battery: 5,000 mAh, 25W
- Price (Philippines): Php22,990 (8GB + 128GB)
SAMSUNG Galaxy M52 5G display
On first glance, the Galaxy M52 5G looks more like a Samsung A-Series phone rather than something from the M-Series. It looks and feels like a budget Samsung Galaxy A72: same 6.7-inch form factor minus the telephoto camera, water resistance, and stereo speakers.
Samsung is known for its display panels, and this is no exception. It uses Super AMOLED Plus technology, which is more energy efficient and brighter than Super AMOLED displays. Unless you are an eagle, the difference should make no difference to the naked eye.
What really matters though is that 120Hz native refresh rate, which makes the user experience buttery-smooth and lag-free. Use it with confidence without a protector, for the digitizer is protected with scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass 5 layer.
SAMSUNG Galaxy M52 5G design and features
Design-wise, this is our favorite in the Galaxy M-Series so far. It gets many design elements right such as the side-mounted fingerprint scanner and the centered punch-hole notch.
Pinoys love using multiple SIM cards, and you can use two Nano SIM cards at the same time on this phone. The second slot is a hybrid slot though, in case you’d rather go with a microSD storage expansion card.
The Galaxy M52 5G is also incredibly thin, measuring only 7.4mm. It really adds to the premium look and feel of the phone. It’s easy to forget that it’s an M-Series phone and not A-Series.
Speaking of thin, the bottom chin is much thinner than before, so it’s now almost symmetrical in thickness compared to the top edge.
Unfortunately, this phone doesn’t have a 3.5mm audio jack, so keep that in mind if you’re looking into getting this phone.
Compared to design and performance, we do not place a very high premium on aesthetics, but we just have to say it: Our Blazing Black review unit is well, underwhelming. There are vertical streaks underneath, but that’s about it really.
Granted, black models are generally low-key, but the white and blue variants do not seem that attractive either. It would be nice to see Samsung try.
SAMSUNG Galaxy M52 5G performance
When it comes to performance, it helps that the phone is powered by Qualcomm’s newest 6nm chipset the Snapdragon 778G 5G. A fast chipset can only do so much before hitting a performance bottleneck, which is usually caused by low memory.
Thankfully, the M52 5G comes with a generous amount of RAM: The Philippine model comes with 8GB of LPDDR4X modules. Now we already know that LPDDR4X is the fastest that you can get right now, but we were shocked when the benchmark results came out.
The memory read and write speeds were off-the-charts, scoring 25995 points in PassMark’s Memory Test. It’s even faster than the Galaxy Z Fold3, which scored 17335 points.
We could not believe it at first, so we repeated the test several times. The results were consistent, scoring above 25k.
The cherry on top? Extra performance boost that comes with UFS 2.1 storage, scoring 47k in PassMark’s Disk Test. Not as impressive as its Memory score, but still faster than most. For reference, the Galaxy Z Fold3 does well above 100k in this category.
The Galaxy M52 5G averages around 468k points in AnTuTu and 9k points in PassMark. That’s almost 30 percent higher than the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G, which scored 7k points. Not bad for a mid-range device, huh?
After a month of using the phone as our daily driver, we have yet to experience any real slowness.
We’re loving the speed so far, and we’re not just talking application performance. Mobile data is a breeze with 5G support, although this can vary depending on location. Compared to other countries, 200+Mbps may seem low, but this is a huge leap forward compared to 60+Mbps using 4G.
In case you were wondering, we were using our SMART Postpaid SIM to test.
SAMSUNG Galaxy M52 5G mobile gaming
Bigger is better when it comes to mobile gaming, and the 6.7-inch Super AMOLED Plus display is not just big. Unlike LCD screens where colors tend to get washed out at higher brightness levels, the blacks stay black so the colors appear rich and vibrant.
More importantly, it runs at native refresh rate of 120Hz, double the 60Hz standard. Although there are those who may argue that the human eye cannot perceive beyond 60FPS, there’s no better way to feel the benefits of high refresh rate than during those critical and competitive gaming moments.
