Galaxy A53 5G and A33 5G, Samsung’s newest additions to the Galaxy A-series, are competent mid-range competitors. The Galaxy A53 5G is a superior smartphone, and it’s available for $450, making it an excellent value. As we noted in our Galaxy A53 5G hands-on article, it competes with Apple’s 2022 iPhone SE model as a fantastic mid-range alternative in the United States. Galaxy A33 5G, on the other hand, has fewer features but still excels on paper, particularly given its pricing.
Because the Galaxy A33 5G won’t be available in the United States, the Galaxy A53 5G is the only option if you want to purchase one of these phones here. We’ve put up a brief comparison to see how the two phones match up against each other for those of you making your purchase from outside the United States or just interested.
The quality of the design and construction
In terms of design and build quality, both the Galaxy A53 5G and the Galaxy A33 5G have a lot in common with each other. In order to keep the screens safe, they’re both made of plastic and covered in Gorilla Glass 5. Both feature the same textured back panel on the rear and a very similar back design. With just a sliver of a variation, the general design is the same. Both phones are 8.1mm thick, however, the Galaxy A53 5G weighs 189 grams less than the Galaxy A33 5G (which weighs 186 grams).
When seen from the front, there is a tiny difference between the two. Galaxy A33 5G features somewhat wider bezels on the front with a noticeable chin at the bottom of its screen. As with the A53 5G, the A33 5G’s front-facing camera is housed in a teardrop notch, rather than a punch-hole cutout. As you grow acclimated to the front design, this isn’t always a deal-breaker. However, if we had to select only one, we’d go with the Galaxy A53 5G, mostly because the front of the device appears cleaner and more contemporary.
The Galaxy A53 5G and the Galaxy A33 5G both have the IP67 classification for dust and water resistance, which means that they are both protected from occasional sprays of water and dust.. At the bottom of both phones, there’s a USB Type-C connector, but there’s no headphone jack either. While the absence of a headphone port on flagships may not be a deal-breaker, it is something that many customers in this price range miss. The lack of a 3.5mm headphone port on both of these gadgets is a step backward in our opinion, given their predecessors had one.
Despite this, we believe the A53 5G and the A33 5G are well-designed and well-built devices. There are better-looking and better-built phones in this price range, but we’d take the A53 5G any day.
Display
The display of the Galaxy A53 5G is better than that of the Galaxy A33 5G in two crucial areas. With a 6.5-inch display, the Galaxy A53 5G is somewhat bigger than its predecessor. A 6.4-inch display is found in the Galaxy A33 5G. Although it’s not much, it’s worth noting. Because they both have a Super AMOLED display, anticipate them to be on par in terms of quality. Both phones have the same screen resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels. As a result of its smaller size, the Galaxy A33 5G has more pixels per inch, but their clarity is practically comparable.
Up to 120Hz refresh rate is supported by the Galaxy A53 5G’s display. This is compared to the A33 5G’s maximum frequency of 90Hz. Is this a noteworthy distinction? No, not at all. If you compare them side by side, you’ll see a difference; otherwise, you won’t. Apart from that, the difference between 90Hz and 120Hz will be less obvious than the difference between 60Hz and 120Hz.
In terms of durability, the displays on both phones are covered by Gorilla Glass 5, making them comparable. The A33 5G features bigger bezels and a teardrop notch, whilst the A53 5G has slimmer bezels and a punch-hole cutout, giving it a more contemporary appearance.
Cameras
Because the Galaxy A53 5G and Galaxy A33 5G have different optics, there are now even more distinctions to be made. The A53 5G has a quad-camera arrangement with a 64-megapixel primary camera, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide sensor, and two 5-megapixel macro and depth sensors. It has a 48MP primary camera, an 8MP ultra-wide camera, a 5MP depth sensor, and a 2MP macro lens on the A33 5G. On the surface, both phones have a similar camera configuration. The A53 5G has somewhat superior optics on the specifications list. There is a 32MP camera in the Galaxy A53 5G, whereas the A33 5G has a 13MP camera.
