The Samsung A73 5G is the definite pick of its 2022 A-series. Not because its lower-cost siblings, the $599 A33 or $699 A53, are not good too, but because this model does everything very well in a no-ifs-and-buts way – it is a very capable phone.
Our Samsung A53 5G – a decent 5G smartphone for $699 (review) scores 8.7/10. The Samsung A73 5G has a larger screen, is slightly thinner/lighter weight, has a 108MP primary camera, better processor, and Wi-Fi AX – way more value than the extra $100 denotes.
We are also retesting the $1849 Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and using that as a reference. The $799 Samsung A73 5G is more than a match in so many ways that we are suitably impressed. It has our unreserved buy recommendation.
To explain – we review via price brackets – $700-799. We look at what we expect these devices to do. The Samsung A73 5G exceeds many of those parameters and is nipping at the heels of the $999 Samsung Galaxy S21 FE, Fan Edition (review) that costs two hundred more. We think using the Qualcomm SD778G 5G system-on-a-chip (SoC) gives it the operating edge (not raw speed) over the Exynos 1280 in the S21 FE.
It is now in two parts – a five-minute overview for most readers and a separate 300+ line database-driven spec including over 70 tests to back up the summary. It also helps us compare different phones and features.
Note that we use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. We occasionally give a Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good but does not quite make it to Exceed.
We issue a strong warning that you must buy a genuine model with Australian firmware if you want to use 5G. Read Don’t buy a grey market phone to ensure you get the Australian ‘B’ model (SM-A736’B’ and /DS for dual sim.
It is easy to identify the Australian version – usually, under Settings, About Phone, Legal Information, and Regulatory compliance, you will see the Australian RCM C-tick mark.
Models to avoid are any other colour, single sim, 8GB or larger than 128GB storage. If you receive a shrink-wrapped phone, it likely will not work on 5G here.
I don’t mind plastic backs (or PPMA glastic – whatever you call it), but this matte Awesome Grey is classy, and the Awesome Mint looks fun but more inexpensive. They are not so much a fingerprint magnet as a greasy finger magnet.
The faux chrome plastic frame looks good, but it can mark easily, so buy a bumper cover. The screen is reasonably scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass 5.
It is thin and light at 163.7 x 76.1 x 7.6 mm x 181g.
Samsung quotes 800 nits, but that is HBM (high brightness mode). Frankly, that is a marketing hype measure of a ridiculously small percentage of the screen at maximum brightness to enable it to claim HDR10/+ support – not at all realistic. The screen is closer to 400 nits at maximum automatic exposure and, in most use, between 230-300 nits. In fact, HDR10/+ content downscales to the screen capability, as does Netflix, that only offers SDR content (pretty typical).
It also claims 120Hz refresh (true), but it is either 60 or 120Hz – not adaptive as many OLED screens are. The latter refresh rate has a significant 30% hit on battery life.
On the plus side, it is relatively colour accurate (offers Natural sRGB and Vivid DCI-P3) as well as basic colour temperature and RGB adjustments.
Summary: Nice basic AMOLED screen, but it would have been so much better to have an adaptive refresh rate.
You can pretty well guarantee that any SD778G smartphone (OPPO Reno 7, realme GT/9, Vivo T1, Motorola Edge 20, Samsung A52s and nearly 80 models) will perform well. No, it is not flagship-class – but it closely matches the 2020 flagship SD865.
The Samsung A73 5G had no throttling (excellent) and plays PUBG: New State Mobile at 60fps maximum frame rate in 120Hz Games Mode with 6+6GB (RAM and virtual RAM). This means you can borrow up to 6GB from storage for swap space.
Storage read/write is 563/91MBps, typical of UFS 2.2, and the MicroSD card is 89/19MBps – plenty fast enough for 4K video.
The SD778G SoC offers
Simply put, these are cost-saving compromises so as not to get too close to the S21 FE model.
Not only did it get signal strengths to 16pW (excellent), but it found the nearest four towers (excellent). But there is one issue you need to be very aware of. The phone antenna is at the bottom of the phone – where you may typically hold it. If you cover this with your hand, signal strengths are very average. To be clear – hold the phone in the middle of the frame.
The 5000mAh battery will last two days of typical use, maybe one with heavy use. The video loop test (50% screen brightness/volume, aeroplane mode) was excellent at 21 hours 20 minutes.
PC Mark 3 battery test (typical use) was 18 hours and 58 minutes, and Accubattery verified this at 18 hours. Heavy screen-on use (GFX Benchmark Manhattan and T-Rex) were 6.15/10.55 hours. 100% load, screen-on discharge from 100-0% is 4 hours and 6 minutes.
But Samsung loses points (and it will continue to do so as it slavishly follows Apple) with no charger in the box and an underrated 2W cable (you need 3W to get a fast charge). It also uses 9V/2.77A, standard on Samsung 25W chargers, but the PD standard is 9V/3A, so most third-party USB-C PD chargers drop back to 9V/2A/18W or 5V/3A/15W charging. Charge time at 25W is 1 hour and 18 minutes, and 15W is nearly 3 hours.
It uses the same dual Cirrus Logic CS35L41 amplifiers, each 5.3W, 1% THD, 8 ohms, as the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE and S22-series.
This gives excellent volume (85dB), and the speakers have a warm and sweet sound signature suitable for most music. It has Dolby Atmos decode/downmix to the stereo 2.0 speakers and a nice wide sound stage.
Hand-free is quite a step up from the A53 with dual microphone noise-cancelling and sensitivity, although it is not quite as good when recording video.
As it is a Qualcomm SD SoC, it supports SBC, AAC, aptX and LDAC, but the whole aptX suite (low latency, high def) has been left out to save costs. We tested with aptX and LDAC headsets (high res), and it was superb.
Earlier, we commented that the faux chrome-plated plastic (polycarbonate) frame was prone to scratching. Over the four-week test (while taking extreme care to keep it in a separate pocket away from keys etc.), it picked up marks. Please buy a cover.
And in good news, Samsung now offers a 24-months warranty matching class-leaders OPPO (its main nemesis).
If we don’t keep telling Samsung that no charger in the box is a deal-breaker ($29 from Samsung plus an extra cost of a 3W cable), then it will never change.
Despite these things, Joe and Jane Average will not notice, will love this phone, and be blissfully unaware that similarly priced phones have it all.
Samsung’s policy makes owning one better and more secure for longer. That means Android 12 may reach Android 15! But we were disappointed that the security patch was February for a June review (most competitors are at May).
One UI 4.1 is a light touch over Android and allows for its Samsung customisations. But we are growing more concerned at the need to sign up for a Samsung Account to access anything in its Theme or Galaxy App store – it is bad enough that Google knows all about us.
Our advice is not to use Samsung apps that substitute for Google ones, especially if you brand swap and want seamless changeovers.
True, 108MP gives Samsung bragging rights, but in practice, this Samsung SK5HM6 Nonapixel RGB Bayer Pattern combines 9 pixels (3×3) to create a 12MP image. The image quality also depends on the AI capability (12 TOPS compared to 26 for the S22-series). Overall, it’s a great sensor that produces better-than-average daylight shots.
Our reviews are objective – we run over 70 tests and don’t read press releases or review guides that are much regurgitated as part of 99% of the other reviews.
So, there is no malice in telling it like it is; frankly, this phone will rate better than the $699 A53 and $999 S21 FE. Why? Because in the $700-799 bracket, it is pretty good, and Samsung is a safe bet.
Competition is quite fierce, and we note other phones you should compare it with
They are all good phones, but Motorola Edge 30 Pro must be killing all comers in this bracket with the special price.
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