Samsung Galaxy M53 5G First Impressions: Stylish and Powerful?

Samsung is expanding its Galaxy M series with the introduction of the Galaxy M53 5G. It is the successor to the Galaxy M52 5G with some big upgrades. Some of the highlights of this new smartphone include a 108MP main rear camera, a Mediatek Dimensity 900 SoC, and a large 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display. If the Galaxy M53 5G is your first choice for Rs. segment up to 30,000? I got my hands on this new smartphone and here are my first impressions.

The Samsung Galaxy M53 5G has gone on sale starting at Rs. 26,499 for the base variant with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. The other option offers 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage and is priced at Rs. 28,499. You can get Rs. 2500 instant cashback through ICICI credit card offer and EMI transactions.

The Mystique Green color looks great and helps the Galaxy M53 5G stand out.

Samsung is offering the Galaxy M53 5G in two colors: Deep Ocean Blue and Mystique Green. For this review, I have the base variant in Mystique Green. The smartphone comes in a thin box, like the Galaxy S series smartphones, because the charger is not included. The box contains the Galaxy M53 5G, a USB Type-C to Type-C cable, a SIM eject tool, and some documentation.

The first thing I liked when I picked up the phone was the color Mystique Green. It looks premium and isn’t very common in this price range, which should help the Galaxy M53 5G stand out. What also sets the device apart is the large 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display. Samsung is calling it the Infinity-O Display as it has a hole punch at the top for the 32MP selfie camera. This panel has Full-HD+ resolution and a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz. You get Corning Gorilla Glass 5 for the display, which should protect it from scratches and damage. Samsung has managed to make the bezels on the sides of the display fairly thin, but the chin is thicker.

The Samsung Galaxy M53 5G is a huge phone. One-handed use is possible, but not convenient. Luckily, it’s not overly thick despite the 5,000mAh battery. It supports fast charging up to 25W, but you will need your own charger.

The Galaxy M53 5G runs Android 12 with Samsung’s OneUI 4.1 tweaks.

You get a side-mounted fingerprint scanner built into the power button. Easy to reach and convenient to unlock your phone. The Samsung Galaxy M53 5G has a flat back and the camera module in the top left corner looks like it’s rising off the surface without any sharp edges. The camera setup on the Galaxy M53 5G consists of a 108MP main camera, an 8MP ultra-wide camera, a 2MP macro camera, and a 2MP depth camera. The flash is located directly below the module. I noticed that the back panel picks up stains easily, forcing me to constantly wipe it down for that clean look.

The Samsung Galaxy M53 5G is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 900 SoC and has a vapor cooling system for temperature control. OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G (review) also uses the same SoC and can be considered a competitor to the Galaxy M53 5G. Samsung also offers the RAM Plus feature, which allows up to 8GB of memory to be dedicated as virtual RAM on the top-end variant.

Samsung Galaxy M53 5G runs Android 12 out of the box with Samsung OneUI 4.1 skin. My test unit had the March 2022 Android security patch installed. Samsung’s user interface looks polished and easy to use. Even if you haven’t used a Samsung smartphone lately, you should be able to get used to the menus and layout without too much trouble. You can also set up Samsung cloud storage service through your Samsung account for backup and other ecosystem features.

The quad-camera module looks like it’s been melted into the back panel.

The Samsung Galaxy M53 5G comes with several Samsung and Google apps preinstalled. It also has a lot of malware, some of which can bombard you with spam notifications. You can simply uninstall the apps you won’t be using to reduce the clutter.

During my limited time with the Samsung Galaxy M53 5G, I found the overall performance to be good. It showed no signs of lag and could keep up with my usage. At the moment I can say Rs. from 25,000 to rupees. There are some promising phones in the $30,000 price segment and the Galaxy M53 5G should be a good addition. However, the only way to know for sure if it’s worth it or not is to review it, which I’ll be doing shortly, so stay tuned for the full review coming soon to Gadgets 360 only.