Samsung Galaxy A54 5G Review: Can it emerge as a better option under its price range?

 Samsung Galaxy A54 5G Review: Can it emerge as a better option under its price range?

Samsung recently introduced two smartphones in the market, namely the Samsung Galaxy A54 and A34, as part of their A-series lineup targeting the mid-range market segment. Our review is focussed on Samsung Galaxy A54 5G, which stands as the pricier option of the two. The new A54 comes with an updated price bracket when compared to its predecessor. 

The Galaxy A54 5G is available for purchase at a retail price of ₹38,999 for the 8GB/128GB variant.

Design

• Minimalistic Design: Samsung phones, including the new Galaxy A54, have a simple and minimalistic design approach. This means that the phone's appearance is clean and uncomplicated.

• Aesthetic Look: The Galaxy A54 has a basic yet attractive appearance. It has a glass back with a shiny finish, and we had the chance to try out the Awesome Violet color variant, which provides a unique and distinctive look.

• Smudge-prone Rear Body: The glass back of the phone easily attracts smudges. To protect the phone and keep it clean, it is advisable to use a cover or case.

• Contour Camera Design: Unlike some of Samsung's recent releases, the Galaxy A54 retains the contour camera design. The back of the phone features a triple camera module arranged in a straight line, without any separate camera housing.

• Button and Port Placement: The power button and volume controls are located on the right side of the phone. On the bottom, you'll find the primary microphone, USB Type-C port, and speaker grille. On the top, there is a secondary microphone and a hybrid dual SIM slot.

• Material: The sides of the phone are covered by a plastic frame, although it appears to be made of metal.

 

Galaxy A54 Display Features:

• Vibrant Super AMOLED Display: The Galaxy A54 is equipped with a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display, offering a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels. This display type provides vibrant and vivid colors, making visuals more appealing.

• Increased Brightness: With a brightness of 1000 nits, the Galaxy A54's display is brighter compared to its predecessor, which had 800 nits. This improvement enhances outdoor visibility, allowing for better screen readability even in bright sunlight.

• Impressive Color Reproduction: The color reproduction on the Galaxy A54 is excellent, providing rich and accurate colors for an immersive viewing experience.

• Smooth User Experience: The phone features a 120Hz refresh rate, resulting in a smoother user interface. This high refresh rate enhances the fluidity of animations, scrolling, and gaming, offering a more responsive and enjoyable experience.

• Eye Comfort Shield: Similar to previous Samsung phones, the Galaxy A54 comes with an Eye Comfort Shield. This feature reduces the amount of blue light emitted by the display, helping to reduce eye strain and improve comfort during extended use.

• Durable and Resistant: The display of the Galaxy A54 is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5, which adds durability and scratch resistance. Additionally, the phone has an IP67 certification, providing dust and water resistance, ensuring greater peace of mind.

• HDR10 and HDR10+ Support: The Galaxy A54's display supports HDR10 and HDR10+ standards, enabling high-quality streaming of content from platforms like YouTube and Netflix, offering a more immersive and detailed viewing experience.

 

Samsung Galaxy A54 Software and Updates:

• Operating System and Security Patch: The Galaxy A54 runs on Android 13, the latest version of the Android operating system. It comes with the February 2023 security patch, ensuring the device has up-to-date security features and fixes.

• Samsung One UI 5.1: The phone is equipped with Samsung's One UI 5.1, the most recent version of the user interface. One UI 5.1 introduces several new features, including an AI-based picture remaster that enhances image quality, a dynamic weather widget, and smart recommendations widget, among others. These additions enhance the user experience and provide additional functionality.

• Long-Term Software Support: Samsung has committed to providing significant software support for the Galaxy A54 5G. The phone is promised to receive four major OS updates, ensuring access to the latest features and improvements. Additionally, Samsung guarantees five years of security patches, ensuring the device remains protected against potential vulnerabilities.

