After launching its flagship Galaxy S24 Series (our review here) in January, Samsung rolled out its reliable mid-rangers in Galaxy A55 and A35 last month. The two smartphones crossed our desks soon after launch and we’ve been excited to see what Samsung has in store for the audience that wants the biggest bang for its buck. On paper, the Galaxy A55’s updates may seem minute in comparison to its predecessor, but for those upgrading from an older device, this smartphone deserves a lot of attention. We used the Samsung Galaxy A55 for a week, here is our in-depth review of the device.
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In This Article
Samsung Galaxy A55 review: Design and Display
Here’s what you get inside the Samsung Galaxy A55 retail box:
- Smartphone
- USB Type-C to Type-C cable
- SIM ejector tool
- Quick Start Guide
Samsung does not offer a power adapter or phone cover with its midrange offerings. This is particularly disappointing because the smartphone costs Rs 40,000 and the USB Type-C to Type-C cable provided inside the box may not be compatible with older power adapters that have a Type-A port.
Moving on to the form factor of the device, there are some key changes on the Galaxy A55 that we appreciate a lot. Firstly, Samsung has gotten rid of the chunky frame on the Galaxy A54 (our review here) and replaced it with a flat aluminium frame. The brushed texture of this frame is a nice contrast to the glossy back panel. Its curved edges don’t dig into the palms.
The right edge of the frame houses the volume rocker and the side button. These keys are placed on a slightly raised surface, which makes it easier to locate them with your hand when you’re not looking at the phone. We prefer the uniform design language of completely flat sides, but this is a matter of personal opinion. On the bottom edge of the phone, you’ll find the USB Type-C port, primary microphone, and speaker grille. The secondary microphone and hybrid SIM slot are positioned on the top edge. That’s right, the Samsung Galaxy A55 has a hybrid SIM slot, which can be used to expand the device’s memory using a micro SD card. The earpiece at the top doubles up as the secondary speaker.
The back panel remains unchanged from its previous iteration. Samsung has stuck with the glass back and vertical camera layout on the A series. The three camera sensors are placed in individual cutouts which have a slightly larger bump than the A54. This layout lacks any kind of extravagance, which leads us to believe that Samsung prefers playing it safe with its design choices. It is inoffensive to the senses which is the perhaps best thing we can say about it.
Moving on to the display, it should surprise no one that Samsung has brought its A-game to the A series once again. The 6.6-inch Super AMOLED display offers a sublime touch response which is completely unmatched by its peers. This display is a smidge larger than the A54, but it doesn’t feel bulky in comparison. The 120Hz maximum refresh rate provides exemplary smoothness while browsing the phone. There is some bad with the good though, as the (relatively) thick bezels still stick out like a sore thumb on the A55.
Other than the size, the AMOLED display on the Galaxy A55 is identical to its predecessor. It can reach a maximum brightness of 1,000 which isn’t too high by 2024’s standards, but certainly not a dealbreaker. HDR10+ support and Widevine L1 certification make this display ideal for watching HD content across all OTT platforms. Samsung’s displays make the colours ‘pop’ like no one else and we were very pleased with the level of detail in the images. The stereo speaker is well-balanced and can reach an optimum level of loudness.
In terms of protection, the glass front gets the Gorilla Glass Victus+ treatment, which is a welcome upgrade from the Gorilla Glass 5 on last year’s A54. The smartphone is still rated IP67 for dust and water resistance. It can withstand being submerged up to 1m for 30 minutes.
Samsung Galaxy A55 review: Performance and Cameras
Let’s talk about the performance aspect of the Samsung Galaxy A55 and address the 4nm elephant in the room which is the Exynos 1480 chipset. Samsung’s commitment to its in-house Exynos chipsets only grows stronger every passing year, as evidenced by the newest Galaxy S24 (our review here) and the S24+ (our review here).
Before we dive into the benchmark numbers and gaming performance, it needs to be said that the Exynos 1480 chipset does not present any significant issues in everyday use. Browsing through apps is a breeze and the smartphone manages multiple background tasks with expertise. Our daily tasks on the Samsung Galaxy A55 during the review period consisted of emailing, video calling, web browsing, navigation, and media consumption. The smartphone crushed them without any hiccups.
In outdoor use, the smartphone warms up quickly while taking pictures. It didn’t reach a point where we had to shut down the camera app but the rise in internal temperature was rather abrupt. On the bright side, the phone’s excellent touch response and fine haptics played an important role in elevating the user experience.
On the Geekbench 6 test, the Galaxy A55 scored a respectable 1,157 points in the single-core test and 3,440 points in the multi-core test. In comparison, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2-powered OnePlus 12R (our review here) which is in the same price bracket as the A55 scored 1,560 and 4,522 points in the single-core and multi-core tests respectively.
