Samsung’s Galaxy S collection telephones are identified for pushing the boundaries of what a smartphone can do, however the Galaxy A collection is the place my cash’s at. The South Korean cellphone maker’s mid-range gadgets borrow virtually all of the options from its flagship collection however price lots much less. I used the Galaxy A56 for a couple of weeks as my day by day driver, and right here’s what I take into consideration Samsung’s most premium mid-range cellphone.
I’m a slipshod particular person, susceptible to dropping electronics both on the bottom or unknowingly slapping them on high of each other. Whereas I didn’t drop my cellphone (no less than this time), it was high-quality even once I unintentionally brushed it towards issues like my pill, earphones, chargers, and doorways. Additionally, it didn’t get any scratches even once I saved it in my pocket with different issues.
The Galaxy A56 additionally carries over the ‘button island’ Samsung launched final yr. For many who don’t know, the cellphone’s body is barely raised on the highest proper facet, which makes it straightforward to search out and press the facility and quantity buttons when the cellphone is in your bag or pocket.
In comparison with its predecessor, the cellphone is a tad taller and packs a barely larger (6.6-inch vs 6.67-inch) display screen, however Samsung has by some means managed to make the cellphone a bit lighter, which implies your fingers will not ache when binge-watching movies or enjoying video games for hours on finish. The 120Hz AMOLED display screen isn’t the brightest in the marketplace, however you may simply watch movies or learn articles open air in Delhi’s brilliant and sizzling summers.
Nonetheless, the fingerprint scanner continues to be not as dependable as different telephones, however this can be as a result of it’s situated too near the underside fringe of the cellphone.
One UI 7 is among the most intuitive and feature-packed Android skins of all time. (Picture Credit score: Anurag Chawake/Indian Categorical)
Efficiency and software program
The Galaxy A56 is powered by the Exynos 1580 chipset. Each on paper and in actual life, the cellphone feels quicker and snappier than its predecessor. In a nutshell, that is the closest any Galaxy A collection system has come to Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S collection cellphone when it comes to smoothness.
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Be it on a regular basis duties like messaging, scrolling by means of social media, listening to music, watching movies or gaming, the Galaxy A56 doesn’t lag, like, in any respect. And with Samsung now providing 6 years of software program updates, I can confidently say that the chipset will simply final greater than half a decade of Android updates.
The quicker chipset, mixed with Samsung’s newest Android pores and skin – One UI 7, provides a flagship-like expertise. In comparison with One UI 6, the animations are easy, and I barely encountered any lag when switching between purposes or launching new ones.
Speaking of OneUI 7, I like how Samsung lets you customise the consumer interface. I’m used to inventory Android and like to customize each facet of my system, however belief me, as soon as you turn to a Samsung system operating One UI 7, there’s no going again.
Additionally, I like the way in which Samsung has baked in AI options like Greatest Shot, Greatest Face, Object Eraser and extra into the system itself. Just like the Galaxy S collection cellphone, these options work flawlessly more often than not, however there are a couple of tough edges right here and there. One other factor to notice is that some AI options, like Now Transient and a bunch of different complicated stuff, like the flexibility to maneuver round objects in a photograph, are nonetheless unique to the newest Galaxy S collection gadgets, however Samsung could trickle them right down to the A collection later down the road.
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And whereas this isn’t a gaming cellphone, the expertise is fairly good. I attempted video games like Genshin Impression, Solo Levelling: Come up, Wuthering Waves and BGMI, and the gameplay was easy all through. Nonetheless, I needed to dial down the settings a bit to hit the 60 fps mark.
Digital camera
The Galaxy A56’s digicam consists of a 50MP main sensor, a 12MP ultrawide lens and a 5MP macro shooter. And whereas the first and ultrawide cameras are nice, I did miss the telephoto lens.
Personally, I really feel like a cellphone that prices upwards of Rs 40,000 ought to have a telephoto lens. Coming again to the digicam, the first 50MP sensor takes nice pictures throughout each day and evening time, however as is the case with Samsung telephones, the colors come out a bit saturated for my style.
