WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.240 Flagship phones are outrageously expensive it's clear that people are 00:00:04.319 --> 00:00:11.519 done shelling out a thousand plus dollars year after year after year but I 00:00:09.540 --> 00:00:16.560 mean you do still need a phone ideally one with a decent screen and camera and 00:00:13.980 --> 00:00:20.460 at least 128 gigs of storage for apps and pictures well I don't play a ton of 00:00:18.359 --> 00:00:25.019 mobile games no one likes their toilet time interrupted by stuttery gameplay so 00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:29.220 the answer is obviously to pick up a mid-range phone there are an 00:00:26.880 --> 00:00:35.340 overwhelming number of options what the heck is everyone else buying okay this 00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:38.100 is weird Samsung's a53 only has 3 000 00:00:35.340 --> 00:00:42.600 reviews but it is at the top of Amazon's best sellers with an impressive four and 00:00:40.379 --> 00:00:46.860 a half star rating I mean I knew the a series was wildly popular but Samsung's 00:00:45.180 --> 00:00:52.079 marketing and their review program especially in North America is so 00:00:49.680 --> 00:00:57.600 focused on note and fold and S series that I have to confess I have never 00:00:54.480 --> 00:01:00.000 actually been hands on until now I guess 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:05.820 it's time to find out just why the advertisement friendly words all of you 00:01:02.760 --> 00:01:08.700 are buying this phone and what is this 00:01:05.820 --> 00:01:14.820 hello oh you want to sponsor a video how about this one thanks Govi govi's new AI 00:01:12.600 --> 00:01:19.020 box smart light uses their AI algorithm to allow customized lighting effects 00:01:16.500 --> 00:01:23.040 that are reactive to in-game actions to bring you out of monitor immersion like 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:26.420 you haven't experienced before check out the link below to learn more 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:38.880 to describe the size of the a53 I'd use 00:01:36.299 --> 00:01:42.060 the words right sized it's easily handleable but you're not going to be 00:01:40.619 --> 00:01:46.799 squinting at it it's a really good middle ground it came out in mid-march 00:01:43.860 --> 00:01:51.060 of 2022 and it's got almost all the major features you could want decent 00:01:48.420 --> 00:01:56.700 storage capacity with MicroSD expansion a 64 megapixel camera with Optical image 00:01:54.360 --> 00:02:01.380 stabilization to keep your shot steady a 120 hertz Super AMOLED display with up 00:01:59.399 --> 00:02:06.420 to 800 nits of brightness for good outdoor viewing and HDR content and even 00:02:04.259 --> 00:02:10.440 5G Network capability we've got the base model with us today just like the rest 00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:14.940 of you I mean the thing that stands out to me first and foremost is just how 00:02:12.660 --> 00:02:19.860 good the build quality feels it wasn't that long ago that budget phones even 00:02:17.040 --> 00:02:25.140 mid-range phones had gigantic bezels around them or really cheap feeling 00:02:21.540 --> 00:02:28.560 materials but this feels great if you 00:02:25.140 --> 00:02:30.360 told me this cost 300 more or I still 00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:35.220 wouldn't bat an eye it doesn't have a three and a half millimeter headphone 00:02:31.560 --> 00:02:37.200 jack which is a real bummer but it does 00:02:35.220 --> 00:02:41.459 have an amplified earpiece speaker meaning that you will get stereo sound 00:02:39.060 --> 00:02:45.840 out of it there's no stupid Bixby button I consider that a feature and I guess I 00:02:44.580 --> 00:02:49.739 never mentioned it before but the screen is six and a half inches let's talk 00:02:47.819 --> 00:02:54.000 cameras now since for most people their phone is their primary way of saving 00:02:51.660 --> 00:02:59.400 precious memories from top to bottom on the back we've got a 12 megapixel Ultra 00:02:56.519 --> 00:03:04.200 wide a 64 megapixel main camera and a 5 megapixel depth camera the little guy on 00:03:01.500 --> 00:03:08.340 the top is a 5 megapixel F 2.4 macro camera bringing us up to a total of four 00:03:06.480 --> 00:03:12.080 sensors on the back of this thing and on the bottom is our light or Flash 00:03:12.720 --> 00:03:19.379 the front-facing selfie camera is 32 megapixels and oh I guess I was turned 00:03:17.220 --> 00:03:23.640 to the side that time but other than the a little bit overdone smoothing then 00:03:21.420 --> 00:03:27.540 again I'm old I kind of need it now I'd say the quality is pretty darn good