Samsung A55 5G 2024 – this is the Samsung to get (smartphone review)

The Samsung A55 5G 2024 leads the A-series and is more fully featured than its cousins. It has a new 4nm Exynos 1480 SoC that is quite the performer with excellent GPU and the beginnings of AI NPU capabilities.

That is a good segue into the difference between the Galaxy S-series and A-series moving forward. The S-series promotes AI, although it is really limited to some photo editing tricks and AI search. It will be a few years before we see real on-device AI processing. By that time, the A-series may have some off-device AI cloud processing.

New review format

We are experimenting with our review format. Where we used to put all the raw data in tables at the end, we will now break them up and briefly comment on the various parts. Why? Readers who want to know more will paw over the tables. Readers who wish to see if it’s a good phone can just read the comments.

We use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. We occasionally give a Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be and a Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good but does not quite make it to Exceed. You can click on most images for an enlargement.

We are also tightening up on grading. From now on, Pass, for example, means meeting expectations for the price bracket. We consider a Pass mark to be 70+/100 with extra points added for class-leading and excellence.

Australian Review Samsung A55 5G 2024 8/128GB model SM-A556E Dual sim/hybrid)

Brand	Samsung
Model	Samsung A55 5G 2024
Model Number	SM-A556E
Memory/Storage Base	8/128GB
Price base	$649 (Normally $699)
Warranty months	24
Tier	mid-range
Website	Product page
From	Samsung Online and approved retailers. See Made for Australia, and Don’t buy a grey market smartphone
Country of Origin	Not disclosed – China or Vietnam
Company	Samsung is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. Samsung Electronics (the world’s largest information technology company, consumer electronics maker and chipmaker.
More	DXO Tests
Test date	1-7 April 2024
Ambient temp	18-26°
Release	April 2024
Other models not for Australia (Don’t buy)	B, N, or U model. E is for Australia.

Screen – Pass+

This is the same screen as the A35 5G 2024 – a good, bright, reasonably colour-accurate 1080p sAMOLED. It is daylight-readable and bright enough for some HDR content to show decent detail in dark and light areas. It uses Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) dimming, which will be evident to people who are not tolerant.

Size	6.6″
Type	sAMOLED
Flat, Curve, 2D, 3D	Flat, centre O-hole
Resolution	2340 x 1080
PPI	390
Ratio	19.5:9
Screen to Body %	0.858
Colours bits	8-bit 16.7M colours
Refresh Hz, adaptive	Fixed 60Hz or Adaptive stepped 60 or 120Hz
Response 120Hz	240Hz touch
Nits typical, test	Not disclosed (438)
Nits max, test	1000 nits HBM (High Brightness Mode). Tested in 2% 1012 nits. Peak Brightness: Not disclosed Tested 1602 nits in a 2-5% window
Contrast	Infinite
sRGB	Not disclosed, but assume 100%
DCI-P3	Not disclosed, but assume 100% of the 16.7 million gamut.
Rec.2020 or other	N/A
Delta E (<4 is excellent)	2.6
HDR Level	HDR10+
SDR Upscale	No
Blue Light Control	Yes
PWM if known	All Samsung AMOLED use PWM 240-250Hz approx., and then at 500Hz. This is critical for PWM-intolerant people.
Daylight readable	Yes
Always on Display	Yes
Edge display	Yes
Accessibility	Full suite of enhancements
DRM	Widevine L1 FOR 1080P SDR. You can get HDR10 on YouTube.)
Gaming	Not Tested
Screen protection	Gorilla Glass Victus+
Comment	See DXOMARK Tests. Score 147. This is the same as the A35 screen, which scores 143. Poor touch management Better palm management Excessive auto brightness in the dark Off-angle colour tints The photo preview colours are off.

Processor – Pass+

Samsung’s Exynos SoCs have been average performers, and the IT media has tended to treat them as lower-class chips. This new 4nm SoC is much better in battery life and photo post-processing and has a huge jump (for a mid-range processor) in GPU video performance.

