Samsung Galaxy A55 5G Review: Premium Mid-Ranger

At a look

Skilled’s Score

Execs

• Premium construct
• Cheaper than earlier than
• Robust stamina
• First rate software program assist

Cons

• Considerably cumbersome
• Gradual charging
• Nonetheless not pretty much as good worth because the competitors

Our Verdict

With a step up in construct high quality, a bigger show, and a quicker processor, the Galaxy A55 5G is a worthy development over the Galaxy A54 5G. It’s cheaper than earlier than too, although nonetheless not the excellent worth of a few of its rivals.

Worth When Reviewed

Not launched in US

After getting again into its mid-range smartphone groove with the Galaxy A54 5G, Samsung returns with one other stylish sub-£500 providing within the Galaxy A55 5G.

With costs ranging from simply £439, the Galaxy A55 5G represents the type of value minimize we don’t see a lot of nowadays. Regardless of being cheaper, it manages so as to add a bigger show and a quicker processor, all housed in a extra premium design than earlier than.

You possibly can maybe perceive why Samsung would really feel compelled to supply extra for much less, given the upward stress exerted by excellent-value telephones just like the Nothing Telephone (2a) and the Motorola Edge 40 Neo, in addition to direct competitors from the Redmi Be aware 13 Professional+.

So has Samsung accomplished sufficient to compete?

Design & Construct

• Related type to S24
• Glass and steel improve
• IP67 safety

The Samsung Galaxy A55 5G doesn’t look all that totally different to the Galaxy A54 5G. Apart from the latter’s subtly rounded edge being fully flattened out, it’s spot the distinction stuff.

These flat edges finally converse to the path of journey Samsung has taken with its flagship Galaxy S24. Nevertheless, the Galaxy A55 5G (along with its brother the Galaxy A35 5G) distinguishes itself with a singular raised housing for the ability and quantity buttons.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Any lingering sense of familiarity vanishes the second you lay your fingers on the A55 5G. It is a considerably extra premium piece of labor, eschewing the plastic of its predecessor in favour of an aluminium body and a glass again.

The entrance of the Galaxy A55 5G additionally will get an improve to the newer, more durable Gorilla Glass Victus+ (up from GG5). You continue to get the identical IP67 water and dirt resistance as earlier than, however that continues to be a stable mid-range spec.

The Galaxy A55 5G’s step-up in supplies does come at the price of elevated weight. We already discovered the Galaxy A54 5G to be considerably unwieldy at 209g, and the A55 5G provides one other 4g on prime of that. The newer cellphone can be barely taller and wider, because of its bigger show so naked this in thoughts.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

With extra extreme edges and a bigger footprint, in addition to the swap to a steel body, the Galaxy A55 5G is a much less snug cellphone to carry than its predecessor. Nevertheless, it undoubtedly feels prefer it’s taken a big step in direction of flagship territory, which is spectacular given the cheaper price ticket.

I’m reviewing the Superior Iceblue choice, which most individuals would merely name white. You can too get the Galaxy A55 in Superior Navy, Superior Lilac, and Superior Yellow. Which is… superior.

Display screen & Audio system

• Bigger 6.6in AMOLED
• 120Hz refresh price
• Stereo audio system

After lowering the scale of the Galaxy A54 54G’s show ever so barely to six.4in, Samsung has cranked issues proper as much as 6.6in with the Galaxy A55 5G.

Apart from an elevated canvas, that is in any other case a nigh-on equivalent display screen specification, with a 1080 x 2340 (Full HD+) decision and a 120Hz refresh price. It even will get to the identical 1000 nit brightness, when uncovered to shiny ambient lighting and with autobrightness left on.

You’ll need to be sure you try this, too, as I solely measured the brightness as barely scraping to 400 nits with autobrightness off. That’s high quality for indoor utilization, however received’t stand as much as even a British summer season’s day.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Color accuracy is stable, in Samsung’s signature punchy trend. When you like your image to be just a little extra restrained, I’d advocate switching away from the default Vivid setting and choosing Pure as a substitute.

Utilizing this extra muted show mode, I recorded a 99.2% sRGB gamut protection and a mean Delta E of 1.72. That’s respectable, with out ripping up any bushes.

You don’t get a 3.5mm headphone jack right here, regardless of the scale of the cellphone, however you do get respectable readability from its stereo audio system. There’s the standard lack of bass, however you count on that from a mid-range cellphone.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Specs & Efficiency

• Exynos 1480
• 8GB RAM
• 128GB/256GB storage

After final 12 months’s Galaxy A54 5G with its Exynos 1380 introduced the mid-range collection into clean working order, the Galaxy A55 5G’s Exynos 1480 chip permits it to stretch its legs.