 

Galaxy A54 5G Processor and Performance:

• Powerful Exynos 1380 5nm SoC: The Galaxy A54 5G is the first Samsung phone to be equipped with the Exynos 1380 5nm System-on-Chip (SoC). This processor provides efficient performance and power optimization.

• Octa-Core Processor: The Exynos 1380 SoC features an octa-core architecture. It consists of four 2.4GHz Cortex-A78 cores for high-performance tasks and four 2GHz Cortex-A55 cores for efficiency.

• Smooth Performance and Multitasking: During review period, we did not encounter any performance issues with the Galaxy A54 5G. Every application ran smoothly, and multitasking was fluid as well. The processor efficiently handled various tasks.

• Graphics Support: The phone utilizes the Mali-G68 MP5 GPU for graphics processing. With this GPU, the Galaxy A54 5G can smoothly run games even on high graphic settings, providing an enjoyable gaming experience.

• Ample RAM and Storage: To further enhance performance, the Galaxy A54 5G comes with 8GB of RAM. This ample amount of RAM allows for smooth multitasking and efficient handling of resource-intensive applications. Additionally, the phone offers 256GB of internal storage (ROM) for storing files, apps, and media.

 

Galaxy A54 Camera Features:

• Clean and Minimalistic Design: The camera setup of the Galaxy A54 features three circles, maintaining a clean and uncluttered appearance.

• Main Rear Camera: The primary rear camera sensor is a 50MP wide lens with an aperture of f/1.8, equipped with Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF) and Optical Image Stabilization (OIS). This sensor captures detailed and stabilized images.

• Ultrawide Lens: The second sensor is a 12MP ultrawide lens with an aperture of f/2.2 and a 123-degree field of view (FOV). It captures photos with a wider perspective and maintains good image quality.

• Macro Lens: The third sensor is a 5MP macro lens with an aperture of f/2.4. It allows for close-up photography, capturing small details.

• Fantastic Daytime Pictures: The primary camera of the Galaxy A54 delivers excellent quality daytime pictures. The images exhibit vibrant colors, accurate white balance, strong contrast, and a wide dynamic range. The detail is impressive, thanks to reasonable sharpening settings.

• High-Quality Ultrawide Shots: The ultrawide lens captures photos with a good range and maintains high image quality. The shots have slightly more defined details and maintain a pleasing level of contrast.

• Great Low-Light Photography: The Galaxy A54 performs well in low-light conditions. Even in normal mode, the image quality is quite good. For sharper low-light images, the Night mode can be used, resulting in well-exposed shots with a wide dynamic range and accurate white balance.

• Selfie Camera: For selfies, the Galaxy A54 features a 32MP lens with an aperture of f/2.2. The wide mode captures selfies in 12MP resolution. The selfies exhibit great quality with natural detail, accurate colors, and an excellent dynamic range.

 Galaxy A54 5G Battery and Charging:

• Ample Battery Capacity: The Galaxy A54 5G retains the same battery capacity as its predecessor, with a 5,000mAh battery. This provides sufficient power for a full day of use, with some battery remaining for comfortable usage into the next morning.

• Battery Life: During testing, the battery lasted a day without difficulty, offering reliable usage throughout. It had enough battery left to comfortably last through the first half of the following day. The device offers satisfactory battery life for most users.

• Average Charging Speed: One area where the Galaxy A54 5G falls short is in charging speed. The charging capability of the phone is considered average, especially when compared to other devices such as the OnePlus 11R, which offers super-fast charging.

Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy A54 5G proves to be an enhanced iteration of its predecessor, the A53, encompassing every facet with finesse. When compared to formidable rivals like the OnePlus 11R, it emerges as a rather costly choice, bereft of an accompanying adapter and exhibiting a poor charging capacity. Moreover, we would have preferred the inclusion of a Snapdragon processor in the phone, as it bestows a subtle yet discernible power surge, enhancing the device's footprint in the market.