The downsides

• It has not improved its modem, which still only finds the nearest tower (versus Qualcomm finding four or more). So, if you need regional, remote, or black spot reception, look for a Qualcomm.
• The 6K MAX NPU (equal to about 20 TOPS) is still insufficient to provide more than limited on-device AI processing. To be fair, that is not what the A-series offers anyway.
• The integrated stereo amp (a first for Exynos) needs much work. The sound is materially inferior to the A35 5G 2004.
• With all the NPU power, it must work on photo post-processing. It uses a large crop factor to keep videos stable. The result is a lot of noise and artifacts in dark and light areas.

Still, all these are firmware-fixable. As this is the first 4nm Exynos 1480 device, it shows a lot of promise. Apart from phone signal strength, it is worthy of consideration.

Continued

Brand, Model	Exynos 1480
nm	4nm
Cores	4 x 2.75GHz & 4 x 2.0GHz
Modem	Samsung
AI TOPS	6K MAC NPU with about 20 TOPs (trillions of operations per second). TOPS = 2 × MAC unit count × Frequency / 1 trillion.
Geekbench 6 Single-core	1133
Geekbench 6 multi-core	3374
Like	Benchmark A35 Exynos 1380 vs A55 1480 Benchmarks
GPU	Xclipse 530 and uses AMD RDNA 3 technology.
GPU Test
Open CL	3087 – well above A54 2023
Like	Similar to MediaTek Dimensity 8020
Vulcan	4052 – well above A54 2023
RAM, type	8GB LPDDRX5
Storage, free, type	128GB UFS 3.1 (92 GB free)
micro-SD	Yes, to 1TB (shared slot)
CPDT internal seq. Read MBps sustained	972 (Jazz maximum 1485) This is fast, reflecting UFS 3.1 speeds.
CPDT internal seq. write MBps sustained	564 (Jazz maximum 776)
CPDT microSD read, write MBps	77/50
CPDT external (mountable?) MBps	Recognised in My Files but won’t test. Videographers and vloggers will pass as it is not mountable.
Comment	The Exynos 1480 is a new SoC that is faster than anything seen in an A-series. It is significantly faster in video, particularly Vulkan, and has a new AMD RDNA Xclipse 530 GPU and an NPU with 5X more TOPs.

Throttle Test – Pass

It throttles 24% under load – acceptable for typical use.

Max GIPS	296067
Average GIPS	267644
Minimum GIPS	22695
% Throttle	24%
CPU Temp	50
Comment	I have not been impressed with older Exynos, but this SoC shows much more promise.

Comms – Pass

It has Wi-Fi 6, 2.4/5GHz, 2 x 2 MIMO and can connect at a maximum of 1200/1200Mbps. It holds the connection quite well to 10m from the router.

Wi-Fi Type, model	Wi-Fi 6 AX 2×2 MIMO
Test 2m -dBm, Rx/Tx Mbps	-32/1200/1000
Test 5m	-40/1200/1000
Test 10m	-41/1200/1000
BT Type	5.3
GPS single, dual	Single Accurate 2m
USB type	USB-C 2.0
ALT DP, DeX, Ready For	No
NFC	Yes
Ultra-wideband	No
Sensors
Accelerometer	Yes – combo with Gyro
Gyro	Yes – combo with Gyro
e-Compass	Yes
Barometer
Gravity
Pedometer
Ambient light	Yes
Hall sensor	Yes
Proximity	Virtual
Other	Fingerprint
Comment	It is Wi-Fi 6 AX 2×2 MIMO, with a maximum connection speed of 1200/1200. Overall, it performed to spec.

LTE and 5G – Pass

Like most Exynos modems tested, this has very good signal strength, but only one tower was found. It is a phone only for cities and suburbs only.

SIM	Dual Sim (double-sided) DS model. No eSIM.
Active	One at a time
Ring tone single, dual	Single
VoLTE	Carrier Dependent
Wi-Fi calling	Carrier Dependent
4G Bands	B1, 2, 3, 4, 5,7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 20, 25, 26, 28, 38, 40, 41 66
Comment	All Australian bands and most world bands
5G sub-6Ghz	N1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 26 28, 40, 66, 77, 78
Comment	All Australian sub-6GHz and low bands
mmWave	No
Test Boost Mobile, Telstra
DL/UL, ms	64.5/13.2/28ms
Tower 1 -dBm, fW or pW	From -82 to -97 and 631fW to 6.3pW
Tower 2	No
Tower 3	No
Tower 4	No
Comment	Good strong signal but inadequate reception antenna strength from adjacent towers. Good City and Suburbs phone. Weaker than A35 – different generation Samsung modem.

