All You Need To Know About The Samsung Galaxy A54
Hot on the heels of the flagship Galaxy S23 comes Samsung’s budget-friendly alternative: the A54. Like the rest of the A series, it doesn’t have every bell, whistle and latest tech of Samsung’s top-range phone – but it’s almost half the price, making it a much more accessible option.
Compared to its previous version, the A53, there are upgrades aplenty, especially when it comes to the processor that makes it feel smooth and speedy. With an excellent battery life, solid cameras, and the slick look of the S23, the A54 a solid contender to be your next mid-range phone. Here’s a lowdown on the Samsung Galaxy A54.
Camera
There’s a dependable camera on the A54, even though it loses the A53 depth sensor (proving that sometimes even with phone cameras, less is more). You’ll find three rear cameras: a main camera with a 50MP sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide lens, and a 5MP macro camera – perfect for taking close-up shots. On the front, the 32MP is a high-quality selfie-camera, which has a nice portrait mode, and a wider angle view for better group selfies.
Photos and videos come out with excellent detail unless you’re taking a night shot (which is passable) or a zoomed in image (understandably for the price point, there’s no telephoto lens). You might also notice Samsung’s slight oversaturation of colours, but it’s less of a problem with the A54 than the A53. In all, it’s a good all-round camera that will keep the majority of its owners happy.
Battery performance
The battery is a tale of two halves. On one hand, it has as an excellent 500MAh battery – the same size as its previous model, and even larger than the S23’s 3900MAh battery. Combined with smart tech that boosts its efficiency, the battery life is one of the best on the market. Browsing tests saw it outperform the latest Apple iPhone, clocking in 16 hours 11 minutes compared to Apple’s 11 hours 26 minutes. But on the other hand, it’s slow to charge – the 25W charging falls far behind Xiaomi and Oppo’s 200W speeds, plus there’s no wireless or reverse charging. So, if you’re happy to compromise on charging time for plentiful battery life, the A54 is a winner.
Design and display
If you like the S23 design, you’ll like the A54. There are small upgrades from the A53 to bring it more in line with the S series, like rounded corners and a more premium-looking glass back. At 6.4”, the screen is slightly smaller than the A53, even though it’s 13g heavier at 202g. Otherwise, you can expect similar displays: there’s a super AMOLED panel which gives excellent colours and contrast, full HD+ resolution, and a 120Hz refresh rate (although it’s not adaptive, which we see on many phones these days to save battery). For gamers to emailers, it will work perfectly.
Tech spec
The most noticeable upgrade in tech is the change from its in-house Exynos 1280 processor, to the Exynos 1380. It might sound minimal, but it’s helped processing speeds, so you get less stutter when you open up apps or multi-task. It still isn’t perfect – the Google Pixel 6a is nearly 25 per cent faster – but it’s a definite upgrade from the A53 and makes this a tempting option.
The A54 also features a dual SIM (or a MicroSD external memory card in place of the second SIM), a solid IP67 dust and water resistance rating (meaning it will survive a 30-minute dunk in freshwater, which isn’t too common in mid-range phones), and has Wi-Fi 6 plus Bluetooth 5.3.
It runs on the Android 13 OS with Samsung’s great OneUI 5.1 layered on top of it to make an intuitive and clear interface. You can also expect four years of OS upgrades – a hefty promise that few other Android makers offer.
Something to note however is that you’ll have to buy a charger separately, and there’s no 3.5mm headphone jack with this phone.
Price and availability
The Samsung Galaxy A54 is available now in lime, white, graphite and violet, with either 128GB or 256GB of storage at £449 and £499 respectively. The starting price is £50 more than the A53 at its launch – a reasonable increase given inflation and high production costs. It’s also much more affordable than the S23 at £849, making it one of the best mid-price phones around.
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