It is a higher-clocked chip made utilizing a extra energy-efficient 4nm course of, and it’s backed by 8GB of RAM as customary. Benchmark outcomes level to a wholesome, if not large enchancment over the Galaxy A54 5G.

In comparison with its contemporaries, the Galaxy A55 5G comfortably trumps the Nothing Telephone (2a) and the Google Pixel 7a in our CPU benchmark exams, however falls just a little in need of each in GPU phrases.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

This ends in buttery clean day after day efficiency, but additionally factors to a cellphone that shouldn’t be a main decide if gaming is your precedence. It’ll run the likes of Wreckfest on Excessive settings, however the body price will probably be removed from flawless. You’re most likely higher off taking part in such advanced 3D fare at medium settings.

You possibly can choose between 128- and 256GB of inside storage, and there’s a microSD slot when you really feel the necessity to broaden the supply, although it’ll take up one of many two SIM card slots.

Because the title suggests, you’ll be able to depend on 5G connectivity the place out there, whereas the Galaxy A55 5G additionally provides Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi 6, and NFC for cell funds. It’s all fairly updated on the connectivity entrance for a mid-ranger.

Cameras

• 50Mp principal digital camera
• 12Mp ultrawide
• 5Mp macro
• 32Mp selfies

We’ve seen nothing however considerate evolution to this point, however the Galaxy A55 5G’s progress considerably flatlines with its digital camera system. Samsung appears to have fitted the cellphone with precisely the identical setup because the Galaxy A54 5G.

Meaning a reasonably typical displaying of a 50Mp principal digital camera with an f/1.8 aperture and OIS, a 12Mp ultra-wide, and a 5Mp macro digital camera. There’s the identical 32Mp selfie digital camera across the entrance, too.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

It ought to shock nobody that my impressions of the Galaxy A55 5G’s photographic expertise broadly fall consistent with final 12 months’s mannequin, even with the standard enhancements to picture processing that include a brand new mannequin.

That principal digital camera does lots of the heavy lifting right here, turning out detailed photographs packed filled with Samsung’s customary color – maybe even an excessive amount of for some tastes – when capturing in good lighting.

Night time photographs are much less assured, with a touch of grain and softness, and I noticed an odd inexperienced visible artefact in a single specific occasion. They nonetheless look respectable, however if you need actually sturdy evening photographs for lower than £500, look to the Pixel 7a.

The A55’s 12Mp ultra-wide is good to have for these panorama shot conditions, however the fall-off in high quality and inconsistency in tone in comparison with the primary sensor is sort of pronounced.

Samsung goes just a little additional than most with its 5Mp macro digital camera, producing satisfactory close-up photographs. Nevertheless it’s nonetheless a superfluous addition, and I desire the no-nonsense dual-lens method taken by the Nothing Telephone (2a) and Pixel 7a.

As that means, there’s no devoted telephoto right here, however 2x photographs look fairly stable because of that stable principal sensor and Samsung’s dependable cropping system. You’ll be dicing with rising quantities of blur as you stray into 4x and 10x territory, although.

As soon as once more, Samsung’s 32Mp entrance digital camera does a bang up job with selfies. Pores and skin tones are pure, topic definition is nice, and there’s a pleasant diploma of background blur even with out the portrait mode activated.

It has a barely wider discipline of view than many, which is a greater decide for group photographs, with the default view cropping in for a extra common close-up with out a noticeable drop off intimately.

Video recording is respectable, stretching to 4K at 30fps or 1080p at 60fps. The availability of OIS retains issues suitably regular.

Battery Life & Charging

• 5000mAh battery
• 25W charging
• No adapter included

Samsung caught with a well-recognized 5000mAh battery for the Galaxy A55 5G, which proves to be ample. Along with the brand new Exynos chip, it makes for an impressively environment friendly runner.

In sensible use, I discovered the Galaxy A55 5G’s stamina to be sturdy. On a 15 hour day with 4 hours half-hour of display screen on time – what you would possibly time period reasonable utilization – it fell to simply 63%. On an particularly intense day of seven hours and 50 minutes display screen on time, the Galaxy A55 5G nonetheless bought via to bedtime with 22% remaining.

That’s a powerful degree of stamina and signifies that the Galaxy A55 5G will probably be good for a full two days of ‘regular’ utilization in between expenses.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

In the meantime, a PC Mark Work 3.0 battery rating of 12 hours and 26 minutes falls a number of hours behind the Nothing Telephone (2a), however comfortably beats the likes of the Pixel 7a and the Motorola Edge 40 Neo.

