Samsung Galaxy A55 5G Review: A Reliable Mid-Range Smartphone

Samsung’s Galaxy A series is undoubtedly popular, giving all the premium feels at a mid-range pricing. The latest addition to the lineup is the Galaxy A55 5G, which is a successor to last year’s Galaxy A54, bringing forth several upgrades like a bigger display, an upgraded Exynos 1480 chipset and an aluminium frame. But, this has led to a slight increase in price; it starts at Rs 39,999. With phones such as the OnePlus 12R, iQOO Neo 9 Pro, and the Nothing Phone 2 falling in the same price bracket, does it make sense to buy the Galaxy A55? Let’s find out in this review.

Samsung Galaxy A55 5G: Pricing and Availability in India

Samsung Galaxy A55 5G Review: Design and Build Quality

The Galaxy A55 looks just like any other Galaxy phone (even gives the Galaxy S24/S24+ vibes) and hence, doesn’t bring an “oomph” factor. But the simple design approach is equally attractive. Samsung ditches the plastic build for an aluminium frame and a glass back, both of which give the phone a premium look and feel.

Despite the phone weighing more than 200 grams, it never stressed our wrists. The overall weight of the device is well-distributed. Samsung has also introduced a new frame design, termed Key Island. This raises the power button and volume rocker portion by shaving off the frames. This massively helps when gripping the phone for longer periods. The Galaxy A55 is also IP67-rated for protection against water and dust.

Samsung Galaxy A55 5G Review: Display and Audio

The Super AMOLED display on the Galaxy A55 is slightly bigger than the outgoing model. It still offers an excellent viewing experience with vivid colours when consuming content on any platform. Dark and eerie scenes from The Watcher were also easily visible and had us at the edge of our seats. Speaking of which, this one’s a great watch if you want to try out the psychological thriller genre.

The phone supports an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate, which makes scrolling and navigating through the UI smoother. There’s HDR10+ support and the most interesting part is that the Galaxy A55 has a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+, which is a significant upgrade over the A54’s Gorilla Glass 5. The stereo speaker setup gets loud enough and provides good clarity with decent bass. But if you are a bass head, it might leave you wanting more.

Samsung Galaxy A55 5G Review: Cameras

The Galaxy A55 opts for the same camera configuration as its predecessor. So, there’s no on-paper difference between both. However, Samsung touts that the phone provides high-quality low-light selfies and more stable videos.

The night mode does seem to have improvements as there’s less noise in the images. However, one thing that irked us was the Night mode. The phone does not automatically enable it, so you will have to go into the ‘More’ settings to click a photo in low light.

Low-light Camera Samples

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Photos clicked using the selfie camera come out with good colours, however, the skin tones tend to be on the cooler side. Nonetheless, the images have good details. If you are a frequent Snapchat user, you will be delighted to know that the phone comes with built-in Snapchat filters, accessible via the ‘Fun’ section in the Camera app.

Selfie Camera Samples

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The camera output of the 50-megapixel main camera captures good, Instagram-ready pictures. The colours are mostly balanced with slightly enhanced contrast, making the photos punchier. The ultra-wide angle shots are also fairly good, but the colour disparity is noticeable. And, because of the lower megapixel count, photos have a bit of noise in low-light conditions.

Daylight Camera Samples

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The macro camera captures decent photos, but focusing can get tough at times. Photos captured with the Portrait mode come out crisp with good edge detection. You also get the option to tweak the bokeh effect after clicking a photo, which is good.

Samsung Galaxy A55 5G Review: Performance and Software

As compared to the Galaxy A54, the Galaxy A55 gets a newer Exynos 1480 chipset and is a smooth performer in most cases. Usual tasks like texting, scrolling through social media apps, or shopping sites are breezy. Even navigation and constant switching between various apps have been snappy.

While gaming is not its forte, the phone handled COD: Mobile and Asphalt 9 with High graphics, pretty well. However, the phone tends to get warmer during extended periods of gaming.

The Galaxy A55 runs One UI 6.0 based on Android 14. You get a clean experience with some pre-loaded apps like Amazon, Snapchat, Netflix, PhonePe, and more. Since I use most of these apps, it wasn’t a problem for me, but some might find this annoying. The pre-installed ad home screen banner can also be an annoyance but you can remove it.

Samsung Galaxy A55 5G Review: Battery and Charging

The 5,000mAh battery of the Galaxy A55 is more than enough to last for a day with moderate to heavy usage.

The phone comes with 25W fast charging support, which is inferior when compared to other devices in the market. The charging time can be more than an hour and tends to increase if you use a third-party charger — which is the case as Samsung does not provide a charger in the box. This is one of the major downsides, especially when fast charging speeds are your main concern.

Samsung Galaxy A55 5G Review: Verdict

The Galaxy A55 is a solid mid-range phone with a minimal design, good display quality, and a reliable Exynos chipset. The phone mostly impresses but isn’t a major upgrade over the Galaxy A54. So, if you are still using that phone, no need to upgrade.

But, if there’s an older model you want to change, this is a good option provided you are looking for a reliable mid-range phone.

As for the alternatives, you can go for the OnePlus 12R, which comes with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and is a performance-centric device. The iQOO Neo 9 Pro is another decent contender for hardcore gaming.