Above: Samsung’s new A72 smartphone. Photo courtesy Samsung.

Today, Samsung Electronics launched new versions of its Galaxy A line of smartphones, the A52 and A72.
Previously positioned as lifestyle devices with a reduced feature-set and cheaper build quality than the premium Galaxy S series phones, the A series are a sweetspot for users looking for a subset of the cutting edge features of the S series at a more affordable price.

The online launch event pushed further into a niche for Galaxy A devices, describing the devices as being suitable for “influencers harnessing the Power of We.”

There was no presenter that appeared to be older than 35 and most were definitely in their twenties. Samsung emphasised both youth and diversity in the presenters and models, all of whom were depicted as using their A52 and A72 phones with style and verve, supported by gleaming silver Galaxy earbuds plugged firmly in their ears.

The music for the event was driven by growling electronica beats and the repeated refrain, “awesome camera, awesome screen, awesome battery life.”

The Galaxy A series, Samsung said, was the most popular family of devices among Android devices in 2020.

The new devices inherit the multi-camera bump of the earlier A series upgraded with some of the features in the new S21 series devices. The A72 has a fourth 3X telephoto camera added to the array.

As with the S series, the new A series also offers compatibility with XBox Game pass for cloud based gaming.
The announced featureset included optical image stabilization for the camera system a two-day battery, IP67 water resistance and support for MicroSD cards up to 1TB.