The Samsung Galaxy A series has gained a lot of popularity in the mid-range smartphone market, and the Samsung Galaxy A55 is one of its most noteworthy releases.

In this review, we will delve into different aspects of the Samsung Galaxy A55, including its design, display, performance, camera capabilities, and overall value proposition to help you decide if it’s the right phone for you.

Samsung Galaxy A55’s Specifications

Design & Build

The Samsung Galaxy A55 maintains the familiar aesthetics of its predecessors, featuring a glossy flat glass back and separate camera rings. However, Samsung has upgraded the build quality with a flat aluminum frame, lending a premium feel akin to flagship models like the Galaxy S24. Additionally, the inclusion of IP67-rated ingress protection ensures durability against dust and water.

Featuring hybrid dual SIM support with a microSD card slot on the SIM 2. You may still enjoy dual SIM if you need extra storage via the microSD card as the Samsung Galaxy A55 does support eSIM.

Display & Audio

With a larger 6.6″ Samsung AMOLED display boasting a Full HD resolution and a smooth 120Hz refresh rate, the Samsung Galaxy A55 offers an immersive viewing experience.

Despite the presence of thick and unsymmetrical bezels, the display delivers sharp contrast, vibrant colors, and support for HDR10+ video playback and Widevine L1.

Furthermore, the inclusion of Gorilla Glass Victus+ enhances durability while maintaining visual clarity.
The Samsung Galaxy A55 features stereo speakers with enhanced bass and cleaner vocals, and the audio experience is more immersive, making it suitable for multimedia consumption and casual gaming.

Additionally, the inclusion of an under-display fingerprint reader adds convenience for login as well as other security such as Samsung Wallet and Samsung Pass; although it’s noted to be on the slower side.

Performance

Powered by the Exynos 1480 chipset fabricated based on a 4nm process and powerful Xclipse 530 GPU based on AMD RDNA 2. It even paired with a faster LPDDR5 memory and speedy UFS 3.1 storage technology

The Samsung Galaxy A55 demonstrates commendable performance in both CPU and GPU benchmarks. It showed significant improvement in every aspect, from CPU, GPU, memory, and storage compared to its predecessor.

Everyday tasks and gaming are handled smoothly, thanks to efficient thermal management that prevents throttling.

Coming to gaming, it can handle graphics-intense games at ease in low/medium graphics settings. It does generate some heat but it’s not to the extent of not being comfortable on hands.

Here are the synthetic benchmark test results

Camera

The Samsung Galaxy A55 maintains the same camera setup as its predecessor, comprising a 50MP main camera, 12MP ultra-wide camera, and 5MP macro camera. While photo processing has been refined, resulting in cleaner images with enhanced sharpness and color accuracy, low-light performance remains a minor concern. However, the inclusion of features like 4K video recording with stabilization enhances the overall camera experience.

Here are some photo samples taken by the Samsung Galaxy A55:

Full-resolution photos uploaded to GDrive

One UI 6.1 & Samsung Knox Vault

Samsung promises up to four years of major OS updates and five years of security patches to ensure long-term usability.

Samsung Knox Vault is being introduced to the new Samsung Galaxy A55 that protects your personal data from digital threats while using your device. It’s a combination of software and hardware protection that keeps your info safe like your passwords, digital wallets, media, and more. I can safely input my credit cards to Samsung Wallet and let Samsung Pass manage all my passwords.

Battery Life

While retaining the same 5,000mAh battery capacity as its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy A55 delivers improved battery life thanks to its power-efficient chip.

Based on the PCMark’s battery test, the Samsung Galaxy A55 delivers 14 hours as opposed to 13 hours by the Samsung Galaxy A54.

The 25W charging speed remains unchanged, providing a balance between convenience and charging time. We don’t always need to fast charge our devices, especially the Samsung Galaxy A55 can easily deliver 7 to 9 hours of screen-on-time.