The Samsung Galaxy A55 5G is a powerful mid-ranger that rivals pricier competitors

The Samsung Galaxy A55 is Samsung’s latest mid-range phone that promises a flagship-like experience without the flagship-like price, and in some respects, it is the Korean company’s most premium mid-ranger yet. Samsung Galaxy A55 is a new smartphone in the Galaxy A series from Samsung that features a sleek design, a brilliant screen, a powerful battery, a multi-camera, and exceptional performance. In this review, we will go over the phone’s key specifications and features, as well as compare it to some of its competitors.

The handset is identical to last year’s Samsung Galaxy A54 5G (review), which impressed us in practically every way. However, Samsung has raised the ante by offering the Galaxy A55 5G, which features an updated Exynos 1480 SoC. How much difference does it make on the smartphone? More importantly, does it position the Galaxy A55 5G as a better mid-range option than its competitors? Continue reading to learn the answers to these questions and more.

Price when reviewed: €529.00 | Check price at Amazon

Samsung Galaxy A55 KEY FEATURES

The popularity of the Galaxy A54 has raised the bar for the newly released Galaxy A55. After the Samsung Galaxy S and Z foldable series, the Galaxy A5x series is perhaps the most popular in the company’s portfolio, and for good reason. This year’s model improves in crucial aspects. The redesigned A55 features a larger display, a more powerful chipset, more RAM in the base configuration, and a more durable and premium design.

Most of what made the Galaxy A54 great remains unchanged, including microSD card compatibility, a solid primary camera with a competent ultrawide shooter, dependable battery life, and an IP67-rated chassis. Furthermore, this time, it features an aluminum frame and Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection.

Will this be sufficient to attract potential buyers? After all, competition in Europe for sub-€500 items is severe, as is competition in India for items at about INR 40,000. What made the A54 good in 2023 does not guarantee it will be sufficient in 2024. The competition is coming up, and we’ve seen some very good midrange come out in the first quarter of this year, so stay tuned to see if the A55 is worth your hard-earned money.

SAMSUNG GALAXY A55 5G UNBOXING

The Galaxy A55 is packaged in a simple retail box with simply some user manuals, a SIM tool, and a USB-C to USB-C cable for charging and data transfer. There is no charger supplied.

CAMERA

The Samsung Galaxy A55 5G has three rear cameras: a 50MP OIS main sensor, an 8MP ultrawide lens, and a 5MP macro unit. The cameras produce stunning images both during the day and at night. This could be partly due to Samsung’s AI Image Signal Processing (ISP), which is touted to improve low-light photography. Because it is a mid-range option, the quality will not be as high as that of the Samsung Galaxy S24 lineup, but it also does not disappoint. The 50MP primary camera has rapid autofocus and shutter speed, resulting in a detailed image with remarkable color vibrancy and dynamic range.

Moving on, the 8MP ultrawide camera has a comparable color vibrancy to the primary shooter. While the resolution is a little disappointing, there is little distortion around the edges of the frame. The 5MP macro camera delivers better photographs than the 2MP sibling, but they still lack crispness and sharpness. A telephoto lens could have done better in this situation. The lowlight photographs have some graininess, although this can be mitigated by employing the night mode option, which is engaged automatically in dimly lit areas and works with ultrawide views.

The smartphone’s selfie camera has a 32MP resolution and produces photographs with decent facial features and natural skin tones. The handset can also take stunning photos with edge recognition and a bokeh effect.

DESIGN AND SCREEN

The Samsung Galaxy A55 has a stylish and modern appearance, with a body constructed of glass and aluminum, and a large 6.5-inch screen that occupies most of the phone’s interface, with a small hole in the middle for the front camera. The phone is dust and water-resistant to the IP67 standard, and it supports wireless and reverses charging. The phone comes in three colors: icy blue, purple, and dark blue.

