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My small review of S7 Edge

Hello,
First, my mini-review is based on a business type of usage. I don't play games on the phone, I rarely use the camera. What I do need from a smartphone is outstanding battery life, great notification management and great web browsing performance and battery efficiency.
I got my S7 Edge after owning an LG G2 for 2 years. That phone was really incredibile at launch, with 3000mAh space-saving, stacked battery and 75% screen to body ratio, very narrow bezels all-around. Although I could afford them, I skipped the G3 and G4 because I thought they were too big and the Snapdragon 808 and 810 processors were quite bad in my opinion, from many points of view, and battery life actually decreased instead of increasing. The Galaxy S6 lacked the battery life I was looking for. It did cross my mind to import a Galaxy S6 Active from the US (it has a 3500 mAh battery), but until I managed to do this the S7 launched...
What I really like about the S7 Edge:
- The screen is gorgeous
- Screen to body ratio is great, 76% is among the best. This is the first and only 5.5" phone that I can fit in my pants front pocket, it is probably the narrowest 5.5" phone in existence.
- The camera quality and focus speed are truly outstanding. RAW capture is great too (I like post-processing photos in Lightroom).
- The general operating speed of the Exynos 8890 processor (especially after 2 years of Snapdragon 800) is incredible
- Web browsing speed is phenomenal
- Ad blocking support in Samsung's browser is truly welcome, now that the Taboola pseudo-malware took over so many sites.
- SD card support (combined with the processing power) opens up new possibilities of easily post-processing pictures from a professional camera directly inside the phone and not inside a laptop.
- The Gear VR using the phone power is incredibly convenient and money-saving if graphics-heavy 3D games are not your main VR focus.
Now my issues with the S7 Edge:
- Lack of double tap to wake (LG's "Knock On" feature) is killing me. That feature is extremely useful, for example when the phone is in a car's cradle I don't have to struggle to reach the home button to wake up the phone, double tap anywhere on the screen and it's on. This feature would also save the home and power button life (list of phones whose power buttons I managed to destroy: Nexus One, Nexus S, Nexus 4). the lack of "double tap to sleep" can probably easily be solved with a 3rd party launcher so this is not a concern.
- The Always-On screen does not display all missed notifications, only missed calls and SMS messages. You can't use it to notify about missed email messages, not even using Samsung's own email app. Whatsapp and other notifications is out of question too. Hopefully this may change with an update sooner rather than later. Also, the Always-On screen does have a significant impact on battery life, 20% in 24 hours is quite high.
- The notification LED is quite low quality. I am a notifications junkie and use software like Light Flow to set up notifications mainly of different duration patterns. Not only the S7 "RGB" LED can't emulate most RGB colors (the white is actually pink or so, basically it can only do red, green and blue) and it doesn't respect the on/off intervals in milliseconds. But thankfully it is there can can be used, unlike many other manufacturers who chose to omit it and provide some half-assed alternatives instead (Motorola for example: how can I see their active display with a single glance if the phone is 1 meter away from me ?). I have to say the G2's notification LED was just about perfect in all areas.
- My first S7 Edge was delivered with a hardware defect (dropped all calls, overheated), this forced me to go through a lot of pain in replacing it, and even so I had to make compromises on the price when I got my second one since the initial deal was not available anymore.
I would have expected better quality from Samsung.
Neutral points:
- Battery life. It is definitely better than my LG G2 with its worn out battery (which can be easily replaced) but I'm not sure it will last 2 full days as I have hoped. The main reason I chose the S7 Edge over the S7 was the 20% larger battery (3600 vs 3000 mAh). I admit, maybe my expectations were too high.
- Lack of IR blaster and FM radio. I really don't mind these, but I did use the IR blaster from time to time, maybe twice a month or so when the TV remote was not nearby. And the FM radio...I would have used it a whole lot more if some manufacturer found a solution to work with Bluetooth headsets and not require the wired headphones as an antenna. So not a concern, I prefer just not to use it even if available.
Conclusion:
I really like the S7 Edge, but if the LG G5 will prove to offer great battery life without battery removal which I don't want to mess with (although I highly doubt it with a 2800 mAh battery and Snapdragon 820 processor, but who knows, maybe their engineers pulled off a miracle) and its always-on screen will show all notifications and consume less power, I may consider giving my S7 Edge to my fiancee and getting a G5 instead.
So, these are my first impressions with the phone. Thanks for reading