The 12MP ultrawide lens is common at finest, and whereas it does come near the principle sensor, the photographs usually come out smooth in low-light situations. As for the 5MP macro digicam, it’s a gimmick at finest, and I simply hope Samsung ditches it for a telephoto sensor within the subsequent iteration.
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If you’re somebody who usually information movies, I counsel you keep on with the principle digicam, which has OIS, as the opposite ones are usually not that good.
Photos captured on the daybreak are detailed and barely have any noise. (Picture Credit score: Anurag Chawake/Indian Categorical)
Like its predecessor, the Galaxy A56 nonetheless struggles with gentle sources at evening.(Picture Credit score: Anurag Chawake/Indian Categorical)
Nonetheless, it does take good pictures in low-light more often than not. (Picture Credit score: Anurag Chawake/Indian Categorical)
Day time photographs are fairly detailed even at 2x digital zoom. (Picture Credit score: Anurag Chawake/Indian Categorical)
The first 50 MP sensor is on par with different telephones within the worth bracket. (Picture Credit score: Anurag Chawake/Indian Categorical)
Right here’s a picture captured by the 5MP macro shooter. (Picture Credit score: Chitral Khambati/Indian Categorical)
The 50MP most important digicam excels even in difficult lighting situations (Picture Credit score: Chitral Khambati/Indian Categorical)
Battery
The Galaxy A56 packs a 5,000 mAh battery, the identical as its predecessor. Nonetheless, the battery life sees a major, if not substantial, enchancment when it comes to screen-on time, with the cellphone simply crossing the 6-hour mark on heavy utilization even with the All the time-On show enabled.
In case your day includes utilizing the cellphone for browsing the web, scrolling social media for a couple of minutes, streaming music on 4G or 5G virtually all day and utilizing navigation to journey round, the Galaxy A56 may have a cost someday earlier than you hit the mattress earlier than 1 AM. However those that don’t use their cellphone closely can anticipate their cellphone to simply final greater than a day, and solely must cost their cellphone someday within the morning or early afternoon.
Undoubtedly, this is among the finest Exynos-powered Galaxy A collection telephones to this point that provides an excellent battery life. I’m glad to see Samsung’s software program and in-house {hardware} optimisation providing this a lot screen-on time with out growing the battery capability. It will likely be fascinating to see how lengthy smartphones will final as soon as Samsung embraces the brand new silicon carbon batteries like those in Realme, Vivo, iQOO and OnePlus telephones.
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The Galaxy A56 (backside) alongside the Galaxy A36 (high). (Picture Credit score: Chitral Khambati/Indian Categorical)
Galaxy A56: Do you have to purchase it, and what are the options?
The Galaxy A56 is a strong premium mid-range cellphone which, like each Samsung A5x collection cellphone, provides a mix of fine efficiency, the newest options and an all-day battery life with a strong construct that may drop in addition to face up to mud and water with none points. Nonetheless, the dearth of a devoted telephoto shooter in a cellphone that crosses the Rs 40,000 mark may be a bummer for some.
If you’re not a digicam fanatic or principally keep on with the principle sensor to take pictures, the Galaxy A56 is an effective cellphone for beneath Rs 45,000. However if you happen to can spend a bit extra, I counsel that you just go together with the Galaxy S24 FE, which comes with a a lot quicker chipset, a succesful telephoto sensor and extra AI options. Nonetheless, for most individuals, together with me, who don’t thoughts the dearth of a telephoto shooter and desire a premium cellphone with what’s arguably among the best software program on the Android facet of issues, the Galaxy A56 is a straightforward advice for beneath Rs 45,000.
Nonetheless, the mid-range section has gotten tremendous aggressive, and there are a number of options for these trying to purchase a mid-range system with flagship-like cameras, larger batteries or quicker processors, just like the Xiaomi 14 Civi, OnePlus 13R, Vivo V50 and Realme GT6, which supply higher worth for cash.
Galaxy A56 professionals and cons: