Everything You Need To Know About The Samsung Galaxy A55

The affordable A-series phone is Samsung’s second best-selling model annually, after the S-series Ultra. It’s easy to see why: it packs plenty of features that make Samsung the leading Android brand, just without the hefty price tag. And this year, they’re adding to the value-for-money proposition by making the Galaxy A55 £10 cheaper than the A54 was on its release.

To keep it cost-effective, the A55 doesn’t contain headline-grabbing upgrades, but the slow and steady improvements will certainly be noted by those who invest in it. It’s a slightly larger size, with better dust and water protection, and a metal frame instead of plastic, but it’s the new chipset that makes the most difference. The Exynos 1480 chip is behind a smoother and faster user experience, as well as better efficiency that helps the same-sized battery last longer.

So while the Galaxy A55 is about evolution rather than revolution, it’s a bright, beautiful phone that is arguably one of the strongest mid-range phones available. Here’s a closer look at why it just might be your next new gadget.

Camera

Don’t expect huge improvements as the Galaxy A55 has the same camera set-up as the A54 – that’s a 50MP main rear camera, a 12MP ultra-wide camera, a 5MP macro camera, and a 32MP front-facing lens. Instead, the camera software rather than the hardware has been updated. Samsung claim it takes better night photos, and there’s also (marginally) better image stabilisation in the video recording.

You’ll also find a sweeping range of modes for pics and videos. Try Pro mode for precise videos and photos, slow motion, hyperlapse, Single Take, panorama and a special setting for food pics. You can record videos from the front and rear camera simultaneously, and there are plenty of filters and stickers to play around with too. In all, it’s not the best phone camera on the market, but for everyday photos, it does a very decent job.

Battery performance

Again, the spec of the A55 battery is the same as the A54, with a reliance on software enhancements to make the difference. Expect a 5,000mAh battery, but as the phone is more efficient, it will last longer – perhaps a day of reasonable use, or even two days of light use. Charging isn’t super speedy, as it takes over 80 minutes for a full charge and has a maximum 25W charging speed. And as is the norm for mid-rangers, the A55 doesn’t offer wireless charging.

Design and display

Happily for those who stream videos and play games on their phone, the A55 is a little larger than the A54 at 6.6” compared to 6.4”. But it’s heavier too, at 213g compared to 202g. The look and feel is slick, with little difference from the S series – though an area of volume and phone controls, dubbed Key Island, make it stand out from other Samsungs.

There’s a serious improvement in its durability, with Gorilla Glass Victus+ used on the front and back (this provides about twice as much scratch and drop protection as the Gorilla Glass 5, used on the A54). Otherwise, the design and display is similar in spec to the A54 – we’re talking an IP67 dust and water resistance rating, 120Hz refresh rate on a Super AMOLED panel. It does benefit from a bright screen, offering a better experience in more conditions.

The A55 comes in four soft colours: Awesome Iceblue, Lemon, Lilac and Navy.

Tech spec

The mid-range A series has always delivered a just-about-acceptable performance, largely down to the fact it uses Samsung’s own Exynos chip. Though the A54 was powered by a significantly better version, the Exynos 1380, it still didn’t reach the performance that users would have liked. The A55 hasn’t made a much-desired switch to Qualcomm chips, but at least the new Exynos 1480 chip has significantly improved performance. Samsung claims the chip has up to 32 per cent better GPU performance and up to 15 per cent better CPU performance than the Exynos 1380. Combined with the One UI 6.1, based on Android 14, expect to find it a smoother experience than its predecessor.

You’ll also find the phone has Wi-FI 6 and 5G. It has a dual SIM (for either two physical SIMs, or one SIM and a microSD card), and support for eSIMs.

Samsung have included four years of updates with the Galaxy A55. That’s not the market-leading seven years that the Galaxy S24 series gets, but it’s one of the understandable compromises that comes with a mid-range phone.

Price and availability

The Samsung Galaxy is available now, priced £439 for 128GB and £489 for 256GB of storage.

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