Which is the best premium mid-range flagship of the two?
The premium mid-range segment has quite a handful of smartphones and this year we saw many launches specifically in this segment from manufacturers like Xiaomi, Realme, OnePlus, POCO, and Samsung. The premium mid-range segment saw many budget flagship smartphones that provide great performance and features which is very close to what a normal flagship offers.
The Samsung Galaxy A52s (Review) is one of the best options here as it has almost all the premium features found on a flagship like a 120Hz AMOLED display, a powerful Snapdragon 778G chipset that supports 5G, a good set of quad cameras, and also this is the only smartphone to have an IP67 rating. But it is priced quite a premium compared to other smartphones of the premium mid-range segment.
On the other hand, we have the OnePlus Nord 2 (Review) which has been quite popular as it sports a 90Hz AMOLED display, a flagship Mediatek Dimensity 1200 chipset with support of 5G, a good triple camera setup and has faster 65W charging. OnePlus Nord 2 is also the first smartphone from OnePlus that runs on OxygenOS which is merged with ColorOS codebase.
So with the Samsung branding and a premium price, should you consider the Samsung Galaxy A52s or shall you settle with the slightly cheaper and cleaner OnePlus Nord 2 and go for the OnePlus moniker? Let’s find out in the full comparison.
Samsung Galaxy A52s vs OnePlus Nord 2 Design:
In terms of design, both the Galaxy A52s and the OnePlus Nord 2 look premium but there are some differences. The OnePlus Nord 2 has a slight curve around the sides which makes it easier to hold compared to the Galaxy A52s that feels flat and a very slight curve is present. The OnePlus Nord 2 is slightly smaller as the Galaxy A52s has a larger screen size.
The Galaxy A52s has a polycarbonate back with a matte finish that feels premium in hand and does not catch many fingerprints. The camera module is rectangular that houses quad cameras with a LED flashlight. Though having a polycarbonate back, Samsung has provided an IP67 rating making it dust and water-resistant. The display of the Galaxy A52s has Gorilla Glass 5 for protection.
The OnePlus Nord 2, on the other hand, feels premium as it has a glass sandwich design both at the front as well as on the back both of which are protected by Gorilla Glass 5. The back of the OnePlus Nord 2 has a rectangular camera setup which has triple cameras with an LED flashlight. Here OnePlus has provided P2i coating only.
Both have a plastic frame around the sides, where both have the power button and the volume buttons and here OnePlus gets an additional alert slider to control sound profiles. The bottom has the USB Type-C port, a primary microphone, and loudspeaker grille on both, and Galaxy A52s gets a 3.5mm headphone jack which the OnePlus Nord 2 does not have.
Both smartphones weigh around 189 grams but are 8.4mm thick. The OnePlus Nord 2 gets a dual SIM card slot with no microSD card slot and the Galaxy A52s gets a hybrid slot. So overall it all depends on personal preference as the Galaxy A52s has a polycarbonate back which feels slightly cheaper compared to the glass back on the OnePlus Nord 2 but it does get an IP67 rating which the OnePlus Nord 2 lacks.
Samsung Galaxy A52s vs OnePlus Nord 2 Display:
Both the Galaxy A52s and the OnePlus Nord 2 have AMOLED displays with the Galaxy A52s having a slightly larger screen size of 6.5-inches compared to 6.43-inches on the OnePlus Nord 2. The OnePlus Nord 2 has a 90Hz refresh rate whereas the Galaxy A52s has a 120Hz refresh rate and also it has a higher touch sampling rate of 240Hz compared to 180Hz on the OnePlus Nord 2.
Both have single punch-hole displays with minimum bezels around with the Galaxy A52s having a slightly thicker bezel at the bottom. In terms of color reproduction, both these AMOLED panels have good color reproduction and viewing angles but the color looks slightly warmer on the Galaxy A52s compared to the cooler tone on the OnePlus Nord 2.
The OnePlus Nord 2 has slightly higher brightness levels as it can go as high as 1300nits compared to 800nits on the Galaxy A52s. Both these displays have good visibility under direct sunlight but the one on the OnePlus Nord 2 is slightly better. You can set the color temperature on both though. Both these displays have support for Widevine L1 and HDR10 so streaming videos from OTT platforms and Youtube is a breeze.
