Samsung Galaxy A54 5G is a mid-range phone

The Galaxy A54 5G appears relatively traditional, especially compared to the Pixel 7a and its unconventional camera bar. The Galaxy A54 has a more classic slab shape, with softly rounded corners and a column of lenses extending from the back, similar to the style of the more expensive Galaxy devices. It differs from the design of the A53, which was more squared off. The Samsung Galaxy A54 does not stand out, which may be more appealing to some preferences. The phone comes in two colors: Awesome Violet and Awesome Graphite.

The foundation of Samsung’s 2023 Galaxy A-series mid-rangers includes some welcome advancements over its predecessor, but battery life claims fall short of expectations, and more powerful phones are available for the same or less.

After a week of using the Samsung Galaxy A54 as my primary smartphone, I’m conflicted. Certain aspects stand out among the mid-range competition, but some critical areas remain lacking, preventing the A54 from being an instant recommendation.

Price when reviewed: $449.99 | Check price at Amazon

Galaxy A54 KEY FEATURES

The Samsung Galaxy A54 does not produce the highest benchmark results or the fastest real-world performance, but it performs a satisfactory job for the price. The Exynos 1380 is a little improvement over last year’s Galaxy A53, which used the Exynos 1280. It consists of four Cortex-A78 cores at 2.4GHz and four Cortex-A55 cores at 2GHz. The handset has 6GB of RAM, which is 2GB less than the Pixel 7a, and comes with 128GB of storage.

It wears the design language of Samsung’s current S23 flagship line well. If only it was a little thinner and lighter. IP68 certification is good, though. It may require some tinkering, but the display of the A54 receives some minor but welcome improvements over the screen on the Galaxy A53. A little bloat and a learning curve for those unfamiliar with the One UI do not distract from an otherwise outstanding experience and long-term support. All of the changes between generations improve the photography experience on the Galaxy A54. Stills and video are impressive, even when compared to more expensive phones. Once again, Sammy’s most prominent A series entry this year places less emphasis on top performance. That is not to suggest it isn’t suitable for general use and gaming. Though it appears to be a reduction on paper, the 50MP camera has a larger sensor and pixels, resulting in higher image quality.

SAMSUNG GALAXY A54 5G UNBOXING

The A54’s retail package is the same as the previous year; the A52(s) were the last to include a power adaptor in the box. The A54’s accessories are restricted to a SIM eject tool and a white USB-C cable.

For what it’s worth, the fact that you still have a cord in the box means you can save’ money when purchasing a charger – that’s as near to a silver lining as we’ll get.

CAMERA

• 50-megapixel f/1.8 primary camera with OIS
• 12MP ultra-wide and 5MP macro camera
• Front-facing camera: 32MP, f/2.2.
• One less camera sensor than the Galaxy A53.

The camera has always been a major priority for Samsung’s Galaxy A5X handsets, and the new 50MP f/1.8 sensor on the A54 appears to be a significant improvement over the 64MP sensor that led its predecessor’s camera system.

Despite a slight drop in resolution, the move to a larger 1/1.56-inch (up from 1/1.7-inch) sensor, with larger 1µm pixels (up from 0.8µm) and improved range of motion from the OIS (optical image stabilization) system (1.5-degrees, up from 0.95), means greatly improved image capture, particularly in low light.

Samsung’s continuous dedication to tight interaction with social apps such as Snapchat continues on the A54, allowing you to capture higher-quality images with Snap filters and the like using the camera’s dedicated ‘Fun’ shooting mode.

Interestingly, the switch to a single sensor with all-focus pixels may have resulted in the disappearance of the fourth depth sensor, which was previously featured on the back of last year’s Galaxy A53. Meanwhile, a 12MP ultra-wide and a 5MP dedicated macro sensor remain, coupled with a 32MP front-facing camera.

In practice, the A54’s 50MP main camera focuses quickly, albeit focus hunting did occur occasionally when light levels dropped. As previously stated, low-light shooting is impressive; while the A54 is less accurate than, say, a Pixel 7, it still captures clean, visually pleasing, and shareable photographs with minimal noise or grain.

When compared to the average iPhone, Samsung’s image processing is typically heavy-handed with its contrast, color, and sharpening adjustments, but the results are still pleasing to the eye and – thanks to the improved dynamic range – are arguably more share-worthy on social media platforms that value creativity and fun over photographic authenticity.

