Samsung’s latest phone hits a ‘sweet spot’
Costing significantly less than the S24 series, Samsung’s Galaxy A55 delivers a nice blend of price and performance.
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Amid the soaring cost of living, you’d be forgiven if the price of today’s top-tier smartphones are giving you pause.
While the latest flagships from Samsung and Apple are spectacular, feature-packed devices, their hefty price tags can be hard to justify.
If you don’t want to drop all the way down to a super basic, budget smartphone though, Samsung’s latest Galaxy A series device, the Galaxy A55 5G, hits a nice sweet spot.
At $699, the handset is $900 less than the cheapest phone in Samsung’s Galaxy S24 series, while looking almost identical.
But with a step down in price, comes a step down in performance and features. So exactly what are you compromising to keep your wallet from aching? I put it to the test to find out.
1-MINUTE REVIEW: SAMSUNG GALAXY A55
Samsung Galaxy A55, $699 at Samsung
Samsung Galaxy A55 5G
What You Need To Know
Priced at $699, the Samsung Galaxy A55 5G is a more affordable alternative to pricier flagships. While it closely resembles last year’s Galaxy A54, it brings a few notable changes like a glossy back, aluminium frame, eSIM capabilities, and Samsung Knox Vault for additional security. The camera setup is decent but not exceptional, and gaming performance is adequate but not top-tier.
However, the Galaxy A55 offers a nice blend of design, price and clean user experience, which makes it a solid choice for light to moderate users.
HOW WE TESTED THE SAMSUNG GALAXY A55 5G
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I tested the Samsung Galaxy A55 5G over a period of two weeks, using it as my regular handset to test its performance, battery life and camera setup.
HOW WE EVALUATED THE SAMSUNG GALAXY A55 5G
- Design
- Features
- Camera
- Performance
- Battery life
- Price
- Verdict: Should you buy the Galaxy A55?
- Other comparable budget phones
FULL REVIEW OF SAMSUNG GALAXY A55 5G
Samsung may reserve its best features and technology for its higher-tier Galaxy S series, but the Galaxy A55 proves you can get that premium feel from its mid-range devices too. The A55 is the brand’s most luxe A series phone yet, offering a nice step up from its predecessors.
DESIGN
Like last year’s Galaxy A54, the A55 mirrors the high-end S-series so closely in design that it’s almost indistinguishable from the Galaxy S24. However, this time Samsung has thrown in a glossy back and brushed aluminium frame, making the A55 looking a little more premium and, theoretically, more resistant to cracking and warping over time.
The frame does make the phone quite slippery to hold though, so you’re probably going to want to toss it in a case anyway.
The A55 features Gorilla Glass Victus+ on the front and back (a step up from the A54’s Gorilla Glass 5), marking another move towards premium materials in this price segment. It also gets what Samsung calls a Key Island (a raised portion of the side rail on the right hand side), which makes it a little easier to feel out the power and volume buttons in the dark.
Display size sees a notable increase, with the A55 featuring a 6.6-inch Super AMOLED 120Hz screen, surpassing the 6.4-inch display of the A54, and significantly out-sizing the Galaxy S24’s 6.2-inch screen. However, the bezels are still quite big, which feels like something Samsung could have trimmed down a bit.
The other display specs remain the same as the A54, with a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels, a max brightness of 1000 nits, and HDR10+ support. Once again, there’s just one storage option of 128GB (expandable with a micro SD) and a healthy 8GB of RAM.
Colour options for the Galaxy A55 include Awesome Lilac, Awesome Navy, Ice Blue and Lemon, though Australians will only see the first two in stores.
I was loaned the Awesome Lilac version for this review, which Samsung tells me is a “very Taylor Swift colour”. While it isn’t to my personal taste, its iridescent effect in the light is definitely eye-catching and stands out in a sea of black smartphones.
FEATURES
In terms of feature upgrades, the Galaxy A55 doesn’t differ significantly from last year’s A54. The standout offering is the introduction of Samsung Knox Vault, a security platform designed to safeguard sensitive data like PINs and passwords in isolated locations within the device.
In a first for the A Series, there’s also eSIM technology, along with dual SIM capability.
This means you can have two SIM cards active at the same time and switch between them as needed, which is especially convenient for travellers or those who want to use different SIM cards for work and personal use.
As with the last generation, the A55 ships with Android 14 and One UI 6.1, and will receive four years of Android updates and five years of security patches. While this isn’t overly surprising, it is disappointing when compared to the seven years of updates that Samsung and Google offer for their flagship devices.
This means that the Galaxy A55 5G will likely become obsolete sooner than its more expensive counterparts. Given the budget-conscious are likely to want a long-lasting phone, an extended update offering is something I would liked to have seen carried over to the A55.
CAMERAS
The camera setup on the Galaxy A55 is exactly the same as the Galaxy A54, with a wide 50MP f/1.8 sensor, ultra-wide 12MP f/2.2, 5MP f/2.4 macro lens and 32MP f/2.2 selfie sensor.
However, Samsung has added some new features and enhancements, such as a two micron pixel sensor, dual recording, a Night Portrait Mode, and improved Nightography, which is meant to take clearer pictures at night – though I’m not so sure about the latter claim.
While you can get an okay picture in dim lighting, you get hardly any detail in truly dark settings, which is fairly standard for a phone of this price.
The macro lens is meanwhile quite finicky, as getting just the right distance can be hard to work out. It also requires an incredibly steady hand or photos come out blurred, which is something I experienced with the majority of my snaps.
