Samsung Galaxy A55 review

Competition

The Samsung Galaxy A5x lineup is perhaps one of the most competitive series in the brand's portfolio. However, we feel like they've lost their mojo with the Galaxy A55. Sure, it has some compelling upgrades this year, like battery life and chipset, but are they enough to keep the Galaxy A5x series afloat?

As always, it's a bit more nuanced than this. If you are in the market for strictly a Samsung phone, there are quite a few options around the same price point. The Galaxy A54 is still a viable option, given that it's essentially the same phone but with shorter battery life and a less powerful Exynos 1380. And it's more than €100 cheaper too.

The more recent Galaxy A35 is a very close match to last year's Galaxy A54 too, but it doesn't come cheap. In a direct comparison between the A35 and the A55, though, the latter is slightly better in almost every aspect - performance, battery life, camera and build quality. It's up to you to decide whether the €100 difference is justifiable for a "slightly better" user experience.

Samsung Galaxy A54 • Samsung Galaxy A35 • Samsung Galaxy S23 FE

Continuing with the homegrown competition, the new Galaxy A55 is priced close to the Galaxy S23 FE. Dangerously close, even. And as the name implies, the Galaxy S23 FE is an affordable flagship, far from the Galaxy A55's true mid-range nature. The only real advantage the Galaxy A55 has over its higher-end sibling is battery life, which is one area where it wipes the floor with the S23 FE. However, it's hard to overlook other aspects and features - better display, faster chipset, better camera experience (has 3x telephoto too), wireless charging, as well as other neat tidbits like Samsung DeX, reverse charging, better ingress protection, etc. The Galaxy S23 FE is objectively the better phone.

Xiaomi 13T • Nothing Phone (2a)

Looking for competition outside Samsung's camp, we find the Xiaomi 13T as an excellent alternative. The device undercuts the Galaxy A55 in terms of pricing and offers objectively better hardware too. Additionally, Xiaomi is offering at least four years of major OS updates for its Xiaomi 13T series, so even if it's a last-year handset, the vanilla 13T will be relevant for at least a couple of years. It also has a better display, twice the storage by default, a snappier chipset, a better camera system with a telephoto unit, faster charging and similar battery life. It's not as good as the Galaxy A55's, but it's still close enough not to sway you in either direction.

Another popular midranger worth mentioning is the Nothing Phone (2a). This one is significantly cheaper, but matches the Galaxy A55's class better. Moreover, it's the only phone on this list that surpasses the Galaxy A55 in terms of battery life. It has the same performance as the Galaxy A55 and also a similar camera experience and display, but it charges faster and offers a standout design. However, that last bit may be polarizing. Either way, it is cheaper, so it's definitely worth considering. At launch, the Galaxy A55 is about €140 more expensive.

Verdict

We had high hopes for the Galaxy A55, but it appears competition is catching up. The newer A55 tries to ride on the success of its predecessors, but the modest upgrades this year make it hard to justify the high launch price. We are impressed by the battery life; we liked the new, more premium design; raw performance is good along with sustained performance, and we are generally happy with the camera all-around, including selfies and video recording. Display quality is competitive, although it's not hard to find bright 120Hz OLEDs nowadays.

In the end, it's the price tag that keeps us from recommending the A55 outright. There are many sensible options around the same price point and even handsets at a much lower price with similar, if not better, user experience. And while it may sound like nit-picking, small things add up. For instance, we are very disappointed by the fingerprint reader; we are not fans of the virtual proximity sensor, and the thick screen bezels are off-putting.

All in all, the Galaxy A55 is a good phone, but not at this price. We suspect other cheaper or similarly priced devices from Samsung itself will cannibalize Galaxy A55 sales unless its price drops significantly in the coming months. Then, it would be a rather easy recommendation.

Pros

• Sturdy build with Gorilla Glass Victus+, aluminum frame, IP67 rating.
• Great battery life.
• Dependable camera performance, excellent videos.
• Good performance for this price range and great thermal behavior.
• Stereo speakers with good quality.
• One of the few devices with microSD slot in this price range.
• Polished One UI 6.1, entitled to at least 4 years of OS upgrades.

Cons

• No charger in the box and not very fast to charge.
• Unreliable fingerprint reader performance.
• Thick display bezels.
• The virtual proximity sensor for turning off the screen during calls is not as good as a physical one.
• Expensive at launch.