and 00:03:25.860 --> 00:03:32.700 thankfully it doesn't take up a ton of space on the screen as for the back it 00:03:29.760 --> 00:03:36.659 might not be technically the best camera but 00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:41.400 man I have a hard time finding anything to complain about it is absolutely all 00:03:39.659 --> 00:03:46.080 that you need to capture the moment which for me is really where the bar is 00:03:43.260 --> 00:03:52.319 as for the display I advocated for years that at these sizes anything over 1080p 00:03:49.319 --> 00:03:54.659 class is just wasted cost and wasted 00:03:52.319 --> 00:03:59.519 power I mean it's over 400 pixels per inch for crying out loud and it looks 00:03:56.580 --> 00:04:04.019 great the blacks are OLED deep and the 120 hertz refresh rate makes the phone 00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:07.200 feel and look smoother than pretty much any of the competition at this price 00:04:05.580 --> 00:04:11.640 point more on that later by the way however that comes with a caveat just 00:04:09.540 --> 00:04:16.199 like on a PC there's not much Point having a high refresh rate display 00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:21.359 unless the hardware can keep up with those frame rates and while the menus 00:04:18.540 --> 00:04:26.160 and navigation and simple games look great there's no Snapdragon 8 gen 00:04:24.060 --> 00:04:29.940 whatever processor in here so don't expect top tier performance and gentian 00:04:28.320 --> 00:04:34.680 impact or other more demanding mobile games of course none of that affects 00:04:31.919 --> 00:04:40.139 consumption of movies and TV shows which look amazing though of course there is 00:04:37.440 --> 00:04:43.020 more to life than looks let's just do a quick audition of the speakers here crab 00:04:42.060 --> 00:04:48.720 rave crab Rave let's do it oh my God ads this 00:04:46.860 --> 00:04:51.960 is my version of Adblock I will look somewhere else hey the Creator still 00:04:50.580 --> 00:04:57.960 gets paid I will sleep perfectly tonight 00:04:55.620 --> 00:05:01.460 didn't like these good Sound Stage though 00:05:03.180 --> 00:05:06.680 I haven't gotten to the drop yet 00:05:10.100 --> 00:05:19.199 I think you judged it too harshly you're right there's not a lot of bass but good 00:05:15.780 --> 00:05:20.940 Sound Stage good Clarity good volume and 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:25.500 while I'm not putting much stock in the support for Dolby Atmos if scruffy Dan 00:05:23.940 --> 00:05:28.800 broke a stray on his guitar around the campfire you wouldn't be a monster for 00:05:27.479 --> 00:05:33.600 pulling this out another area that impressed us was the 00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:38.820 battery life thanks to both its mid-tier processor and whopping 5 000 milliamp 00:05:36.180 --> 00:05:44.220 hour battery the a53 boasts up to two days on a single charge and that is not 00:05:41.100 --> 00:05:46.199 in crap tier monochromatic display mode 00:05:44.220 --> 00:05:50.520 disabling all the processor cores or whatever that's with regular usage auto 00:05:48.360 --> 00:05:54.840 brightness and Wi-Fi on around the clock and we know this is true because ploof 00:05:52.620 --> 00:05:58.919 the writer for this video is one of you he actually bought this phone and Day 00:05:57.180 --> 00:06:03.300 lead it for a couple of months only selling it because a colleague offered 00:06:00.539 --> 00:06:08.100 him a free side grade and he likes his S10 but has actually not been happy 00:06:05.820 --> 00:06:12.360 about certain aspects of it particularly going back to Nightly charging when you 00:06:10.320 --> 00:06:17.280 do need to charge on the a53 it supports 25 watt fast charging getting it back to 00:06:14.580 --> 00:06:22.020 full in a flash now obviously that battery life is going to degrade as the 00:06:19.320 --> 00:06:26.160 years go by but if you start from a really good point well even degraded it 00:06:24.660 --> 00:06:30.539 should be a good experience you know what else is like that our new Henley 00:06:27.900 --> 00:06:34.680 shirt from LTT Store com it starts great and well obviously it's going to wear a 00:06:32.940 --> 00:06:39.300 little its clothing but it'll last a really long time trust me bro now for 00:06:36.960 --> 00:06:44.940 the fun part what's the catch here given its lower price point of 350 dollars 00:06:41.819 --> 00:06:47.280 that's down from 450 at launch it's kind 00:06:44.940 --> 00:06:51.419 of hard to complain I just really like this thing but it's my job so I'm gonna 00:06:49.380 --> 00:06:55.800 do it let's start with the clearest drawback the processing power as I 00:06:53.759 --> 00:07:01.380 alluded to