Please Help Me Choose between Samsung Galaxy A52s or Xperia 5 iii

starbearer on 06/08/2022 - 15:31

Hi All,

My >3 year old Note 9 is now showing signs of ageing. Its cosmetically fine and display is still great but the battery doesn't last more than half a day. It has also gotten a bit slow and can't handle more than a few apps.

There are a few features in a phone which are non-negotiable for me:

  • Dual SIM (can be hybrid)
  • 3.5mm headphone jack
  • NFC (not fussed about wireless charging)
  • >8GB RAM
  • 256 GB storage
  • 5G support good to have

Unfortunately the above means that all of the latest iPhones, Samsung flagships, Oppo's and Huawei's go out of consideration.

I used GSMarena's Phone Finder with the above criteria and it came up with the 2 devices listed in the title. Here's a specs comparison: https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=11039&idPhone…

Due to the requirements, both of these phones will have to be grey imports, since Samsung doesn't sell Dual SIM's here in Aus and sony, well, doesn't sell phones, so local warranty again is out of consideration.

The Xperia is more expensive but it has a better camera, better processor, USB 3.1. The Samsung will have updates for a longer time but has quite a bit of bloat.

What would you guys recommend?

Mobile Mobile Phone Samsung Sony Android

Comments

  • Muzeeb on 06/08/2022 - 16:18
    +1

    Xperia 5 iii

    Sony have pulled out of the mobile phone market in Australia so it would have to be a grey import which has many other issues in itself.

    • starbearer on 06/08/2022 - 16:55

      Yep, already addressed in my OP:

      Due to the requirements, both of these phones will have to be grey imports, since Samsung doesn't sell Dual SIM's here in Aus and sony, well, doesn't sell phones, so local warranty again is out of consideration.

      • Muzeeb on 06/08/2022 - 17:23
        +1

        That makes sense. Cheers

  • CyberMurning on 06/08/2022 - 16:22

    Samsung a series are lower level grade.
    Get s

    • starbearer on 06/08/2022 - 16:56
      +1

      None of the S series meets all of my non-negotiables.

  • Islund on 06/08/2022 - 16:48

    Why do phone makers do not sell dual sim phones in Australia?

    Is that part of the arsetailhea tax?

    • starbearer on 06/08/2022 - 16:57

      This infuriates me to no end. A lot of the phones sold here HAVE Dual SIM variants but no idea why the companies here don't wanna sell them here.

  • bazingaa on 06/08/2022 - 17:30

    Samsung doesn't sell Dual SIM's

    isn't there dual sim samsungs with esiim + physical sim ? pretty sure S22 is like that.

    • starbearer on 06/08/2022 - 17:49

      yea, and I would've gotten them if they had headphone jacks.

    • Muzeeb on 06/08/2022 - 18:19

      Samsung A71 has dual Sim and a headphone jack

      • starbearer on 06/08/2022 - 18:39

        yea, I came across it, but it's a 2 year old phone. very doubtful it will receive any further security updates, let alone software updates.

        • Muzeeb on 06/08/2022 - 19:03
          +1

          It's in line for android 13

  • deviante on 06/08/2022 - 22:25
    +1

    Have 5 iii. Strongly recommend. Can get decent deals on it online now too.
    It's amazing. Simple, unpretentious phone with no compromises, still small.
    No notch, has 3.5 mm jack, has SD slot / dual SIM hybrid, has dual front-firing speakers, has good battery for sd888 and some cool battery management software.
    Only imperfection in my view is the camera bump — but that's unfortunately ubiquitous these days.

    • starbearer on 06/08/2022 - 22:55

      Thanks so much for your response! The camera bump is a non-issue for me honestly. I'll be putting the spigen case rugged armor on this.

      I have a few questions for you if you don't mind:
      - Where did you buy it from and what price if I may ask?
      - What's the battery like? Does it last a full 24 hours?
      - How are the automatic shots from the camera app? Have you installed any other camera apps apart from the out of the box ones?
      - Any other nitpicks?