Yeah battery life is disappointing

Samsung Galaxy A20 - The good and the bad

O.K, the Samsung Galaxy A20 is a budget phone (I bought mine for AU$239) so I do not expect any "flagship" performance but the initial attraction was the Amoled display that has some degree of daylight readability, reasonable camera performance, the relatively big battery capacity for SoC size and the glimmer of hope in rooting this device.
After a little while, some things becomes apparent which I would like to share:
There is no light sensor so screen brightness cannot adapt to ambient light....a strange and disappointing omission
The phone is made in Vietnam not South Korea...just an observation
The heavily embedded bloat from Samsung and Google is chronic in magnitude and its primary purpose is for harvesting personal information and pushing ads
Fingerprint lock works efficiently but the rear sensor is hard to locate
WiFi reception range is poor.
The Android One UI is pleasingly clean but the Settings menus are a bit disorganized
Root can be achieved relatively easily but is "precarious" to say the least.
Show me your good and bad list

jajk said:
O.K, the Samsung Galaxy A20 is a budget phone (I bought mine for AU$239) so I do not expect any "flagship" performance but the initial attraction was the Amoled display that has some degree of daylight readability, reasonable camera performance, the relatively big battery capacity for SoC size and the glimmer of hope in rooting this device.
After a little while, some things becomes apparent which I would like to share:
There is no light sensor so screen brightness cannot adapt to ambient light....a strange and disappointing omission
The phone is made in Vietnam not South Korea...just an observation
The heavily embedded bloat from Samsung and Google is chronic in magnitude and its primary purpose is for harvesting personal information and pushing ads
Fingerprint lock works efficiently but the rear sensor is hard to locate
WiFi reception range is poor.
The Android One UI is pleasingly clean but the Settings menus are a bit disorganized
Root can be achieved relatively easily but is "precarious" to say the least.
Show me your good and bad list
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It had no light sensor but somehow it uses the cameras to adjust to ambient light.

Update after using for some time.....
I really miss not having a notification LED - a backwards step to delete it for the notched display fad. An edge LED would have been great but that would cost 3c to include.....
Mobile reception is noticeably weaker than my old Moto G 2013 and Xiaomi Redmi Note2 - another backwards step!

jajk said:
Update after using for some time.....
I really miss not having a notification LED - a backwards step to delete it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. I came from a Nexus 6P and found the notification light very handy. It's not a deal breaker for me though.
Does anyone know if the A20 has an oleophobic layer on the screen?

This might be stupid question but why does my A20 SM-A205G not have NFC there is no options under settings or on status bar to activate it but I see some SM-A205U have it and other 205g have enabled, do I have the chip in phone already? Just need to flash other firmware to use it? Has anyone else had any luck activating NFC?

I've had the phone about a month now and coming from an LG V30 before this I can say that despite all the cons I'm overall happier with this phone over that garbage. Barely.
Pros:
The A20 camera is much better with low light
Apps seem to crash less
I also like the Samsung UI more than I expected
The samsung keyboard is so much better than any other keyboard I've been able to find in the app store
I like how the lock button is on the side instead of the back like on the V30
Cons:
The camera is still pretty grainy even in sunlight
The auto screen brightness sucks balls. I can't even count how many times the screen dimmed & brightened just in the last few mins while I'm sitting in one spot
I also very much notice the lack of ram. It feels really laggy at times, like a 5 second delay when I'm just typing or sometimes I'll tap and it'll register as a hold
I can easily see the downgrade in screen resolution when watching videos
The proximity sensor. I'll be in a call and occasionally my face will mute the call or dial numbers
Or when I had the feature activated to double tap to turn on the screen, it would turn on in my pocket all the time and mess with buttons or sliders. On numerous occasions my phone would be ringing and I'd pull it out to find out my leg was messing with the volume slider. Not once did the LG do that
And finally I should've looked into the ability to root this phone before I got it. I have the A205U sadly and didn't make sure it's even unlockable with all the extensive research I was doing while I was looking to replace my LG

ChewbaccaAndroid said:
This might be stupid question but why does my A20 SM-A205G not have NFC there is no options under settings or on status bar to activate it but I see some SM-A205U have it and other 205g have enabled, do I have the chip in phone already? Just need to flash other firmware to use it? Has anyone else had any luck activating NFC?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same question.... I've seen through the internet many sites saying the a20 has nfc, and even give instructions for activating it , but i couldn't.... Wether it has or not, I'm not certain at all.
Any way to activate nfc using root or something else of the sort?

Google Pixel 5: what we want to see

I saw this TechRadar article today: https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/google-pixel-5
"Everything we hope Google will add to the Pixel 5 and Pixel 5 XL"
1. Expand the Google Pixel 5 battery
2. Bring back the fingerprint scanner
3. Add an ultrawide lens to the Pixel 5
4. Give the Pixel 5 a microSD slot
5. Stick with the weird design
Apart from 1, I'm not bothered with any of these. I'd quite like to see an improved implementation of soli gestures.
I'd rather not have a fingerprint scanner as they are prone to accidental touches.
What would be your wishlist for the Pixel 5 / 5 XL?