before the GPU in this thing is a Mali g68 now for the average person 00:06:58.979 --> 00:07:06.960 that doesn't make the experience awful or even bad it's a lot faster than its 00:07:04.259 --> 00:07:11.280 predecessor but it certainly could be better what will affect pretty much 00:07:09.419 --> 00:07:17.220 everyone in everyday use at least eventually is the CPU like a flagship 00:07:14.520 --> 00:07:21.660 chip chip the exynos 1280 has an 8 core CPU but those cores are running 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:25.500 significantly slower and while ploof didn't encounter any slowdowns over time 00:07:23.580 --> 00:07:29.639 with his phone he doesn't load up his phone with random apps and games and he 00:07:27.780 --> 00:07:32.940 only used it for a few months so he didn't have to deal with that slow down 00:07:31.440 --> 00:07:36.180 that tends to come from multiple generations of software updates if 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:40.259 customer reviews are anything to go by though it might even be a problem today 00:07:37.979 --> 00:07:44.039 in fact looking through the one to three star ratings for this device complaints 00:07:42.300 --> 00:07:49.500 about processing power are a clear pattern for one star some people simply 00:07:46.979 --> 00:07:53.099 got lemons one hated on Samsung support several people were upset about the lack 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:56.400 of an included charging brick that's fair enough even if it looks like this 00:07:54.780 --> 00:08:00.599 might be the new normal Honestly though I'm actually more annoyed by the 00:07:57.840 --> 00:08:04.500 inclusion of a type c to type c cable I mean if you're not going to give me a 00:08:01.740 --> 00:08:08.460 brick okay fine but this is a mid-tier device what are the odds that the brick 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:13.259 that I already have with my old mid-tier device is a type c brick read the room 00:08:11.160 --> 00:08:17.580 Samsung you guys not not happy USBC bricks 00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:22.039 another Common Thread was the allegedly terrible call Quality when using this 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:26.639 phone via Bluetooth in your car allegedly I take calls in my car all the 00:08:24.840 --> 00:08:30.660 time and that's doesn't make any sense I'm gonna have to try that 00:08:30.660 --> 00:08:37.260 hey you sound fine but are people coming I'm walking away are 00:08:35.640 --> 00:08:44.700 people complaining about what comes through from my side or the other way 00:08:40.919 --> 00:08:46.980 um I think it was coming through from on 00:08:44.700 --> 00:08:53.880 my side I don't know you sound fine to me yeah you sound cool I kind of wonder 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:57.779 if they just had a bug at some point uh maybe I mean there were quite a few 00:08:55.980 --> 00:09:00.839 reviews but yeah it's possible that new software updates was kind of fixed that 00:08:59.100 --> 00:09:03.480 it's been up for almost a year I don't know what to tell you 00:09:02.100 --> 00:09:07.100 it's fine at least with this car I'm not saying 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:10.860 you imagined it once we move up to the two and three 00:09:09.300 --> 00:09:15.240 star reviews people start complaining more about the text-to-speech feeling a 00:09:12.779 --> 00:09:19.019 little sluggish so processing again a lack of memory resulting in apps 00:09:17.040 --> 00:09:22.560 freezing momentarily lack of dual SIM support though there is an international 00:09:20.519 --> 00:09:26.519 version with dual SIM so it seems like they might have bought the wrong model 00:09:23.700 --> 00:09:29.880 poor facial recognition we found a couple complaints about this in the four 00:09:27.899 --> 00:09:32.339 and five star range as well but they don't seem to really be bothered by it I 00:09:31.320 --> 00:09:37.620 guess because it's still a five-star review and then another big one is the 00:09:35.220 --> 00:09:40.740 unresponsive fingerprint scanner the good news is that a lot of these 00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:44.940 features might not matter to you that much particularly dual SIM support and a 00:09:43.140 --> 00:09:49.260 good hack for Samsung's poor fingerprint recognition is to register the same 00:09:46.620 --> 00:09:52.860 finger multiple times they are just a little bit slower than the competition 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:57.360 funnily enough most of the four star reviews complained about bloatware but 00:09:55.260 --> 00:10:01.740 from my point of view it's really not that bad especially if you