Battery – Pass

It has the same battery as the A35. But the new 4nm Exynos is far more power efficient, using less power both idle and under load. Overall, you will see a 20-30% battery life improvement.

We remind buyers to purchase a genuine Samsung 9V/2.77A/25W charger to achieve the fastest speeds. PD/PPS chargers will take about 10% longer.

mAh	5000mAh 4905mAh/19.04Wh actual 500 recharge cycles
Charger, type, supplied	No Samsung suggests 90 minutes with its 25W (9V/2.77a)
PD, QC level	25W capable
Qi, wattage	N/A
Reverse Qi or cable	No
Test (60Hz or adaptive screen)	Adaptive
Charge 0-100%	Genuine Samsung 25W charger: 1 hour 32 minutes GaN PD3 charger: 1 hour 49 minutes
Charge Qi, W Using Belkin Boost Charge 15W fast wireless charge	N/A
Charge 5V, 2A	3 hours 32 minutes
Video loop 50%, aeroplane	17 hours 18 minutes (Samsung claim 26 hours)
PC Mark 3 battery	15 hours 13 minutes Accubattery 18 hours
GFX Bench Manhattan battery	Would not run
GFX Bench T-Rex	365.8 minutes (6.1 hours) 4671 frames
Drain 100-0% full load screen on	6 hours 11 minutes Accubattery 5 hours
mA full load	1650-1750mA (this is energy efficient)
mA Watt idle Screen on	204-250mA (ditto)
Estimate loss at max refresh	<20%
Estimate typical use	This new 4nm Exynos SoC has much better energy efficiency than older Exynos SoCs. Typical users will get 24+ hours, and heavy users will get 15-18 hours.
Comment	Unless you use the Samsung charger with a fixed 9V/2.77A/25W output, PD/PPS chargers will take slightly longer as they vary the voltage to take better care of the battery.

Sound – Passable

We suspect it uses an integrated Exynos amp instead of the TFA90879 amps used with earlier Exynos processors. As such, its overall volumes, while acceptable, are lower. Samsung could work on this area.

Speakers	Stereo – top earpiece and bottom down-firing.
Tuning	No
AMP	It appears that the amplifier is now part of the SoC.
Dolby Atmos decode	Yes
Hi-Res	No
3.5mm	No
BT Codecs	SBC, AAC, aptX (free), LDAC, and SSC. 16-bit/44100Hz/Stereo
Multipoint	Should be
Dolby Atmos (DA)	Yes, and DA gaming
EQ	Dolby – Normal, Pop, Classic, Jazz, Rock and custom
Mics	One top and two bottom
Test dB – all on EQ flat DA off
Volume max	84
Media (music)	79
Ring	76
Alarm	70
Notifications	75
Earpiece	52
Hands-free	The bottom two mics are for voice only, and the top is for noise reduction. It has a good hands-free pick-up of about 600mm and good speaker loudness.
BT headphones	Excellent separation and volume.

Samsung A55 5G 2024 Sound quality – Passable

Samsung has some work to do here. The sound signature is odd – no bass, very late mid, and almost no treble. It focuses on clear voice (regardless of EQ settings) and is not recommended for music.

Read: How to tell if you have good music – sound signature is the key

Deep Bass 20-40Hz	No
Middle Bass 40-100Hz	No
High Bass 100-200Hz	Building slowly to 1kHz – very late
Low Mid 200-400Hz	Building slowly
Mid 4000-1000Hz	Building slowly
High-Mid 1-2kHz	Flattening
Low Treble 2-4kHz	Flat – slightly choppy (clipped)
Mid Treble 4-6kHz	Slight decline
High Treble 6-10kHz	linear decline to 10Hz
Dog Whistle 10-20kHz	Slight recovery, then drops suddenly to 20kHz.
Sound Signature type	Mid: (bass recessed, mid boosted, treble recessed) – for clear voice. Music is tinny, hollow, and harsh at the mid/upper treble.
Soundstage	Stereo: as wide as the phone Dolby Atmos: wider by about 10cm with some 3D height and better clarity.
Comment	This is one of the more unusual, almost undefinable sound signatures that could, at best, be called quasi-mid, but it has a few too many foibles to be anything more than a clear voice. We suspect that the Exynos 1480 now uses an internal amplifier (older models used TFA9879 amps), and it needs a lot of work to fix this Frankensignature. Use headphones for music.