Both have optical in-display fingerprint scanners where OnePlus Nord 2 is slightly faster. So in terms of display, the Galaxy A52s has a higher refresh rate but the difference is very minor when compared to the 90Hz display of the OnePlus Nord 2. The OnePlus Nord 2 has better brightness levels and a faster fingerprint scanner. So the display is a personal preference as both of them are great for media consumption.
Samsung Galaxy A52s vs OnePlus Nord 2 Performance:
The Galaxy A52s is powered by the Snapdragon 778G chipset which is a powerful chipset from Qualcomm whereas the OnePlus Nord 2 has the flagship chipset from Mediatek i.e. Mediatek Dimensity 1200 chipset. Both these chipsets are very much popular as they are found in many premium mid-range smartphones.
Both smartphones can handle all tasks with ease whether it is heavy multi-tasking or rendering videos. However, in terms of app opening/closing speeds, both are equally fast but in some areas, the OnePlus Nord 2 feels slightly faster. Both smartphones run all heavy games like Call Of Duty Mobile, BGMI, etc. at the highest graphics settings without any stutter or lags.
BGMI can run with Ultra+ HDR settings as well as Smooth + Extreme both but after long hours of gaming, the back of the OnePlus Nord 2 does feel slightly warmer compared to the Galaxy A52s. There is no dedicated liquid or vapor cooling on each of these. In terms of 5G support, the Galaxy A52s has more than 11 bands of 5G compared to 6 bands of 5G on the OnePlus Nord 2.
In CPU throttling tests, the Galaxy A52s has better sustained performance and also it throttles lesser compared to the OnePlus Nord 2 as with Mediatek Dimensity 1200 heats quite a bit thus resulting in ups and downs in CPU throttling tests. But when it comes to benchmarks like Antutu v8, Geekbench 5.1, the OnePlus Nord 2 scores higher compared to the Galaxy A52s but in daily scenarios, there is no difference in performance as such.
When it comes to storage, OnePlus Nord 2 is available in three configurations where the base storage starts from 8GB RAM and 128GB storage and the higher variant has 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. The Galaxy A52s has only two variants 6/8GB RAM with 128GB storage. The OnePlus Nord 2 has faster UFS 3.1 speeds compared to UFS 2.1 on the Galaxy A52s. The RAM is LPDDR4X on both.
Samsung Galaxy A52s vs OnePlus Nord 2 Software:
The Galaxy A52s runs on OneUI 3.1 with Android 11 whereas the OnePlus Nord 2 runs on OxygenOS 11.3 out of the box and has Android 11. Both these custom skins provide customizations and Samsung provides some very good features like Good Lock Security, Knox Security, Samsung Pay, etc. The OnePlus Nord 2 is the first smartphone to run on OxygenOS which has the codebase of ColorOS.
Samsung’s OneUI has quite a handful of bloatware that can be uninstalled but sometimes there are frequent ads present and constant notifications from Samsung-specific applications feel cumbersome to use. However, Samsung is working on a software update in removing the bloatware which seems to be the right path. With OxygenOS, there is no bloatware present or no third-party applications pre-installed except Netflix.
Though the OnePlus Nord 2 is running on OxygenOS, it has many features similar to ColorOS like the camera application, some settings, and also the Personalization feature. This helps it achieve faster and more stable updates as the OnePlus Nord 2 is slated to get another two years of OS updates and three years of security patches.
Samsung goes one step ahead for the Galaxy A52s which will get another three major Android updates and four years of security patches. So clearly, the software is also a personal preference so if you want some Samsung features like Knox Security, Samsung Pay, etc., and better updates, then go for the Galaxy A52s despite the bloatware and if you want a cleaner software experience, then OnePlus Nord 2 is a perfect choice.
Samsung Galaxy A52s vs OnePlus Nord 2 Cameras:
The cameras are quite different on both smartphones where the OnePlus Nord 2 has a triple camera setup that consists of a 50MP Sony IMX766 sensor for the main camera, an 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera, and a 2MP depth camera. There is a 32MP camera on the front of the OnePlus Nord 2. The Galaxy A52s has a quad-camera setup that has a 64MP f/1.8 main camera, a 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera, a 2MP macro, and a depth camera. The Galaxy A52s gets a 32MP front camera also.
