Samsung Galaxy A52 5G: $500 looks pretty damn slick

The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G is an all-around good phone with some great features and a few minor and annoying flaws. It's a solid buy for $500

It has a plastic back with a nice matte finish.

There are four cameras on the rear of the Galaxy A52 5G: A main wide angle camera, an ultrawide camera, a macro camera and a depth camera.

On the front is a 6.5-inch full-HD display with a hole-punch cutout for the selfie camera. The display is high-refresh rate and can be set to either 120Hz or 60Hz.

The display is without a doubt the best feature on the phone.

The sides are plastic. On the right is a volume rocker and power button.

On the left is nothing but curved shiny plastic.

It has features that the more expensive Galaxy S21 and S21 Ultra lack like: a headphone jack, expandable storage and the inclusion of a wall charger in the box.

On the top of the phone is the SIM card tray that also has a microSD slot.

This was take right after the phone came out of the box. Over two months, the matte finish back definitely doesn't look as fresh or new. Most people will inevitably put the phone in a case, so that shouldn't be an issue.

The phone looks symmetrical with thin bezels around the screen. Many budget phones have a thicker chin under the screen.

Topping off the display is a slab of Gorilla Glass 5. Beware if you leave your phone screen down on a table and unattended. The coating will make it slide off a seemingly flat surface all on its own.

The main camera has optical image stabilization and a 64-megapixel sensor which combines pixels for a 16 megapixel-photo with good detail and brightness.

Photos from the main camera are good. 

There's a macro camera. And (sigh) we've seen this from other phone companies. It's not that most people probably won't use a macro camera on a phone, it's that compared to the main camera on the A52 5G, the macro camera isn't great.

The Galaxy A52 5G has a unified design.

It's a well-balance phone in terms of price, features and the smart compromises Samsung made.

For more about the Galaxy A52 read CNET's in-depth review.