Build – Pass+

It adds an aluminium frame to the A35’s plastic one. Otherwise, it is almost the same.

Size (H X W x D)	161.1 x 77.4 x 8.2
Weight grams	213
Front glass	Gorilla Glass Victus+
Rear material	Glass (could be Acrylic Glass PMMA)
Frame	Aluminium
IP rating	IX4 10L water spray for 5 minutes IP67 1m water for 30 minutes Not warranted for water ingress
Colours	Awesome Navy Awesome Lilac
Pen, Stylus support	No
	Teardown – easy to repair.

In the box – Passable

No matter how much we criticise a manufacturer for not including a charger (it costs $99 to buy a 65W Samsung one plus $20 for a 3W cable), people only focus on the phone’s price. Use of lower-wattage chargers will result in a 3- 4 hour charge.

Charger	No
USB cable	No (possibly on the retail version)
Buds	No
Bumper cover	No
Comment	More Samsung penny-pinching

Operating System – Pass+

This device’s strength is its two-year warranty, four OS upgrades, and five years of regular security patches.

However, Samsung receives payment to preload about 10GB of Bloatware. We recommend using Google Apps instead and removing Samsung-specific apps. This makes it easy to swap to any brand of Android device.

Privacy – Passable

We are also concerned about the massive privacy implications of accepting all of Samsung’s seven legal ‘policies’ totalling 25,214 words – to use a phone. That is on top of Google Android policies, any app policies, and Microsoft 365 and OneDrive if you use those for backup. The policies are at the end of the document. Our take – extreme arse covering! You can also use the phone without a Samsung account, but it does nag you.

We won’t repeat all these policies. You can see them at the end of Samsung A35 5G 2024 – lots of great features at a low price

Android	14
Security patch date	1 February 2023 (we would expect quarterly)
UI	6.1 No AI as on the S24-series
OS upgrade policy	Up to 4 OS upgrades
Security patch policy	Up to 5 years
Bloatware	It has 92GB free, and frankly, about 10GB is from bloatware. There are 33 Samsung Apps (we recommend using Google equivalents), Facebook, Galaxy Store, Gaming Hub, Microsoft 365, LinkedIn, Netflix, Spotify, etc.
Other	The One UI and Android 14 take a massive 28GB, which shows how One UI has grown.
Comment	Samsung has a great upgrade policy, and One UI is easy to use. Privacy can be an issue, as Samsung encourages you to log in and create a Samsung account, but you can avoid that. You can’t avoid Google!
Security
Fingerprint sensor location, type	Optical under glass – soke touch fails.
Face ID	2D
Other	Knox and Secure folder
Comment	One of the more secure Android phones.

Samsung A55 5G 2024 rear camera – Pass

While it is a step up from the A35 5G 2024, DXOMARK only gives it four more points. It has a different processor, lots of AI post-processing power, and a slightly better Sony 50MP sensor and 12MP wide-angle sensor. We suspect that Samsung has a lot of work to do on the camera firmware to fix things that should be easy to do.

On the positive side, it has improved Nightography—there is no tedious shutter lag—and the results are an improvement over the A35.

In other words, it is OK but could improve.

Rear Primary	Wide
MP	50P bins to 12.5MP and has 7.7x crop factor
Sensor	Sony IMX906
Focus	PDAF
f-stop	1.8
um	1
FOV° (stated, actual)	72.7 (H) x 85.3 (D)
Stabilisation	OIS
Zoom	10X
Rear 2	Ultra-wide
MP	12MP
Sensor	Sony IMX258
Focus	Fixed
f-stop	2.2
um	1.12
FOV (stated, actual)	104.3 (H) x 116.3 (D)
Stabilisation	No
Zoom	No
Rear 3	Macro
MP	5MP
Sensor	GalaxyCore GC5035
Focus	Fixed
f-stop	2.4
um	1.12
FOV (stated, actual)	3-5cm critical
Stabilisation	No
Zoom	No
Special
Video max	4K@30fps No Zoom and 1080p with Zoom
Flash	Yes
Auto-HDR	Yes
QR code reader	Yes
Night mode	Nightography
Features	It has better quality day and office light shots than the A35 and has better Nightography with an instant shutter speed. Despite noticeable NPU post-processing performance gains and a Sony IMX906 sensor, it only scores 108 and 117th ranking. The A35 scores 104 and 125th rankling.
Comment	While it takes pretty acceptable still images, the low ranking means it does not excel in any area. We found weaknesses in the screen colour preview match, digital zoom was not good, and some image noise and artifacts, particularly in dark areas, caused by post-processing. 4K video appeared to be more prone to shaking than we expected, and perhaps the crop factors are slightly off.

