Samsung Galaxy A72 review – a premium mid-range phone in a crowded market

The Samsung Galaxy A72 comes with a slightly premium tag. It is available at a price of ₹34,999 for the 6GB + 128GB variant and ₹37,999 for the 8GB + 256GB variant.

It comes in black, white, blue and violet colours, and can be purchased from Amazon, Flipkart, Samsung online store and other retail outlets across the country.

The Galaxy A72 is very similar to the Galaxy A52 when it comes to design, build quality and a few other features. Make sure you read our Galaxy A52 review to know more about those aspects.

The Galaxy A72 comes with a 6.7-inch AMOLED display, with Full HD+ resolution and 90Hz refresh rate. The effect this has on the user experience is immediately noticeable. Scrolling and the overall usability feels a lot smoother when compared to a regular 60Hz panel.

Regardless, the Galaxy A72’s 90Hz display falls short of the likes of the OnePlus 9R or the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro which support 120Hz refresh rate. The difference is not significant, though, but it’s still something to think about.

In my usage, the phone was readable even under direct sunlight. It has a hole punch notch on the top that houses the selfie camera.

Samsung packs in plenty of features with its custom skin One UI. The Galaxy A72 comes with Android 11 and One UI 3.1 out of the box – both being the latest versions currently available.

You can start using the Galaxy A72 out of the box without any customisation and you will still appreciate the balance Samsung has struck in terms of ease of use and power features like the Edge panel that houses shortcuts.

If that is not enough, you can customise the phone to your heart’s content by going into the Settings and playing with the options available.

Overall, Samsung’s One UI skin offers a great balance between simplicity, performance and customizability.

The Galaxy A72 is powered by the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G chipset that powers the Galaxy A52 as well. It is paired with up to 8GB of memory and 256GB of storage.

As was the case with the Galaxy A52, the Galaxy A72 also performs just fine without any hiccups. There were no noticeable lags or stutters, and gaming was smooth enough.

In terms of battery life, the Galaxy A72 lasted us more than a day on a single charge. It is powered by a slightly bigger 5,000mAh battery when compared to the Galaxy A52 and supports 25W fast charging.

Thankfully, Samsung has included a 25W fast charger with the Galaxy A72, unlike the Galaxy A52 which comes with a 15W charger.

The Galaxy A72 has four cameras on the back and one selfie snapper on the front. The rear cameras are a combination of a 64MP primary camera, a 12MP ultra wide angle camera, and 8MP telephoto camera and a 5MP macro camera. The front has a 32MP selfie camera.

In our experience, the Galaxy A72 delivered similar results as the Galaxy A52 when shooting with the primary and ultra wide angle cameras. The phone focuses quickly in daylight as well as indoor lighting conditions, thanks to the optical image stabilisation feature. The colour reproduction is mostly accurate, especially in good lighting conditions.

Overall, it delivers decent results even in challenging conditions with multiple light points, as seen in the image above.

The Samsung Galaxy A72 has to fend off challenges from a lot more phones when compared to its smaller sibling, the Galaxy A52. The slightly higher price might make it seem a less value for money option, but the overall experience on offer makes up for the premium price.

Other options worth considering in this price segment include the OnePlus 9R, Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro and the Oppo Reno 5 Pro.