There’s also an expected difference in color reproduction, contrast, and clarity when switching between sensors, with fidelity deteriorating as you travel through the phone’s back cameras. Nonetheless, image quality – even from the 5MP macro shooter – wowed, with resolution limits making shots from that tertiary back sensor difficult to share as regularly, but still delivering on occasion, if you want to be a little more outlandishly creative with your photos.

Not only did low-light shooting outperform expectations for a phone of the Galaxy A54’s caliber, but it did so in direct side-by-side tests with Google’s current baseline flagship; expect punchier colors (although Samsung’s phones have a habit of turning night skies into deep blues), more foreground detail, better white balance, and exposure – at least these were my observations from direct comparisons with a Pixel 7.

In terms of video, Samsung emphasizes the A54’s improved VDIS (video digital image stabilization) capabilities, and as I recently discovered with the similarly-equipped camera I tested in our Oppo Find N2 Flip review, digital video stabilization as a whole has advanced significantly in recent years, closing the gap with OIS systems. There is still a noticeable shudder on film when facing fast and sudden changes in direction or orientation, but it provides an incredibly competent video capture experience in the mid-range sector.

Selfie enthusiasts will most likely appreciate the images captured by the A54’s selfie camera. Face-tuning choices include smoothness, ‘tone’, ‘jawline’, and ‘eyes’, which can be modified to change both the complexion and the physical position of your features. It’s a more limited range of options than some phone manufacturers provide, and only when all of the sliders are maxed out does your appearance go from ‘tasteful virtual facelift’ to ‘oh look, an alien’. By default, only smoothness is enabled (set to level two out of eight), and there is a separate toggle to disable this capability.

While the differences in dynamic range and color reproduction are obvious when compared to the main camera, the tuning allows for greater capture of skin tones, and the softer appearance of photos works in its favor.

DESIGN AND SCREEN

• New Galaxy S23-inspired design
• The glass rear makes it feel more luxurious.
• 6.4-inch, 120Hz AMOLED display

The Samsung Galaxy A54 5G has received a significant design change over its predecessor, the Galaxy A53 5G, albeit you may not realize it when glancing at it from the front.

This is because the majority of the change occurs on the phone’s back. The most obvious change is that Samsung has removed the contour camera housing from last year’s model, instead going for the same simple design as the premium Galaxy S23 range.

The modest trio of lenses on the back is unquestionably one of the cleanest looks available, especially when compared to competitors who use massive round and rectangular camera enclosures. I think it’s a touch too minimalistic and bland, but I’m sure other people will enjoy the new appearance.

At the very least, there are some lovely color variations available to brighten up the simple design, including vivid Lime and Violet, as well as a more muted Graphite and Silver. The lime green finish is my particular favorite, with a vibrant pop of color that looks stunning in person. The other significant enhancement for the Galaxy A54 is the material utilized; rather than going with ‘classic’ (that’s plastic to you and me), Samsung gave the A54 the premium treatment with a full glass rear.

It immediately makes the phone feel more luxurious, especially when contrasted to the plastic Galaxy A34. It also provides some heaviness, but not enough to make it seem substantial in the hand. It weighs 202g, which is just enough to make it seem luxurious without going overboard like the 240g iPhone 14 Pro Max. It also has the more rounded corners of the Galaxy S23 line, which helps it stand out among a sea of similar-looking mid-range options, and IP67 dust and water resistance should keep it safe from most accidents.

Aside from the new design modifications, the Galaxy A54 remains largely unchanged, with a power button and volume controls on the right, a USB-C connector on the bottom, and a combined SIM and microSD card tray. The latter is a wonderful touch, allowing you to increase storage capacity by up to 1TB if necessary; I wish it was available in the premium S23 line as well. The 6.4-inch AMOLED panel features an ‘Infinity O’ design, which simply implies a single hole-punch camera cutout in the center of the display. It’s the most obvious difference between it and the Galaxy A34, which has an ‘Infinity U’ design.

