Samsung Galaxy A72

The Samsung Galaxy A72 is the next in a line of budget Galaxy phones, featuring a bigger screen than the A52 and a few other improvements. Samsung’s built a reputation with its top-end models, but how is the experience on their more affordable options? Here’s what to expect.

Design

The A72 offers an interesting change to the standard Galaxy phone look — pastel color options. While the chassis is made of polycarbonate (i.e. high-grade plastic), the matte texture camouflages fingerprints, keeping it looking posh. You’ll find a SIM tray is at the top, along with a headphone jack and speaker at the bottom on either side of the USB-C charging port. The camera bump is not too big or intrusive.

Display

The phone features an AMOLED display for rich colors and brightness. Reviewers stated that they never had issues seeing the screen — even in direct sunlight. Color options are limited, but reviewers didn’t see this as a deal-breaker.

The 90Hz refresh rate helps it stand out in the budget market and provides smooth performance when switching between apps and giving the whole experience extra fluidity.

Protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5, the screen should put up with travelling in your pocket next to your keys, bouncing around your bag, or even the occasional small fall with no issue.

Performance

The Samsung Galaxy A72 received decent performance marks from reviewers with a couple of caveats. While the Samsung Galaxy A72 technically has a slower chipset than last year’s A71, reviewers reported faster performance from the newer. Still, there are other budget phones out there that blow away the A72 on raw speed.

The phone won’t play graphics-intensive games on the highest settings but does great with more casual games. Regular day-to-day use — launching apps, checking email, scrolling through social media, etc. — was just fine with no issues with stutters or crashing.

Unfortunately, the on-screen fingerprint scanner was unreliable for many reviewers, providing either prolonged scan times or failing to work at all. Most recommend using Samsung’s face recognition instead.

Software & Storage

Samsung’s Galaxy A72 runs their One UI 3.1 skin on top of Android, with a 3-year update guarantee. Storage starts at 128GB with the option for 256GB.

Cameras

In good lighting, the camera does well. Reviewers stated that photos using the 3x zoom were pretty decent, showing minimal artifacts or distortion. However, in low-light situations, the camera tends to produce underexposed photos that lack detail and are still noisy around the edges.

Battery Life

Battery life pleased reviewers. If you’re a light phone user, you’ll probably get multiple days out of a single charge. Love games or use your phone frequently? The phone should offer you just enough juice to make it back to a charger at the end of their day based on reviewers’ experiences.

Audio

Speakers on smartphones only sound so good. The Samsung Galaxy A72 isn’t going to wow you, but it’s more than enough for phone calls or casual listening. It uses the earpiece as a second speaker, and while that helps, it’s still not going to win any awards.

Specs at a Glance

• Plastic chassis
• 6.7-inch AMOLED display
• Qualcomm SM7125 Snapdragon 720G processor
• 6 or 8GB of RAM
• One UI 1.3
• 128 or 256GB of storage
• 64+ MP main lens and 32+MP selfie camera
• 5,000mAh battery

Bottom Line

The Samsung Galaxy A72 gets many things right, including the display, the colors, and the design. But it also falls short when it comes to the unavailability of a 5G version, using an older chipset, and the faulty fingerprint scanner.

As with most budget phones, its ultimate value depends on what you’re looking for in a smartphone on a budget. Some of this might not matter to someone who isn’t heavy into high-end mobile gaming or who lives in an area that isn’t under the 5G area of coverage. If that’s the case, you’ll find the phone plenty reliable, and it looks and feels great for the price.

NextPit says, “The Galaxy A72 tops the trio of Galaxy A mid-range smartphones that were released in 2021. This smartphone carries an amalgamation of the best features in this range, although it disappoints in terms of display capability and fast charging. Still, it remains an excellent option for those who want a smartphone that will last them for a few years before making a new purchase.”

Android Central comments, “The Galaxy A72 nails the basics: you get a sublime 90Hz AMOLED display, minimal design with pastel hues, robust hardware, reliable cameras at the back, a 5000mAh battery, and long-term software updates. But the fact that there’s no 5G here makes it a non-starter in global markets, and you also have to contend with a lot of bloatware.”