The attractive back design and still have IP67 water resistance.
Galaxy A33 inherited almost completely the back design of their “brothers” in the newly launched Galaxy A 2022 family compared to last year’s version of Galaxy A32; instead, this is a great remake.
The display area of the camera cluster stands out with its size, jutting into a seamless bulge and the same color as the entire back. Back of the A33 looks like last year’s A52 and A72 generation, but the camera cluster is made softer and more seamless. New design makes the back of Galaxy A33 look simpler and more elegant while creating an eye-catching and good-looking appearance. The Galaxy A33 version that I got to experience is a blue one; looks pretty fancy.
Likewise, conversion the back of the A33 into a fine matte finish is anti-sweat properties with fingerprints excellent. The back and frame, both plastic but built strong and solid. It offers many other youthful color versions like peach orange, pearl white, and black for you to choose from.
Despite utilizing a huge 5,000 mAh battery, the A33 is really a slim and light device (8.1mm thick and weighs 186g). One-hand comfortable handling makes the device very simple with a logical 6.4-inch screen size.
Of the changes that have occurred concerning connectivity on the Galaxy A33, the 3.5mm audio jack is absent. Thus, if you are one of those who uses a wired headset, prepare an adapter to listen through the device using the USB-C port or switch to true wireless headphones that are pretty much used nowadays. The device still has a microSD card slot that is shared with the SIM 2 slot.
The most valuable point in the design of the Galaxy A33 is that it comes with IP67 water resistance. The device can withstand submerged under 1 meter of water for 30 minutes. It is a feature which normally only high-end models like Note or S offer- was even first offered by Samsung in the mid-range line, the Galaxy A 2017. But in the later A generations, the company began to omit such feature. Last year on A52 and A72, Samsung had reintroduced water and dust resistance on their mid-range gadgets.
Waterproofing isn’t exactly a must-have feature for a phone. For years, most of us have had perfectly usable phones that are not waterproof. Still, in the eventuality that rain falls at a different point in time, it helps the user feel somewhat secure while using it; in high humid conditions, for example, in the shower. Just make sure you don’t try to swim while you’re at it or immerse it like in the commercials, because then you void the warranty if the phone happens to get wet inside.
The Galaxy A33 therefore joins the rest of the mobile market in not having a charger with the device at purchase. Its case or protection for the screen will also not be included. Only available accessories that come with the device are a USB-C 2-headed charging cable, user manual, and SIM stick.
The AMOLED display is bright and fresh; sadly, it still uses a mole.
The screens are the next major upgrades on the Galaxy A33 5G after the introduction of a high refresh rate of 90Hz, Super AMOLED panel, and Full HD + resolution on a 6.4-inch size. Compared with the Galaxy A32 5G, this is a huge improvement as it only has a normal 60Hz refresh rate and HD + resolution LCD panel.
It is the 90Hz refresh rate that makes page scrolling or opening and closing apps and transitions between apps smoother than at the usual 60 Hz frequency, although this cannot be compared with the smoothness of the A53’s 120Hz screen. Bright colors, high contrast, and deep blacks are associated with Super AMOLED panels on the A33. The screen brightness is high enough to look good in sunlight.
What is a minus point on the A33’s screen is that it has only waterdrop instead of the more elegant, more beautiful mole as seen in A53 or A73. However, Samsung has also made great strides in reducing the mole or the border on the sides. The screen border and chassis are also made seamless and tight, but the chin (bottom part of the screen) is still quite thick. There is also no Always On Display screen in the A33 that would give the clock information, date and time, notifications, and battery life even when the screen is off.
At speech price, A33 boasts a dual-speaker system that will work in tandem with Dolby Atmos to facilitate the production of clear sound effects from its multi-channel stereo system. The speakers are powerful enough to kick out intense yet distortion-free sound as much as you set to maximum volume, achieving a perfection which you have listening to music, watching movies, and playing games with.
The optical fingerprint sensor is placed under the screen for good sensitivity and good feedback. However, the fact that Samsung still only allows installing up to 3 fingerprints is still quite inconvenient.
The camera has OIS stabilization, significantly improving low-light photos.
In terms of specifications, there is practically no difference between the A33 5G and the rear camera parameters of the A32 5G last year as there is a set of 4 rear cameras.
