Samsung Galaxy A57 review: More premium, more pricey

Value When Reviewed

From $549.99

Greatest Costs Right now: Samsung Galaxy A57

In a tumultuous yr for the smartphone trade, the Galaxy A57 must be a protected harbour for Samsung. Free from the duty to innovate, that is the place the corporate’s peerless manufacturing course of ought to be capable to end up one other strong, reliable handset with out squeezing its margins.

Elsewhere on this nook of the mid-range smartphone market, Google just lately received away with releasing the very same telephone for the second yr operating (kind of) within the Pixel 10a, all whereas holding agency with its pricing.

Samsung has pushed issues just a bit extra. The Galaxy A57 is a leaner, quicker telephone than the Samsung Galaxy A56 – a particular enchancment – however you’ll need to pay slightly extra for these delicate enhancements, with one mannequin coming at a surprising worth.

Is it nonetheless the very best Samsung telephone for most individuals? I’ve been testing it for a few weeks to search out out.

Design & Construct

• Even slimmer design
• Considerably lighter
• Upgraded sturdiness

Samsung has retained the look of the Samsung Galaxy A56 (and earlier fashions) right here, however has gone even additional in slimming the A57 down and making it really feel extra premium.

Signature options reminiscent of a pill-shaped digicam module, supporting three distinct lenses, and a ‘key island’ (containing the facility and quantity buttons) that bulges out from the fitting aspect of the telephone stay.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Nonetheless, at 161.5 x 76.8mm, the Galaxy A57 has a fractionally smaller footprint than its predecessor, due to barely slimmer bezels.

However the actually consequential determine right here is 6.9mm. That’s the thickness of the Galaxy A57, which signifies that it has shed a major 0.5mm from its waistline.

In trimming right down to this diploma, Samsung has shaved a noticeable 19g from the burden of the telephone, bringing it down to only 179g. Earlier telephones within the vary have felt substantial, if not downright heavy, however the Galaxy A57 feels simply so.

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Regardless of this, the Samsung Galaxy A57 feels each bit as premium as its predecessor, with an aluminium physique and Gorilla Glass Victus+ to the entrance and rear. Certainly, Samsung has truly improved the construct high quality with a superior IP68 mud and water resistance score.

My mannequin is available in a barely boring shade referred to as Superior Icyblue, which seems like a white T-shirt that has been put via the wash a number of too many occasions. You may also specify it in Superior Grey, Superior Navy, and Superior Lilac.

Display

• 6.7-inch 120Hz Full HD+ Tremendous AMOLED show
• 1200nits (Excessive Brightness Mode or HBM), 1900nits (peak)
• Optical in-display fingerprint sensor

Samsung hasn’t touched the show of the Galaxy A57 in comparison with final yr, nevertheless it stays a pleasure to make use of all the identical. It’s a 6.7-inch Tremendous AMOLED with a Full HD+ decision and a 120Hz refresh price.

Not like different producers, Samsung doesn’t allow you to pressure that most decision to be lively on a regular basis, however the firm’s automated implementation is sweet sufficient that you simply gained’t discover it stuttering or slowing down.

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The Galaxy A56 launched a newly bolstered most brightness of 1200 nits in excessive brightness mode, and 1900 nits in HDR eventualities. That continues to be the case with the Galaxy A57.

It’s not the brightest display in its class – each the Pixel 10a and the Motorola Edge 70 Fusion make mincemeat out of it – nevertheless it’s vibrant sufficient usually out of doors circumstances, whereas HDR content material seems suitably vibrant.

The in-display fingerprint sensor isn’t the snappiest I’ve used, even for a mid-ranger, however I discovered it to be sufficiently dependable.

Specs & Efficiency

• 4nm Samsung Exynos 1680 chipset
• 13% bigger vapour chamber than A56
• 8 or 12GB of RAM

Samsung’s A-series telephones have by no means precisely been famend for his or her pace, even throughout the extra modest mid-range class. The Galaxy A57 doesn’t high any benchmark tables both, nevertheless it simply warrants the ‘quick sufficient’ description.

The model new Exynos 1680 chip (Samsung’s personal) makes its debut right here, and it’s a good performer. Benchmark checks counsel a 16% increase in CPU multi-core efficiency and a couple of 13% increase in GPU efficiency.

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It’s not an enormous increase, nevertheless it provides priceless headroom in the case of day-to-day operating. Flicking between house screens and menus isn’t far off flagship-smooth, and leaping between open apps tends to yield solely a minor pause.

As talked about already, the fingerprint unlock system can really feel slightly ponderous, however the greatest signal that you simply’re utilizing a less expensive telephone comes with the digicam app. It takes a beat longer besides up than the easiest telephones, and evening photographs can require a patience-testing quantity of shutter time.