The images from the main camera come out good on both but the Galaxy A52s has slightly better color saturation and the dynamic range is wider compared to the OnePlus Nord 2. The OnePlus Nord 2, on the other hand, has some noise which is very less on the Galaxy A52s. The images from the OnePlus Nord 2 do suffer from oversharpening at times compared to the Galaxy A52s. The details look equally sharper on both.
Shot on Galaxy A52s
Shot on OnePlus Nord 2
When it comes to night, things change for the OnePlus Nord 2 as the images have better color saturation and sharper looking details with very little noise compared to the Galaxy A52s. But the field of view is wider on the Galaxy A52s. The Galaxy A52s does improve and comes closer to the OnePlus Nord 2 when you turn the dedicated Night Mode that does improve color saturation and also the dynamic range but does crop in some subjects.
Without Night Mode:
Shot on Galaxy A52s
Shot on OnePlus Nord 2
With Night Mode:
Shot on Galaxy A52s
Shot on OnePlus Nord 2
The OnePlus Nord 2 outshines the Galaxy A52s when it comes to very low-light images as it handles noise very well and improves the highlights in shadows with the dedicated Night Mode compared to the Galaxy A52s. So low-light or images were taken during the night, the OnePlus Nord 2 holds the edge but when it comes to daylight images, the Galaxy A52s is the clear one to choose.
The 12MP ultrawide camera on the Galaxy A52s has a larger 123-degree field of view compared to the 119-degree field of view on the OnePlus Nord 2. The Galaxy A52s has sharper looking details and a better dynamic range compared to the OnePlus Nord 2 where the images have softer details and more noise. There is quite some distortion present around the edges in the images taken from the OnePlus Nord 2.
Shot on Galaxy A52s
Shot on OnePlus Nord 2
The ultrawide images are taken from both during night come out better on the Galaxy A52s as it has a wider field of view compared to the OnePlus Nord 2 and also noise is less on the Galaxy A52s. The OnePlus Nord 2 has better contrast though but when you zoom into the images, the details look softer whereas the Galaxy A52s has slightly sharper looking details.
Shot on Galaxy A52s
Shot on OnePlus Nord 2
The Galaxy A52s gets a dedicated 5MP macro camera that takes images with good details and dynamic range. There is noise present and the colors look oversaturated. The OnePlus Nord 2, on the other hand, misses out on the macro camera but for the macro shot, you can use that main camera by doing a 2x zoom which results in good macro images but still, the dedicated macro camera on the Galaxy A52s goes very closer to a subject.
Shot on Galaxy A52s
Shot on OnePlus Nord 2
The 2MP depth sensor on both help in good portraits but the Galaxy A52s has more natural-looking skin tones and better dynamic range compared to that of the OnePlus Nord 2. On the OnePlus Nord 2, there is some oversharpening in the background and also when you zoom into the portraits, there is quite some noise present. Though both have good edge detection background blur is better on the Galaxy A52s.
On the front, in terms of selfies both have 32MP cameras where dynamic range is better on the Galaxy A52s with less noise in the background and skin tones look natural with slightly better contrast than the OnePlus Nord 2 which takes good details but there is some skin smoothening present and also even in portraits, there is oversharpening present.
In terms of videos, both the Galaxy A52s and OnePlus Nord 2 can record 4K videos at 30fps from the rear main camera. The video output has a good dynamic range on both but color saturation is better on the Galaxy A52s and the details look sharper also. However, the OnePlus Nord 2 has a better dynamic range and stabilization as OIS works well at 4K whereas the OIS works only at 1080p on the Galaxy A52s.
At 1080p at 60fps, the Galaxy A52s takes videos with OIS turned on and these videos have a much better dynamic range and details look sharper compared to the OnePlus Nord 2. In terms of videos taken during the night, the OnePlus Nord 2 is better as the OIS works well in videos with a better dynamic range and less noise compared to the Galaxy A52s.
The Galaxy A52s can even record 4K videos at 30fps from the ultrawide camera whereas OnePlus Nord 2 is restricted only to 1080p at 30fps. The video footage on the Galaxy A52s has a better dynamic range with less noise and a wider field of view. The videos from the OnePlus Nord 2 simply have more noise and the details look softer with distortion around the edges.