If you can get it right, it definitely takes a nice shot. However, some sort of stabilisation is desperately needed here.
Samsung does do image optimisation well, with a nice colour output and the right amount of contrast.
The 12MP ultra wide camera can meanwhile take some good shots, though it doesn’t have super sharp details.
The Galaxy A55 5G also comes with a range of AI features that can help you take better photos and videos. The most notable one is Edit Suggest: take a photo, swipe up, and the AI will analyse the photo and give you suggestions on how to improve it, such as removing reflections, objects, or shadows.
This type of editing is becoming more commonplace, but it’s nice to see nonetheless – especially on a more budget-friendly device.
There’s also multi-frame processing, which will take multiple pictures, analyse them, and provide you with the best one out of the set.
Ultimately, the camera system on the A55 isn’t bad. It’s just not spectacular.
If you’re just looking to take everyday happy snaps and aren’t super finicky about image sharpness, it should do you just fine.
PERFORMANCE
Under the hood of the Galaxy A55 is the Samsung Exynos 1480 chipset, which is slightly more powerful than the Exynos 1380 that was in last year’s Galaxy A54, meaning day to day tasks run a little more smoothly.
In my testing, I didn’t experience any jitters while switching between apps, watching videos or scrolling news feeds, though there was some lag in fast-paced games like Genshin Impact.
While the A55 isn’t terrible for gaming, it doesn’t feel optimised for it either. So, if your main focus is gaming or you just want high performance when you play, you may want to look at the more powerful S series.
On the software front, the one UI is great to use and look at and there’s very little bloatware, so the overall user experience is great, especially if you’re a light user.
BATTERY LIFE
There’s no step up on the battery front from the Galaxy A54, with the A55 still packing the same 5000 mAh cell. This isn’t something I’m overly concerned about though as I’ve been getting excellent battery life, easily clocking a full day of moderate use.
However, the A55 does only support 25W wire charging, so powering up from 0-100 per cent takes around an hour and a half, which is a little slow. As with the rest of the A series, there’s also no support for wireless charging here.
PRICE: HOW MUCH DOES THE SAMSUNG GALAXY A55 5G COST?
The Samsung Galaxy A55 5G is available in one storage size option of 128GB and retails for $699. You can pick it up at the Samsung site, or at stockists like Amazon Australia, The Good Guys, and Bing Lee.
VERDICT: SHOULD YOU BUY THE SAMSUNG GALAXY A55 5G?
With its premium design, great battery life and eSIM capabilities, the Samsung Galaxy A55 5G proves you don’t need to spend an absolute fortune to get a decent phone. There are some compromises here, which is to be expected at this price, but the A55 will suit light to moderate phone users who aren’t fussed about having all the bells and whistles of flagship handsets.
Whether it’s the best phone in this price range is up for debate, with the rival Google Pixel 7a offering an arguably better camera experience. However, if you want a mid-range device that still looks like a flagship, or you’re just a fan of Samsung in general, the Galaxy A55 is a nice choice.
OTHER COMPARABLE BUDGET PHONES
Samsung Galaxy A54: Last year’s Galaxy A54 is incredibly similar to the Galaxy A55, with the two handsets sporting the same battery size and camera setup, giving you a similar experience for less. For the extra $100 though, the A55 brings a chipset upgrade, some key design changes and increased security features, so it could be worth spending a little extra on.
Google Pixel 7a: At roughly the same price as the Galaxy A55, the Pixel 7a is probably the new handset’s biggest rival. With the Galaxy A55, you get two SIM card slots, a larger battery capacity (5000 mAh vs 4385 on the Pixel 7a), a higher display refresh rate and a larger 6.6-inch screen (up from 6.1-inches on the Pixel). On the other, you get better camera quality, wireless charging, higher pixel density (429 vs 390 PPI) and a lighter handset if you go the Pixel 7a route.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE: If you’re not sold on the A series, the Galaxy S21 FE is now only $150 more than the Galaxy A55 5G. Given the phone is two years old though, it does actually lag behind the A55 in some regards. It has a smaller battery (4500 vs 5000 mAh), runs Android 12 (vs Android 14 on the Galaxy A55) and has a lower resolution camera setup. However, it is more lightweight (177g vs 213g) and has a higher water resistance rating of IP68 (up from IP67 on the Galaxy A55).
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
SHOULD I BUY THE GALAXY A55 OR GALAXY A35?
Released at the same time as the Galaxy A55 5G, the Galaxy A35 is an even more wallet-friendly smartphone option. If you’re a basic user, the A35 delivers all your standard features, plus some nifty extras like Samsung Knox Vault and new photography capabilities, at a great price. Like the A55, it also comes with an improved Exynos chipset, and a bigger vapour cooling chamber to ensure it stays cool while running at maximum capacity.
If you’re looking for the best experience across all elements though, the A55 is probably worth spending a bit extra on. The chipset is better, which should result in better performance, and you also get some more premium features like a better camera configuration, eSim and an aluminium frame.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GALAXY A AND S?
The Galaxy S series is Samsung’s premium smartphone range, while the A series is a more budget-friendly line aimed at those who don’t want to spend a fortune on a new phone.
The S series brings more advanced camera setups, more powerful processors and better overall performance compared to the A series. S series phones also use more premium materials, and come with additional features like wireless charging, which are not typically found in the A series.
Naturally, these distinctions make the S series much more expensive, leaving the A series as a simpler, but more economical, alternative.
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