Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy A54 is a solid mid - fire warden that ticks most box – it has a outstanding display , bounty build , a becoming camera setup and a gravid battery – but slight carrying out niggles and inconsistent assault and battery life stop it from being an instant recommendation .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The Samsung Galaxy A54 5 G look to be a enticing rise for those on the hunt for a mid - range gadget , boasting a refreshed design , high - close materials and the hope of two - twenty-four hour period barrage fire life .
The upgraded stuff mean Samsung ’s £ 449 Galaxy A54 feel capital , and the upgraded 50MP camera with a big sensing element should provide a leap in timber compared to its precursor , but is it enough to tempt consumer frompopular mid - range alternativeslike theGoogle Pixel 6a ?
After spending a workweek using the Samsung Galaxy A54 as my main smartphone , I ’m infringe . sure arena sure as shooting digest out among themid - rangecompetition , but some key areas are still lacking and terminate the A54 from being an exigent recommendation .
Design and screen
The Samsung Galaxy A54 5 G has had quite the upgrade in the design department compared to its predecessor , theGalaxy A53 5 G , though you might not notice it by looking at it front - on .
That ’s because most of enjoin modification is hap on the rear of the speech sound . The most immediately noticeable is that Samsung has ditched the contour television camera housing present on last twelvemonth ’s model , instead choose for the same minimalistic design as theflagship Galaxy S23 seam .
The bare troika of lenses on the rear is certainly one of the cleaner looks around , specially compare to rivals that apply huge circular and rectangular camera caparison . I personally think it ’s a littletoominimalistic , bordering on the bland , but I ’m sure there will be some that really appreciate the new look .
At least there are some stunning coloring material options available to know up the simplistic aim , add up in particularly vibrant shadowiness of Lime and Violet , along with a more muted Graphite and Silver . The calcium hydroxide green finish is a personal favourite of mine , with a vivid flash of vividness that take care gorgeous in existent sprightliness .
The other big upgrade for the Galaxy A54 is the cloth used ; rather than going for ‘ glasstic ’ ( that ’s plastic to you and I ) Samsung has given the A54 the bounty treatment with a full shabu rear .
It immediately create the phone palpate more insurance premium , especially compared to the plasticGalaxy A34 . It also tot a bite of heft , but not to the power point where it feel solid in the deal . At 202 gigabyte it ’s just grave enough to finger premium without get going to the extremes of the240 g iPhone 14 Pro Max .
It also sports the more rounded corners of the Galaxy S23 range , which helps the telephone set stand out from a sea of similar - look mid - range alternatives , andIP67 junk and water resistanceshould protect it from most accidents .
fresh pattern changes aside , it ’s very much business as common for the Galaxy A54 , sporting a office button and loudness command on the ripe , aUSB - hundred porton the bottom and a unite SIM and microSD board tray . The latter is a courteous touch , allowing you to expand storage by up to 1 TB if postulate – I wish it was a feature of the flagship S23 range too .
The 6.4 - inchAMOLED panelsports an ‘ eternity atomic number 8 ’ design that , to you and I , simply means it has a unmarried hole - punch television camera cutout in the center of the display . It ’s the easy means to severalize the difference between it and the Galaxy A34 with its ‘ eternity U ’ design .
The combination of the FHD+ settlement and120Hz refresh rateis nice , though it remains unaltered compared to last yr ’s A53 and text can sometimes look a little balmy if you ’ve see anything higher , though most consumer likely wo n’t notice . It would ’ve been nice to see a jump to a higher refresh rate like the similarly priced144Hz Motorola G200 , but it ’s arguably much of a muchness at that item . It felt larder smooth when zip around the UI , at the very least .
The show is dynamical , shed between 60Hz and 120Hz depending on what you ’re doing , though you may also force a 120Hz refresh rate at the expense of battery life . It wo n’t drop down to a battery - saving 1Hz , but what mid - range phone does ?
All that said , my final impression of the display are for the most part positive ; it ’s big enough to comfortably watch YouTube video and movies on Netflix , colours are vibrant and punchy ( if not a littletoovibrant ) and it ’s easily legible in direct sunlight with a maximum luminousness of 1000nits . I did miss element likeHDR10+when ascertain Netflix though , features you may get on the ilk of theRedmi Note 12 Pro Plus 5GandGoogle Pixel 6a .
Camera
The camera frame-up , at least where the main lens is concerned , look like a downgrade – on paper , that is .
Yes , the megapixel count has dropped from 64MP to 50MP with the Galaxy A54 , but it ’s worth noting that it ’s a completely new television camera with a larger sensor , large pixel size ( 0.8um to 1um , or 2um if you pixel - bin ) and an enhanced OIS .
