The Samsung Galaxy A73 5G comes with a decent package of hardware, a solid 108MP camera, and a 120Hz super AMOLED display. Priced at only RM 2,099 in Malaysia, this makes the Galaxy A73 5G an attractive mid-range phone for those with a smaller budget.

Build and Design

The A73 has a dimension of 163.7mm x 76.1mm x 7.6mm, weighing 181g and comes in 3 colours – Awesome White, Awesome Mint, and Awesome Gray. We got the Awesome White from Samsung for review purposes and can at least vouch for this colour for its clean look and classy feel.

The phone has a plastic body but as with the recent Samsung plastic-bodied phones, the A73 didn’t feel cheap and fragile. In fact, the phone feels sturdy in the hand and it looked on par with flagship quality.

There’s a bump where the rear camera compartment is but unlike the bulky and rough camera bump we saw on the S21 series, the designers of the A73 adopted a more gentle and classy approach to showing the bump.

But perhaps the most celebration-worthy feature in the Build department is the fact that the A73, like its A72 predecessor, comes with a microSDXC card slot. This is a luxury these days because even the Samsung flagship S-series phones no longer come with an external memory card slot. Couple this with the fact that the A73 comes with a 108MP camera, this means users can hoard as many photos and videos as they can up to 1TB.

Display

Like the previous A72, the A73 has a display size of 6.7″ but it comes with a better panel in Super AMOLED Plus 120Hz, providing a resolution up to 1080 x 2400 px and protected by a Corning Gorilla Glass 5 screen.

The display is bright enough even for outdoor viewing and the colours are vivid and sharp. Viewing the image gallery and streaming entertainment content like those on Netflix and Prime are enjoyable on this device.

The 120Hz refresh rates it supports also provide for a smooth browsing and gaming experience.

Specs

In terms of spec, the version of the phone available in Malaysia is the 8GB | 256GB variant backed by a Qualcomm SM7325 Snapdragon 778G 5G (6nm) chipset.

Its GPU uses the Adreno 642L and the CPU an Octa-core 4×2.4GHz Kyro 670 & 4×1.8GHz Kyro 670. The A73 comes with the latest Android 12, One UI 4.1.

And while this isn’t flagship spec quality, the phone could handle almost everything that isn’t too demanding. My day to day user experience with the A73 5G was mostly without complaints.

The phone’s reaction time is quick and has rarely kept me waiting and that kind of surprised me, because I expected the phone to lag and struggle with multiple apps running in the background but it has so far managed to keep up and even impressed.

The A73 is powered by a 5,000 mAh battery, more than enough to last me a whole day unless I was on a Netflix marathon. I’ve only needed to charge my phone once a day and it charges at a speed of up to 25W fast charging. In case you don’t know, Samsung no longer provide power brick but you can use back any old ones that you have. The phone does not support wireless charging.

Camera

Main – 108MP OIS F1.8
Ultra-Wide – 12MP F2.2
Depth – 5MP F2.4
Macro – 5MP F2.4
Front Cam – 32MP F2.2

The A73 5G comes with a flagship quality 108MP main camera which is the main attraction here and though on paper the 108MP is the same as the S22 flagship series, the photo quality just isn’t the same (mostly).

The main difference between the camera department’s spec of the A73 compared to the older A72 model and the latest S22 series is the absence of a Telephoto camera on the A73, depriving the phone of any optical zooming ability to take beautiful ranged shots.

I can still zoom in digitally but the result would be disastrous as shown in the photos below where I compared shots taken on the A73 on x10 vs one taken on the S22 Ultra on x10.

So, if I have to take a photo of something that is located a little bit further away from where I’m standing, I’d have to perform a tricky task like walking nearer to the object for the shot. But in the event that approaching the object is not an option and the digital Zoom isn’t enough to capture what I needed, that would be unfortunate because that’s the limit of the camera.

But even so, the absence of a telephoto camera does not define the overall performance of the A73’s camera. Because at the right distance, the A73 can be a mighty and reliable camera companion.

For example;

Keep in mind that we still have a very powerful 108MP main camera in action and when utilised properly, can produce stunning shots capturing the most intimate detail.

It was rather cloudy the day I took these photos as rain-bearing clouds journeyed their way over my city. Even so, the camera managed to pull more light into its lens to produce a vivid shot.

Surprisingly, the A73’s camera department is also quite the champ when it comes to low-light conditions like night modes and the camera’s ability to snap objects in crisp quality without its edges looking like it’s dissolving.

Edges are clear and sharp, light reflections look natural and the overall photo quality was surprisingly good. I was expecting the camera to do very well under well-lit conditions, but I wasn’t expecting it to impress on this scale under low light. In fact, I had my money on well below this level of quality when it comes to night performance.

Despite the lack of a telephoto camera, the A73 still has a solid overall camera performance that deserved to be appreciated. And the best thing is, the phone’s external memory card slot allows A73 owners to stash away their precious high-resolution shots safely into the MicroSD card.

Gaming

As with every other phone that we’ve reviewed on this website, we’d always bring the device on a video games test drive.

Now, this phone wasn’t built specifically for gaming but it can handle most of the games you throw at it with relative ease as long as you don’t go overboard and expect Extreme/Ultra/Highest possible settings on graphics quality.

Games like Mobile Legends and COD are handled with ease and I can play them comfortably on the highest settings, enjoying the smooth frame rates and lag-free experience.

But if you are one of the Genshin Impact legionnaires, let me make this clear – this phone is not your champ.

The game doesn’t run well on the phone. The A73 warms up after only a while of running it, and the loading time and the quality of graphics the phone can run it on without killing itself is less than flattering

What I Liked

• Good value in terms of performance and spec for the price tag
• 108MP Camera is a beast
• Beautiful design

What I Wished Was Better

• Needs a telephoto camera
• No Wireless Charging

Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy A73 5G is a great substitute for the flagship S-series if you are looking for a good phone with a smaller budget. No, you won’t get the best performance from this phone but what you’d get isn’t too far behind either. This is a solid and dependable mid-range all-rounder plus the 108MP camera of this phone will stay relevant and go a long way, making it the perfect candidate for those seeking a good and cheap camera phone.