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If you’ve been wondering where mid-range smartphones have gone, you’ve probably missed out on Samsung’s recent release of their new Galaxy A series smartphones, the Galaxy A34 and the Galaxy A54. In particular, the latter builds upon the highly successful mid-range Galaxy A53 from last year.
Samsung Galaxy A54 Specifications:
- Processor: Samsung Exynos 1380 (5nm), octa-core
- Display: 6.40” 1080 x 2340 Super AMOLED, 120Hz, 19.5:9 aspect ratio
- Memory: 8GB RAM / 256GB ROM\
- Rear camera: 50MP Main (Wide) + 12MP Ultra-wide + 5MP Macro
- Front camera: 32MP
- Video: 4K@30fps, 1080@30/60fps, 720p@480fps
- Battery: 5000mAh
- Dimensions: 158.2 x 76.7 x 8.2 mm
- Weight: 202g
After using the Galaxy A54 for a week, we’ve noticed some substantial upgrades on the phone: some necessary, some nice-to-have, and some unnecessary; but overall, it’s been a pretty pleasant smartphone experience.
And it should be, least of all because it’s only a handful shy of RM2000, just edging the higher end of mid-rangers. For one, it has a more powerful Samsung Exynos 1380 processor that adds two more cores in the CPU and one in the GPU, which should result in better hardware performance. And for another, it looks more like the flagship S23 than it does its A Series predecessors.
Samsung has opted to unify its smartphone design across the brand, which is made apparent in this new release. Both the Galaxy A34 and Galaxy A54 now feature moduleless “floating cameras” like the Galaxy S23 series, also released earlier this year. The Galaxy A54 has Gorilla Glass 5 on both the front and rear, making for a glossy and durable shell that can withstand your daily knockabouts. Plus, it also has IP67 dust and water resistance.
On the front, the selfie camera sits in a punch hole in the top centre of the screen. It’s nicer to look at compared to the Infinity-V cutout in the last generation, but the thick bezels around the screen remain. Not so much of a dealbreaker, but a little jarring to see, considering most smartphones in this price range have at least done away with unsightly bezels by now.
The screen itself, at 6.5 inches, is also considerably nicer, brighter, and clearer. It’s less of a strain to look at under bright sunlight, and the colours are nicely balanced and less washed out. You’ll be getting a 120Hz refresh rate on this display and HDR10+ as well.
If we have to be honest, the processor may be a step up from last year’s Galaxy A53, but it still falls a little short of expectations. The Galaxy A53 had some problems with stuttering after long hours of use, which is largely fixed in this iteration, but only for regular web and social media browsing.
Gaming is still pretty much still limited to less intensive games. It can still run Genshin Impact and PUBG Mobile — just not in high graphics settings, and expect some stuttering.
On to the camera; Samsung still dominates in Android when it comes to mobile shooters, that’s for sure. From what we can see in our few quick sample shots, the Galaxy A54 is certainly capable of churning out clear and detailed images, largely thanks to powerful AI image processing.
Packing a massive 5,000mAh battery just like its predecessor, the Galaxy A54 shows no major downgrade or upgrade in terms of battery life. It still lasts an average of a day and a half on regular use, shorter if gaming, but quite enough to power you through your day.
The Galaxy A54 runs on Samsung’s OneUI 5.1 over Android 13, so the user interface should be somewhat familiar to most Android/Samsung users. As always, Samsun promises 4 years of software updates and 5 years of security updates for the phone, so you definitely can hold on to it for as long as you need to.
So far, we’ve only spent a week with the Galaxy A54, and these are what we noticed; we suspect more opinions to crop up over time, so stay tuned for our full review!