If there’s one weak point right here, it’s that Samsung persists in supporting a fairly mediocre charging pace. At simply 25W, you’ll solely get to simply over half a tankful from empty in half-hour of charging. The Nothing Telephone (2a) helps 45W, whereas the Redmi Be aware 13 Professional+ 5G helps a whopping 120W, and the latter additionally offers you that speedy charger within the field.

There’s no wi-fi charging provision right here, which isn’t too shocking. You possibly can decide up a Pixel 7a with this characteristic for comparable cash, however it’s one thing of a mid-range outlier.

Software program & Apps

• Android 14
• One UI 6.1
• 4 years of OS upgrades

Samsung provides the newest model of Android with the Galaxy A55 5G, which is Android 14, along with its personal newest customized UI, One UI 6.1. In that means, it’s proper up there with the corporate’s flagship Galaxy S24 collection, minus the AI tips.

One UI is an interface that you simply’ll both be immediately snug with, or else should develop accustomed to over time.

Samsung’s software program has been put in on hundreds of thousands upon hundreds of thousands of units throughout greater than a decade, albeit beneath totally different names, which implies that it’s typically seen because the default Android OS by an terrible lot of individuals.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

It’s additionally a clean, versatile, vibrant and totally featured UI that proves to be a tinkerer’s delight.

When you’ve ventured away from Samsung at any level through the years, nevertheless, you might have skilled the cleaner, extra streamlined delights of inventory Android and people UIs that stick nearer to Google’s means of doing issues. To somebody who’s acquired a style for such issues, One UI can really feel very busy certainly, and even just a little clumsy, with a number of preinstalled apps – a number of of which duplicate core Google companies.

Samsung is promising 4 years of main OS upgrades for the Galaxy A55 5G, and as much as 5 years of safety updates. That’s fairly sturdy for a mid-range cellphone.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Worth & Availability

Samsung is promoting the Galaxy A55 5G in two storage variants from its web site right here within the UK. The mannequin with 128GB, which I’m reviewing right here, prices £439, whereas the 256GB mannequin prices £489.

Amazon, John Lewis, Very, Argos, and Currys are all promoting the cellphone at the same value. Very was providing a £10 low cost on the time of writing, whereas John Lewis was providing a free set of Galaxy Buds FE headphones with the cellphone.

That £439 beginning value makes the Galaxy A55 5G £10 cheaper than final 12 months’s Galaxy A54 5G. We haven’t been too accustomed to seeing something get cheaper in recent times, not to mention a preferred smartphone vary, so that is welcome information.

Even so, I’m hesitant to label the Galaxy A55 5G a discount. Not when the Nothing Telephone (2a) might be had for £319 and the Motorola Edge 40 Neo for £300 or much less.

One unfavourable is the truth that the Galaxy A55 5G doesn’t seem like certain for US shores. Solely the Galaxy A35 5G is headed stateside on the time of writing for $399. It’s not too dissimilar, however continues to be an inferior product with a less expensive construct, inferior efficiency, and a lesser digital camera set-up.

Try our chart of one of the best mid-range telephones to see all the highest A55 options.

Must you purchase the Samsung Galaxy A55 5G?

Samsung has taken the great work accomplished with the Galaxy A54 5G, and thoughtfully constructed upon it. That is one other all-round succesful mid-ranger with a a lot improved construct, a bigger show, and quicker efficiency.

Whereas it might have been good to see some extra enhancements within the digital camera and show departments, these had been stable elements final time round, and stay so in 2024. Provided that the cellphone prices rather less than its predecessor, it might really feel churlish to complain an excessive amount of, although cheaper rivals such because the Nothing Telephone (2a) and the Motorola Edge 40 Neo imply that I nonetheless wouldn’t name it a full-on discount.

Samsung might nonetheless do with enhancing its charging speeds, particularly in comparison with a few of its mid-range rivals, and the Galaxy A55 5G is larger and bulkier than ever. Nevertheless, it stays a straightforward advice for anybody with lower than £450 to burn on a smartphone.

Specs

• Android 14 with One UI 6.1
• 6.6in, FHD+, OLED, 120Hz, flat show
• In-display fingerprint sensor
• Exynos 1480
• 8GB RAM
• 128GB/256GB storage with MicroSD
• 50Mp, f/1.8 principal digital camera
• 12Mp ultra-wide digital camera
• 5Mp macro digital camera
• As much as 4K @ 30fps rear video
• 32Mp front-facing digital camera
• Stereo audio system
• Twin-SIM
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6
• Bluetooth 5.3
• 5000mAh battery
• 25W charging
• 161.1 x 77.4 x 8.2mm
• 213g
• Launch colors: Meteorite Grey, Moonlight White, Celestial Blue