      • deviante on 06/08/2022 - 23:05
        +1
        • ebay first week after release, $US1014. it's now $US615 from same seller!! https://www.ebay.com/itm/194489164061?hash=item2d4875211d:g:…
        • battery lasts me 2-3 days from 80%-20%. SOT ~8 hours. but I'm a miser and disabled some cores because I don't game / need the full power of the chipset
        • camera is very natural, not much processing on the images, which I like but may not be to everyone's taste. I installed a gcam port but prefer the native camera app. I used it on program mode.
        • screen gets nice and dim (good for bedtime study/reading) but people have complained it doesn't get as bright as other brands'. doesn't bother me a single bit since as above, i'm a miser and prefer not to use OLED too much in direct sunlight as i suspect direct sun will damage the screen
        • it was definitely a fiddle to get VoLTE working, but i got it working on an optus mvno by flashing SEA firmware and tweaking a couple of settings (relatively straightforward)
        • starbearer on 06/08/2022 - 23:12

          Awesome! Thanks so much.
          Kogan/dick Smith is also selling it about the same price but most likely it will have SEA/AU firmware pre-installed

  • blwnhr on 07/08/2022 - 08:20

    Make sure whichever you buy works on the transmission bands for your carrier. It's all good to say 4G, but they're are different bands, some phones work, some don't.

    Also, I have an A-series Samsung as a work phone, not sure which model. It's junk. So slow to the point of being unusable. It was bought new for me 10 months ago, I've cleaned everything off it and disabled all the pre-installed bloatware. It's used for email and phone calls and it's useless at that.

    I'm comparing the experience to my personal Galaxy S20 which is still going strong.

    If you can find a dual sim S-series I would absolutely buy that.

    • starbearer on 07/08/2022 - 16:00

      yea, both support Band 28 on 4G and Band 28 on 5G which are the predominant bands used here in Aus.

  • RMBC on 07/08/2022 - 12:53

    Would a usb c to 3.5mm adapter work? That will open up your options hugely

    Honestly, you get used to not having it. I used the adaptors for ages, just left it attached to my headphones, but have since moved to Bluetooth

    More of a pain for me is the lack of sd card slots these days, but at least cloud storage somewhat helps

    • starbearer on 07/08/2022 - 16:04

      I know, but I want to vote with my wallet. I refuse to pay for a phone which doesn't give me the features I want.

      Plus, what if I want to charge my phone and have a long phone call at the same time which needs handsfree?

      I've got bluetooth earphones as well as headphones both and I really can't be stuffed making sure they're charged.

      And don't even get me started on dongles, I know I will lose them.

  • User0001 on 07/08/2022 - 14:33

    ZenFone 9 meets your criteria. It is not currently available for purchase in Australia yet though.

    • starbearer on 07/08/2022 - 16:05

      Thanks! will check it out.

  • FarWestside on 09/08/2022 - 18:43
    +1

    I bought A52s 5g dual sim (hybrid) via Dick Smith about 5 months ago, had no probs with sale (10 days del.) or phone, overseas model yes (HK), came with gel case & screen protector.

    • starbearer on 09/08/2022 - 20:52

      Thanks so much for commenting.

      Few questions, if you don't mind:
      - how's the vibration motor? I usually keep the phone on silent and I've read reports online saying it's very weak.
      - also hows the speaker?
      - battery life?
      - finally, is there a "dual messenger" option? It's there on my Note 9 and it's so useful.

  • illumination on 08/09/2022 - 13:44

    What did you end up getting?

    • starbearer on 08/09/2022 - 15:18
      +1

      I was convinced with Xperia 5 III and was saving up for it. But Xperia 5 IV has been announced now and should be available in a month or so. So I'm thinking if its worth waiting or pull the trigger on III

    • starbearer on 08/09/2022 - 23:43

      Are you in the same boat or have other options that you've found?

      • illumination on 24/10/2022 - 13:08
        +1

        Sorry for the late reply!

        My wife was getting it as a gift for her brother - they weren't tossing up between the A52s and another device, but rather, they were just after a device in that price range. I don't think the Xperia 5 iii was on their radar.

        In the end, they ended up getting the A52s. Seems like a reasonably solid device?

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