In the case of its rivals, the Galaxy A57 is roughly equal to the Pixel 10a and Nothing Cellphone (4a) Professional in CPU phrases, however can’t match as much as both with its GPU. Contemplating it’s the most costly of the three, that’s not a fantastic look and also you would possibly count on higher gaming prowess from Samsung.

I’m significantly impressed by the Galaxy A57’s efficiency stability, nevertheless. After the Galaxy A56 elevated the dimensions of its vapour chamber by 15%, Samsung has boosted the dimensions by an additional 13%, and it reaps dividends. Working the prolonged Wild Life Excessive Stress Take a look at, it barely assorted from the primary graphical exercise to the final, indicating an absence of thermal throttling, which even some flagship telephones succumb to.

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In the case of gaming, I couldn’t get my regular first port of name – Future Rising – to run with out crashing the entire telephone, hinting at some potential early driver or stability points. Ubisoft’s The Division Resurgence, nevertheless, ran nicely sufficient on a default mixture of Excessive graphics, Medium decision, and Customary framerate – albeit with a number of pauses.

Elsewhere on the Galaxy A57 spec sheet, you get Bluetooth 6.0, WiFi 6e, NFC, GPS and dual-SIM functionality (5G, in fact. It’s all fairly customary fare.

Cameras

• 50Mp f/1.8 fundamental w/ OIS + 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide + 5Mp f/2.4 macro digicam
• 12Mp f/2.2 selfie digicam
• As much as 4K/30fps video back and front

It’s considerably disappointing to notice that Samsung hasn’t actually accomplished something with the Galaxy A57 digicam system. It’s the identical modest twin digicam set-up that we noticed within the Galaxy A56, which truly dates all the way in which again to the Samsung Galaxy A54 from 2023!

There’s the identical 1/1.56″ 50Mp f/1.8 fundamental digicam, allied to the identical 12Mp f/2.2 ultra-wide. I’m not counting the 5Mp macro digicam as a separate concern, as if such parts have been of any severe sensible use, you will be assured that top-end flagship telephones could be utilizing them.

Advances in picture processing and the brand new and improved Exynos 1680 chip imply that there have been enhancements, however they’re comparatively minor.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

The primary digicam continues to take first rate photographs in good lighting, with strong dynamic vary (for a mid-ranger) and people signature Samsung punched-up blue skies. They’re not probably the most pure photographs, however they’re undoubtedly straightforward on the attention and eminently shareable.

The 12Mp ultra-wide can’t match as much as the primary digicam on element or dynamic vary – to be anticipated – however Samsung’s picture processing experience ensures a comparatively constant tone between the 2.

Within the absence of a devoted telephoto, the Galaxy A57 has to crop in on that fundamental sensor for zoomed photographs. This produces tonally constant photographs, although element begins to falter at 4x, and also you most likely shouldn’t even trouble with 10x.

There’s a 12Mp digicam round entrance, which seems satisfactory selfie photographs. I discover Samsung’s portrait algorithm to be slightly iffy at separating topic from background right here, nevertheless it does a strong job of capturing pure pores and skin tones.

Whereas the AI providing is nowhere close to as intensive as on the Samsung Galaxy S26 vary, Samsung has included a few AI instruments via its Gallery app. You possibly can Remaster photographs to almost-instantly make them clearer and crisper, whereas there’s additionally a good Object Eraser operate. Simply circle to make objects disappear.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Video recording extends to a mere 4K at 30fps, which is pretty typical of telephones at this worth. Nonetheless, it does place it behind the Pixel 10a and Pixel 9a, each of which may hit 4K at 60fps.

Battery Life & Charging

• 5000mAh battery
• 45W Tremendous Quick Cost 2.0 wired charging
• No wi-fi charging

Samsung might need lowered the size and weight of its newest mid-range smartphone, however the Galaxy A57 retains the identical 5000mAh battery as earlier than.

That is in peril of dropping beneath what we’d take into account to be a mean measurement for a bigger telephone reminiscent of this, amidst a wider development of elevated capacities. It nonetheless proves ample in every day use, although.

It’s greater than in a position to see you thru a full day of fairly heavy utilization with out even threatening to expire of juice. On at some point of comparatively temporary (three hours and fifteen minutes of screen-on time) however intensive use, which included an hour and a half of net shopping, 50 minutes of gaming, and half-hour of YouTube, I used to be left with 41%.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

With that mentioned, the Galaxy A57 didn’t precisely set the world alight with its PCMark 3.0 battery take a look at outcomes. It scored greater than an hour worse than the Galaxy A56, in actual fact, and fell a number of hours shy of the Nothing Cellphone (4a) Professional and the Google Pixel 10a.

