You ’ve probably heard a mickle about the Samsung Galaxy S and Samsung Galaxy A range over the preceding few calendar month with the release of the S23 series and the A14 , A34 and A54 in other 2023 , but what ’s the difference of opinion between the two smartphone collection ?
We break down the primal difference between the Samsung S serial publication and the Samsung A series justly here , including pricing , build , cameras , functioning and software update promises to help you settle which is right for your indigence . There ’s no demand to go for the top - end S23 Ultra if you ’d be dead happy with the mid - range Galaxy A54 after all !
We ’ve also got a selection of thebest Samsung phonesright now if you ’re a dedicated Samsung fan see for your next upgrade , along with our selection of thebest Android phonesandbest smartphonesif you ’re not such a purist .
Pricing
The biggest remainder between the flagship Galaxy S line and the Galaxy A line is the price you ’ll make up for them . The Galaxy S line is aimed at the premium flagship market with theGalaxy S23starting at £ 849 while the top - endGalaxy S23 Ultrawill fructify you back an heart - watering £ 1249 .
At this level , you ’ll discover very piffling via media in terms of software and hardware , with Samsung throwing the kitchen sink at its flagship cooking stove to make them stand up out in a very competitive section of the market .
That ’s compare to the Galaxy A line which starts at £ 179 for the Samsung Galaxy A14 , moving up to £ 349 for theSamsung Galaxy A34and arise to £ 449 for the upgradedGalaxy A54 . There was traditionally a top - end Galaxy A 7X model , but that has been scrapped with the 2023 collection .
With budget- and mid - range price tags , there are commonly compromises from the A series , whether in materials used in the body or sure spec . It ’s difficult to discover a solid all - debauchee at the cheaper ending of the market , with telephone ordinarily designed with a certain focussing – be it filmdom , television camera , battery life – in mind .
Now that has set the scene , permit ’s delve a picayune deeper into the key difference between the Galaxy S and Galaxy A lines .
Build quality
The most obvious remainder between the two ranges is build calibre , with the flagship Galaxy S serial using insurance premium materials like spyglass and aluminium , compared to the plastic body and rear find oneself on most Galaxy A smartphones .
Some Galaxy A smartphones face to bridge over the opening a bit , with the Galaxy A54 sporting a glass rear to add to the agiotage flavor , but the physical structure is still built from polycarbonate ( essentially charge plate ) .
The deoxyephedrine rears of the latest S series collection are also protect byCorning ’s Gorilla Glass Victus 2which should hopefully protect them against shatter when drop . The A serial has the upper paw here with no actual way to shatter the plastic tail end , though on the insolent side , it is more prostrate to light scratches than meth .
There ’s also a fragile dispute in the point of detritus and water system resistance on offer , with the Galaxy S transmission line offeringfull IP68 protectionwhile the Galaxy A line comes in just shy of the top spot atIP67 . Unless you ’re prostrate to leave your phone submerged in piddle , the difference in ratings should be rather token .
Cameras
The camera offer can differ wildly between the Galaxy S and Galaxy A collections .
The Samsung Galaxy S serial offer the best tv camera technical school Samsung has to put up , split across eminent - res main , telephoto and ultrawide snappers , ordinarily handle both well - lit and low - Light Within surroundings with ease . They ’re also subject of high - ray 8 chiliad video capture , alongside HDR telecasting capture at 4K@60fps .
The top - close Galaxy S Ultra model takes thing a step further with a boosted main tv camera and an extra electron lens offering 10x optical zoom and a banging 100x digital zoom ideal for taking snaps of the moonshine . TheS23 Ultra , in particular , rollick a whopping 200MP main camera with 16 - in-1 pixel binning tech that really encourage the quality of effigy capture .
The Samsung Galaxy A range has traditionally lagged behind , using a combining of independent , ultrawide , macro instruction and astuteness detector , though that has changed somewhat in 2023 with the A series now offering a main , ultrawide and telephoto telephone circuit - up just like the Galaxy S collection .
The cameras are n’t quite as high - res and the sensors power them are n’t quite as capable , but they ’re decent performers and at least you ’ll now get admission to the same three main shooting modes as the flagship mountain range .
Performance
The biggest discriminator between the two Galaxy brand is the level of performance on offering .
The Galaxy S series usually boasts the top - ending processor usable at the prison term , with the Galaxy S23 series boasting an exclusiveSnapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipsetwith boosted clock speeds over the already - telling standardSnapdragon 8 Gen 2found in competing flagships like theOnePlus 11andXiaomi 13 Pro .
These chipsets offer knock-down public presentation that can take on just about anything users can throw at them , from gamy - end AAA gaming to edit videos on the fly , and they tend to boast the honorable power efficiency too .
That ’s compare to the Samsung A serial publication that has a bit of a central processor split depending on the model you opt for – the Galaxy A34 boast the mid - rangeMediaTek Dimensity 1080while the A54 uses Samsung ’s own Exynos 1380 – but regardless of the specifics , the chipsets are n’t live to be able to contend with flagships .
That does n’t mean they ’re laggy – we had no real complaint about the Galaxy A54 – but sure elements , like switching camera crystalline lens , give apps and loading game , can take a footling longer than some might like .
Software updates
While some old propagation of Galaxy A could n’t quite contend with the multi - year OS upgrade promise of the flagship Galaxy S serial publication , that has changed in 2023 .
All Galaxy S and Galaxy A phones released this year get the same promise of four major Android OS upgrades and five years of security update , which is among the best around in the Android grocery store , so you ’ll keep get braggy updates for the next few year regardless of the model you end up buying .