More than just mid-range? Samsung Galaxy A55 long-term review

The Galaxy A55 surprised me big time. The mid-range of Samsung’s A series has gained a really good device. I put it through its paces during my vacation and asked myself whether it might be more than just mid-range.

Design and display

The design doesn’t give away that it’s a mid-range smartphone. With rounded edges and a flat display, it looks modern like the Galaxy S24 series. The back is made of Corning Gorilla Glass, the frame of brushed aluminum. With the light colors like Awesome Ice Blue, Awesome Lemon or Awesome Lilac, like my test unit, you hardly have any problems with fingerprints. With the dark blue Navy it looks different.

The 6.6-inch Super AMOLED display made of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ goes up to 120 Hz and only gets up to 1,000 nits bright. I could still read it without any problem in direct sunlight, which surprised me.

The display bezels surprised me negatively. Samsung makes an effort to build a high-quality, modern device, and then the bezels are far too thick and asymmetric, thicker at the bottom than at the top. It’s like combining a Chanel evening dress with slides and socks: out of place and completely off.

Camera

The camera is definitely not off. I was more than positively surprised how good the shots are.

• Main camera: 50-megapixel wide-angle.
• Other cameras: 12-megapixel ultrawide and 5-megapixel macro.
• Front camera: 32 megapixels, 4K video is possible.

The sample shots in the video were taken on vacation in Morocco, in Agadir and on the drive to Marrakesh. For most people who take a few photos or videos in everyday life or on vacation, the camera should be completely sufficient. New in the A series are dual recordings with front and main camera at the same time. With that and the good front and main camera, the A55 quickly becomes interesting for people active on social media who don’t want to buy a flagship.

Exynos 1480

The Exynos 1480 does a really good job. Samsung currently uses its own processor in all new devices except the Galaxy S24 Ultra. I also tested the Exynos 2400 in the S24 and S24+ and it fully convinced me, and it does in the A55 as well. The handling is super smooth: nothing stutters when scrolling, opening and closing apps or in split view. I know the benchmarks according to which Exynos is supposed to be hopelessly inferior to the Snapdragon processors. In those, the devices are pushed to their limits in the lab, for example with video rendering, which has nothing to do with everyday performance. Two years ago that was different, but the world has moved on. In everyday use I see no difference from a Snapdragon.

Battery

With mid-range smartphones, corners are often cut on the battery. Like the S24 Ultra, the Galaxy A55 has a 5,000 mAh battery, which also lasts just as long. I get about 7 to 8 hours of screen-on time, a full two days for me. If you use it less, you get more. I find that enormous for a mid-range smartphone.

What’s missing

• Wireless charging
• Samsung DeX
• The new AI features like Live Translate and Circle to Search, which the Galaxy S24 devices have and which by now are also on the Galaxy S23 and Z5
• Update guarantee: only four years of OS updates and five years of security updates instead of seven years

Everyone has to decide for themselves how important these points are.

Weight

Weight is always an important criterion for me. A big display is great, but it comes with weight. At 213 g, the A55 weighs quite a lot. The Galaxy S24+, which is about the same size, weighs 17 g less and has wireless charging. The Nothing Phone 2a at 190 g is even 23 g lighter.

Verdict

With the really good processor, the great camera and the outstanding battery performance, the Galaxy A55 does so much right that the steep RRP of €479 might be justified. What Samsung has built up, it partly tears down again with the thick display bezels and the weight. For me, the A55 is a top mid-range smartphone in many areas, or even beyond. And then there are the areas where it wears socks in sandals.