Samsung Galaxy A73 5G review: Pricey but actually AWESOME

Name: Samsung Galaxy A73 5G
Item: Samsung Galaxy A73 5G
Author: Amritanshu Mukherjee

The Samsung Galaxy A73 5G truly deserves the awesome tag from its marketing campaign despite being one of the priciest midrange phones you can buy. Here is our full review.

By: AMRITANSHU MUKHERJEE
| Updated on: Aug 22 2022, 11:38 IST

The Samsung Galaxy A73 5G costs Rs. 41,999 for the base 8GB/128GB variant, whereas the 256GB variant will set you back by Rs. 44,999. (Amritanshu / HT Tech)

Awesome screen, awesome camera, long lasting battery life – these words are part of one of the cringiest smartphone advertisements to ever exist, but they have always defined the Galaxy A7X series of phones perfectly. Over the last few years, the Galaxy A70, A71 A72, and now the A73, have come to define what Samsung's Galaxy A series is all about. The recipe is simple – give buyers all the nice things without compromising the Galaxy S series devices at all costs. This year though, that is not the case.

That's because the Galaxy A73 ends up becoming the more tempting choice than the closest current-gen Galaxy S series phone – the Galaxy S21 FE. The S21 FE is a good phone but in the real world, the Galaxy A73 with its theoretically inferior specs fares better for most users. The base variant with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage at Rs. 41,999 offers the best value, and in the “Awesome Mint” shade, it is pretty indeed.

Should you buy it then, especially when technically superior phones like the iQOO 9 and Xiaomi 11T Pro exist at similar prices? Time to find out.

Samsung Galaxy A73 5G Design

The Galaxy A series in 2022 has been more consistent with its design than ever for its high-end models. The A73 has no defining elements that makes you go “wow!” but it is a handsome design nonetheless. It is borderline bland in some ways if you get it in the black colour variant. And as soon as you hold it, the plastic unibody construction immediately drops the desirability quotient by some notches. The iQOO 9 for the same price gets you the luxury of a glass-metal combo, while Oppo and Vivo phones in the same price play around with special colour-changing materials. Playing too safe, Samsung?

image caption — The Samsung Galaxy A73 5G gets a plastic unibody construction with IP67 certification for water and dust resistance. (Amritanshu / HT Tech)

While the in-hand feel isn't great, the phone is well-built and comfortable to use. Not a single-hand phone though, considering the boxy dimensions makes the 6.7-inches of real estate feel larger than it actually is. And, while you miss out on glass and metal, you get IP67 certification of water and dust resistance, which goes a long way to assure reliability. No case in the box, as usual, and no charger either.

Samsung Galaxy A73 5G Display

Being the best of the Galaxy A series, the A73 gets the nicest looking display too. At 6.7-inches, it is the biggest one and that Super AMOLED Plus panel is beautiful to look at. In typical Samsung fashion, it is tuned for brighter and more vibrant colours. With 120Hz of refresh rate, the A73 is looks smoother to the eyes, making scrolling and other animations seem smoother. Note that that 120Hz mode drains the battery faster and with no variable refresh rate tech here, there's not much you can do other than stick to 60Hz. The in-display fingerprint sensor is fast for an optical-type sensor.

Samsung Galaxy A73 5G Performance

This is where the controversial bit comes in. Coming from the Galaxy A72, Samsung hasn't upgraded the chipset in this one – you still get the year-old Snapdragon 778G chip here. Not that this is a slow chip by any means but the semiconductor industry has several low-cost-yet-powerful chips to offer (MediaTek Dimensity 1200, Snapdragon 870, etc), and Samsung could have chosen one of these older chips to justify an upgrade. Considering the five years of software support, I wonder how the Snapdragon 778G will fare in a year or two's time.

Nonetheless, unlike its Exynos rivals, the Snapdragon 778G is a terrific chip at the moment and is well optimised for performance and power efficiency. With One UI 4.1 based on Android 12, the Galaxy A73 is tuned to make the most out of it, keeping mundane tasks snappy. Be it opening the Chrome browser or Instagram, the Galaxy A73 can handle it all like a charm. Although this isn't supposed to be a gamer's choice, I threw around brief sessions of Call of Duty: Mobile and Shadow Fight 4: Legends; both of which played nicely at the High settings with High frame rates.

The One UI 4.1 software interface is among the most polished Android interactions you can find in this category, except for Motorola's MyUX skin. Every page is baked with convenience that you get used to quite easily. The integration with Microsoft and Google apps is excellent, and some of the extras tucked in the Settings are actually useful (the side bar for example, or the ability to stream audio output on multiple devices simultaneously. I did not find any UI bug, which is unusual for a new phone these days. The only annoyance comes in the form of some pre-loaded third-party “bloat” apps, and the setup process desperately wants you to install apps from the Galaxy Store. Seems a bit unnecessary Samsung, considering the price tag!