The difference in benchmark numbers is palpable while playing demanding titles like COD Mobile and Asphalt 9. Call of Duty does not offer an option to set the graphics to any other setting other than low. The frame rate locks in at 60fps. While the touch response is good, lags and frame drops are quite frequent. After 15-20 minutes of gaming, the rise in temperature becomes noticeable. Once the smartphone warms up, throttling issues begin to arise. To cut the A55 some slack, it isn’t advertised as a gaming smartphone. For casual gamers, this smartphone will do the job.
Samsung’s One UI 6.1 is one of our favourite Android 14-based skins around. However, the software experience on the Galaxy A55 is a little tainted by the ads and bloatware on the device. To get an idea of what we’re talking about, there’s a widget that only displays ads in one of the home screen panels. Luckily, this widget along with the bloatware apps can be removed from the device.
Samsung’s Galaxy AI, which made its debut on the S24 Series in January, has been withheld in the midrange A Series. However, you can still find its ‘Image Remaster’ function in the Gallery app. Samsung DeX is another premium feature which hasn’t made it to the A Series yet.
Other than the misses, you get the good stuff like ‘Video call effects’ in Advanced Settings, which lets you change your call background on apps that don’t natively allow it. Yes, this includes WhatsApp too. You also get a good range of customisation options for the lock screen and home screen.
Another significant change on the One UI 6 is the reworked Quick Settings Menu. While we like the new layout, there is one change that hampers the accessibility of the new panel. Earlier, tapping the title of the tile took you to the popup menu of the function while tapping the tile itself toggled it on and off. On One UI 6, tapping either item simply toggles the function. Hopefully, Samsung will rectify this in a future update.
The battery specs on the Galaxy A55 are identical to its predecessor. The Exynos 1480 chipset deserves praise when it comes to power management and getting the most out of this 5,000 mAh unit. We consistently got 6 hours of Screen On Time on the Samsung Galaxy A55 throughout the week-long review period. The overnight drain was minimal as well. What we don’t like is the 25W charging speed. It leaves a lot more to be desired as the smartphone takes an hour to fully charge.
The triple camera array on the back panel comprises a 50MP primary shooter, a 12MP ultrawide lens, and a 5MP macro sensor. This camera setup is identical to the one on the Galaxy A54. We were hoping for the addition of a telephoto lens to the A55’s camera arrangement this year, but that is not the case here.
The camera performance of the Galaxy A55 is indistinguishable from its predecessor. This isn’t a bad thing at all, as the latter impressed us with its camera versatility last year. Images taken with the 50MP in outdoor daylight conditions are sharp and detailed. Samsung’s photoprocessing deserves a lot of praise for its vibrant tuning of colours and displaying a healthy dynamic range in the images. The pictures pack a good amount of detail. We were happy with the way the main camera exposed the sky and captured its colour tone.
In limited lighting conditions, the main camera sensor lets in a lot of light and takes good pictures even without the Night Mode turned on. The colours are life-like, but the images are a little grainy. Turning on the Night Mode smoothens the grain from the images and brightens up the subject. The images seem a tad overprocessed, especially when capturing the foliage, but it isn’t a major issue for us.
The drop-off in quality from the main sensor to the ultrawide lens is minimal. The images taken with the ultrawide camera are slightly on the softer side but they showcase excellent colours. Even in limited lighting, the ultrawide camera produces good results with the help of the Night Mode.
Portrait shots taken with the Samsung Galaxy A55 can be hit or miss. The smartphone struggles to recognise the edges of the object in the frame, which means you’ll have to take multiple shots to get the focus just right. The blur effect applied to the background is optimum. The 32MP front-facing camera takes good selfies with accurate skin tones. It can also record 4K at 30fps, which is a big plus point. The main camera at the back can also record 4K videos at 30fps.
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Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy A55 is essentially an updated A54 with a better-performing chipset and some tweaks to the form factor. The Exynos 1480 SoC falls short in gaming performance, but it carries out its power management duties very well. If you’re not interested in gaming, the A55 will serve as an excellent ‘everyday’ smartphone. The super smooth AMOLED display and versatile camera performance are the two big highlights of this smartphone. Samsung’s commitment towards providing 4 major OS upgrades and 5 years of security patches on the A55 is also one of the reasons that justify its Rs 40,000 price tag.
Samsung Galaxy A55: Pros
- Superb display
- Versatile camera performance
- Battery life
- Premium form factor
Samsung Galaxy A55: Cons
- Sizeable bezels
- Exynos 1480 SoC is not meant for gaming
