Review: Galaxy A33 after 2 Years
In March of 2022, Samsung had the Awseome Unpacked where they unveiled and launched the Galaxy A33 and Galaxy A53 5G. And I decided to get the device, turned out that it's a great device, I got it with some offers at INR 25K, its MRP is INR 35K.
Overview:
Galaxy A33 (SM-A336E) is a mid-range smartphone launched by Samsung in March of 2022. It is an A series device, specifically, A3x, successor to Galaxy A32. The Galaxy A series is known to have the best of One UI and Samsung experience, fewer compromises, and more features. And having that legacy, yes Galaxy A33 comes with the best of One UI and Samsung experience without draining your wallet. It comes with great cameras, a great display, plenty of storage, lots of RAM for multitasking, and the full One UI experience. It also integrates with the Samsung Ecosystem.
Specs:
The Specifications of the device are as follows:
- CPU: Samsung Exynos 1280 (5nm).
- FHD+ 90Hz sAMOLED Display. Size: 6.4 Inches
- 48MP Main (Sony IMX 582) with OIS, 26mm, 1/2", f/1.8
- 8MP Ultra Wide, 13mm, f/2.2
- 5MP Macro, 25mm, f/2.4
- 5MP Depth Sensor, f/2.4
- 13MP Front Camera
- 25W Super Fast Charging
- USB C - USB 2.0
- 6/8GB LPDDR4X RAM and 128/256GB UFS 2.2 ROM.
- 5000 mAh battery (Li-ion)
Design:
Galaxy A33 comes with the now-classic Galaxy A series design, it has a polycarbonate back with a camera bump at the top-left corner, a rounded body, and a flat display, sizing 6.4 inches making it a comfortable, small, and compact phone. Its display has a U-shaped notch but it is a gorgeous sAMOLED screen.
The Back: I have the peach color.
Display:
The display is a 6.4-inch, sAMOLED display, has very good natural colors, is vibrant, and has a 90Hz refresh rate for a smooth experience. It does not support HDR or Dolby Vision.
This display has a peak brightness of 600nits, enough bright to be visible under the sun clearly. It has an on-display optical fingerprint scanner for quick and secure unlocks.
Performance:
The device is powered by Exynos 1280 and if you run a AUTUTU Test it scores 479700. Rest its performance feels smooth in day-to-day usage and won't disappoint you with multi-tasking and some heavy usage. It is not much of a gaming phone, it has graphite cooling and can play games with smooth graphics at 30FPS. It does not support 90FPS mode as of now.
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This was run on it, running Android 14-based One UI 6.1.
Camera:
It has great cameras, the main camera takes good photos in Daylight and artificial lighting, but it struggles a bit in low-light conditions.
The main camera is great, It can click very natural shots, and it has good quality. it has good highlight, shadow, exposure, and HDR control. It can take some good night shots too. skin tones are also very natural, with no issues. Portraits are also very good. it supports 48MP mode and 2x lossless zoom.
The Ultra Wide is also good, I didn't use it much, but can be used to get some unique POVs.
The Macro can be used to get some good macros and close-ups.
I don't take many videos but I can tell you, the videos are also good. Supports up to 4K 30FPS on the Main and Front cameras.
The camera app is loaded with many features. It has Pro mode for both Photos and Videos which is great.
Here are some camera samples, Judge yourself!
I have a lot more pics but can't add too many 😅 because I click too much. Most of them are clicked by the Main camera, only a few are UW and some night shots.
I would say "The Cameras are so good, that I can't stop clicking!"
Over time with updates, the camera has improved a lot, and the highlight control and HDR have improved a lot.
Software:
it came out of the box with One UI 4.1 based on Android 12. It has 4x OS and 5x Security updates promised, as of now it's running One UI 6.1 based on Android 14.
With One UI 6.1, things have improved a lot, so many new features, improvements, and optimizations and it's smooth to use now.
Comes with a full One UI, and has almost all features.
Has a screen recorder and Good Lock (All modules, except S pen ones not supported).
And Samsung Ecosystem features also work!
Battery:
it has a 5000mAh battery, easily lasts a day, and gives 5h SOT. And 25W super fast charging goes 0-100% in about 1 Hour 30 minutes.
The battery is really good, you can binge-watch movies and play games without worrying much.
I was not using the device because I use my laptop more so the graph is like that.
Speakers:
The device has stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support for a really good sound experience, those are loud, clear, and sound great.
Both speakers are almost equally loud, one is near the charging port and one is at the top near the front camera.
It also has a dual microphone for noise canceling during calls and voice recording using the Voice Focus feature. It also supports Bixby text call which is a great feature.
Network:
Talking of network, it is a 5G Phone, that supports 2G/3G/4G/5G, VoLTE, and VoNR, and supports carrier aggregation (4G+/LTE+). The network reception is great and it mostly stays on 5G at all times, with no network drops.
Calling is also good, no call drops and no issues, voice quality is also good.
Wi-Fi reception is good and no issues with Bluetooth devices and Audio.
it supports SBC, AAC, LDHC, Qualcomm APTx HD, LDAC, and SBC codes.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, it's a great phone.
Galaxy A33 5G is an Awesome phone that carries the legacy of The Awseome Galaxy A. It has an Awesome Battery, Awesome Cameras, Awesome Display, Awesome Design and Awesome Software!
The device was really good for its time.
My thoughts as a summary:
"The display is gorgeous and has really good color production and 90Hz refresh rate makes it feel smooth"
"The cameras are really good, I really love the quality of the main cameras and I cannot stop clicking"
"The battery is really long, gets me through an entire day without worrying ever and Charging is really fast"
"The build quality is very solid and the Gorilla Glass on the display is really strong"
At the end:
Awesome is for everyone!