The combination of FHD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate is good, however, it stays unaltered compared to last year’s A53, and text might sometimes appear a little soft if you’ve seen anything higher, though most consumers would probably not notice. It would have been lovely to see a higher refresh rate, like the similarly priced 144Hz Motorola G200, but it’s probably much of the same at this point. At the very least, navigating the UI felt buttery smooth.

HOW’S THE PERFORMANCE?

• New 5nm Exynos 1380 SoC.
• Up to 8GB RAM with RAM plus up to an additional 8GB.
• Up to 256GB of storage + microSD up to 1TB.

Just weeks before the Galaxy A54 made its debut, Samsung Semiconductor unveiled the Exynos 1380, a mobile SoC (system on chip) that serves as the successor of the Exynos 1280, which powered the Galaxy A53 in 2022. The 1380 announcement was one of the final major clues that the Galaxy A54 was close to being released, and the phone did indeed arrive with this new chip.

Built on a similar 5nm process as the 1280, the 1380 is designed to give increased power and efficiency, greater graphical performance (excellent for gaming), and a denser NPU (neural processing unit) capable of handling AI-based tasks like as image processing more effectively.

In everyday use, there’s little to complain about in terms of overall performance, with responsive swiping, app load times that are completely manageable (even for more demanding apps like the camera), and seamless connectivity via Bluetooth for both Wi-Fi networks and the best wireless earbuds.

If you want hard data, artificial benchmarking shows that the A54 lags behind comparable mid-range competition, but this is nothing new. Samsung’s A5X phones have never prioritized power but have achieved significant popularity, most likely because of a focus on photography, battery life, and simplicity of use, all of which continue with the A54.

For comparison, the almost-year-old Nothing Phone 1 – which launched with an already-dated Snapdragon 778G Plus processor and a lower price (£399 at launch, versus the A54’s £449 in the UK) – has an advantage in terms of CPU, AI, and gaming performance.

In terms of gaming, titles like Genshin Impact and Apex Legends Mobile may default to ‘low’ or ‘normal’ graphics settings as standard, but this does not distract from the pleasurable experience that the A54 can provide. This doesn’t mean the phone can’t take being pushed settings; just make sure you’re okay with the higher power consumption and heat buildup that comes with it.

The display is dynamic, ranging from 60Hz to 120Hz depending on what you’re doing; however, you can impose a 120Hz refresh rate at the expense of battery life. It won’t go down to a battery-saving 1Hz, but what mid-range phone would?

All that being said, my overall impressions of the display are mainly excellent; it’s large enough to comfortably watch YouTube videos and Netflix movies, the colors are brilliant and punchy (if not a little overly so), and it’s easily viewable in direct sunshine with a maximum brightness of 1000nits. However, when viewing Netflix, I missed capabilities like HDR10+, which are available on devices such as the Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus 5G and Google Pixel 6a.

One UI also includes several useful gaming-specific tools, such as Perf Z (available via the Galaxy Store), which analyzes device performance load and temperature, and Game Booster, which provides easy access to notification control, performance settings, screen capture, and other options.

Depending on where you purchase the A54, it will come with either 6GB or 8GB of RAM. Regardless, the A54 supports One UI’s RAM Plus feature, which allows you to use a portion of the phone’s storage as additional memory, allowing more programs to run concurrently and speeding up app launch times.

In terms of storage, the A54 offers 128GB or 256GB of space, as well as microSD expandability up to 1TB, which has become somewhat of a novelty – even in the mid-range market.

Connectivity options include 5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3 (up from 5.1 on the Galaxy A53), and an eSIM (allowing for dual-SIM capabilities).

When you don’t wish to wear headphones, the phone’s earpiece and down-firing speaker combine to form a stereo pair, providing excellent clarity and volume with no distortion. However, the bass response is insufficient to provide a satisfactory music playback experience.

Buy it if...

• The design makes it look like a flagship, and the IP67 rating is uncommon in the midrange.
• One of the greatest screens in its class: bright, with a refresh rate of 120Hz and color accuracy.
• Excellent battery life.
• The most recent Android version with One UI.
• The new chipset performs better than the Galaxy A53.
• Excellent primary camera for all use cases; very good selfies.
• 5G, Wi-Fi 6, NFC, and microSD

Don't buy it if…

• There was no charger in the box.
• The new chipset isn’t much more powerful than the Galaxy A52s.
• Video stabilization is only supported at 1080p.

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