[REVIEW] Samsung Galaxy A56: Budget-Friendly Powerhouse or Lost in the Crowd?

Samsung Galaxy A56 is one of the latest additions to its mid-range A-series lineup. With a price tag of RM 1,999, it promises a balanced mix of features that appeal to those on a budget. However, the competition is fierce in this price range, with several brands vying for attention. Let’s take a deeper look at how the Galaxy A56 stacks up.

Samsung Galaxy A56 Specifications

The Galaxy A56 is priced well, maintaining the same cost as its predecessor, the Galaxy A55, while doubling the storage. At first glance, it seems like a solid value proposition. It has all the basics covered: an attractive display, AI features, and a long-lasting battery. But, Samsung’s decision to launch it amidst stiff competition means it could get lost in the crowd, as it lacks standout features in comparison to phones from fierce Chinese brand smartphones.

Before you continue with the review, you can check my unboxing and first impression video of the Galaxy A56.

Design

Gone are the days of the Galaxy S-inspired design seen on the Galaxy A55; the Galaxy A56 introduces a more unique aesthetic that sets it apart from other devices in the Galaxy A line. The back features a unified camera block that houses the three rear sensors, surrounded by an aluminum ring for a sleek, modern look.

Samsung’s decision to keep the IP67 rating for water and dust resistance is appreciated, though it’s slightly behind the IP68 rating seen in higher-end models. While the Corning Victus+ glass front and back panels provide durability, they don’t quite match the latest toughened glass available today.

Display & Audio

The 6.7-inch Full HD+ display is large and vibrant, though it’s not a premium screen. It delivers solid color and brightness levels. This is a significant upgrade over its predecessor in terms of narrower bezels and brighter panels, which increase the screen size by 0.1 inches without adding bulk to the device. Still, the brightness is nowhere near that of flagship devices like the Galaxy S series, but it’s better than most midrange devices at this price point.

The Samsung Galaxy A56 comes equipped with stereo speakers that offer enhanced bass and clearer vocals, providing a more immersive audio experience that is perfect for multimedia use and casual gaming.

The under-display fingerprint reader adds convenience for logging in and provides added security for features like Samsung Wallet and Samsung Pass. I noticed that the fingerprint reading is noticeably faster compared to its predecessor.

Camera

The Galaxy A56 retains the same triple-camera setup, including a 50MP main sensor with OIS, a 12MP ultrawide, and a 5MP macro camera.

Samsung should avoid including a dedicated macro lens that offers little practical value just to advertise a triple-camera setup, especially on their upper midrange models like the Galaxy A50 series. They could settle with a better dual-camera setup like an auto focus ultrawide.

The Galaxy A56 captures excellent daylight photos with a wide dynamic range and accurate color reproduction. Nighttime shots also look good, particularly when the automatic Night mode activates.

The ultrawide camera performs decently in most conditions, though its quality diminishes in low light.

While the camera hardware remains mostly unchanged, Samsung has significantly improved camera app performance. With the new UX on the One UI 7, they are easier to navigate and noticeably snappier.

The front-facing camera also sees a notable upgrade. The Galaxy A56 ditches the 32MP selfie camera of its predecessors for a 12MP front shooter with a larger sensor. This new camera delivers slightly more detail in both daylight and low-light selfies, making it comparable to the 12MP camera on the Galaxy S25 series.

Here are some photo samples taken by the Samsung Galaxy A56:

Full resolution photos can be access from GDrive

Video below is recorded with the Samsung Galaxy A56

Performance

The Galaxy A56 is the closest Samsung’s mid-range phones have come to flagship-level performance. With the new Exynos 1580 chip, it delivers faster NPU, GPU, and CPU performance compared to the Galaxy A55, and these improvements are noticeable in real-world use.

I switched from the Galaxy S25 Ultra to the Galaxy A56, expecting a significant drop in speed and smoothness, but I was impressed by how well it performed. While it’s not perfect and can have the occasional stutter, the Galaxy A56 somehow feels as smooth and fast as many of the Galaxy S flagships, including the S25, when it’s running well.

It can run nearly any modern game available on the Google Play Store. It supports high resolution and high refresh rate gameplay, but to ensure smooth performance, you’ll need to make some sacrifices by setting the graphics to medium.

Despite its thinner design, the Galaxy A56 stays cooler than the Galaxy A55 thanks to an upgraded vapor chamber cooling system that’s comparable to what’s in the Galaxy S24+. It handles heat efficiently in regular use, only heating up during heavy benchmark testing.

Here are the synthetic benchmark test results

Battery Life

The 5,000mAh battery in the Galaxy A56 is one of its standout features. The phone shows notable improvements in battery efficiency compared to its predecessor, and this is thanks to the new efficient Eyxnos 1580 chip.

On top of that, the Galaxy A56 is the first Galaxy A series to support 45W wired charging. While there’s no charger included in the box, Samsung’s 45W charger (sold separately) brings the phone from 0 to 100% in under 70 minutes.

One UI & Awesome Intelligence

Samsung’s “Awesome Intelligence” features are an interesting addition. They include tools like Object Eraser, which removes unwanted elements from photos, and Best Face, which lets you swap faces in group shots. There’s also a Filter Creator for adding unique looks to photos and an Auto Trim for editing videos into montages. These AI enhancements are enjoyable, though they’re not quite as advanced as the company’s Galaxy AI, which is exclusive to the Galaxy S-series.

On the software side, the Galaxy A56 runs Android 15 with One UI 7. While it benefits from Samsung’s robust six years of major OS upgrades and security updates.