don't sign 00:09:59.700 --> 00:10:07.260 into a Samsung account during setup we did a regular installation with just 00:10:03.420 --> 00:10:09.899 Google account and honestly like what 00:10:07.260 --> 00:10:14.700 this that's it I don't even know if I would actually get rid of anything that 00:10:12.180 --> 00:10:17.760 was pre-loaded on this device but this is an unlocked device and it's possible 00:10:16.440 --> 00:10:22.200 that some of these folks are leaving reviews with their carrier bloated 00:10:20.040 --> 00:10:25.260 versions and then ah the rest of the complaints at this tier were pretty 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:29.640 focused on the lack of wireless charging which is kind of valid at this price 00:10:27.480 --> 00:10:33.660 point what is interesting though is that in spite of all these complaints and 00:10:31.380 --> 00:10:40.080 shortcomings y'all seem to pretty much love this thing five star reviews made 00:10:36.420 --> 00:10:42.959 up 64 of all reviews with another 20 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:47.519 being 4 star I mean I can't think of just about anything in this polarized 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:53.459 world that 84 percent of people agree is damn good so what do you guys love then 00:10:50.459 --> 00:10:55.980 expandable storage decent camera really 00:10:53.459 --> 00:11:01.560 decent camera great battery life nice display 5G but we've talked about all 00:10:58.440 --> 00:11:03.360 that the biggest one is the value plenty 00:11:01.560 --> 00:11:07.980 of you guys are paying between 3 and four hundred dollars with many remarking 00:11:05.940 --> 00:11:12.000 that they either came from the thousand plus dollar Flagship scene and just 00:11:09.959 --> 00:11:15.180 didn't want to do that anymore or they never had one and wanted to avoid 00:11:13.680 --> 00:11:18.720 shelling out big bucks in the first place interestingly we didn't see too 00:11:17.579 --> 00:11:24.480 many comments from people who appreciated it being affordable without locking into a carrier contract but that 00:11:22.740 --> 00:11:27.779 was a major factor in blue spying decision so I think it's worth 00:11:25.740 --> 00:11:31.140 mentioning also worth mentioning is the main competitor for this model the 00:11:29.220 --> 00:11:36.360 Google pixel 6A while they're both the same price both now and at launch the 6A 00:11:33.839 --> 00:11:40.320 only has 650 ratings total so it's clearly less popular but that doesn't 00:11:38.459 --> 00:11:44.040 surprise me that much given that Samsung is a bit more of a household name than 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:48.899 Google is at least when it comes to phones as for how they differ well the 00:11:46.860 --> 00:11:53.100 camera on this one may be technically better actually in some ways Google 00:11:50.519 --> 00:11:58.019 software is so darn good that the pixel 6A ended up taking first place in 00:11:55.440 --> 00:12:01.680 mkbhd's blind camera test so if that's all you care about then maybe go for the 00:12:00.360 --> 00:12:07.140 pixel but if you care about just about anything else like a smooth display La 00:12:03.720 --> 00:12:09.300 the a53 walks away in just about every 00:12:07.140 --> 00:12:13.620 other category meaning the herd mentality approach might not be a bad 00:12:11.640 --> 00:12:17.760 one if you're shopping for a value phone oh and if you're into the herd mentality 00:12:15.480 --> 00:12:22.200 did I mention that everyone is checking out this message from our sponsor any 00:12:20.040 --> 00:12:27.000 desk any desk is a remote desktop application that works for Windows Mac 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:29.459 Linux iOS Android Chrome OS and even 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:34.380 Raspberry Pi you can leverage any desk for any of your remote Assistance or 00:12:31.920 --> 00:12:38.399 work needs experience super low latency paired with an easy to use interface to 00:12:36.420 --> 00:12:41.940 control all your endpoints at high speed they provide extensive support and Aid 00:12:40.500 --> 00:12:45.899 in onboarding your team to ensure that you get the most out of the software and 00:12:44.100 --> 00:12:50.700 they offer enterprise features such as SSO a configurable client and a suite of 00:12:48.779 --> 00:12:54.120 collaboration and management tools learn more about any desk's free personal 00:12:52.139 --> 00:12:57.779 solution and business subscription plans at the link below if you guys enjoyed 00:12:56.040 --> 00:13:00.839 this video make sure to check out some of the others from this series like the 00:12:59.339 --> 00:13:03.800 mouse we looked at recently why is everybody buying that one