He Galaxy A55 is Samsung’s new affordable mid-range smartphone, designed as an alternative for those who don’t want to spend money on the Galaxy S24. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t feel special. Samsung has made some subtle design updates that make the Galaxy A55 look and feel desirable from the moment you pick it up.
I’m ready to give a full review of the Galaxy A55, but in the meantime, here are my first impressions of Samsung’s latest affordable phone. As I already hinted, it definitely looks good, but unfortunately there are also some concerns that I hope will quickly disappear.
New clear shape
The Galaxy A55 has a metal frame with flat sides like the Galaxy S24, but it takes the design one step further by adding a matte effect and I think it looks great. Additionally, additional shape was added to the frame by slightly raising the area around the buttons and then removing the brush effect. The combination looks fantastic, and the blue color of my review unit shimmers and shimmers in the light, making the Galaxy A55 look more modern and mature than its predecessor. Galaxy A54.
On the back is Gorilla Glass Victus+, which is completely flat. The edge of the glass is not curved and meets the frame at a sharp angle, making the Galaxy A55 awkward to hold. I’m not sure what this obsession with completely ignoring ergonomics is, since phones shouldn’t put much pressure on the palm, even with a square shape. I don’t really like wearing a case, but it’s a one time thing, I think it’s worth it, just to make the phone easier to hold.
The case will also help protect the highly reflective glass back from smudges. It doesn’t look terrible because it attracts dirt, but I did clean it up a bit for photos even though I only had it for a few hours. It’s available in four colors, each preceded by the word “amazing.” The phone in our photos comes in Awesome Navy, plus you can get Awesome Lilac, Awesome Lemon, and Awesome Ice Blue. Really impressive.
Technical characteristics of the Galaxy A55
On the front, there is a 6.6-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels, a refresh rate of 120 Hz and large bezels around the edges. Many people won’t like this, just like with the Galaxy A54, but I’ll just say: I don’t notice them at all. Yes, the frames are thicker than on the Galaxy S24, but in photos and with some wallpapers they look much worse than in person. It’s a dark border around the screen, but it’s still there. a lot of screen on the Galaxy A55, and the frames do not distract from everyday use.
I’m writing this on my first day with the Galaxy A55, so I can’t yet evaluate the performance of the 5000 mAh battery and can’t comment on Samsung’s new Exynos 1480 processor. However, it didn’t make much of an impression on me at first. Smartphones always work hard in the first few days as apps are optimized and data is organized in the background, so I’m hoping that some of the stuttering and sluggishness I’ve noticed will gradually disappear.
I also hope the in-display fingerprint sensor improves. The Galaxy A series has always suffered from subpar fingerprint sensors, often requiring several attempts before they work. Unfortunately, the Galaxy A55’s fingerprint sensor didn’t convince me that things have changed with the latest model, but then again, it’s still early days. The phone runs Android 14 with Samsung One UI 6.1 out of the box, just like the Galaxy S24. However, none of the tools Galaxy AI Here.
The Galaxy A55 has much of what has always made the Galaxy A series such a great value. It has 128GB of internal storage, a MicroSD card slot, 5G connectivity, NFC, all Samsung Knox security features, a long software update period including four operating system updates and five years of security updates, and an IP67 water and dust resistance rating . On paper, the cameras haven’t changed much from the Galaxy A54, but there are changes to the sensors that will make them interesting.
Samsung’s strange decision to launch
I liked the Galaxy A54 because it was an inexpensive smartphone. This became a simple recommendation. But in some markets the A55 will not appear immediately, but only the A35.
Anyone looking for a new high-quality smartphone costing around $500 has one less option this year, but they’re still faced with some great alternatives this time around. The OnePlus 12R, Google Pixel 7a (and soon the Pixel 8a), and Nothing Phone 2 are all great options. It’s surprising that Samsung didn’t want to compete with all this with its own previously highly desirable mid-range smartphone.
Although I like the direction Samsung has taken with Kit in recent years and the way it’s been getting basic specs (big screen, big battery, software updates and durability) doesn’t seem to have addressed some of the current complaints about the model.
Hopefully I’m wrong and he’ll settle into everyday life after living with him for a while. If this happens, the Galaxy A55 will be another winner at a reasonable price. I want the fact that Samsung decided not to release it in the US and other regions to be a huge disappointment.
Source: Digital Trends