My preferences would be:
At least a 4000mha battery for the XL.
I would like the FP sensor again.
Definitely would like Led notifications again.
Camera is not a big deal for me. I'm curmudgeon, so I don't take many pics, even of my grandsons?
Base storage starting at 128.
A true amoled black theme for all system apps that match the settings. What's with that? Settings are black, everything else is dark gray?
Go back to single partitions vs a/b for developers and just simple updating...(I know, not going to happen?)
Get rid of logical partitions, and system as read only!!!!!
Price point efficient from the get-go! Why penalize early adopters (your main supporters) and then give $200 off to black Friday folks??
That is all :laugh:

StrangerWeather said:
I saw this TechRadar article today: https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/google-pixel-5
"Everything we hope Google will add to the Pixel 5 and Pixel 5 XL"
1. Expand the Google Pixel 5 battery
2. Bring back the fingerprint scanner
3. Add an ultrawide lens to the Pixel 5
4. Give the Pixel 5 a microSD slot
5. Stick with the weird design
Apart from 1, I'm not bothered with any of these. I'd quite like to see an improved implementation of soli gestures.
I'd rather not have a fingerprint scanner as they are prone to accidental touches.
What would be your wishlist for the Pixel 5 / 5 XL?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Having had Google phone since the Galaxy Nexus days (and upgrading every two years), the Pixel 5 needs:
- larger battery, about 4500 mha at least
- bring back FP scanner, whether it be on the back or under the screen (Qualcomm 865 SD chips have support for this or improved it's design)
- must have a competitive camera vs other flagships
- minimum storage starting at 128 GB
- have an affordable battery replacement program for those that had their phones for 1.5 to 2 years, or have authorized vendors so that the phone can retain its IP68 rating
- priced aggressively to move phones (release price and BF price should be the same)
- carry forward quality design (screen, camera, etc.)
- continue progress with SOLI's development
- make the phone easier to repair (don't pull an Apple)

Larger battery and a larger battery.
Everything else is secondary to me. Camera is fine, speed is fine, size is fine too (I have the P4) That's for the device.
As for Google and Fi sales, automatic price protection for 60 days from purchase. You buy it on October 25th then you get the BF and Christmas sale prices automatically.
And better tech support. If I ask for a supervisor or level 2 support transfer me right away. None of this call back in 24 hour bull****.
Get more apps to work with face unlock such as banking apps, work with the companies.
Keep the price the same, no increase or even a $100 price cut will go a long way in consumer loyalty.

My list is going to be small. I REALLY like this pixel version.
1. Ultrawide camera lens for sure
2. Bring back the wide angle front camera
3. Bring back the bottom front speaker, but keep the chin as minimal as possible
4. A bigger storage option for those who really want/need it
The only thing I miss about the fingerprint sensor is using it to login to apps. By the 5 however, I'm sure most of what I use it for will be using the new API.
To me, the battery is fine. It lasts me ~24 hours with somewhat heavy use. I'm not one to stay out all night (anymore), so this works for me. If they threw a bigger battery in? Coolio. Personally, I just don't need it.
Edit: Google NEEDS to make the pre-order price the same as their black Friday price. I was pissed when I saw it was $200 off a month after I bought it. I like that they did $100 store credit instead of $50, but yeah, it needs to be whatever they drop the price to on BF.

well I'm going to skip pixel 5 just due to the Qualcomm 5g fiasco.. if pixel 5 gets at least 4500mah battery I might consider.

Better price, BIGGER BATTERY, a little over 4,000mah would be nice considering all the sensors because I am assuming that motion sense will be in the 5 as well as well as the 90 hz refresh rate... So Google, c'mon, MORE JUICE! And definitely biometric authentication for more apps... would also like to see faster charging speeds, maybe bump the 18w to 25 or 30w and to top it all off, 128gb as the lower storage model.

I'd say they need to up the ante on their video capture capabilities, it's visibly inferior and behind the curve. I seldom use the video but when I do I'd like it to be flagship grade. Word is we lost the capability for 60 frames to save batt which would bring me to the bigger battery. In this case Apple isn't wrong, phones have gotten small enough and maybe too small as they're hard to hold and often slippery. More battery is a win. Going back to the camera I almost exclusively take pictures of stuff so I don't care about the wide angle personally but it's par for this category of phone and should be there.
Speaking of par 128 is the smallest storage option any flagship should have on offer.
I want my biometric security on the front and capable of lighting off the phone on the desk, don't care if they tart up the face so it works off angle or they go to a front fingerprint scanner in that regard.
Google isn't giving us an SD card and I don't like fairy princess wishes so I'm not going to ask.
I would like a side LED notification light for wallets and upside down phone action and a better AOD that can be afforded with the bigger battery already mentioned above. The Note has that and it's a nice feature. you can see the phone has notifications without even opening the wallet up.
I DO NOT want notches or holes in the screen, do what they can to reduce forehead and chin and it's good enough for me. As a personal observation I don't even notice the big forehead on this phone but I never stop noticing the notches and holes.
I'd like more of Soli myself but my understanding is they have significantly more stuff coming out in updates. It would seem there was an unforeseen boo boo they encountered when transferring the tech over from the pixel 2 frames where it was being tested until the final pixel 4 frame became available. Rumor has it they had developed quite a bit more capability but it wasn't ready for prime time.

True dual Sim like on the Oneplus devices.

crusht said:
True dual Sim like on the Oneplus devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I rather like the eSim idea much better. Two physical sims seems archaic now that we can program the eSim with software only. Once all carriers go eSim I say get rid of the physical sim or dual physical sim (OnePlus) slot entirely. Now dual radio would be really nice so you could be dual sim dual active but then you'd need a bigger battery for sure. P4 4000 minimum and XL 5000.