With 5G speeds, everything stays super smooth and responsive, so you stay alive long enough to win the match instead of dying from uh, “lag”.
Benchmark-wise, the phone does alright, with an above average score of 40k points in PassMark’s 3D Graphics Performance.
SAMSUNG Galaxy M52 5G camera and content creation
Samsung has invested a of development effort on their stock camera app, making it flexible and packing it with features that content creators would find useful. We’re talking about utilitarian photo modes such as Single Take, Portrait, and Pro Video, as well as fancy stuff like Fun filters and AR Doodle.
Generally speaking, the photos look good straight out of camera, especially under the right lighting conditions. There are times when the white balance ends up with a more yellowish or greenish tint, although it is something that we noticed in specific conditions, such as taking selfies under artificial light.
Speaking of selfies, we are having a great time as content creators. The images and videos that we are getting out of its 32MP snapper leave us quite satisfied. As long you stay reasonably still and use a good light source, you’ll get sharp photos most of the time.
Videos look great too, especially when you’re shooting with the 64MP main camera at 1080P 30FPS. Noise is relatively low, and electronic image stabilization can minimize unwanted camera shake. If you need better image quality or higher frame rates, the Galaxy M52 5G supports UHD resolution at 30FPS, and 1080P at 60FPS.
SAMSUNG Galaxy M52 5G battery life
As far as battery capacity goes, 5,000 mAh has been the norm for the past year, and that is what we are getting on the Galaxy M52 5G. It does have the advantage of lower power consumption from more efficient components such as the Super AMOLED Plus display panel and the 6nm Snapdragon 778G chipset.
To monitor our usage, we had AccuBattery installed from day one. After almost a month, our screen on time averaged a whopping 8 hours – higher than most phones that you can get your hands on today. Our combined use time? 22 hours. Screen off time? 95.5 hours.
Impressive, right? This matches the System’s internal battery report, which pegs a full charge at 21.5 hours, and this is with Power Management turned off.
Granted, we were mostly on Wi-Fi thanks to the pandemic, but still. These numbers just show how energy efficient this phone can be.
SAMSUNG Galaxy M52 5G price and value for money
Priced at P22,990, the Galaxy M52 5G is the cheapest SAMSUNG phone that you can get with 5G support in 2022. However, the 20K price range makes it difficult for a large majority of the Philippine population to attain.
In fairness, the features on this phone are more akin to something that you would normally find in a Galaxy A-Series phone, and we’re not just talking about looks or that undeniably top-notch display. Quality internal components – fast RAM and storage, and a powerful chipset make the Galaxy M52 5G a beast of a performer.
As a creative, we are satisfied with the photos and videos that we got out of the 64MP triple rear cameras and the 32MP selfie camera. We think you will be happy with it too.
Then, there’s the battery life, which is simply impressive.
Compared to the other phones in the M-Series, the Samsung Galaxy M52 5G is a huge step up. It almost feels like an A-Series phone, and it’s priced like one.
SAMSUNG Galaxy M52 5G full technical specifications (Philippines)
- Display: 6.7 inches Super AMOLED Plus; 1080 x 2400 pixels; 120Hz refresh rate; Gorilla Glass 5
- SIM: Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, hybrid slots)
- OS: Android 11, One UI 3.1
- Chipset (SoC): Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G 5G (6nm)
- CPU: Octa-core (2.4GHz max)
- GPU: Adreno 642L
- Memory (RAM) + storage (ROM): 8GB+128GB
- Expansion: Micro SDXC (hybrid slot)
- Main camera (rear): 64MP f/1.8 (wide) + 12MP f/2.2 (ultrawide) + 5MP (macro)
- Selfie camera (front): 32MP f/2.2
- Connectivity: 2.4/5 GHz Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac/6; Bluetooth 5.0 A2DP, LE
- I/O: USB Type-C 2.0
- Battery: 5,000 mAh (non-removable), 25W charging
- Colors: Icy Blue, Blazing Black, White
- Price (Philippines): Php22,990 (8GB + 128GB)