Samsung Galaxy A52 vs A16 5G

Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.5-inch Samsung Galaxy A52 (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G) that was released on March 17, 2021, against the Samsung Galaxy A16 5G, which is powered by Exynos 1330 and came out 3 years and 7 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A52
  • Shows 10% longer battery life (22:27 vs 20:24 hours)
  • Optical image stabilization
  • Waterproof body (IP67 classification)
  • Ability to record video in 4K resolution
  • Stereo speakers
  • Slow-motion recording at 240FPS
  • Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
  • The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A16 5G
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • More recent OS version: Android 16 versus 14
  • 13% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (576K versus 508K)
  • The phone is 3 years and 7 months newer
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Exynos 1330
  • Faster storage type - UFS 2.2 versus UFS 2.1
  • 30% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 960 and 738 points

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy A52 and A16 5G crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
DeviceFacts Score
Final comparison evaluation
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate DeviceFacts Score
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Value for money (Beta)

Should I update?
No 2% Yes
No, we don't think this update is worth it.
Moving from Samsung Galaxy A52 to Samsung Galaxy A16 5G will likely not feel like a meaningful upgrade.
Main improvements: performance, display, and connectivity.
Be aware: the newer phone is weaker in camera.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type Super AMOLED Super AMOLED
Size 6.5 inches 6.7 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2400 pixels 1080 x 2340 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
PPI 407 ppi 385 ppi
Refresh rate 90 Hz 90 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 800 nits 800 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10 No
Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 5 Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 85% 86%
Display features - Always-On Display - DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 99.3% 99.1%
PWM 183 Hz 360 Hz
Response time 4.4 ms 3 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Screen space comparison
Galaxy A16 5G
6.7″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 17.1 in2
Galaxy A52
6.5″ (20:9 ratio) = 15.8 in2
~8% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
790 nits
818 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 159.9 mm (6.3 inches) 164.4 mm (6.47 inches)
Width 75.1 mm (2.96 inches) 77.9 mm (3.07 inches)
Thickness 8.4 mm (0.33 inches) 7.9 mm (0.31 inches)
Weight 189 g (6.67 oz) 200 g (7.05 oz)
Waterproof IP67 IP54
Rear material Plastic Plastic
Frame material Plastic Plastic
Colors White, Black, Blue, Pink White, Gray, Blue, Green
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-button
Repairability - Good (3.2/5)
Drop resistance - Very good (B) · 180 drops
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Chipset specifications of Samsung Galaxy A52 and Samsung Galaxy A16 5G
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G Samsung Exynos 1330
Max clock 2300 MHz 2400 MHz
CPU cores 8 (2 + 6) 8 (2 + 6)
Architecture - 6 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 465 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 2 cores at 2.3 GHz: Kryo 465 Gold (Cortex-A76)
- 6 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 2.4 GHz: Cortex-A78
Manufacturing Samsung Samsung
Lithography process 8 nanometers 5 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon 692 Yes
GPU
Graphics Adreno 618 Mali-G68 MP2
GPU shading units 256 64
GPU clock 750 MHz 949 MHz
FLOPS ~384 GFLOPS ~121.5 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Samsung Galaxy A52 and Samsung Galaxy A16 5G
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
960
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
1724
1826
Compute Score (GPU)
1221
1284
Compute Score (GPU) 1221 1284
Single-core score 738 960
Multi-core score 1724 1826
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
508360
576249
CPU 202719 244407
GPU 48709 42598
Memory 88581 110301
UX 168351 178943
Total score 508360 576249
Samples [12 tests] [2 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Stability - 98%
Graphics test - 1 FPS
Graphics score - 139
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability 98% -
Graphics test 1 FPS -
Graphics score 313 -
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
9187
12226
Web score 8030 13054
Video editing 6295 6777
Photo editing 18039 21291
Data manipulation 7577 9362
Writing score 9464 15837