That translate to fairly decent epitome gaining control in my experience – in well - lit conditions , anyway . daytime image have plenty of item and the colour pop , though they ’re slightly more vivid than real life in true Samsung fashion . Still , it arrive at for vibrant shots most of the time , perfect for sharing on social media .
HDR performance is also celebrated , with the earphone able to capture the point of foreground subjects even with heavy backlighting from the sun .
low-toned - light picture taking has improved compare to last year ’s A53 with a larger sensor and improved OIS , but it ’s still not quite up there with the skilful around . Images are comparatively detailed overall , and there are decent amounts of lighting captured , but they can still see a little morose and flat compared to what I was seeing in the moment .
To be honest , it would ’ve been somewhat decent for the money had Xiaomi not released theRedmi Note 12 Pro Plus 5Gand its 200MP sensor thattruly excels in low igniter .
Still , resultant role across the instrument panel are pretty acceptable for the price tag . What is n’t acceptable , however , is the autofocus carrying into action .
It ’s an element I ’ve had passel of issues with during testing , with the phone fight to focalise quickly on subjects when first opening the Camera app – it sometimes took me putting my hand in front of the genus Lens to force the focus alteration before it ’d correctly grab focus . It ’s not an issue single to picture taking either , with video suffering the same fate , specially if you ’re lure to surge into a subject mid - recording .
The dissatisfactory direction performance is a number of a surprise give Samsung ’s television camera artistry at the top ending of the market – so much so that I ’m convinced that Samsung will fix the takings with a future software update . For now , though , the autofocus is one of the phone ’s large weakness .
The main sensor is backed up by a 12MP ultra - wide and a 5MP macro lens . The former is moderately adequate for capturing heroic shots with a wide 0.5x rapid growth , though it ’s best used in well - dismount conditions , sporting an aperture of f/2.2 that can make things look a little soft and glowering in low-down - light conditions .
The 5MP macro lens is the most recess of the collection , and something I do n’t think many people will use more than once with a fixed focus that makes it unmanageable to captivate anything of note . The fact that the macro instruction shooting mode is find in the ‘ More ’ section of the camera app , rather than one of the main shot manner , tell a slew about how Samsung views it .
flick the telephone over and you ’ll find a 32MP hole - slug selfie camera engraft into the top of the display that ’s more than enough for selfies and video song , but as you might expect , most picture taking should be left to the rear lenses .
Performance
Unlike the Galaxy A34 which has ditched Samsung ’s own central processor for a MediaTek eq , Samsung ’s Galaxy A54 sports an upgraded Exynos 1380 chipset – the late one in the company ’s roll having been revealed just a few weeks prior to the phone ’s declaration .
That ’s paired with 8 GB of RAM regardless of whether you choose for the 128 GB or 256 GB variant , with the power to employ trim ROM as RAM in performance - thirsty apps . You ’ve also have the choice to encourage storage by up to 1 TB with a microSD slot , something that ’s miss from Samsung ’s flagship kitchen range .
With all that said , do n’t await flagship - stage performance , but day - to - day execution is fair decent and likely enough for casual smartphone users . I could scroll through spiritualist - weighty apps like Twitter and Facebook without much stammer or slow - down , and the phone could run top - down shooter Survivor.io with eminent - level graphics enabled – though the 2D sketch - trend game is n’t about as graphics - intensive as titles like CoD Mobile .
However , the experience was n’t thoroughgoing . The transition from lock screen to home concealment can sometimes take a second , for example , with the earpiece hanging on a blurred screen before stretch your app picture and thingumajig . I also notice framerate drops when playing the fairly basic Survivor.io for more than 30 minutes , which does n’t bode well for longer play sitting .
factor like switching between the principal and ultrawide lens system can also take a 2d or two , which is n’t ideal if you ’re trying to capture a quick gingersnap of your ducky or tiddler doing something suspicious .
So , yes , while you ’ll have a comparatively politic experience , it ’s not quite as rapid as some power - thirsty users might wish . That ’s backed up by our benchmark too , with a multi - core grade of 2703 in Geekbench 6 and just 810 in 3DMark . Things are n’t that much more supporting in GFXBench , managing just 19fps in the high - goal Aztec Ruins test .
You ’ll also get decent connectivity with the cellular inclusion of 5 deoxyguanosine monophosphate connectivity and the upgradedWi - Fi 6alongside Bluetooth 5.3 andNFC . There is n’t a phone Jack-tar though – that may be uncommon at the flagship level , but it ’s still relatively common among mid - rangers like theRedmi Note 12 Pro Plus 5G.