The Galaxy A55 also contains what Samsung refers to as Key Island. As the name implies, it makes the area surrounding the volume and power buttons stand out from the rest of the frame by gently elevating it. However, it appears to be a method for Samsung to differentiate between the design of its mid-range phones and its flagship smartphones. The buttons on Samsung phones have never felt difficult to access or utilize. The Key Island may be beneficial for devices that have recessed fingerprint sensors incorporated into the power button, but that’s all.

But, generally, the Galaxy A55 feels fantastic in the palm and when used. It is also water and dust-resistant, and there are no significant flaws. Except for the bezels around the display, which are just as large as they were on the Galaxy A54. They’re unattractive, and since Samsung has raised the display size, the bezels only serve to make the phone larger than it needs to be.

One of the most notable aspects of the Samsung Galaxy A55 is its screen, which employs Super AMOLED technology and supports a refresh rate of 120 Hz, as well as HDR10+ technology, ensuring a comfortable and smooth viewing experience for a variety of entertainment. The screen has FHD+ resolution, an aspect ratio of 19.5:9, and a pixel density of 411.22 pixels per inch. A layer of Corning Gorilla Glass protects the screen.

The A55 features an optical fingerprint sensor embedded in the display, which operates similarly to the Galaxy A54. It has decent precision and is quite rapid, although not as fast as the ultrasonic sensors in premium Galaxy phones.

There is no 3.5 mm headphone port, but the stereo loudspeaker arrangement is enough for occasional gaming and movie watching, though it is a little short on bass and occasionally sounds like it is on the verge of distortion at full volume.

HOW’S THE PERFORMANCE?

The Samsung Galaxy A55 5G is powered by the in-house Exynos 1480 SoC, which can be combined with up to 12GB of RAM and 256GB of onboard storage. It outperforms the Galaxy A54’s Exynos 1380 SoC in terms of synthetic and real-world performance. In terms of synthetic benchmark tests, the handset scored 7,33,093 on AnTuTu, while its Geekbench scores are 1,148 for the single-core test and 3,447 for the multi-core test. During the CPU Throttle test, the device reaches 79 percent of its top performance. These are respectable results for a mid-range smartphone. Let’s find out how it performs in the real world.

Whether gaming or daily use, the Samsung Galaxy A55 5G performs admirably. The handset does everything with ease, without any unpleasant app freezes or stuttering. Playing graphically demanding games like BGMI, Call of Duty, and Real Racing 3 on moderate graphics and frame rate settings is also a fun experience. The handset may heat up somewhat after an intense gaming session, but it does not become unbearably warm. It’s worth noting that the Samsung Galaxy A55 5G is not your normal gaming-focused smartphone, so if you’re a heavy user, you may want to look into other possibilities.

In terms of software, the Samsung Galaxy A55 comes preloaded with OneUI 5.1, which is based on Android 14. Although the handset lacks AI functions, the UI is largely identical to the flagship S24 range. While technologies like DeX have yet to make their way to mid-range to inexpensive Samsung smartphones, it is worth noting that the new A-series smartphone now includes Knox security, making it safer than ever before.

The phone comes with a slew of pre-installed apps, including those from third parties like Snapchat, Truecaller, PhonePe, and Amazon. While the majority of these appear to be useful, third-party programs can be deleted if desired. Samsung promises four years of software upgrades and five years of security patches for the smartphone.

Buy it if...

• Strong construction with Gorilla Glass Victus+, aluminum frame, and IP67 rating.
• Excellent battery life.
• Dependable camera performance and high-quality footage.
• Good performance for the price, with excellent thermal behavior.
• Stereo speakers are of good quality.
• One of the few devices having a microSD slot in this price range.
• Polished One UI 6.1 includes at least four years of OS upgrades.

Don't buy it if…

• There was no charger in the box, and the charging time was slow.
• Poor fingerprint reader performance.
• Thick display bezels.
• The virtual proximity sensor for shutting off the screen during calls is less effective than a physical one.
• Expensive at launch.

FULL SPECIFICATION