English
中文
CameraThe Samsung Galaxy A72 arrived on the market in March 2021 and is part of our High-End ($400-$599) segment. Let’s take a look at how well it performed in our Battery protocol tests.
Key specifications:
- Battery capacity: 5000 mAh
- 25W charger (included in box)
- 6.7-inch, 1080 x 2400, 90 Hz OLED display
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G chipset
- Tested ROM / RAM combination: 128 GB + 6 GB
About DXOMARK Battery tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone battery reviews, DXOMARK engineers perform a variety of objective tests over a week-long period both indoors and outdoors. This article highlights the most important results of our testing. (See our introductory and how we test articles for more details about our smartphone Battery protocol.)
Test summary
Scoring
Sub-scores and attributes included in the calculations of the global score.
Samsung Galaxy A72
Key performances
These key points are derived from the lab measurements during testing and do not figure into the overall score. The lab measurements, however, are used for the overall score.
41st
11th
Pros
- Excellent autonomy at both default and calibrated settings
- Very low battery drain at night and when idle
- Efficient charger, optimized for low residual power drain
Cons
- Long charging time
- Disappointing quick boost charging results
In the very competitive High-End segment, the Samsung Galaxy A72’s specifications are a bit behind those of its competitors, as it does not support 5G and comes with only 25W fast charging (vs. 65W and 67W for its rivals).
We compared the Samsung Galaxy A72’s battery performance in several key categories with two other devices in our High-End segment, the Oppo Reno6 and the Xiaomi 11T; battery capacity, tested charger, display type, and resolution, and processor specifications for all three devices are shown in the table below.
| Samsung Galaxy A72 | Oppo Reno6 5G | Xiaomi 11T | |
| Battery capacity | 5000 mAh | 4300 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Charger |
25W |
65W |
67W |
| Display type | OLED | OLED | OLED |
| Display resolution | 1080 x 2400 | 1080 x 2400 | 1080 x 2400 |
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G | MediaTek Dimensity 900 | MediaTek Dimensity 1200 |
Autonomy (81)
How long a battery charge lasts depends not only on battery capacity but also on other aspects of the phone’s hardware and software. The DXOMARK Battery autonomy score is composed of three performance sub-scores: (1) Stationary, (2) On the go, and (3) Calibrated use cases. Each sub-score comprises the results of a comprehensive range of tests for measuring autonomy in all kinds of real-life scenarios.
The Samsung Galaxy A72 takes top score for overall Autonomy in its segment.
Battery Life (moderate)
20th
Battery Life (moderate)
3rd
Stationary
Samsung Galaxy A72
89
104
A robot housed in a Faraday cage performs a set of touch-based user actions during what we call our “typical usage scenario” (TUS) — making calls, video streaming, etc. — 4 hours of active use over the course of a 16-hour period, plus 8 hours of “sleep.” The robot repeats this set of actions every day until the device runs out of power.
The Samsung Galaxy A72 lasted some 3 hours longer than its competitors in our TUS tests. It shows outstanding behavior at night, losing no battery charge, whereas the Oppo Reno6 5G lost 2% and the Xiaomi 11T lost 1.67% at night on average.
On the go
Samsung Galaxy A72
76
96
Using a smartphone on the go takes a toll on autonomy because of extra “hidden” demands, such as the continuous signaling associated with cellphone network selection, for example. DXOMARK Battery experts take the phone outside and perform a precisely defined set of activities while following the same three-hour travel itinerary for each device.
Again ahead of its competitors, the Samsung device put in a particularly strong showing in call and navigation.
Calibrated
Samsung Galaxy A72
73
100
For this series of tests, the smartphone returns to the Faraday cage and our robots repeatedly perform actions linked to one specific use case (such as gaming, video streaming, etc.) at a time. Starting from an 80% charge, all devices are tested until they have expended at least 5% of their battery power.
Rounding out its Autonomy performance, the A72 performed better overall in our calibrated tests than its rivals.
Charging (71)
The DXOMARK Battery charging score is composed of two sub-scores, Full charge and Quick boost. Full charge tests assess the reliability of the battery power gauge; measure how long it takes to charge a battery from zero to 80% capacity and from 80 to 100%; and measure how long and how much power the battery takes to go from an indicated 100% to an actual full charge. With the phone at different charge levels (20%, 40%, 60%, 80%), Quick boost tests measure the amount of charge the battery receives after being plugged in for 5 minutes.
In contrast to its Autonomy performance, the Samsung Galaxy A72’s charging performance is far behind its competitors’ and below the average for our entire database.
Full charge
Samsung Galaxy A72
68
121
With a maximum charging power of 25W, it takes the Samsung Galaxy A72 57 minutes 51 seconds to go from 0 to 80%, more than twice the amount of time for the Oppo and Xiaomi devices; further, it takes the Samsung much longer than the others to achieve a full charge.
Charging Time 0-80%
116th
Charging Time 0-80%
25th
Quick boost
Samsung Galaxy A72
72
111
The Samsung Galaxy A72’s results in our 5-minute quick boost charging tests were particularly disappointing, as it gained in the best case (20% power remaining) 3 hours 18 minutes of autonomy, while the Oppo Reno6 5G’s best case offered 11.5 hours (at 20% power remaining) and the Xiaomi 11T’s provided 8 hours (at 60% power remaining).
| Samsung Galaxy A72 | Oppo Reno6 5G | Xiaomi 11T | ||
| Autonomy boost (hh:mm) | 20% | 3:18 | 11:35 | 7:55 |
| 40% | 3:05 | 10:12 | 7:53 | |
| 60% | 3:11 | 7:12 | 8:03 | |
| 80% | 2:37 | 5:32 | 4:45 | |
| Percentage boost | 20% | 7 % | 24.7 % | 16.9 % |
| 40% | 6.5 % | 21.8 % | 16.8 % | |
| 60% | 6.7 % | 15.4 % | 17.2 % | |
| 80% | 5.5 % | 11.8 % | 10.1 % | |
| Energy consumed | 20% | 1836 mWh | 5060 mWh | 4110 mWh |
| 40% | 1719 mWh | 4457 mWh | 4087 mWh | |
| 60% | 1777 mWh | 3151 mWh | 4174 mWh | |
| 80% | 1460 mWh | 2417 mWh | 2466 mWh |
Efficiency (92)
The DXOMARK power efficiency score consists of two sub-scores, Charge up and Discharge rate, both of which combine data obtained during robot-based typical usage scenario testing, outdoor mobility testing, charging evaluation, and power measurements, and then take into consideration the device’s battery capacity.
Charge up
Samsung Galaxy A72
65
105
The Samsung Galaxy A72 comes in behind its Oppo and Xiaomi rivals for charge up efficiency. However, it has an efficient adapter that is optimized for low residual power drain after achieving a full charge, whether the smartphone is attached (trickle charge) or detached (no load, but charger still plugged into outlet).
Discharge
Samsung Galaxy A72
102
121
The A72 does not lose any battery charge at night, and its discharge current is low in every use case except video streaming and playback.
Conclusion
Although it overall behind the Oppo Reno6 5G and the Xiaomi 11T, which both offer a better charging experience, the Samsung Galaxy A72 battery has the best autonomy in its segment.
DXOMARK invites our readership (you) to post comments on the articles on this website. Read more about our Comment Policy.