Samsung Galaxy A55 review: Solid mid-range phone with good camera

The Galaxy A55 has several features we see in the premium Galaxy S series such as an object eraser photography tool, fully fortified with a durable body, military-grade security to protect sensitive personal information and also guarantees four years of Android OS updates up to 2028, to serve the customer for several years.

Samsung recently launched the new line of Galaxy A55 series smartphone in India.

The Galaxy A55 has big upgrades in key aspects such as build quality and processor. The company is offering the device in three configurations-- 8GB RAM + 128GB storage, 12GB RAM + 128GB storage and 12GB RAM + 256GB storage-- with prices starting at Rs 36,999. I used the device for close to a week and here are my thoughts on Samsung's latest premium mid-range phone.

Design, build quality and display

The new Galaxy A55 retains the same design elements as its predecessor. It features familiar metal-encased three-camera islands with LED flash on the back and a water-drop display design on the front with an 85.8 per cent screen-to-body ratio. It has thin bezels around the frame and a slightly thick chin at the base.

One of the big improvements we see in the Galaxy A55 is its build quality. It is way more durable than ever before.

Samsung Galaxy A55 series.

Samsung has incorporated a premium aluminium frame with a brushed metal finish and high-grade glass panel on the back of a Galaxy A55, a first for A series phone. Also, the company has used Corning's Gorilla Glass Victus+ protective shield on both the display and the rear panel.

The Galaxy A55 also comes with an IP67 rating, meaning it can survive if it falls accidentally into the water and withstand pressure for up to one metre (around 3.2 feet) depth for close to 30 minutes.

The new Galaxy A55 placed inside an aquarium with water during a demo at a Samsung event in Bengaluru on March 21, 2024.

The protective features are good enough for the phone to survive damages such as scratches that occur naturally due to normal use or ageing. However, I still recommend the customer invest in a thick cover case, as it will save the device from getting heavily damaged during an accidental drop on a rough surface or fall from a staircase.

Samsung Galaxy A55 series.

On the front, it houses a 6.6-inch full HD+ super AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, and a pixel density of 390 ppi (pixels per inch). It has the best quality display in its class. The subjects in the motion picture played on the screen come off in natural and bright colours to deliver a good viewing experience.

It also boasts Samsung's proprietary vision booster technology. It enables the phone to adjust the brightness of the display automatically. When under direct sunlight, it increases the brightness so that the content is visible.

At night, one should turn on the eye comfort shield feature. You can find it in the Settings>> Display>> Eye Comfort Shield. It will greatly reduce the blue light emissions that cause strain to the eyes in a low-lit environment. There is an option to schedule the eye comfort mode and there is another adaptive option. The latter relies on ambient light sensors of the front panel to know the brightness of the room and automatically adjust the brightness.

Samsung Galaxy A55 series.

The phone also features an in-display fingerprint sensor. It does a fine job with quick recognition of finger impressions to unlock the display. But, the user must ensure the finger is dry and clean to reduce the false rejection rate.

Performance

The Galaxy A55 features Samsung's proprietary Exynos 1480 octa-core processor with Xclipse 530 GPU, 8GB/12GB RAM, and 128GB/256GB storage.

The phone tends to get a bit warmed up quickly when doing heavy-duty tasks such as playing games, recording high-resolution videos on camera and streaming content or watching reels fully dependent on cellular data. But, when indoors, there are no such pressing issues.

The warming of phones is common on phones made of metal and glass. Here too, the Galaxy A55 exhibited the same behaviour. But, warming of the back panel and frame was always under control.

Samsung Galaxy A55's CPU and GPU performance score on Geekbench 6.0 performancing testing app.

It runs on Android 14-based One UI 6.1 and comes with a lot of bloatware and also features ads on the second page of the home screen. Thankfully, they all can be deleted and keep only necessary things such as Google's core apps and Microsoft 365's productivity suite of apps and OneDrive; Also, 128GB base storage is more than enough to install more apps and store thousands of photos and videos shot on the camera.

The company has promised to offer a minimum of four years of Android OS updates (up to 2028) and an additional year of software security support (for up to 2029) to the new devices.

Also, like the Galaxy A35, the A55 comes with Samsung's user privacy feature-- Auto Blocker. It is capable of blocking unauthorised app installations and performing regular app security scanning to check for potential malware on the phone. It will block potentially malicious commands and software installations to the device while connected by a USB cable.

It also boasts a Security and Privacy Dashboard. It is a one-stop destination to see and control which app is accessing the phone's data, microphone and camera and if need be, withdraw any permissions.

Samsung Galaxy A55 series.

Furthermore, it houses Samsung Knox, a defence-grade multi-layer security platform to protect sensitive data such as passwords, and credit/debit card details stored in the phone from cyber threats such as malware.

