Gadget Review: Samsung's new A55 is a stylish, sensible mobile phone you need to have by your side

Every time Samsung introduces a new member of its mid-segment ‘A’ model range, it proves how redundant and overpriced its top-of-the-range ‘S’ models are – and the new A55 5G is no exception.

Don’t get me wrong; I love the S24s and S23s, and the Z Folds and Flips, to bits. Having tested some of those before for these pages, they instantly went to the top of my list of most-coveted gadgets. But then there was the small problem of price, with the attendant question of whether a lay user like me would ever be able to scratch the surface of what these tours-de-force of tech offered to justify their price tags.

However, from the time we unboxed our pastel-y, pale, powder-blue A55 5G test mule – the colourway aptly named “Awesome Iceblue” by Samsung – and ran our fingers over its Gorilla Glass Victus+ surface, it was infatuation at first sight, which turned to true love after we explored the features and a desire for long-term commitment when we discovered the Dh1,449 official retail price for the 128GB and a hundred quid more for the 256GB one.

Now, looks are key for infatuation and love at first sight to happen, and the A55 5G is on the ball in this department. There are four colourways – Awesome Navy, Awesome Lilac, Awesome Lemon, and the Awesome Iceblue that we tested – and all of them looked stunning at the retailers’ displays. While the lilac and lemon are more on the feminine side, the navy is a dark, blackish blue business suit accompaniment and the ice blue is our pick, exuding cool sophistication and the ability to complement any sartorial style — casual, formal or anywhere in between.

Corning seems to have outdone itself on the Gorilla glass for this model, with the glass surfaces finished to a superfine smoothness on every square millimetre, and an equally smooth brushed surface making up the metal chassis side bezel.

The A55 has garnered one or two less-than-positive reviews in the way it handles, with some saying that the phone is sharper and more slippery than they would have liked, but for yours truly, this is a model that shines in the handling department. The metal chassis meets the glass front and rear at a sharp angle, which provides a tactile and grippy edge, essential for such a smoothly finished phone. And while the glass is slippy and slidey – it will gradually slide off many smooth surfaces if kept at an angle – this is nothing compared to such irritatingly slippery competitors as, say, the Nothing phone.

Samsung ensures durability with an IP67 water and dust resistance rating, meaning that you need not worry if you’re caught outside with it in the sort of deluge that we saw in Dubai in April. In terms of dimensions, the A55 is a manageable 213 grams and is 8.2mm thin, sporting a 6.6-inch size on its Super AMOLED display.

That display is 2340 x 1080 one, and is 0.2 inches bigger than this phone’s predecessor, the A54. With a 120Hz refresh rate, this is one big, bright and vibrant screen, equally easy on the eyes while watching videos or playing games, indoors or out. There is also an in-display fingerprint sensor, which did not fail to recognise my fingerprint even once in the few weeks of our test.

The A55 is powered by Samsung’s Exynos 1480 chip and runs Android 14 with the Korean giant’s One UI 6.1 superimposed on it. It does not have the AI-enabled features of its elder Galaxy S24 cousins, but then those can be pretty gimmicky. With the A55, you pay for what you need, not for what makes you feel good.

This theme is also what guides the A55’s camera system, which comprises at the rear a 50Mp main camera, a 12Mp wide-angle unit and a 5Mp macro. Selfie duties are handled by a very capable 32Mp up front. All of these returned commendable results in every light condition, and with Samsung’s HDR for video and other software improvements over the A54, lowlight shots and videos, especially, were almost always social media worthy. Nitpickers may say that the camera performance is not up to the S24’s excellent standards, but then for what you pay, we think the A55 offers a bigger bang for the buck. Just don’t expect professional grade images with this phone and you will be fine.

Battery life is a feature in which the A55 excels. True to Samsung’s claim, we got over two whole days consistently on a full charge in normal usage from its 5,000mAh tank, which also gave us about 6.5 consecutive hours of screen-on or movie and gaming time.

Battery charging is another story, however. There is no wireless charging, which is inexcusable for such a stylish phone. And even the wired charging is painfully slow. The A55 ships with just a cable instead of a fast charger, and even when using a third-party fast charger, it took over a hour-and-a-half to reach 100 per cent. Contrast this to some competitors in this price and feature range, which take only 30 minutes to full charge and you have the area that Samsung needs to improve majorly on.

Overall, the A55 is a great package. It’s a stylish, well-built and smart-looking phone that is not only good to flaunt but also has a great screen with capable components for gaming and video, and also sports a camera system that no one will be displeased with. And, best of all, you can get this at a price that you can’t complain about. It is all you need in real world usage and will make you rethink your desire for Samsung’s exorbitant S24 and company. You may love them all, but the A55 is the sensible option you need to commit to.

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Samsung Galaxy A55 5G mobile phone

Hits:

- Excellent looks, finish and build