- Bigger battery
- Brighter display
- Slightly curved display. I feel it would help make the back gesture feel better to use
- Bigger display
- Bigger earpiece for a more balanced stereo sound (I feel the bottom speaker is louder)
- Bring back the bottom speaker to the front!
- I thought I'd miss a fingerprint scanner but I'm in love with face unlock! Possibly a gen 2 version that improves upon what we have today
- Get to iPhone level with video recording
- Cheaper price especially on launch. I definitely felt cheated when I bought the phone at launch only to see Black Friday deals so shortly after
- Either remove Soli and introduce a different new feature, or allow it to do more. Because right now I find swiping to change songs very gimmicky. Waving for alarms and phone calls is always hit or miss for me as well. The only good that came out of it is reaching to wake phone. But even this is not too different/better than a simple lift to wake phone
- Bonus longshot of what I'd want: getting rid of this scoped storage/logical partition stuff that makes rooting/custom development so much more difficult! No TWRP or modifying the system partition is rough on us but more importantly, the awesome devs that bring all these things to us!

Ultrawide, 5G mmw, bigger battery, and ditch the bezel. Something that won't be embarrassed by earlier 2020 phones or especially OnePlus again.

Front facing stereo speakers.
Sent from my Google Pixel 4 XL using XDA Labs

- Larger REMOVABLE battery.
It's ridiculous that electronics this expensive have sealed batteries which limit their usability to the life span of the battery. Ridiculous.

The following things i would like to see
1) Bigger battery 4000+
2) Base storage 128gb
3) UFS 3.0
4) Flat display like 4XL
5) Similar design but improved strength should not bread like 4xl
6) Brighter display and 90hz all time
7)Triple lens camera system + 12mp Selfie Cam
8) Minimal bezel like Sony 1 or Note 9

I don't want fingerprint scanner.
I want bigger storage, better camera, improved display (90hz/brightness), better screen to body ratio - more modern look, better CPU (yes it would need to shift the date of announcement, but they are alway using a 9-10 month old CPU, and after 2-3 month other flagships are coming with the next gen chipset), faster charging

- Improved motionsense (custom gestures, more stable, open api for developers)
- Either more storage 128gb+ or the free photo storage for at least 2-3 years
- Better battery (no specific mha, just around 20% better)
- Fast charging
- Icon themes in pixel launcher
- Google Assistant v2 (or whatever shipped with the P4) in more languages, including German
- Keep the sensors at the top unless ALL sensors can be put below the screen. DO NOT go back to notches, they're terrible.
- Ship an actual recovery with the phone. I'm not asking for an official TWRP, but ANY recovery that can flash zip files without adb/fastboot

1. A bigger battery isn’t needed imo but better optimization (what Apple has been doing with the iPhone for years) would be great.
2. Brighter, better upgraded display(90 & 120hz)
3. Continued improvement and more soli based gestures
4. Ultra wide camera lens
5. 128gb base storage with 256gb & 512gb options
6. Improve face unlock
7. 4K 24fps recording front & rear cameras as well as an option to record and take photos in raw format
8. Great job on the RCS messaging feature but google needs to start working on an airdrop alternative for android
9. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT add any kind of notch. Keep the top bezel if need be! PLEASE!
10. Add some more Ui customization natively into android and take back that crown from Samsung.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

1. Fingerprint sensor. It's unbelievably convenient just unlocking quickly and pulling the notification bar down without needing to reach sometimes. Give us the freedom to use either fp, face unlock, or both.
2. Front facing speakers.
3. No notch with said speakers.
4. Might as well make the phone thicker for a bigger battery and *no* protruding camera lens.
5. 128gb should be the starting storage size.
6. More RAM.
7. Ultrawide
Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using XDA Labs

LED LED LED LED LED
And make the LED configurable. Those that don't want it can switch it off.
Move the power button. I still don't know which button to press without thinking about it/looking.
And stop waking up when I put the phone down on the sofa.
And most of all, don't give us a 30 minute "bestest-phone-ever" presentation at the phone's launch when you should have said "we think we know best and as a result, won't bother listening to what our customers say". For proof of that, see the posts above.

