Mid-range phones have become better over the years. You can get phones with incredible cameras and excellent performance for less than $500. There are several contenders for the best budget phone, and the Samsung Galaxy A54 stands out from the rest. Released in March 2023, the A54 sports a premium design, a 120Hz AMOLED display, and all-day battery life. Unsurprisingly, the Korean smartphone giant didn’t rest on its laurels, finally debuting the Galaxy A55 in March of 2024 as a device packed with all the yearly upgrades you’d expect.
Here’s the bad news: despite every Galaxy A50-series smartphone having arrived in the US since Samsung adopted this naming structure in 2019, the company doesn’t plan to bring the Galaxy A55 to the US any time soon. That leaves One UI fans without an obvious alternative to Google’s upcoming Pixel 8a, but if you were deadset on picking up a mid-range Galaxy device this year, you aren’t out of luck. Let’s look at what makes the Galaxy A55 so special, and what alternatives you can pick up in the US.
The Galaxy A55, in all its basic render glory.
Samsung Galaxy A55: Design and hardware specs
The Galaxy A54 debuted with barely any design changes over its predecessor in 2023. Thankfully, that’s not the case with the Galaxy A55. Much like the Galaxy S24 series, Samsung has adopted an iPhone-like flat frame and rounded edges for this year’s midrange entry. The rear design looks in line with the rest of the Galaxy series, with three camera rings protruding from the body. This design change is unlikely to impact the Galaxy A55’s water and dust resistance rating, and it should ship with the same IP67 certification as its predecessor.
Specifications
- SoC
- Exynos 1480
The Galaxy A55 measures in at 161.1 x 77.3 x 8.2mm, with the width increasing to 77.9mm where the raised platform is located. That makes this phone just a touch larger than the A54, which featured a 6.4-inch panel rather than the 6.6-inch display on this device. Thankfully, Samsung has slimmed the bezels of this device down enough to mark a more modern screen-to-body ratio, keeping the Galaxy A55 closer to its predecessor in size than that bigger screen might lead you to believe.
As for color choices, you’ll have four options: Iceblue, Lilac, Lemon, and Navy. These colors should help the Galaxy A55 stand out from the competition.
Under the hood, the device sports an Exynos 1480 chipset, an upgrade from the A54’s Exynos 1380 SoC. Given the mediocre performance of previous mid-range Exynos chipsets, the Exynos 1480 is unlikely to bring a massive jump in performance, though the move to a 4nm fabrication process should, at the very least, make it more efficient. Samsung has moved to either 8GB or 12GB of RAM, up from 6GB in the A54, and either 128GB or 256GB of storage. That should help futureproof the phone a little more than previous entries in this series.
Samsung has used a 5,000mAh battery on its mid-range Galaxy A phone for the last two generations, and that’s not changing this year. Likewise, you’ll still find 25W wired charging speeds, along with a total lack of wireless charging capabilities. Come on Samsung, throw us a bone here.
Samsung Galaxy A55: Cameras
The Galaxy A54.
Samsung switched to a new 50MP sensor on the Galaxy A54, which captured photos with better dynamic range and low noise. Based on the specs sheet for the Galaxy A55, it seems like this is unchanged, with the same f/1.8 aperture and 1/1.56-inch sensor size. Likewise, the 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide and 5MP cameras seem similarly unchanged, meaning all the strengths and weaknesses of last year’s phone are unlikely to be changes.
Despite no significant hardware upgrade, the Galaxy A55 could capture better photos and videos than its predecessor, thanks to improved processing and the upgraded ISP of the new Exynos chip, though we’ll have to wait until devices are in-hand tro find out. Previous mid-range Galaxy A-series phones struggled with noise and motion blur when capturing low-light pictures. Any improvement from Samsung in this area would be welcome.
Samsung Galaxy A55: Software and updates
The Galaxy A54.
The Galaxy A55 runs One UI 6.1 based on Android 14. Samsung’s newest Android skin build has minor but functional improvements, like adding widgets to the lock screen and additional customization options.
One UI 6.1 also marks the debut of Galaxy AI from Samsung, as seen on the Galaxy S24 series. Given that the A55 will be a mid-range phone, it is unlikely to pack all the AI features from the Korean company’s flagship phone — and frankly, that’s a bummer. Considering how much of Samsung’s current platform operates in the cloud, it seems like a false restriction made to push users to more expensive phones.
What is Galaxy AI, what can it do, and how can I use it?
Learn more about Galaxy AI and how to use it on your Samsung Galaxy S24 phone
As for software updates, Google raised the software support standard to seven years with the Google Pixel 8 in October 2023. Samsung followed suit and promised seven years of updates for the Galaxy S24 series. Unfortunately, that’s not happening for the A-series, which is staying locked to its promise of four years of OS updates and five years of security patches.
Samsung Galaxy A55: Price, availability, and US alternatives
The Galaxy A54.
Officially announced in March of 2024, the Galaxy A55 should hit store shelves in its supported markets by the end of the month. You’ll be able to pick up the 128GB model for €479, while the 256GB model will run you €529.
Here comes the bad news: despite some promising upgrades over the Galaxy A54, you won’t be able to buy the Galaxy A55 in the US. Samsung confirmed as much to Android Police in a statement, noting the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 FE serve as suitable replacements for fans looking for options cheaper than the Galaxy S24 lineup. But considering both of those phones are significantly more expensive than the $450 price point the Galaxy A54 has just one year ago, both are tricky substitutions.
Instead, you should consider devices like the Pixel 7a, which rivaled the Galaxy A54 last year for the best budget phone you can buy, or the OnePlus 12R, which brings a flagship-esque experience to a $500 price point.
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Google Pixel 7a
$476 $499 Save $23If you are looking for a new device at a midrange price, the Google Pixel 7a checks off all the boxes. It has a fantastic camera system, strong power, great software support, and good battery life. It may be midrange in price but feels closer to its flagship siblings overall.
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OnePlus 12R
The OnePlus 12R is the cheaper sibling of the OnePlus 12, delivering almost the same experience as the flagship at a lower price point. It achieves this using a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, a 6.78-inch FHD+ OLED display, and a beefy 5,500mAh battery.
Samsung’s A-series looks a lot different this year
It’s a bummer that the Galaxy A55 isn’t coming to the US, but at least Samsung’s midrange options don’t end there. From the ultra-affordable Galaxy A15 5G to the more premium A25 and Galaxy A35, there remain options available for fans looking to upgrade. We’ll have to wait to see if Samsung holds any extra surprises in store for the rest of the year, but for now, consider the A55 off-limits in the US.
