Samsung Galaxy A72 Impressions: An Awesome Mid-Ranger

Samsung boasts a number of top-notch smartphones scattered throughout various series. Among them, Samsung A72 is the latest addition to their premium mid-range A-series.

It was launched in Nepal back on March 22 and it starts at Rs. 51,999 (8/128GB). With this phone, Samsung is trying to provide a premium smartphone experience at an affordable price tag. How does it feel so far? Let’s take a brief look!

Samsung A72 First Impressions

Impressive Design

• 165 x 77.4 x 8.4 mm
• 203 g
• IP67 Rated for dust/water resistance
• Hybrid Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)

Samsung A72 borrows the design language of the new S21 series with slight modifications. It has a rectangular camera module on the rear but it doesn’t blend across the frame.

The new design of the A72 looks polished even though it uses a polycarbonate body. The matte texture on the rear makes it premium and is a much welcome change compared to Samsung A71’s glastic finish. On top of that, Samsung A72 is now IP67 rated for dust/water resistance. That’s one of the premium features that it borrows from Samsung’s flagship phones.

Samsung A72 has a dual stereo speaker setup that offers good loudness and impressive clarity. Speaking of audio, we do get a 3.5mm headphone jack right beside the Type-C port for charging.

Likewise, it has an improved in-display fingerprint scanner but it is still not perfect. It would have been better if the sensor was positioned a bit higher.

In regards to the overall build and design, Samsung A72 is a stylish phone with sleek and light body.

Impressive 90Hz Super AMOLED Display

• 6.7 inches Super AMOLED
• 1080 x 2400 pixels
• 90Hz refresh rate
• 800 nits peak brightness

The Samsung Galaxy A72 has a 6.7 inches Super AMOLED 90Hz panel. It is an FHD+ display with a screen resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels that boasts a peak brightness of 800 nits.

Samsung provides top notch AMOLED display on it’s premium mid-range phones but the addition of high refresh rate makes it more awesome.

While the display is impressive, the punch hole in the middle of the screen stands out due to the circular cutout. I guess Samsung has deliberately done this to make it less-premium than their flagships.

3X Optical Zoom Sensor

• Rear Camera: 64 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), 1/1.7X”, 0.8µm, PDAF, OIS
  • 8 MP, f/2.4, (telephoto), 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom
  • 12 MP, f/2.2, 123˚ (ultrawide), 1.12µm
  • 5 MP, f/2.4, (macro)
  • Video: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/120fps; gyro-EIS
• Front Camera: 32 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide), 1/2.8″, 0.8µm
  • Video: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps

Samsung Galaxy A72 is using a 64MP main sensor but the company has not disclosed the name of the sensor. It’s a large 1/1.7″ sensor with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS).

Along with this, it has a 12MP Ultrawide angle sensor, an 8MP telephoto lens, and a 5MP macro camera. Whereas, you get a single 32MP selfie camera on the front.

So far, I’ve only clicked a few photos with it and I like what I see so far. The 64MP sensor provides crisp details. The details are well preserved and the images turn out sharp with good dynamic range.

Check it out in the images below.

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Moving on, the 8MP telephoto lens offers 3x optical zoom which is very rare at this price tag. The results speak for themselves as the 3x zoom photos maintain a good level of detail with acceptable sharpness.

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On to the ultra-wide-angle sensor, the 12MP sensor pumps out pretty good results. While the images have a slightly neutral color profile compared to the main sensor, the images have a good amount of detail. The dynamic range is also quite good.

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Now, what I like about mid-range Samsung phones is that they have a 5MP macro sensor when other manufacturers stick with a 2MP macro sensor.

Macro photography is cool but the images do not look appealing if it doesn’t have a good amount of details. So far, I like the macro sensor on the A72. The extra pixel certainly helps it to achieve more detail.

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Now, let’s talk about its selfie camera. It has a 32MP snapper on the front. And, it’s actually impressive. I like the details on the selfies. But the images do have a warmer tone to them.

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About videos, it can capture up to 4k30fps. We will talk about its video quality in the full review.

Improved Performance

• Qualcomm SM7125 Snapdragon 720G (8 nm)
• 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM

Samsung Galaxy A72 gets a Snapdragon 720G chipset from Qualcomm. It is a good chipset but I was hoping for a better chipset at this price tag.

A72 is a no slouch when it comes to performance. It can easily handle general tasks such as web browsing and app browsing. It can run heavy games as well with good frame rates but it is not the most powerful silicon at this price. They should have gone with the Snapdragon 750G chipset that is used on the Samsung A52 5G.

So far, the performance has been good. It sails through all the things you throw at it.

2 Days Battery Life with Fast Charging

• Non-removable Li-Po 5000mAh Battery
• Fast charging 25W

Samsung Galaxy A72 has a decent 5000mAh battery. It doesn’t feel fantastic when compared to the likes of the 7000mAh battery found on the M51. But, it can provide you up to 2 days of battery life.

We will test the full capacity of this battery in our full review. It also uses 25W Fast Charging that can charge the phone from 0 to 100 in about 1 and half hours.

Android 11 with OneUI 3.1

• Android 11
• One UI 3.1

On the software side of things, it has Android 11 along with OneUI 3.1. OneUI is definitely one of the best UI’s out there right now. After the One UI update, Samsung’s phone just feels much better.

A72 also gets some premium camera features like single-take and a new “fun” feature. So far, I haven’t had an issue with the software. I’ll report if I get any issues in my full review.

Follow Up

So, Samsung Galaxy A72 feels really good. The new matte design is a lot better than the glastic design of the Samsung A71. On paper, it feels slightly expensive given it only gets a Snapdragon 720G chipset. But, it might not be a big issue if you’re not a heavy gamer.

Well, we’ll give our verdict in our full review.

This is just an initial impressions article about a few days of using the A72, I’ll revisit what I talked about here in my full review.

Also, watch our review of the Samsung Galaxy A12 in Nepali.