Update- I have now had this phone for over a month. A little distressed to see it has already dropped $100, but that is my fault for jumping the gun.

My previous phones were a Nord 10 and a Moto G 5G phone (which I still have). Also a Samsung A52s, which I had for just a few days before sending it back to Amazon.

Here's the deal. The Samsung A52s 5g had a Geekbench 5 score of 721, vs. this new Samsung A53. The qualcomm processor on the A52s 5g is noticeably faster than this Exynos chip and I can tell that as well in operation. There's always a little pause, before something happens after touch the screen with this A53.

Compared to the Nord 10 and Moto G 5g, though, this phone this phone has faster test numbers.

Screen Brightness and battery life is what I wanted in my newest phone! Didn't get it! The 5000ma battery does not last any longer than that of the Nord 10, the Moto G 5g or the A52s that I had.

Size in this case, does not make a difference. By the end of the day, I'm still down to 20% or less. My previous Moto G Power 4g phones would run easily three days, with their 5000ma batteries. What gives? Screen brightness is still a problem. In bright outside light, I still can't see the screen on this phone either, without shading it with my hand.

Lastly, the lack of a headphone jack, although I knew it upfront, did turn out to be a problem. I usually carry around some Panasonic earbuds. When at an airshow recently, I popped them into my ears, to reduce the noise. Then remembered, that I couldn't connect them to the phone.

Now the good things- 1) I did speed test, near a collection of 5g towers. My previous Moto G 5g and my Nord 10, while running on T-mobiles network, never achieved more than 58 megabits of download speed. Which means their tuners could only handle the lower and possible the middle 5g spectrum. fyi-there are basically 3 group of frequencies (think-low, middle, high).

This Samsung A53 achieved more than 300 megabits of speed next to the same set of towers. That's almost 6 times the download speed of my other 5g phones. Which means it can tune into the higher spectrum frequencies.

2) The microSD expansion slot is a little weird. The sim goes on one side, then you flip it over to insert the microSD card. But it handles my 400 mb microSD card and transfer rate s to it are quick.

3) It seems sturdy, I've dropped it a time on two within the house. However, I had it encased in a Spigen, my favorite brand, of cellphone case.

My basic opinion, is to give it 4 out of 5. Mainly because of the lukewarm battery life, sluggish initial touch screen response, underperforming exynos processor and screen not being bright enough against the sun.

But the speed of the cellular download, the expansion slot, the screen clarity, the toughness of the phone, make me give it 4 out of 5. It's dropped $100 in less than 45 days. That's a bummer.

* Special Edit * Many if not all recent Samsung phones no longer come with the usb wall charger. You will not get it in the box.

Coming from an A7 2017 model, this phone is incrementally great. Its not a huge difference but the main issue today is really OS and security updates end thus forcing a new phone. Because of using Samsung SmartTags, I likely cannot use a custom rom. If it wasn't for that, the A7 2017 really isn't that far from this. That's something I can now test.

The A53 has a surprisingly better speaker. Really loud and sounds like it's coming from the front instead of the bottom where it is. Actually, seems they also use the call speaker as well to output sound which is on the top.

The camera is a bit better of course. It's good enough. I'm no camera snob or you better be buying the most expensive phones if you ask me. Has macro function. Also does a good job focusing.

The fingerprint reader is about the same once enabling it to always show on the always on display (AOD) and I set AOD to always show as well.

The screen is good. There's no wild difference other than marketing.

Battery seems about the same in limited testing (my A7 still gets about 48 hours with AOD enabled and some use). The battery saving special modes can add up to days of battery life mostly on standby. So in theory up to 7 days. The A7 has this feature and its great for no power emergencies. Looks like a bit differently implemented on the A53 but still have to properly test it. I know for a fact that Android devices can last up to 12 days on standard batteries as I have one that does. A much bigger screen, etc at 7 days standby is wonderful. My numbers for sleep drainage show it might even make it without the battery saver.

But, the A53 battery will take some weeks or months to properly see how the battery does. Interesting, point AOD here has no auto off (and on) while down or in a pocket which is crazy. That instantly saves battery and is crazy they no longer have it. Instead they have schedule so you can at least get a partial worse effect of it at night when sleeping or tap to show, etc. The A7 thus gets me only total 3-4% drain at night even with AOD enabled. So far, the A53 with AOD always enabled sees 3% for 7 hours overnight. Looks like 4% per 8 hours. This is for my setup. Your's may differ.

Actually, one of the best improvements appears to be the cellular connection. It appears to be 2-3 bars stronger than the A7. Since the A7 was typically at 1 bar for me, it would often not receive calls, delayed messages, etc. So far, I'm receiving everything. This was a main issue I always had with the A7. Easily exceeding everything else the phone offers.

By the way, I'm using the A7 wall charger here. It's 15 watts. That's fine. The A53 just charges 10 watts slower than the maximum. I see no need for now to spend more for that. It just charges a bit slower. As I edited in earlier, don't expect Samsung include them now with their phones. The A53 does not come with one for anyone who thinks it does. Neither does their more expensive models this year.

So far not seeing any issues. I'm happy with it. But, there's far too many features anymore. Takes a lot of time. I'd still be almost as happy though with the A7 if it wasn't trashed by the phone manufacturers like they are. But, if you need a phone, this one is a great choice. I highly doubt that will change here. You also get up to 4 years OS upgrades and 5 years security which increases the value of this phone over many manufacturers.

Bug: AOD stuck at full brightness in the dark thus consuming more battery. SOLVED: The eye comfort shield (what they call the software blue screen filter for night time that makes the screen yellowish) causes AOD to have problems dimming when both are running.

First off, I'm very pleased, this is a renewed phone!? Zero scratches. I can't find anything used about it. Arrived on time as promised. The packaging was like a brand new phone! The process of switching from my Moto Stylus 2021 was the fastest easiest transfer I've ever had with new phones! I know its hard to decide, I'm very satisfied with my new Samsung A53!

Ok... so I bought this phone as a replacement for my existing older Galaxy Note model I have had for a few years. Honestly I had some difficulties with adjusting to some of the newer technology and settings compared to my old phone, but am getting used to it now. The phone is unlocked and works well with my carrier, but I would recommend getting a new SIM card for it from your provider instead of using your existing card. There were a few issues I had with connectivity with the network as well as issues with dropping saved Wi-Fi connections without notice. Once I get used to the phone I am sure I will like it more. One BIG disappointment was the fact that the description says it comes with a travel adapter for charging... it does not. I had to buy a charger additionally which was not expected.

I have found nothing negative about this phone so far. Was a bit different than my previous phone (not a Samsung) but not in a bad way.