General Brutally Honest Review of the A52 4G

Hi guys. I bought an A52 4G for myself a few weeks ago and here is my brutally honest review. As you will see, there are some things I wasn't satisfied with but I needed a phone quickly and for my budget and availability, I thought I'd give Samsung a chance.
Pros​
1. Lots of QoL services by Samsung like always on display and apps like Gallery by Samsung can be more useful than Photos by Google. I also mapped the double tap power button to start the flashlight.
2. The 720G chipset along with a 90hz display feels plenty powerful especially for those coming from an older midrange device. However, it's not as fast and instantaneous as stock Android or OxygenOS. Also, you will face lots of stutters and bugs if you enable animation to .5x. At default 1x, animations are too damn slow.
3. Stereo speakers. Sound quality is average though. I don't use it much so I don't care.
4. Water resistance. It's nice of Samsung to bring this feature to a midrange device.
5. The macro camera can be useful for taking pictures of very small items like coins. The selfie camera seems alright.
6. The display, despite having kind of inaccurate colors is actually a lot better looking than most Chinese brand (OnePlus, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, Realme, etc) phone displays. Most Chinese brand displays tend to have a washed out, pale look to them despite having high refresh rates.
7. Battery life is pretty decent. If you don't use it much, it'll last a couple days easily. Of course, battery will degrade over time so a few years later, you might need to change the battery or the phone itself.
Cons​
1. Sound quality output through the 3.5mm jack is very bad. My previous phone (Moto G5s Plus) had a much better built-in DAC. But at least the jack is there so I guess it's better than nothing but I'd suggest you get a good type-c to 3.5mm converter and use that instead if you're looking for decent audio.
2. The display isn't bad (the 90hz is definitely an upgrade over 60hz) but the color calibration out of the box by Samsung is very inaccurate and kind of pale. You can switch to "vibrant" mode but it over saturates everything. The saturation is so off the charts that you have no choice but to go back to the pale "natural" mode. Also, the amoled screen can be fatiguing to your eyes. Not everyone faces this but personally I have this problem.
3. The charger provided is really weak. Sometimes I like to use my phone while it's charging. Sadly this charger is too weak to do that and can't keep up. I did have a faster charger from my previous budget moto phone and it does a much better job charging the A52. It would be better if Samsung didn't provide this crappy 15 watt charger and made the phone cheaper so I could buy a 25 watt charger myself. I don't see the logic in this. The phone supports 25 watt charging but Samsung includes a 15 watt charger in the box.
4. The lightly colored matte plastic back looks awesome in the beginning but with some mild use, the colors are already starting to fade and become yellowish. So put a case or skin on it if you wanna preserve that awesome color.
5. The colors and details of the main camera are not very good for an upper midrange device in 2021. I saw some reviews on YouTube with review units provided by Samsung that showed much better camera quality than what I'm getting with my retail unit. Especially after you take a picture, if you zoom in on a person's face for example, the details are just not there. Also, the colors are inaccurate and not life like. Hopefully, someone can make a good GCAM for this phone. Otherwise, expect to live with an average camera.
6. Random spammy apps like Dailyhunt get automatically installed every few days. I set all settings to not update anything automatically but it still does that. I even contacted customer care about this and they couldn't provide any solutions. EDIT: Luckily, it stopped doing this.
7. If the bezels were a bit narrower especially the sides and top, it would have quite a flagship killer look. Even the A51 has narrower bezels on the side. But I know Samsung did this on purpose so their more expensive S series phones would look more special than the A series.
8. It's a bit on the heavier side if you compare it to the A51. Putting a case and tempered glass on it will only increase the weight further. I find myself having to put the phone down on a table or bed to use it. I can't hold it in the air for long due to its weight.
Bugs​1. "Force dark mode" option in developer settings automatically turns itself off whenever you restart your device.
2. If you set animation to .5x instead of the default 1x, and cycle through your recent apps, there's a weird stutter.
Conclusion​
If you can live with Samsung's annoying OneUI stutters or slow animations, this isn't a bad phone especially if you can get it for around $300 USD. I'd call this a good phone for moms/dads and grandmas/grandpas. If you're a young millennial trying to live on the cutting edge, I'd pass on this one and get something that's a little faster, maybe the new Nord CE (it has a more washed out display than the A52 though).

Well! My phone have just arrived. I'm switching from an S7 edge that I've been using for the last 4 years. So far I find that the screen is pretty good! Better than the S7E. The speed is excellent and of course, the ONE UI 3.1 is superb. I've already uninstalled some unwanted apps. As regards the camera, haven't tested it yet. But obviously, the GCAM will make it better.

LanguageSoez said:
Well! My phone have just arrived. I'm switching from an S7 edge that I've been using for the last 4 years. So far I find that the screen is pretty good! Better than the S7E. The speed is excellent and of course, the ONE UI 3.1 is superb. I've already uninstalled some unwanted apps. As regards the camera, haven't tested it yet. But obviously, the GCAM will make it better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course it'll be better than a 4 year old phone lol. If you think one UI is superb, try using stock android or oxygenos, you will be blown away.

I got A72 and the picture quality coming out from the stabilized Sony IMX 686 sensor with pixel binned 16 MP pictures is superior to Samsung HM2 108 MP giving just 12MP images ... So is A52, I don't believe your "honest review" ....

neoxcool said:
I got A72 and the picture quality coming out from the stabilized Sony IMX 686 sensor with pixel binned 16 MP pictures is superior to Samsung HM2 108 MP giving just 12MP images ... So is A52, I don't believe your "honest review" ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A72 is not A52. Specs are one thing, software is another. You don't have to believe anything. As I said in my review, you should experience the phones in person preferably from friends who bought it and then make a decision.

The OP is obviously a satisfied customer
Griping about it being water resistant is really picking at nits. It adds little cost and help to seal out dust, extending the usable service life of the device.
Charging a phone while using isn't a good idea and it should charge slow whilst using regardless of the wattage capacity of the charger brick being used.