With a 5,000mAh cell (Li-ion) capacity, the Galaxy A55 does a fine job delivering full-day battery life. Under normal usage that involves day-to-day tasks such as messaging, a few phone calls, a couple of hours of scrolling on social media apps and a half-hour session of gaming, the device used to have on average anywhere between 25-30 per cent of juice left before I retired to the bed at night.

The phone supports 25W charging and it should be noted that the company offers just a type-c-to-type-c cable. The owner has to rely on the phone's charger or buy a new one.

Samsung Galaxy A55's camera sample.

Photography

The new Galaxy A55 houses a triple-camera module-- main 50MP (f/1.8, autofocus, OIS: Optical Image Stabilisation) backed by 12MP ultra-wide camera (f/2.2) and 5MP macro camera (f/2.4) with LED flash on the back.

Samsung Galaxy A55's camera sample.

It excels in almost all lighting conditions. But, like all Samsung phones, the camera boosts the colours of the subjects, particularly the flowers. They look more vibrant than they appear to our eyes. I can't complain about this aspect because they look so pretty. The phone does the same for human faces too.

Samsung Galaxy A55's camera sample.

In the night mode, it again does a fine job in terms of balancing the artificial light from the street lamps and surrounding area of the scene.

Samsung Galaxy A55's camera sample with night mode on. 

The phone's camera ensures to keep the true essence of the night, the darkness of the sky intact and does not blow up with white light to make it look like the picture is taken in the evening, which some rival branded phones do.

Samsung Galaxy A55's camera sample with ultra-wide-angle-mode on.

With ultra-wide-angle mode, the Galaxy A55 supports up to a 123-degree field of view. Here too, it does a good job accommodating the vast area of the field in front of the camera.

Samsung Galaxy A55's camera sample with1X Zoom.

It also excels with macro close up shots. It gets all the minute details clearly.

Samsung Galaxy A55's camera sample.

Samsung Galaxy A55's camera sample.

With portrait mode on, the Samsung phone does an amazing job with a sharp focus on the subject and artfully blurs the background to deliver a natural bokeh effect in the background.

Samsung Galaxy A55's camera sample with portrait mode on.

It supports 2X optical zoom and as you can see in the sample photo (below), there is no loss of quality in the image. However, this is not the case with hybrid Zoom. It can go up to 10X digital zoom. The photo quality with 3X zoom is decent, but beyond 5X zoom, the photos become grainy and blurry.

Samsung Galaxy A55's camera sample with 2X  zoom.

Samsung Galaxy A55's camera sample.

Like the premium Galaxy S series phones, the Galaxy A55 boasts an Object Eraser. It does a decent job of removing unwanted photo bombers and objects from the photo. But, there is room for improvement. It cannot properly camouflage the spot with the background where the object was lifted.

Samsung Galaxy A55 camera sample photos with object eraser tool used to remove a person from the scene.

This issue is not that visibly noticeable on a compact display of the phone, but it shows up on the big screen of a computer. With software updates, Samsung surely can improve the Galaxy A55's object eraser feature on par with the premium Galaxy S24 (review) series and Google Pixel phones.

The Galaxy A55 features a 26mm wide 32MP ( f/2.2, 1/2.74-inch sensor, 0.8µm pixel size) front camera for selfies and video calls. It takes spectacular photos in the natural sunlight.

Samsung Galaxy A55's camera sample.

The native camera app also offers a suite of superficial filters to make the human face photogenic. With in-app tools, users can adjust the eye size, reduce the chin size, alter skin tone and even smoothen the skin to remove acne scars.

Samsung Galaxy A55's camera sample.

Both the front and the main primary cameras on the back can record 4K videos at 30 frames per second (fps). The video quality too is top-class.

It also boasts a video digital image stabilization (VDIS) feature that ensures still photos and videos are crisp and stable even when filming while walking or running.

Final thoughts

Considering the overall aspects and price, the Galaxy A55 is a reliable premium phone worth investing money in.

Compared to the previous iteration, there is marked improvement in terms of build quality, and enhanced photography hardware. Also, the Galaxy A55 performs smoothly with all day-to-day activities and even gaming. Under normal usage, it can easily last a full day.

Samsung Galaxy A55 series.

It has several features we see in the premium Galaxy S series such as an object eraser photography tool, fully fortified with a durable body, military-grade security to protect sensitive personal information and also guarantees four years of Android OS updates up to 2028, to serve the customer for long.

The new Galaxy A55 comes in three configurations--8GB RAM+128GB storage, 12GB RAM + 128GB storage and 12GB RAM + 256GB storage-- for Rs 36,999, Rs 39,999 and Rs 42,999, respectively.

It is available in three colours--Awesome Lilac, Awesome Iceblue, and Awesome Navy

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