Samsung Galaxy A72 review

This review is of the Samsung Galaxy A72 with 4G, the Galaxy A72 with 5G has not been announced yet.
Last year, the midrange Galaxy A71 was a success and became quite popular. Now, its successor is here, bringing significant improvements to the table, with a smooth 90Hz high refresh rate, a bigger 5,000mAh battery, and a versatile camera system. All of these cool features are packed under a gorgeous new look the Galaxy A72 sports, with fresh and youthful colors. There is a smaller improvement in the processor capabilities and its performance is not a giant step forward from the Galaxy A71, but despite that, the A72 is a good investment for anyone wanting a smooth Samsung phone, with great battery life and a capable camera for the affordable price of $430.

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Design and Display

Although the Galaxy A72’s display is the same 6.7-inch AMOLED display we see in the Galaxy A71, there is one substantial upgrade the A72 can now brag with: more precisely, we are talking about the 90Hz fast display refresh rate. This feature makes its first appearance in a budget-friendly Samsung phone to assure smooth scrolling and animations, and it does bring a nice feel to the overall experience with the phone.

Surrounded by relatively thin bezels, the Galaxy A72’s screen sports 2400 x 1080 resolution with 394PPI pixel density, which, overall, is a good resolution for this price range. The Super AMOLED Plus screen that we have on the Galaxy A72 gives us those deep AMOLED blacks and rich, yet not oversaturated, colors, and is definitely a pleasure to look at.


The under-display fingerprint sensor makes an appearance on the Galaxy A72, and that is to be expected. It’s accurate, although it’s a bit slower than what other phones brag with. For biometrics and security, the phone also features facial identification, and this one is quite faster than the optical fingerprint sensor.

As far as the design is concerned, the phone comes in four fresh colors: Awesome Black, Awesome White, Awesome Violet, and Awesome Blue. In our photos, you can see the Awesome Violet variant, and we also tested the Awesome Blue color. These color options are all matte and look pleasing in a bit of an understated way. The phone features a plastic back and it feels a bit bigger than its predecessor but definitely not too heavy. Samsung did quite well with the weight distribution of the Galaxy A72 and it is comfortable to hold for extended periods of time, even without a case on – it’s neither too heavy nor too light.



A notable improvement we see this year is the IP67 water and dust rating, which the A71 unfortunately lacked. This feature is an important addition, even to the mid-range phone segment, as we all probably know mid-rangers are as susceptible to water-spilling-on-phone accidents as any premium phone. For those of you who don't know, the IP67 rating assures the phone can withstand for about 30 minutes under 15cm to 1m of water, and is protected against dust and sand.

Camera and Audio

The first thing that catches our attention when we discuss the camera is the camera bump design. It looks organized, neat, and the camera lenses stand out in a quite sophisticated manner.

On top of the nice new look, the Galaxy A72 is graced by some notable improvements in the camera department. It features a quad-camera setup just like its predecessor with a main sensor of 64MP, but this time with OIS (Optical Image Stabilization). To complement the main camera, we are getting a 12 MP Ultra-wide shooter, and two additional sensors: a 5MP macro and an 8MP telephoto camera. The telephoto lens is able to provide higher quality zoomed-in photos than your regular digital zooming (cropping in the photo) can, and it can go all the way to 30 times zoom. Of course, 30 times zoomed-in photos are not social-media-friendly, but it’s nice to have this feature on a midranger. For reference, the Galaxy S21 also has 30 times zoom.

The photos by the Galaxy A72 are quite good, realistic, with good dynamic range and pleasing colors. An important feature, the Optical Image Stabilization, helps the midranger produce brighter and sharper images even in challenging lighting conditions, such as low-light, for example. On top of that, the Galaxy A72 comes with a couple of fun camera features, such as 4K Video Snap and AR Emoji. The former allows you to take your favorite scenes from your 4K video footage and transform them into 8MP images, while the latter uses Snapchat filters so you can have some fun with friends for social media content.

Here you can look at the camera samples from the Galaxy A72:





As far as audio is concerned, the stereo speakers on the Galaxy A72 produce loud sound, that you can comfortably listen to without maxing it out. Lower pitches at the maximum volume can be a bit uncomfortable to listen to, but a headphone jack is also present, a welcome addition to the mid-range phone.

Software and Performance

With the 90Hz refresh rate the A72 rocks, the phone feels snappy and responsive. We have said it before: midrange processors are getting better, and you can rarely feel that you are using a more budget-friendly phone.

For storage, you have plenty with the base storage of 128GB and the support for a MicroSD card. In terms of RAM, the phone we tested has 6GB of RAM, which assures smooth multitasking for your everyday usage.

The phone comes with Android 11 and you get all the bells and whistles of Samsung’s One UI 3.1 here. For example, you can make your phone automatically switch to dark mode after sunset, to protect your eyes; you have revamped notifications, fast access to widgets, more lock screen customization options.


Additionally, you get Samsung’s SmartThings, Dolby Atmos, which allows you to optimize your audio for three different activities: Movie, Music, Voice; on top of that you get an Auto setting that, as the name suggests, optimizes it for you depending on your activity.

Of course, One UI offers a lot of customizations and settings, but nonetheless, you can go and use the phone without any need for that deep customization and you’ll still be able to enjoy its good performance. If you happen to be a more advanced user, there are layers and layers of One UI 3.1 settings that you can dig into for fun and convenience.

Battery life

On top of that big battery, the A72 supports 25W fast charging, but you should note that it comes with a 15W charger in the box, so if you want the fast charging, you should purchase the 25W charger separately. The 15W charger included in the box takes an hour and 27 minutes to charge the Galaxy A72 from 0 to 100%.