NiceGuyIncel said:
Hi guys. I bought an A52 4G for myself a few weeks ago and here is my brutally honest review. As you will see, there are a lot of things I wasn't satisfied with but for my budget and availability, this was one of the better ones.
Pros:
1. Lots of QoL services by Samsung like always on display and apps like Gallery by Samsung can be more useful than Photos by Google. I also mapped the double tap power button to start the flashlight.
2. The 720G chipset along with a 90hz display feels plenty smooth especially for those coming from an older midrange device. It's not as fast and instantaneous as stock android or oxygenos but this is probably the fastest that Samsung OneUI has ever been.
3. Stereo speakers. Quality is average though. I don't use it much so I don't care.
4. Water resistance. It can be useful if you like to take your phone to the bathroom or live in a rainy area but I feel this feature is more suitable for flagship phones. The 4G version of the A52 really don't need this feature and it would be better if the device was slightly cheaper instead.
Cons:
1. Sound quality output through the 3.5mm jack is very bland. My previous phone (Moto G5s Plus) had a much better built-in DAC. But at least the jack is there so I guess it's better than nothing but I'd suggest you get a good type-c to 3.5mm converter and use that instead if you're looking for quality audio.
2. The display isn't bad (the 90hz is definitely an upgrade over 60hz) but the color calibration out of the box by Samsung is very boring and washed out. You can switch to "vibrant" mode but it over saturates everything. The saturation is so off the charts that you have no choice but to go back to the pale "natural" mode. Hopefully, the xda community will do something about this, maybe a graphics engine or some app that can tinker with the display settings more finely.
3. The charger provided is really weak. Sometimes I like to use my phone while it's charging. Sadly this charger is too weak to do that and can't keep up. I did have a faster charger from my previous budget moto phone and it does a much better job charging the A52. So I really don't know why Samsung pulled an Apple with the charger.
4. The lightly colored matte plastic back looks awesome in the beginning but with some mild use, the colors are already starting to fade and become yellowish. So put a case or skin on it if you wanna preserve that awesome color.
5. The colors and details of the main camera really sucks for an upper midrange device in 2021. I saw some reviews on YouTube with review units provided by Samsung that showed much better camera quality than what I'm getting with my retail unit. Luckily, some people have already started working on gcam for this device and from what I've heard the results are much better than Samsung's default camera app.
6. Random spammy apps like Dailyhunt get automatically installed every few days. I set all settings to not update anything automatically but it still does that. I even contacted customer care about this and they couldn't provide any solutions.
7. If the bezels were a bit narrower especially the sides and top, it would have quite a flagship killer look. But I know Samsung did this on purpose so their more expensive S series phones would look more special than the A series.
8. It's a bit on the heavier side if you compare it to the A51. Putting a case and tempered glass on it will only increase the weight further.
9. The amoled screen can be fatiguing to your eyes. Not everyone faces this but personally I have this problem.
Conclusion: That wraps up my brutally honest review of the A52 4G. I hope you enjoyed the fact that I didn't jump up and down and say this is the best phone ever like most YouTube "reviewers". They say that whenever a new phone comes out. Of course the people who are gonna upgrade from a 5 year old phone will also say this is the best phone they ever used. From their perspective, it makes sense but I believe you should thoroughly research the market and only buy what YOU like the most. I was moving to another country where phones are quite expensive so I just grabbed this cause I was in a hurry. If you have the time, research other phones and try to use them in person. That way you will know for sure what you're getting because specs can be misleading. I'd suggest you look into Poco F3, OnePlus Nord, Moto G100, Moto G60 and other similarly priced devices before going for the A52. Don't assume that just because it's a Samsung, it's gonna be a great phone. Samsung intentionally nerfed this phone so there is more incentive for people to go for the more expensive S series phones.
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I appreciate your feedback. I'm certain most of those who are still undecided will as well.
To be frank, this device has received overwhelming amounts of good press, which, as a consumer, is a good thing.
That said, constructive criticism is a key component towards improving upon future A series models and/or polishing the current user experience.

AHE_XDA said:
I appreciate your feedback. I'm certain most of those who are still undecided will as well.
To be frank, this device has received overwhelming amounts of good press, which, as a consumer, is a good thing.
That said, constructive criticism is a key component towards improving upon future A series models and/or polishing the current user experience.
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Paid press is always good press...
The Samsung Fold series always get rave reviews but they're expensive, fragile and limited devices. Worse I'm being kind in my criticism.

