The Samsung Galaxy A32 5G is one of the cheapest 5G devices that you can own for just RM 1,199 but would you pick it because of the 5G capability? Let me share my thought after few days of test with the device.

Samsung Galaxy A32 5G vs Galaxy A32 LTE

Samsung did release two variant of the Galaxy A32, the 5G and LTE. Besides the network support difference, the LTE does have an upper hand like a 90Hz FHD+ AMOLED display compared to an HD+ TFT LCD.

Both are powered by MediaTek processors, the 5G variants get a more updated MediaTek Dimensity 720 5G based on the 7nm process and the LTE has the Helio G80.

Design

I would give credit to Samsung for bringing a refreshing design especially the one-piece glossy plastic and fewer protrusions camera lens. The fingerprint scanner is mounted on the power button which is fast and ergonomic. Can easily tell this is a mid-range smartphone with thick display bezels especially the bottom chin.

Not really a fan of glossy finishing regarding glass or plastic cover, I wish Samsung would make it matte for better gripping and less fingerprint smudge.

Display

Here’s the part that disappoints us. Samsung decided to use a TFT LCD panel instead of their own more superior AMOLED panel. To make things worst, it equipped with a 1,600 x 720 resolution display that normally found on entry-level smartphones. Not being finicking here, but the outdated TFT LCD does have some slight ghosting by viewing at certain angles. Otherwise, the brightness and colours are acceptable.

Performance

The MediaTek Dimensity 720 is quite a good midrange processor and comes with 5G capability. It also paired with more than enough 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The storage can be further expanded with a microSD card but it will sacrifice the SIM 2 slot.

In terms of performance, the device able to handle daily applications and even games like Asphalt 9 without major problem. It does tend to get warm when I run games for like 20 minutes and above.

Based on the synthetic benchmark test results, it’s pretty close with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G powered device.

Overall the performance is A OK for both multitasking and gaming.

Camera

When coming to entry or midrange smartphones camera, manufacturer tends to make a trade-off to keep the price competitive. It’s different here, the 48-megapixels main camera can shoot pretty good images for the money.

It has a quad rear camera setup; a 48-megapixels main shooter, an 8-megapixels ultrawide, a 5-megapixels macro and a 2-megapixels depth sensor.

Photos came out pretty good with a great amount of dynamic range with the main camera. The ultrawide camera was just decent in bright environments but when come to lowlight things turned grainy. Coming to the Macro lens, it’s “meh” as I can really tell the low-quality image from the display. Would like to see “Less is More” camera setup by having ultrawide as a macro lens.

Here are some photos taken with the Samsung Galaxy A32 5G

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Samsung OneUI 3.1

The Samsung Galaxy A32 5G runs on the latest OneUI 3.1 based on Android 11. The UI is pretty clean and equipped with Samsung only exclusive feature like Samsung Pay (NFC Only, Non-MST) and Samsung Knox. The overall user experience is pretty at home without heavy skin and lots of optimization.

Battery Life

The massive 5,000 mAh battery can easily go for a day or two of use with a single charge. Especially the high power efficient 7nm Dimensity 720 and only 720p resolution display. During my real test with casual use like YouTube streaming, some Facebook and Instagram scrolling and some light gaming, the device still left me more than 40% by the end of the day.