Samsung A55 5G 2024 test photos

Samsung A55 5G 2024 Front Camera – Pass

The selfie has decent natural skin tones, but its tight field of view and fixed focus make it a single selfie lens.

This bins to 8MP (lower than the A35 at 13MP) and further crops output to 5.7MP. This is a ‘feature’ of AI post-processing and software stabilisation.

MP	32MP bins to 8MP and crops to 5.7MP (7.7x crop)
Sensor	Sony IMX616
Focus	Fixed
f-stop	2.2
um	.8 bins to 1.6
FOV (stated, actual)	63.5 (H) x 73.9 (D)
Stabilisation	EIS
Flash	Screen
Zoom	No
Video max	4K@30fps

CyberShack’s view – Samsung A55 5G 2024 is worth the $100 price hike over the A35

Only when you do such an in-depth review and testing to verify results do you see the subtle differences between close models like the A55 and A35.

This has a better processor, leading to better image processing and faster performance (especially in RAM and storage speeds). The downside is that it feels like Version 1.0, which needs a few rough edges knocked off to achieve more. I can’t comment on whether Samsung does this.

Competition

At $649 (plus $119 for Samsung’s charger and cable—$768), it is not low-cost, but people will pay a premium for the name.

I would suggest you look at

• Moto g84 5G – how does Motorola do it? $449 (If only because it has excellent phone signal strength).
• Motorola Edge 40 5G 2023 256GB $699 Motorola Edge 40 2023 – Edge benefits at a lower cost (and probably the closest competitor, has a superb camera, and comes with a charger)
• Google Pixel 7a 2023 128GB $749 (about to be superseded by the 8a) Google Pixel 7a 2023 – faster, smarter, better camera
• Google Pixel 8 2024 128GB $700 on special) Google Pixel 8 – a deep-dive smartphone review
• Motorola ThinkPhone 2023 256GB $799 and the absolute king of the mid-rangers with a Qualcomm SD8 SoC. Motorola ThinkPhone – for thinking people
• OPPO Reno IIF 5G 2024 256GB $599 (review coming) with a very impressive camera and charger inbox
• OPPO A98 2024 256GB $649 OPPO A98 5G 2023 – a class leader in many ways with charger inbox.

Samsung A55 5G 2024 ratings

These are our new ratings from April 2024. This uses a new scale where Pass is closer to 70/100, and we mark up or down from there.

Ratings
Features	8
	It has everything you need
Value	8
	It is the same price as the 2023 A54
Performance	8
	The new 4nm Exynos is a far better SoC with superior GPU and NPU results. However, it still suffers from a modem that can only be fixed on one tower, making it a city/suburbs phone.
Ease of Use	8.5
	Excellent OS upgrade, update policy and 2-year warranty.
Design	8
	Nice, but a little bland
Rating out of 10	8.1
Final comment	It is a good successor to the A54 5G and a safe buy for the price. It has sAMOLED and updates—there is no downside.

Samsung A55 5G 2024 Pro and Con

Pro
1	Decent all-day battery life and faster charging capability
2	2-year warranty, OS updates for four years, security updates for five years
3	Bright sAMOLED screen
4	The camera is suitable for day, office, and low-light shots, but it is an average performer all around.
5	AMOLED, IP67 and NFC
Con
1	The 2024 A55 is an incremental update to the A54
2	No charger inbox
3	Privacy policies are ridiculously complex.
4	Phone signal strengths are good but limited to one tower.
5	Samsung is becoming more of its own ecosystem with a little too much Samsung bloatware – Apple-like.