Samsung’s Galaxy A series has the distinction of being “junior Galaxy S devices,” at least in my eyes. They get many of the Galaxy S series features but at half the cost. So, if you want the Samsung Galaxy experience but have less to spend on these devices, this series is an excellent alternative.
I’ve spent close to a month using and playing around with one of the newest and one of the more premium Galaxy A series phones, the Galaxy A72. I’m now ready to share the reasons why you should make this handset your next smartphone option.
Color and style matters to you
The Galaxy A72’s design isn’t quite as dramatic as the Galaxy S21 phones, but the simple, unified color scheme seen on this handset is pretty eye-catching, too. The soft pastel shades of Awesome Blue and Violet join the more traditional Awesome White and Black colors. It’s done in a Matte Haze Finish that doesn’t attract as many fingerprints as its counterparts, or at least it’s good at keeping them at bay.
On top of being easy on the eyes, the Galaxy A72 is water- and dust-resistant with an IP67 rating. You can submerge it in up to a meter of freshwater for 30 minutes. Of course, I don’t recommend you do that, but at the very least, this handset can handle some of the adventures you go on.
Pro Tip #1: To get better aftersales support, consider getting Samsung Care+.
An ideal partner for content creation
At launch, Samsung has been heavily promoting this phone’s content creation capabilities. I’ve typically had good experiences with Samsung cameras, so I expected to get some good content from the Galaxy A72. Spoiler alert: It delivered in that expectation.
With a quad-camera setup at the back and a front-facing camera, I got enough hardware and software tools to shoot some awesome photos and videos. It has a 64-megapixel primary lens with optical image stabilization, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide sensor, an 8-megapixel telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom, and a 5-megapixel macro. In front, there’s a 32-megapixel selfie shooter.
The Galaxy A72 lets you shoot up to 4K UHD videos at 30 frames per second on this phone with support for 4K Video Snap, which gives you 8-megapixel video screenshots. With OIS included in the primary lens, Samsung offers a Super Steady video to give gimbal-like footage.
In great lighting, I got some clear, nicely colored photos. It quickly focuses and helps me get the pictures I want. All I needed to do was point, tap on the subject I want the phone to focus on, and shoot. I’ve used the Galaxy A72 to shoot TikTok videos and didn’t have to worry about the output quality. In low light, I could use Night Mode to get you some relatively clear shots. But if I wanted more control, there’s both Pro Photo and Pro Video modes on this phone.
These are all straight from the camera photos without editing:
Left: Auto | Right: Food mode
Left: Auto | Right: Night mode
Left: 64MP Auto | Right: Pro Photo
Samsung brings its Space Zoom to the Galaxy A72’s telephoto camera. It allows you to zoom in up to 30x digitally, which, of course, won’t have the best quality if you zoom in that far. But if you just wanted to get closer without moving, the zooming capabilities of this phone are relatively good. I found up to 4x was still pretty social media-worthy.
Ultra-wide shots are as good as I expected on this phone. It’s a handy feature for capturing landscapes or wide-open spaces. I like that it’s here anyway.
I’m not a particular fan of macro cameras on phones in general, so it’s not surprising that I’m not too big a fan of the sensor on the Galaxy A72, either. Kudos to Samsung for offering a natural bokeh in this mode, though. To get more out of this sensor, you’ll need to have a steady hand or put the camera on a tripod and shoot in a bright area.
A couple of camera features on the Galaxy A72 that will get a lot of mileage out of more active social media users are Single Take and the new Fun Mode.
Single Take has been around for a while already, but we understand why Samsung offers it. It’s a simple way to get different social media-ready photos, GIFs, and videos with a single recording.
And then, there’s Fun Mode, which integrates Snapchat filters into the Galaxy A72. I consider Snapchat as the pioneer of the fun face filters. And it’s genius on Samsung’s part to partner with the social media site to bring the filters right into the Camera app. So, it’s perfect for those who want some whimsical vlogs or content to share online.
You can check out Isa’s camera tour to get a better look at the different camera features on this handset and her sample shots, too.
Pro tip #2: You might have grid lines enabled already. But the Galaxy A72 can help you out further with “Shot suggestions.” It’s accessible through the gear icon on the top left of the app with the other Camera settings. It’ll suggest focal points you can align with to get the best possible shot.
A daily driver that just works
There’s something so seamless and effortless about using the Galaxy A72. It might not be Samsung’s most premium offering, but for my daily needs, it’s more than enough. I could easily switch between messaging, emails, social media, video calls, some light gaming (and by some, I mean a lot of Cooking Battle), and media consumption without any trouble.