In the meanwhile, we have some images taken with the Galaxy A53 5G’s camera that we’d like to share with you. The Galaxy A53 5G, which we reviewed in-depth in our hands-on, is a capable camera that can produce high-quality Instagram images. There’s a nice primary camera, and there’s also a decent ultra-wide camera. However, even if the night images aren’t of the highest quality, they might be useful as examples.
Because Samsung has utilized different optics in the Galaxy A33 5G camera configuration, it’s difficult to predict if the results would be comparable. It’s not always true that more megapixels equal better photographs, but it’s a lovely picture when comparing two phones from the same manufacturer who is likely to have the same processing prowess for their cameras. Both phones are capable of recording 4K videos at a frame rate of up to 30fps.
Once we’ve got an opportunity to utilize them side by side for a good camera battle, we’ll attempt to revisit this comparison. For the time being, we prefer the camera of the Galaxy A53 5G over the A33 5G.
Internal hardware
In both the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G and the Samsung Galaxy A33 5G, the Exynos 1280 CPU is in use. The 5nm node was used to build this mid-range octa-core chipset. It has two high-performance Cortex-A78 processors operating at 2.4GHz and two power-efficient Cortex-A55 processors.
The graphical workload is handled by the Mali-G68 GPU. Although this is a significant downgrade from the Snapdragon 778G found in the Galaxy A52s 5G, the battery life will be much improved. With the 5nm manufacturing node, the Exynos 1280 is an energy-efficient processor. However, given both phones in our comparison are powered by the same processor, you shouldn’t anticipate any noticeable difference in performance.
Both the Galaxy A53 5G and the A33 5G come standard with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage in their most basic configurations. The 8GB + 256GB version for both phones is also available, of course, for a higher price. A MicroSD card may also be used to expand storage capacity on the A33 5G. If you ever run out of internal storage, you may add up to 1TB of storage to both phones.
Additionally, both devices contain an internal lithium-ion 5,000 mAh battery that supports up to 25W rapid charging. It’s possible that the Galaxy A33 5G’s 90Hz display will give it a little edge in terms of battery life. If you compare this panel to the A53 5G’s 120Hz panel, the battery burden should be reduced marginally. The 5,000 mAh battery on the Galaxy A33 5G is expected to last longer. Refresh rate isn’t going to have as big an impact on battery life as you may think. Both phones do not allow wireless charging, and neither one comes with a charger in the packaging either.
Galaxy A53 5G vs. A33 5G: Which One Should You Buy?
Is this a tight matchup? You may have guessed after reading the whole comparison. In this comparison, there isn’t much of a difference between the two phones. When we compared the Galaxy A53 5G and A52 models, the results were remarkably comparable to this match-up. They all provide a comparable package to compete with the smartphones they’re facing in their various locations, and this shows that Samsung has several alternatives in the mid-range market.
Both the Galaxy A53 5G and the Galaxy A33 5G will get the same degree of software support from Samsung. Up to four major Android upgrades and five years of security updates will be provided to each user. Because both smartphones are running Samsung’s One UI 4.1.1, they are on a similar footing when it comes to software. As a consequence of this comparison, cost and availability are the only factors that will determine the outcome.
It costs $450 to buy the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G in the United States right now. As of this writing, the Galaxy A33 5G isn’t available for purchase in the United States, however, it can be purchased in other countries like the UK for £329, which is about equivalent to $400. The A33 5G is no longer in the running if you’re looking for a mid-range smartphone in the United States. You may either buy the Galaxy A53 5G or one of the several Galaxy A52 devices that are still available in stores. It’s possible to obtain a faster CPU, display, camera, and more for the same price as the A33 5G in the United States with the Galaxy A52s.
That’s what most people outside of the United States conclude as well. Although the A53 5G has a few advantages over the A33 5G, don’t rule out the A33 5G if you don’t need all the bells and whistles, especially if you can get a good price on the A52 models.