The audio quality out of the stereo speaker setup is good and loud enough, but not even near as close as the speakers on the Xiaomi 11T Pro. There's no headphone jack present here as well.

Thanks to the Snapdragon 778G, the phone brings support for 5G connectivity, making it future ready. As of now though, the Galaxy A73 5G offered rock-solid network performance on Jio's 4G network and managed to latch on to the network in tricky areas as well. Call quality is great and with the Samsung dialler app, you can record calls without notifying the other person.

Samsung Galaxy A73 5G Cameras

This is where the Galaxy A73 5G shines. With its new 108MP main camera and some clever tuning, the Galaxy A73 does a great job with the dynamic range, details, colour accuracy, exposure, and noise suppression. Be it daylight or indoors, the camera consistently takes brighter photos with generous texture detailing and good exposure management. And with human portrait shots, the edge detection is superb, and there's minimal-to-negligible loss of details in facial details. Even at night, you get class-leading photos with well-managed exposure, good noise suppression, and brighter overall photos.

However, don't assume the 108MP camera matches the one of the S22 Ultra – there's a noticeable loss in detail when compared side-by-side. But for a phone under Rs. 50,000, the Galaxy A73 with its main camera performance has left us impressed.

Check out some camera samples here.

The same can be said for the 12MP ultra-wide, which also impressed us with good colour reproduction and details. The 5MP macro camera is decent too as long as there's sunlight; it can't match the 5MP macro camera on the Xiaomi 11T Pro. Video recording performance is good but not as great as the iPhone SE – you can record up to 4K at 30 fps only. There is OIS but the stability isn't of the highest quality we have seen on a phone of this price range. This is good enough for casual video shooting purposes but not for content creators.

The 32MP front camera brings it back on track, with bright and natural looking selfies having oodles of facial details. The selfies aren't as natural looking as that on the iPhone SE 2022 but most of you would be happy to skip the manual editing for social media purposes.

Samsung Galaxy A73 5G Battery Life

With its 5000mAh battery, the Galaxy A73 usually lasts an entire day with an average of 30-40 percent charge to spare. Note that this scenario was possible with no hour-long gaming sessions and no video-binging. Under the most generic circumstances, you can easily get a full day out of the Galaxy A73's battery. There's support for 25W fast wired charging and if you get the compatible charger, you will have to wait for almost 1.5 hours for the battery to fill up from under 10 percent. This is painfully slow in comparison to the 20-minute charging heroes from iQOO and Xiaomi.

Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy A73 5G in Awesome Green. (Amritanshu / HT Tech)

The Samsung Galaxy A73 5G with all its pros and cons has left us surprisingly impressed! Unlike the Galaxy A53 5G, this one performs as per expectations under regular circumstances. Despite sticking with the Snapdragon 778G for another year, the A73 stays fast and smooth. The good camera performance then adds on to its appeal, and so does the vibrant display. The rest of it is on par with the competition but there is certainly room for Samsung to show it can do better. For someone seeking just a nice Android phone, the Galaxy A73 ends up being an easy recommendation.

And when you look at the Apple iPhone SE 2022 in the same price bracket, the Galaxy A73 with its much superior display, longer battery life, and versatile cameras ends up appealing more to the eyes. With 4 years of OS and 5 years of security support, it makes a good case for longevity as well.

The concerns arise out of the competition it faces from its Android brethren. For similar or lesser prices, smartphones such as the iQOO 9 5G, Oppo Reno 7 Pro 5G, Vivo V23 Pro 5G, and Xiaomi 11T Pro are vastly superior in most ways. In terms of hardcore specs alone, these phones leave the Galaxy A73 5G biting the dust. With 20-minutes full charging, truly flagship-grade performance, and slightly better cameras, the iQOO 9 and Xiaomi 11T Pro will always be the popular picks. In fact, the Oppo Reno 7 Pro is no slouch either with its cameras and could make the A73 biting its nails.

So why? Why the Galaxy A73 at Rs. 41,999? The simple answer is its quality user experience that comes right out of the box. That One UI software delivers a wholesome smartphone experience comparable to iPhones most of the time. And when you look at it as a package, the Galaxy A73 5G does not put a foot wrong. It may not have the muscles for outright bragging, but it is the most sensible buy for those wanting a no-nonsense smartphone. Try it out before you settle for one of those flagship killers.

Rating

4 out of 5

Price

INR 41,999/-

Product Name

Samsung Galaxy A73 5G

Brand Name

Samsung

Pros