6. Random spammy apps like Dailyhunt get automatically installed every few days. I set all settings to not update anything automatically but it still does that. I even contacted customer care about this and they couldn't provide any solutions.
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Weird, I have never encountered this.
3. The charger provided is really weak. Sometimes I like to use my phone while it's charging. Sadly this charger is too weak to do that and can't keep up. I did have a faster charger from my previous budget moto phone and it does a much better job charging the A52. So I really don't know why Samsung pulled an Apple with the charger
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I don't mind this at all since it's already proven that fast charging does hurt your battery longevity.
2. The display isn't bad (the 90hz is definitely an upgrade over 60hz) but the color calibration out of the box by Samsung is very boring and washed out. You can switch to "vibrant" mode but it over saturates everything. The saturation is so off the charts that you have no choice but to go back to the pale "natural" mode. Hopefully, the xda community will do something about this, maybe a graphics engine or some app that can tinker with the display settings more finely.
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I agree with this, although I prefer it for the occasional media consumption. For general usage, it might lead to some eye strain for some people which includes me.
The build despite plastic is decent enough considering the trade-offs with its other specs at this price point and an IP6X is always welcome. The camera is nothing spectacular but not bad, given that it's harder to quantify the expected degrees of quality per $ at this price range. Performance is fine for the majority of the time but there are occasional stutters or lag you will encounter. Overall, I'm very satisfied with my purchase. It's also worth noting that warranty and software support tend to get overlooked when looking at the price.
I was considering Poco F3 as an alternative before getting my A52 however, I didn't go through with the Poco F3 because of various issues and concerns that I can't be arsed to list.

This phone is on my list to upgrade from my Essential PH-1. Keeping an eye on ROM development and Gcam development. I can get it for around $354 depending on the COP to USD conversion rate in Colombia. Anyone know better deals out in the wild?

NiceGuyIncel said:
Hi guys. I bought an A52 4G for myself a few weeks ago and here is my brutally honest review. As you will see, there are some things I wasn't satisfied with but I needed a phone quickly and for my budget and availability, I thought I'd give Samsung a chance.
Pros​
1. Lots of QoL services by Samsung like always on display and apps like Gallery by Samsung can be more useful than Photos by Google. I also mapped the double tap power button to start the flashlight.
2. The 720G chipset along with a 90hz display feels plenty powerful especially for those coming from an older midrange device. However, it's not as fast and instantaneous as stock Android or OxygenOS. Also, you will face lots of stutters and bugs if you enable animation to .5x. At default 1x, animations are too damn slow.
3. Stereo speakers. Sound quality is average though. I don't use it much so I don't care.
4. Water resistance. It's nice of Samsung to bring this feature to a midrange device.
5. The macro camera can be useful for taking pictures of very small items like coins. The selfie camera seems alright.
6. The display, despite having kind of inaccurate colors is actually a lot better looking than most Chinese brand (OnePlus, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, Realme, etc) phone displays. Most Chinese brand displays tend to have a washed out, pale look to them despite having high refresh rates.
7. Battery life is pretty decent. If you don't use it much, it'll last a couple days easily. Of course, battery will degrade over time so a few years later, you might need to change the battery or the phone itself.
Cons​
1. Sound quality output through the 3.5mm jack is very bad. My previous phone (Moto G5s Plus) had a much better built-in DAC. But at least the jack is there so I guess it's better than nothing but I'd suggest you get a good type-c to 3.5mm converter and use that instead if you're looking for decent audio.
2. The display isn't bad (the 90hz is definitely an upgrade over 60hz) but the color calibration out of the box by Samsung is very inaccurate and kind of pale. You can switch to "vibrant" mode but it over saturates everything. The saturation is so off the charts that you have no choice but to go back to the pale "natural" mode. Also, the amoled screen can be fatiguing to your eyes. Not everyone faces this but personally I have this problem.
3. The charger provided is really weak. Sometimes I like to use my phone while it's charging. Sadly this charger is too weak to do that and can't keep up. I did have a faster charger from my previous budget moto phone and it does a much better job charging the A52. It would be better if Samsung didn't provide this crappy 15 watt charger and made the phone cheaper so I could buy a 25 watt charger myself. I don't see the logic in this. The phone supports 25 watt charging but Samsung includes a 15 watt charger in the box.
4. The lightly colored matte plastic back looks awesome in the beginning but with some mild use, the colors are already starting to fade and become yellowish. So put a case or skin on it if you wanna preserve that awesome color.
5. The colors and details of the main camera are not very good for an upper midrange device in 2021. I saw some reviews on YouTube with review units provided by Samsung that showed much better camera quality than what I'm getting with my retail unit. Especially after you take a picture, if you zoom in on a person's face for example, the details are just not there. Also, the colors are inaccurate and not life like. Hopefully, someone can make a good GCAM for this phone. Otherwise, expect to live with an average camera.
6. Random spammy apps like Dailyhunt get automatically installed every few days. I set all settings to not update anything automatically but it still does that. I even contacted customer care about this and they couldn't provide any solutions. EDIT: Luckily, it stopped doing this.
7. If the bezels were a bit narrower especially the sides and top, it would have quite a flagship killer look. Even the A51 has narrower bezels on the side. But I know Samsung did this on purpose so their more expensive S series phones would look more special than the A series.
8. It's a bit on the heavier side if you compare it to the A51. Putting a case and tempered glass on it will only increase the weight further. I find myself having to put the phone down on a table or bed to use it. I can't hold it in the air for long due to its weight.
Bugs​1. "Force dark mode" option in developer settings automatically turns itself off whenever you restart your device.
2. If you set animation to .5x instead of the default 1x, and cycle through your recent apps, there's a weird stutter.
Conclusion​
If you can live with Samsung's annoying OneUI stutters or slow animations, this isn't a bad phone especially if you can get it for around $300 USD. I'd call this a good phone for moms/dads and grandmas/grandpas. If you're a young millennial trying to live on the cutting edge, I'd pass on this one and get something that's a little faster, maybe the new Nord CE (it has a more washed out display than the A52 though).
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Well, I will answer this from the perspective of an Indian Millenial coming from Mi A2 (and having only used crappy Micromax and Redmi phones in the past, this is something which I think most Indian youth can relate to). Let's go point by point :
1. UI
Having used stock android and MIUI, I can confidently say that OneUI is definitely a bit clumsy, but it is easy to get used to compared to FuncTouch and MIUI. Also, *there is no Google dialer*, meaning you can safely do call recording. Also OneUI has "Link to Windows" baked right into it, which is a huge boon in my opinion as it kinda compensates for the lack of DeX support, I think this is one of the most underrated feature of Samsung phones.
2. Ads and Bloatware scene
Now this maybe specific to India only. I set the device up using GeekyRanjit's guide on "How to setup Samssung devices" on YT, and so far (1 month later) I have got no ads except wallpaper services message when I swipe from right on lock screen. Also, all bloatware can be either disabled or uninstalled (unlike MIUI and ColourOS), so no problem there. Overall it is much much better than Redmi, Poco and Realme offerings. Though here Oneplus NORD maybe better.
3. Camera
TBH I bought this phone for the camera, and consider the competition it did not let me down, sure there is a bit of over sharpening going on in most images and indoor/low light photos and videos have a ton of noise but considering the competition in 15k-25k INR, it is definitely better. I use Gcam 7.3.018 by Urynx05, and it does improve video stabilisation a lot thanks to OIS (only Oneplus NORD has OIS in this price). For night mode, stock night mode is better than night sight (much brighter and well balanced). Daylight pics, it is a mixed bag, macro camera is good but could have been better,but considering how rarely it is used, it is fine.
4. Display
Most Indian milllenials like me are currently upgrading from LCD to Amoled. I having never used an Amoled, am satisfied with the display. But yeah you are right Amoled displays do cause more eye fatigue than LCD.
5. Availability and Customer support
This is where this phone shines! Here in India, this phone is available like everywhere, in most mobile shop in any market no matter, how small or rural the area, this unfortunately is not the case for OnePlus and Redmi, POCO (infamous for flash sales and black-marketing)etc., thus Galaxy A52's actual competitors are phones from Vivo and Oppo, which are usually more pricey. Also, Samsung customer services is next to Apple.
Set your priorities before buying a phone and you won't be disappointed, my suggestion, if you want good camera hardware and reliable phone go for it, but if you want to do gaming I would suggest you to look elsewhere say iQOO Z3 for 20k INR.