– 48 MP main camera with f/1.8 aperture, 26mm focal length, 1/2.0″ sensor, 0.8µm. pixels
– 8 MP ultra-wide-angle camera, f/2.2 aperture, 123˚ viewing angle, 1/4.0″ sensor, 1.12µm pixels
– 5MP macro camera, f/2.4. aperture
– 2MP depth camera, f/2.4. aperture
In front, in the mole section, is still a 13MP selfie camera, f / 2.2 aperture.
OIS optical image stabilization has now kinda become part of the 48 MP main camera inside the A33 5G, so the camera can grab clearer pictures and videos in dim light, and also cut down on the blurring that usually happens from a bit of handshake
This new camera feature, “Funny,” is an exclusive deal between Samsung and Snapchat and it gives AR effects, plus those kind of playful filters, when you’re taking selfies or doing portraits.
I took a quick snap with the Galaxy A33 and honestly it looks like it pushed very bright colors, strong details, and a pretty wide light range. There’s no telephoto camera though, but I could still zoom to 2X without losing quality much. The OIS part also seems to be way better , my darker photos look more solid now.
The performance of the new chip is excellent, but it will need optimized for an even better performance.
Like I said earlier, the Galaxy A33 5G borrows the same configuration as the Galaxy A53 5G with the major highlight being its in-house ‘home-grown’ Exynos 1280 chip. The pretty good processor is being manufactured on a 5nm process. It has 8 CPU cores which include 2 high-performance Cortex-A78 cores running at 2.4Ghz and 6 power-saving Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 2GHz. Along with that, there is a 4-core Mali-G68 GPU clocked at 1,000MHz.
In terms of GPU clockspeed, this processor has much similarity with that of rival Mediatek’s Dimensity 900 chip, which is blessed with the promise of a better gaming experience. The one that I have experienced has 6GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage. There’s also an A33 5G variant with 8 GB RAM.
As well as that, Samsung incorporated the A33 RAM Plus functionality, which can increase the RAM space by 6GB by employing internal memory as virtual RAM, enhancing multitasking and working with multiple applications. The 128GB internal storage can also be enhanced to 1 TB using a microSD card.
I have conducted tests through some of the popular benchmark applications and have found that performance of Exynos 1280 is quite satisfactory. The machine has achieved more than 407,000 AnTuTu points, more than 500 single-core and more than 1,700 multi-core points in GeekBench, and more than 2,200 points in 3D Mark. I have tested each of this software 5 times and found that the score did not fluctuate too much.
I have tested it by the help of 3D Mark Stress Test, in which I checked the performance stability of A33, and the machine gets a mark of 95.7% achievement and quite high stability level. The temperature tested benchmark continuously is only about 36 degrees Celsius, quite cool.
When I played games on A33, like PUBG Mobile, the device plays in maximum settings at HD graphics, High frame rate (30fps) and crashes at Smooth minimum graphics. Even at this level, the experience of shooting in PUBG is not very good. The much lighter game Arena of valor plays beautifully on the A33, smoothening the frame at 60fps speed.
The performance is good enough for ordinary usage, fairly smooth, quite fast responses on the Galaxy A33 5G, but once in a while, I get a little delay and freeze that normally happens while I am on Facebook and using Chrome, maybe because of the Exynos 1280 chip still being quite new and not really optimized yet.
The battery lasts for a whole day without the charger.
Basically, the Galaxy A33 has a 5,000 mAh battery that under kind of an average routine like mine, where I browse the web, tap into Facebook every now and then, watch Youtube clips, stream songs, and sometimes go for Arena of Valor or PUBG, it still manages to get me through the evening until I’m ready to sleep, then I plug it in again so I can use it the following day.
With a 25W charger, it takes roughly 1 hour and 30 minutes to go from 0% all the way to 100%. In the first half hour it usually reaches around 40% , which feels… pretty typical. For my taste the charging speed is fine but not really rapid, more like average.
In addition to this, the Galaxy A33 5G runs on Android 12 preloaded with Samsung’s latest One UI 4.1 custom interface. There was not much difference in the interface of One UI 4.1. The new addition is that every time you change your wallpaper, the icons, quick settings icons in the notification area, and some system software change color automatically with that wallpaper, towards a Consistent whole interface. A new privacy dashboard also brings privacy and security controls under one roof in a much more convenient manner.
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Tech Reviewer & Product Analyst
Định Bia has spent over 10 years testing consumer electronics with a focus on smart technology. He work as a product advisor at Biareview where he helped customers find the right devices for their needs. He personally tests every product featured on this site using a consistent evaluation framework covering quality, durability, and value. All reviews are based on experience, not influenced by the manufacturer.