45W Tremendous Quick Cost 2.0 quick charging makes a return, making this one of many speedier chargers within the Samsung line-up. I used to be in a position to get the Galaxy A57 from empty to 65% in half-hour.

You gained’t be getting wi-fi charging right here, nevertheless. This nonetheless isn’t a standard characteristic within the sub-£500/$500 class, nevertheless it’s one which key rival Google presents with the Pixel 10a and Pixel 9a.

Software program & Apps

• One UI 8.5 with Android 16
• 6 years of OS & safety replace assist
• ‘Superior Intelligence’ instead of Galaxy AI

At a time when house owners of older Galaxy S telephones have been complaining concerning the delay in getting the newest One UI 8.5 replace, it’s gratifying to see the Galaxy A57 delivery with Samsung’s newest UI proper out of the field.

This sits atop Android 16, offering the telephone with most (however not all) of the options and UI components of the Samsung Galaxy S26 vary.

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Samsung’s UI is among the freshest and sharpest-looking in the marketplace, reflecting the corporate’s long-term dedication to the Android platform and shut relationship with Google.

I significantly just like the sharp, vibrant widgets that populate the primary Residence Display, although it’s a disgrace that there’s nonetheless no signal of the handy Now Temporary software from the Galaxy S sequence. The lock display Now Bar widget that we get right here isn’t fairly the identical factor, regardless of the shared nomenclature.

One other factor that’s lacking is Samsung’s much-vaunted Galaxy AI suite of machine studying instruments. As a substitute is what the corporate calls ‘Superior Intelligence’ – a leaner, less complicated roster of AI-enhanced options.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

AI Choose provides you a sequence of context-sensitive actions based mostly on the current contents of the display, Learn Aloud gives a text-to-speech operate for net pages, and Voice Transcription does the other for voice and name recordings.

Samsung has maintained its admirable streak of in depth software program assist guarantees, with solely Google’s Pixel sequence in a position to beat its six-year assure.

Value & Availability

It could be a strong refinement of the Galaxy A56, however these minor enhancements need to be thought of throughout the context of an unwelcome worth rise.

The baseline 256GB mannequin of the Samsung Galaxy A57 begins from £529, which is a £30 enhance over the 2025 mannequin. This positions the telephone between the Google Pixel 10a (£499) and the iPhone 17e (£599).

This time round, you can even bump that capability as much as 512GB, which additionally provides you further reminiscence at 12GB of RAM, however you’ll need to pay the considerably ridiculous worth of £699 for the privilege.

Over within the US, the storage provision is barely totally different. There’s a 128GB mannequin for $549.99, or a 256GB mannequin for $609.99.

You should buy it from the likes of Samsung, Amazon and loads of different retailers.

As we famous in our hands-on preview, the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE begins from £649, so that you’d actually have to wish that further capability over the latter’s superior-everything-else to make it worthwhile.

Test our information to the very best mid-range telephones to see our present high 10 suggestions.

Do you have to purchase the Samsung Galaxy A57?

Samsung has created its most premium mid-range telephone but within the Galaxy A57. Design enhancements make it a extra pleasing telephone to dwell with than any earlier mannequin, bringing it even nearer (in really feel not less than) to the flagship Galaxy S vary.

With that mentioned, that is one other case of refinement over innovation. It’s a disgrace there hasn’t been extra consideration paid to the telephone’s stagnant digicam system, specifically, in addition to its battery – even when it’s a reasonably strong performer in each respects.

We’re not thrilled with Samsung bumping up the worth, given the relative lack of development and the existence of better-performing or extra thrilling rivals for much less cash.

An terrible lot of individuals merely need the very best Samsung telephone inside their finances, nevertheless, and it’s by no means been simpler to advocate the highest Galaxy A mannequin because the one which most individuals ought to get.

If you wish to lower your expenses, look to the Galaxy A37 as an alternative.

Specs

• Android 16, One UI 8.5
• 6.7in, FHD+, OLED, 120Hz, flat show
• In-display optical fingerprint sensor
• Exynos 1680
• 8GB/12GB LPDDR5X RAM
• 256GB/512GB storage
• 50Mp, f/1.8 fundamental digicam
• 12Mp macro digicam
• As much as 4K @ 30fps rear video
• 12Mp front-facing digicam
• Stereo audio system
• Twin-SIM
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e
• Bluetooth 6.0
• 5000mAh battery
• 45W charging
• 161.5 x 76.8 x 6.9 mm
• 179g
• Launch colors: Superior Navy, Superior Grey, Superior Icyblue, Superior Lilac