The Galaxy A52s can record 4K videos at 30fps whereas the OnePlus Nord 2 can record only up to 1080p videos at 30fps. The videos from the Galaxy A52s apply the heavy crop to maintain less noise and also it has better dynamic range and skin tones look natural. However, the OnePlus Nord 2 gets EIS that provides better stabilization in videos which is simply missing on the Galaxy A52s which has more noise.
Samsung Galaxy A52s vs OnePlus Nord 2 Battery Life:
Both the Galaxy A52s and the OnePlus Nord 2 have a 4500mAh battery which can easily last for two days with normal usage on each of them and in terms of heavy usage, with the display set to their higher refresh rate, the Galaxy A52s had a slight advantage with a slightly better screen on time. The average screen on time was around 5-6 hours on the OnePlus Nord 2 whereas it was around 6-7 hours on the Galaxy A52s.
The Mediatek Dimensity 1200 does heat up a bit compared to the Snapdragon 778G chipset which leads to battery drain quite a bit, so marginally the Galaxy A52s is better in terms of battery life. When it comes to charging speeds, the OnePlus Nord 2 holds the clear advantage as it gets a faster 65W Warp Charger inside the box that takes the smartphone from 0 to 100 percent within 40 minutes.
The Galaxy A52s, on the other hand, has support for 25W fast charging but Samsung does not provide the 25W fast charger inside the box and instead, you get a 15W fast charger only which takes it from 0 to 100 percent around 1hour 40 minutes which is a very long duration but with the 25W fast charger it takes 1 hour 20 minutes so clearly, in terms of battery life and charging speeds, the OnePlus Nord 2 holds the edge.
Samsung Galaxy A52s vs OnePlus Nord 2 Audio Quality:
Both the Galaxy A52s and OnePlus Nord 2 have stereo speakers where the audio quality is very good on both but the OnePlus Nord 2 sounds slightly better and the sound is clearer than the Galaxy A52s at the highest volume settings. But the OnePlus Nord 2 misses out on a 3.5mm headphone jack which the Galaxy A52s has.
Verdict:
Both the Galaxy A52s and OnePlus Nord 2 are very good smartphones in the premium mid-range segment. There are some similarities as well as a lot of differences. Both have 120Hz AMOLED displays, powerful chipsets, support 5G, and also there is OIS for both the rear cameras. When it comes to price, the Galaxy A52s is priced slightly higher compared to the OnePlus Nord 2.
In terms of build and design, the OnePlus Nord 2 has a glass design that is premium compared to the Galaxy A52s has a polycarbonate back, a slightly powerful chipset for gaming, and daily performance compared to the Galaxy A52s but there is no difference much. The low-light performance on the OnePlus Nord 2 is better compared to the Galaxy A52s. The speakers are better on the OnePlus Nord 2.
The OnePlus Nord 2 provides a cleaner software experience of the two with no bloatware and ads. The charging speeds are also faster on the OnePlus Nord so it holds the clear edge in battery life. It also has a slightly better audio experience. It has even faster UFS 3.1 storage speeds and offers 12GB RAM with 256GB storage compared to the Galaxy A52s which has 8GB RAM and 128GB storage as a higher variant.
The Galaxy A52s, on the other hand, provides an IP67 rating making it dust and water-resistant, has a 3.5mm headphone jack, and also has a much better camera and video capabilities compared to the OnePlus Nord 2 as you get better daylight images, a better ultrawide camera, a macro camera, support for 4K video recording from the front camera, etc.
It also has more 5G bands and there is no heating after long hours of gaming due to the highly stable Snapdragon 778G chipset. Though there is bloatware, the Galaxy A52s provides a good feature-rich software experience and has the upper hand when it comes to Android OS and security patches. So the question is should you consider the OnePlus Nord 2 or go for the slightly premium Galaxy A52s?
If gaming performance, low-light camera images, a cleaner software experience with premium build and design are your preferences then the OnePlus Nord 2 is a perfect buy and is a value for money option compared to the Galaxy A52s but if cameras are your highest priority, want IP67 rating and faster updates with more features in the software, then the Galaxy A52s is the better option.