We subjected the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G to our rigorous SBMARK Audio test suite to measure its performance both when recording sound using its built-in microphones, and when playing audio through its speakers.
In this review, we’ll break down how it fared across a variety of tests and several common use cases.
Overview
The A53 5G, released in March of this year, is a mid-range offering that from the outside shares a similar style and size to the S21 Ultra. At this lower price, however, the high-end chipset and a few other flagship extras are missing. On the audio front, it has stereo speakers. There is no audio jack available, but the standard USB Type-C port can do double duty, charging and streaming sound to the headphones.
With an overall score of 73, the A53 5G outperformed last year’s A52 5G, which hit a 69. At this price, the A53 is a very strong competitor. The Samsung device delivered solid 360-degree performance in our audio tests, with particularly pleasant sound in playback (the first time our engineers noticed decent bass rendition in a Galaxy series) and impressive high-volume performance. As a recording device, the A53 also offered great all-round performance, although it wasn’t as adept at capturing high-sound pressure content.
Key audio specs include:
- Two speakers: upper front ignition, lower side ignition
- USB Type-C
Reproduction
Pros
- Solid tonal balance in playback
- Good dynamic rendering, apart from the punch
- Very clean artifacts, with speakers difficult to occlude
Cons
- First step of volume incorrectly adjusted
- Limited bass
- Slightly aggressive sound at high volume
Registration
Pros
- Good, natural and pleasant tonal balance in Life Video and Selfie Video
- Good amplitude, even in Selfie Video
- Excellent signal-to-noise ratio
- Metallic tonal balance in the memo app
- Rendered at an unnatural distance
- Too easy to completely occlude the microphone
Test summary
Learn about SBMARK audio tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone audio reviews, SBMARK engineers perform a series of objective tests and undertake more than 20 hours of perceptual assessment under controlled laboratory conditions.
(For more details on our reproduction protocol, click here; for more details on our registration protocol, click here.)
The following section collects the key elements of our exhaustive tests and analyzes performed in SBMARK laboratories. Detailed performance evaluations in the form of reports are available upon request. Do not hesitate to contact us.
How the audio playback score is composed
SBMARK engineers test playback through smartphone speakers, the performance of which is evaluated in our labs and under real-life conditions, using apps and default settings.
The Galaxy A53 5G outperforms previous Galaxy phones with the best tonal playback performance for this series to date. It offers a consistent midrange and satisfying bass. The midrange provides warmth and clarity in a balanced way. Elements like guitars and vocals sound full and rich. The treble sounds quite bright, although the lower end of the treble spectrum sometimes sounds slightly harsh or resonant. The Galaxy A53 5G does a great job of preserving tonal balance regardless of the volume level.
In dynamics, the A53 5G also delivers consistently good performance at all volume levels, with a slight loss of precision at low and maximum volumes. Attack is precise and snappy, even more so than other Galaxy phones. With a realistic envelope in the low end, bass accuracy is very satisfying, even at low or high volume. The punch has an impact at any volume. In the space attribute, the A53 5G performs well overall. The rendering of the stereo scene is precise in localizability and quite large for a device of this size. Unfortunately, the stereo image does not rotate when the phone is held in reverse landscape mode. Left / right balance seems well centered. As for the volume, while the maximum volume is correct, it appears to be unstable depending on the content, possibly due to a security algorithm. The Galaxy A53 5G is mostly free of artifacts, delivering a very clean and satisfying playback experience. The speakers are quite difficult to occlude.
Hear about the playback performance of the smartphone tested in this comparison with some of its competitors:
Here’s how the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G fares in playback use cases compared to its competitors:
The Timbre score represents how well a phone reproduces sound across the audible tonal range and takes into account bass, midrange, treble, tonal balance and volume dependence. It is the most important attribute for reproduction.
The Dynamics score measures the accuracy of changes in the energy level of sound sources, such as the precision with which a bass note or the impact sound of drums is reproduced.
Secondary attributes for spatial tests include identifying the position of a specific sound, its positional balance, distance and amplitude.
