Samsung Galaxy M53 5G review: A fun mid-ranger

Samsung is keeping its smartphone portfolio fresh with frequent upgrades to all of its series. The Galaxy M53 5G is a successor to the popular Galaxy M52 5G, with some tough shoes to fill. The upgrade comes only six months later, but that doesn't mean the M52 owners should feel any disappointment.

Samsung Galaxy M53 5G competes in the sub-Rs 30,000 price category, which is a crowded space and quite popular in India. Due to high demand for smartphones in this space, OEMs naturally flooded the market with their offerings. The race is incomplete without Samsung's participation and the M53 5G fits right in the ring.

But the question is if the Galaxy M53 is worth the buck. For a starting price of Rs 26,499, the Galaxy M53 5G sounds like a great deal on paper. But does it translate into real world? Let's find out.

Design

Samsung Galaxy M53's design doesn't necessarily stand out, but it has its own uniqueness. The smartphone is reminiscent of Samsung's signature design, which has been critically acclaimed by the masses. The Galaxy M53 sticks to the classic aesthetics, giving a premium look and feel.

The Galaxy M53 has a polycarbonate back with a matte texture, which gives it a frosted glass look. Ours is an olive green variant, which is a unique shade of colour not common in smartphones. It's refreshing.

The rear panel has a quad-camera module, which looks like it's melted into the panel. At first glance, the rear design looks classy and minimalist. The curved sides and rounded edges don't feel slippery in the hand. The power button, which houses a fingerprint scanner, is on the right side and well within the reach. The same cannot be said for the volume buttons, which are positioned quite higher.

The SIM card tray is on the right side, but its positioning shouldn't matter. But Samsung could've used the empty space at the bottom to include a 3.5mm headphone jack. Instead, there's just a single speaker and USB Type-C port.

Samsung has managed to cramp up the hardware into a 7.4mm unibody, which weighs just 176 grams, which is spectacular considering the phone has a 5,000mAh battery. The weight distribution is managed well on the Galaxy M53, making it easier to hold for long durations while gaming or binge-watching.

Display

Samsung Galaxy M53 5G features a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate. It's as good as it sounds and happens to be the best part of the phone. With solid colour reproduction, great viewing and vivid picture quality, you'll enjoy media consumption and gaming on this phone.

The high refresh rate certainly amplifies the viewing experience. It's as smooth on eyes as it is on the fingers. But there's no smart switch option, so you'll either have to choose 120Hz or settle for the bland 60Hz. We couldn't settle for the latter so we ran the phone on 120Hz at all times.

In case you're wondering, the smartphone doesn't support HDR10 on Amazon Prime Video or Netflix.

Camera

Samsung Galaxy M53's quad-camera setup is hard to miss. On paper, the setup looks great. There's a 108MP main camera, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera, a 2MP macro camera and a 2MP depth sensor. But don't confuse the M53's main camera with the 108MP camera sensor found on the S22 Ultra. The difference is night and day.

Having set the expectations, let's explore further. The main camera is not too bad either. Under natural lighting, the main sensor captures good dynamic range with great detail and vibrant colours. But the performance took a dip in low light conditions and the Night Mode did brighten the image but without restoring details. Low-light pictures picked up a lot of noise.

We tested the portraits and found the results to be good in well-lit areas. The depth sensor adds a nice bokeh, but it's nothing extraordinary. In a dim light setting, the portrait mode even struggled to keep the subject in focus while blurring hair strands and sometimes ears. Capturing moving subjects can pose a challenge.

Moving on, there's ultra-wide mode as well, which managed decent details, and good dramatic effect but nothing in comparison to the main camera. The macro mode lets you get close to the subject, closer than the main camera would allow. If you can get past the focusing struggle, the macro shots are good enough to give your images a unique perspective.

There's a Fun mode, which adds Snapchat filters to the camera. It's truly fun to try the different filters, a feature both kids and teens would love to play with. Using different filters didn't lag or freeze at any given time.

Check out a few camera samples below:

Performance and software

Samsung Galaxy M53 5G is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 900. Although it marks a fair upgrade over Galaxy M52, Samsung has ditched Snapdragon chipset for this one, which is surprising considering MediaTek chips aren't Samsung's first choice for smartphones.

In real world, the Galaxy M53 5G is cut out of most of your daily tasks. For a casual user, this smartphone will be able to deliver promptly. The superb display makes multimedia consumption a treat and we didn't face any issues or lag while binge-watching. We caught up on Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard defamation trial on the phone, which easily goes on for several hours, and we didn't feel any issues, like lags or heating. So it is safe to say the M53 is ideal for multimedia buffs.

We tested the phone for games as well and it delivers, although not like flagships. Games like Call of Duty: Mobile and Asphalt 9 can be played with ease, and the 120Hz refresh rate made things only better. After playing CoD: Mobile for about 30 minutes, the phone did get a bit warm, but not too hot to handle. The single speaker, although with Dolby Atoms, is no match for stereo, which we missed during gaming and multimedia. But if you're used to earphones, this won't be an issue.

The M53, like other Samsung phones, runs Android-based OneUI. The OneUI 4.1 based on Android 12 has reached pretty much all the eligible Samsung phones and it's only natural to find it on Galaxy M53 5G. Software-wise, the Galaxy M53 has no surprises, but the presence of abundant bloatware can be annoying. On the plus side, you can uninstall most of the apps preloaded on the phone. This is nothing compared the features OneUI offers. Things like copying-pasting across devices signed in using the same Samsung ID, multi-window, smart widgets, secure folders and the level of customisability, make OneUI totally unique and ahead of others.

The Galaxy M53 also has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, which worked with accuracy most of the times. But there were instances when we had to tap the biometric twice. But you can always use face unlock for quicker unlocking of the device.

Battery

Samsung Galaxy M53 has a 5,000mAh battery, which can easily last a whole day with mixed usage. A casual user can easily balance work and personal life without constantly worrying about battery. But if you're an extensive user, with gaming and binge-watching for hours or using the phone for shooting and editing on the go, there may be need for charging the battery before bedtime.

But the big battery comes with a big concern - charging. The phone supports 25W fast charging but lacks an actual adaptor in the box. So if you can get a compatible adaptor, you can charge the phone from 0-50% in 30 minutes and with one hour of charging you get 80 percent. To fully charge the phone, you need to be patient for at least 90 minutes.

Verdict

Samsung Galaxy M53 is a nominal upgrade over M52, which had amassed great fame and continues to remain relevant for most buyers. While it wouldn't make sense to upgrade from M52 over to M53, but anyone who wants a budget smartphone with promise of future OS upgrades among other features should consider the M53.

There are a few things worth pointing out, such as the phone doesn't come with an adaptor and the low-light photography is average. Also, hardcore gamers will find the M53 lacking in certain areas. The M53 is competing in a crowded space where offerings like Mi 11i HyperCharge 5G and Realme 9 Pro+ throw a solid competition. But overall, the M53 has many great features too, such as the great design, superb display and a lasting battery. This, in addition to, Samsung's brand identity and software promise, is a deal well worth considering.