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Samsung Galaxy A52
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-06-23 (Itsorif)AnTuTu 11501313
📘 2026-06-07 (Itsorif)AnTuTu 11497969
📘 2026-06-05 (Dovinge)AnTuTu 11509471
📘 2026-05-31 (Rozr)AnTuTu 11492323
📘 2026-03-24 (Rikosol)AnTuTu 11470138
Samsung Galaxy A16 5G
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-08-15 (Julian Ludwig)Geekbench 6 GPU1286
📘 2026-08-15 (Julian Ludwig)Geekbench 6 CPU960 / 1826
📘 2025-12-10 (Nait)AnTuTu 11576249
📘 2025-11-14 (Nait)AnTuTu 11491818

Memory

RAM
RAM size 4 GB 4 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory clock 2133 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 64 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 2.1 UFS 2.2
Memory card MicroSD MicroSD
Memory card max size Up to 1024 GB Up to 1536 GB

Software

Operating system Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 14) Android 14 (Can be upgraded to Android 16)
ROM One UI 6.1 One UI 8.5
OS size 25.8 GB 26 GB
OS updates 2 years 2 years
Security updates 4 years 3 years

Battery

Capacity 4500 mAh 5000 mAh
Max charge power 25 W 25 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No No
Reverse charging No No
Bypass charging - No
Fast charging Yes (35% in 30 min) Yes (47% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:30 hr 1:21 hr
Battery cycles - 1200 cycles
Battery life tests
Web browsing 08:10 hr 08:05 hr
Watching video 12:28 hr 11:26 hr
Gaming 04:57 hr 06:26 hr
Standby 122 hr 100 hr
General battery life
Galaxy A52 +10%
22:27 hr
20:24 hr

Main camera

Matrix 64 megapixels 50 megapixels
Image resolution 9000 x 7000 8160 x 6120
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Optical Digital
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 30FPS No
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 30FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (1080p) 120 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 123° -
Lenses 1) Standard: 64 MP
2) Ultrawide: 12 MP
3) Macro: 5 MP
4) Depth: 5 MP
1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Ultrawide: 5 MP
3) Macro: 2 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
Standard lens
Image resolution 64 MP 50 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.8
Focal length 26 mm -
Sensor Sony IMX682 Samsung ISOCELL S5KJN1
Sensor size 1/1.7" (≈ 0.59 inch) 1/2.76" (≈ 0.36 inch)
Pixel size 0.8 micron 0.64 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Optical Digital
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 12 MP 5 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 13 mm -
Sensor - SmartSens SC501
Sensor size - 1/5" (≈ 0.2 inch)
Pixel size 1.12 micron 1.12 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital
Macro lens
Image resolution 5 MP 2 MP
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.4
Pixel size 1.12 micron -
Stabilization Digital No

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Bokeh - 55
Preview - 52
Zoom - 49
Samples - Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy A16 5G from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 32 megapixels 13 megapixels
Image resolution 6528 x 4896 4160 x 3120
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.0
Focal length 26 mm 26 mm
Sensor Sony IMX616 GalaxyCore GC13A0
Sensor size 1/2.8" (≈ 0.36 inch) 1/3.1" (≈ 0.32 inch)
Pixel size 0.8 micron 1.12 micron
Autofocus No No
Stabilization Digital No
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 b/g/n/ac) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5 5.3
Bluetooth features PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort - No
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS
NFC* Yes Depends on the region
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 2 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* No No
Hybrid slot Yes No
LTE Cat* 15 -
5G support No Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Mono
Headphone audio jack Yes No
FM radio Yes No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
88.8 dB
93.3 dB

Other

Category Mid-range Budget
Announced March 2021 October 2024
Release date March 2021 October 2024
Launch price (MSRP) $350 $199
Successor - - Samsung Galaxy A17 5G
SAR (head) 0.35 W/kg 0.38 W/kg
SAR (body) 0.84 W/kg 0.94 W/kg
Sensors - Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger - Not included
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

If the display, performance, software, and design are more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy A16 5G. But if the camera, gaming, and sound are more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy A52.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
11 (64.7%)
6 (35.3%)
Total votes: 17

User opinions

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