The volume score represents the overall volume of a smartphone and how the volume gradually increases and decreases based on user input.
Here are some sound pressure levels (SPLs) measured when playing our sample recordings of hip-hop and classical music at maximum volume:
| Hip-Hop | Classic | |
| Samsung Galaxy A53 5G | 74.3 dBA | 69.3 dBA |
| Samsung Galaxy A52 5G | 72 dBA | 68.3 dBA |
| Google Pixel 6 | 74.8 dBA | 69.7 dB |
The graph below shows the gradual changes in volume from minimum to maximum. We expect these changes to be consistent across the range, so that all volume levels match user expectations:
The Artifacts score measures the extent to which sound is affected by various types of distortion. The higher the score, the less noise you notice. Distortion can occur due to the sound processing in the device and the quality of the speakers.
How the audio playback score is composed
SBMARK engineers test the recording by evaluating the files recorded on reference audio equipment. These recordings are performed in our labs and in real-life conditions, using apps and predefined settings.
As a recording device, the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G also offers excellent tonal performance. When recording at high sound pressure levels (SPL), the A53 5G offers a good tonal balance, thanks to pleasant warmth and low-end extension, but remains slightly dark due to the lack of high-end extension.
When recording in normal environments using the selfie and life video apps, the performance is still very good. When using the memo app, tonal balance is compromised by the lack of low treble and it sounds a bit tinny and unnatural.
In dynamics, the Galaxy A53 5G offers excellent SNR in all tested use cases; the background is well subdued. The rendering of the envelope is quite accurate, with a crisp attack and precise explosives, except in selfie video mode, where the rendering of the envelope is somewhat reduced by compression, resulting in a more rounded attack. At high SPL, dynamic performance is compromised by inaccurate envelope rendering.
In the spatial attribute of recording, the Samsung smartphone offers good localizability. The width is good and allows for a very realistic rendering of the stereo scene. The memo app records in mono. The performance by volume is alikely. As for artifacts, the recorded signal may suffer from pumping and clipping on the peaks. In high SPL scenarios, slight compression and distortion are noted, especially on strong bass. Microphones easily clog completely and are sensitive to finger noises, which induce large drops in volume. The A53 5G does a good job in the background, rendering it nice and realistically.
Here’s how the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G fares in recording use cases compared to its competitors:
The Timbre score represents how well a phone captures sounds across the audible tonal range and takes into account bass, midrange, treble and tonal balance. It is the most important attribute for registration.
The Dynamics score measures the accuracy of changes in the energy level of sound sources, such as how accurately the explosives of a voice (p, tek, for example) are reproduced. The score also considers the Sound-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), such as how loud the main voice is compared to the background noise.
Secondary attributes for spatial tests include identifying the position of a specific sound, its positional balance, distance and amplitude on recorded audio files.
The volume score represents the normalization level of the audio on the recorded files and how the device handles noisy environments, such as electronic concerts, during recording.
Here are the sound levels recorded in the audio and video files, measured in LUFS (Loudness Unit Full Scale); as a reference, we expect loudness levels to be higher than -24 LUFS for recorded content:
| Encounter | Life video | Selfie video | Memo | |
| Samsung Galaxy A53 5G | -26.1 LUFS | -22 LUFS | -20.8 LUFS | -21.4 LUFS |
| Samsung Galaxy A52 5G | -26.1 LUFS | -22.3 LUFS | -20.8 LUFS | -21.5 LUFS |
| Google Pixel 6 | -27.8 LUFS | -17.9 LUFS | -16.3 LUFS | -19.8 LUFS |
The Artifacts Score measures the extent to which recorded sounds are affected by various types of distortions. The higher the score, the less noise you notice. Distortions can occur due to the sound processing in the device and the quality of the microphones, as well as user handling, such as the way the phone is held.
Hear about the artifacts in this excerpt, which was recorded in a fast-paced home environment:
Background evaluates how naturally the various sounds around a voice blend into the video recording file. For example, when recording a speech at an event, the background should not interfere with the main voice, but should provide context for the surrounding environment.
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