When it come to software , the phone ship with Samsung ’s late OneUI 5.1 base onAndroid 13 . It ’s very much the common matter with Samsung ’s theme song UI design and arduous reliance on Samsung - brandmark apps , but with small new features like the power to utilise sure Snapchat filters within the native Camera app thanks to a raw partnership between the two companies .
Battery life
Samsung wanted to go boastful on barrage fire life with its A series with both the Galaxy A54 and its cheesy Galaxy A34 sibling sporting the same 5,000mAh battery that ’s found in the top - endflagship S23 Ultra , which is also bragging than that of theS23andS23 Plus .
On paper that sounds pretty all-fired impressive , particularly when coupled with Samsung ’s claims of two days on a exclusive charge , but that doesn’talwaysreflect real - creation custom .
On an average day , the Galaxy A54 was serviceable . I could take it off charge at around 7:30am , use it sporadically through the 24-hour interval to listen to euphony , scroll through Instagram and reply to WhatsApp messages . It ’d reliably end the day at around 11:30pm with around 40 % shelling left in the tank . That ’s moderately good .
However , when I took the speech sound to Paris for a separate phone launching , electric battery life began to falter .
begin at 6:00am , I used the Galaxy A54 for texts , replying to work content on Slack , respond to e-mail on Gmail and taking photo of Parisian computer architecture and I hardly made it back to the hotel with 3 % electric battery at 11 pm – and that ’s with me consciously using it less in the evening because of its dwindling battery life .
That ’s also without using the earphone to listen to medicine and otherwise toss off prison term on the two - hour trip from London to Paris via Eurostar , so I thought I ’d put that to the trial on the direction home . Reader , I was very defeated . I take the phone off mission at around 10:30am , used it for maps , listening to euphony and play a couple of game on the Eurostar and the barrage dwindled to just 30 % by 3:30pm . Safe to say it did n’t make it until that Nox without a top - up .
That ’s backed up by bench mark too , with tasks like ascertain Netflix for an hour using 7 % of battery while 30 minutes of abstemious gambling debilitate 8 % – the latter is quite the parachuting compare to Qualcomm - enable earphone like the ( true much more expensive ) OnePlus 11 and its 4 % , despite a high - res show .
Charging is n’t quite up there either , especially when power such a large - capacity battery , crest out at just 25W – and you do n’t get a charger in the loge either . That means that even once you ’ve sourced a courser , the process is slow , reaching just 41 % in half an hour of charge , with a full charge taking 1 hour and 33 minute .
liken to similarly price phone like theRealme GT 3and its 240W charging that can go from savourless to full in 9.5 minutes , that ’s fairly bloody slow .
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Should you buy it?
The Galaxy A54 boasts a decent design , a pretty ripe presentation , a capable main rear camera and a gravid barrage fire .
Even with the upgrade Exynos 1380 , the Galaxy A54 is n’t quite as powerful as some key rivals like the Pixel 6a .
Final Thoughts
The Samsung Galaxy A54 is a adequate all - rounder with a clue of a truly premium build thanks to a glass rear and an updated pattern that institute it fairly close to the flagshipGalaxy S23range . IP67support , in particular , is notable at this damage point .
That ’s backed up by a punchy , bright 120Hz AMOLED exhibit , though the omission of any kind of HDR financial backing will be dissatisfactory for orgy streamers .
The main 50MP tv camera is another key upgrade for this year ’s model , further improving execution in both well - alight and low - igniter weather condition with mass of light and point on offer for the monetary value tag .
carrying into action is fairly decent for the price much of the time , but even round-eyed undertaking like unlocking the telephone , switching cameras and playing game for extended period can foreground the restriction of the mid - range chipset .
Battery life is also a little strike - and - miss . As long as you ’re not using the phone too often it should last , but even a 5000mAh battery ca n’t always provide comfortable all - day barrage life sentence if you ’re really set the phone to the tryout . Combined with tiresome 25W charging , there ’s still a plenty to be done here .
With all that sound out , Galaxy A54 5 G is a whole all - rounder that ’ll do most thing well , but it ’s not quite as exciting or boundary - breaking as othermid - rangeoptions in 2023 .
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We examine every roving phone we survey thoroughly . We use industry - standard examination to compare features properly and we use the phone as our primary gadget over the review period . We ’ll always tell you what we find and we never , ever , accept money to review a product .
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FAQs
While the Galaxy A53 proffer HDR10 + backup , that has been dropped on this year ’s theoretical account .
While the headphone jack is still a democratic feature of speech in some mid - rangers , the A54 does n’t have one .