I am trying to get either this phone or s10? I was leaning more towards a52 since it could get up to android 14 opposed to 12 on s10.
Which one should i get?

Buying a Moto Edge in 2022

So I was looking into a new phone I could buy new, had a headphone jack and telephoto lens, and maybe stereo speakers, and came across this phone.
I noticed that the Edge has weekly lineageOS builds too, so I was wondering how is the phone 2 years after release?
- Does performance degrade significantly when on ROMs?
- How is battery life?
- How's the camera, and is there a gcam apk that can use all the lenses?
- what features would I lose if ROM'd the device, and is their any ways to reinstall them or get mods (like thru magisk) to get them back?
For context, I'm coming from a Pixel 3a, and cross shopping with an S10/+/5g and an A72 (4g)

Old thread but for anyone else looking to buy in 2023, as it's cheaper than budget phones brand new:
- LineageOS is noticeably smoother than the stock ROM, whether that's actual performance or just animations is hard to say since it's Android 11 vs 13 (LOS 20.0), but I've never had any slowdowns at all really. Phone is very daily-able
- Battery is good, no problem lasting all day with moderate use; you'd have to try pretty hard to kill it all in 1 day.
- Camera goes back and forth between great and mediocre depending on what you're shooting. The 64MB lens is hit or miss; Wide-angle and macros are great, overall colors look close to RAW so not a lot of fake saturation which is either good or bad depending on what you want. I've only tried one Gcam on stock A11 and I'm pretty sure all the cameras worked, but that same build crashes on A13/LOS20. I haven't tried any others since Moto cam is fine for me.
- Lineage for this phone uses the stock Moto camera app & ports all Moto Actions such as flashlight chop/etc., so you really don't lose anything except edge display customization, but that's pretty easy to live without IMO.
I was trying to buy a new S20 and root it, but when the "brand new" one I ordered was updated past bootloader unlock eligibility, I went for one of these (saved $100-200) and I plan on using it for another 1-2 years, and then I think I'll keep it as a backup/music phone.
It's Achilles heel is definitely the screen, the green tint artifacts are truly terrible but only on certain shades of grey - and if you use substratum to make everything AMOLED black, you will never notice it (apart from when a video has those certain colors of grey).