SAMSUNG has had a busy year already with fancy new Galaxy S24 smartphones – but now it’s time for some love on the mid-range end.
The Samsung Galaxy A55 is certainly an eye-catcher on the surface – and it’s easier on your wallet than most handsets these days.
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Here’s what we made of it – and don’t miss a better look at the handset in our video above.
Samsung Galaxy A55: Look and feel
The Galaxy A55 has an instant premium vibe to it.
Bold and flashy are the first thoughts that came to mind as I grasped the metal frame and felt the slick glass back.
Sadly, the downside to this is the handset can be quite susceptible to hand smears.
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The 6.6-inch super AMOLED display is rich, detailed and bright, especially when watching a movie on Netflix.
But the bezel around the screen is a bit thick for my liking.
At 213g, I don’t find it too heavy to hold either.
Samsung Galaxy A55: Performance and features
The A55 runs on Android 14 with Samsung’s latest One UI 6.1 on top, so you get a load of the company’s latest features.
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I’m usually more of an Android “purest” but One UI does a nice job of keeping things fresh but familiar.
It means you’ll find a lot of Samsung apps alongside the usual Google ones.
One thing I love is Samsung TV Plus which offers a load of free TV channels and shows to watch with no subscription – it’s available on all Samsung devices.
It’s the first time Samsung has included its top level security feature, Samsung Knox, on the budget Galaxy A series of handsets.
This is a multi-layer security platform that’s designed to keep critical information safe and protect against bank-raiding vulnerabilities.
I love the bold, slick design with its glass back
Samsung also has it’s own version of the Google Assistant, Bixby, which I’m not keen on – fortunately you can change it.
Oh, and for those who don’t like facial recognition, you can use a thumbprint instead which is a nice bonus.
One important point worth noting, Samsung has committed to providing the A55 with up to four years of operating system updates and five years of security updates, so this phone should last you a good while.
In terms of performance, I didn’t find the A55 to be the smoothest mid-ranger I’ve tried – it does the job but jumping between apps occasionally felt slightly sticky.
Who offers free updates longest?
The longer you receive updates, the longer you can safely continue using your smartphone – with the latest features thrown in too for free.
Samsung
While the A55 has four years of OS and five years of security updates, the Galaxy S24 series has more, with at least seven generations of OS updates and seven years of security updates.
OnePlus
At the launch of the OnePlus 12, OnePlus committed to at least four years of Android updates and five years of security updates.
Nothing
Nothing only offers three years of major Android updates and four years of security updates.
Google
For the Pixel 8, Google said that devices would receive at least seven years of support.
Samsung Galaxy A55: Battery
The battery is a big beast at 5000mAh – larger than any iPhone – but that doesn’t mean it’s any better.
It got me through a day of general usage just fine.
Watching an hour long episode of a show on Netflix knocked the battery down by seven per cent.
The real sticking point is charging speed – the A55 is pretty slow compared to others around, with no fast charging support.
There’s no wireless charging either.
Samsung Galaxy A55: Camera
The A55 has three cameras on the back – a five megapixel macro camera, a 50 megapixel wide-angle camera and a 12 megapixel ultra wide camera.
These manage to take pretty decent snaps from the local park, really pulling in those beautiful spring colours.
The camera is the key pull for me, making beautiful photography easy
Shots in darker settings are equally as impressive.
The editing options are more limited compared to premium Samsung smartphones – and you don’t get all those fancy AI photography features either.
That said, I found myself appreciating the simplicity.
Photos do get fuzzy with the digital zoom so I wouldn’t bother.
But it does shoot stunning videos at 4K with 30 fps (frames per second).
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Samsung Galaxy A55: Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy A55 is a real stunner.
I love the bold, slick design with its glass back.
The same can be said of the gorgeous display.
The camera is the key pull for me, making beautiful photography easy.
However, the battery charging is a sticking point when so many others have got on board with fast charging now.
And while £439 is pretty cheap by today’s standards, there are some cheaper mid-range devices around.
All prices in this article were correct at the time of writing, but may have since changed.
Always do your own research before making any purchase.