It did freeze once throughout my entire time with it, but it was mostly smooth sailing. The Galaxy A72, with its Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G processor, up to 8GB of RAM, and up to 256GB of expandable storage, was more than enough to handle what I needed it to do. With a 90Hz refresh rate for its screen, it also gives me a smoother scrolling experience.
Samsung promises up to two days of use with its sizeable 5,000mAh battery. For those who aren’t constantly glued to their phones, that’s possible. A complete 24 hours of having the screen mostly on is possible. But since I use phones pretty heavily for work and play, I can get an entire workday with the need to charge the phone at night or first thing the next day.
I couldn’t test the Galaxy A72 fast-charging, though, as I only got a marketing unit without any accessories. But this smartphone supports 25W fast-charging. With the chargers I had on hand, you need around two hours and a half or more to top up this handset fully.
Pro tip #3: This phone supports Samsung’s Separate App Sound feature, which allows you to play media sound from one app on a different audio device. When will this be useful? For example, you want to continue listening to that podcast on Spotify, but you want to leave your phone with your kid or niece/nephew so they can watch some kid-friendly shows on Netflix. You get to hear your podcast through your earbuds, they get to watch their show and hear audio through the speakers.
Excellent for consuming content
This reason is an extension of sorts of the previous point. Beyond being a great daily driver, the Galaxy A72 is a treat to watch content on, even if you don’t plug in earbuds or connect Bluetooth buds. (Yes, there’s still a headphone jack.)
With dual speakers that are decently loud, you are guaranteed to hear what’s happening on the screen. When you’re playing, you don’t have to worry about losing sound if you cover the bottom-firing speaker. There’s support for Dolby Atmos, too, and other audio tweaks so you can get the best sound experience possible on the Galaxy A72.
And then, Samsung pairs this with a crisp and big 6.7-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display. The hole-punch for the selfie camera doesn’t really take up that much screen real estate, so you get to enjoy what you’re watching or playing.
For eye care, Samsung offers Eye Comfort Shield, which automatically adjusts the display’s color temperature based on your smartphone usage patterns.
Pro tip #4: If you are in an area where you can’t blast audio from the speakers but can’t put in earbuds, Samsung’s Live Caption is available on this phone. Head to the pull-down settings and scroll through settings to locate the Live Caption option there. There’s a slight delay from what you see on the screen, and it isn’t 100% perfect. But it gets most of what’s being said accurately, and it works on most apps where you watch content. It is an accessibility feature, first and foremost, so hard-of-hearing users should take advantage of Live Caption!
Fits seamlessly into the Samsung ecosystem
As expected, you get seamless integration with other Samsung devices, which might be important to some of you. It supports features like Music Share, which lets you sync your phone with a friend’s device to share music without speaker pairing. Samsung Galaxy Buds users can listen with two sets of Galaxy Buds to what’s playing on this phone with support for Buds Together.
It also supports Samsung’s Quick Share for quickly sending photos and videos to nearby Galaxy devices and Private Share for those who want to be able to revoke what they’ve sent to other Galaxy phones.
As an Android phone, it plays nice with other products, too. I could connect different Bluetooth earbuds and use features like Nearby Share, which allows for easier file transfers from one Android device to another. It also supports Link to Windows using Microsoft’s Your Phone app.
Pro tip #6: Use Smart View for watching content on a bigger screen. If you have Samsung smart TV at home, I highly recommend using Smart View (accessible through the pull-down menu settings again). Samsung allows you to adjust the phone’s aspect ratio to match your TV, so you can get rid of the weird black bars and use the entire display. I use this feature for watching on apps like Skillshare, which don’t have apps on our TV.
Final thoughts
Samsung positions the Galaxy A72 as a hip, stylish, yet capable smartphone for social media-savvy youngsters. But it offers a lot for any smartphone user who needs a reliable device to invest in. And make no mistake, this is an investment as it’s priced on that upper midrange tier already.
The good news is you can expect years of use out of this device with Samsung promising software upgrade support for three generations and regular security updates for a minimum of four years. That extended support makes the Galaxy A72 an even more compelling purchase for those with extra cash to spend on a smartphone.
The Samsung Galaxy A72 is available in two configurations in the Philippines:
- 8GB + 128GB = PHP 22,490
- 8GB + 256GB = PHP 23,990
It is available at the Samsung Online Store, Lazada, Shopee, telco partners, and the digital platforms of MemoXpress and Abenson.
Buy the Samsung Galaxy A72 HERE. *
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