Samsung Galaxy A54 5G review: One of the best mid-range phones is getting better

The already superb mid-range phone gets even better with Samsung's Galaxy A54 5G, making it the best in its class.

With the Galaxy A52, Samsung established a high standard for the mid-range market a couple of years ago, and it has continued to raise the bar each year to remain ahead of the competition. Despite going above and beyond the typical spec bump this year, the new Galaxy A54 5G continues this pattern set by the Galaxy A53 5G. However, because the design, optics, and even the screen are all subtly different, it does not adhere to Samsung's guiding principle of not fixing what was not broken.

I've had the Galaxy A54 5G for more than a week, and I'm finding it to be much better than I anticipated. The Galaxy A54 still provides a well-rounded experience without breaking the bank, but there are a few things I wish Samsung had done differently. The Galaxy A54 has undergone a number of improvements that are all generally positive, making it a simple choice if you reside in the United States where there aren't many rivals controlling the mid-range market.

Configuration:

The Samsung Galaxy A54 5G brings a lot of improvements over its predecessor to become one of the best phones in the mid-range segment. The new phone is also priced at $450, and it comes with an updated design, slightly improved internals, and a new set of optics.

Brand

Samsung

SoC

Samsung Exynos 1380

Display

6.4" FHD+ AMOLED @ 120Hz

RAM

6GB

Storage

128GB + microSD up to 1TB

Battery

5,000mAh

Ports

USB-C

Operating System

Android 13 with One UI 5.1

Camera (Rear, Front)

50MP main + 12MP ultra-wide + 5MP macro, 32MP selfie

Dimensions

158.2 x 76.7 x 8.2mm (6.22 x 3.01 x 0.32 inches)

Colors

Awesome Graphite, Awesome Violet

Weight

202g (7.12 ounces)

Price

$450

Pros

• Beautiful OLED panel

• Reliable day-to-day performance

• Long-lasting battery

• Samsung's update commitment

Cons

• Slow charging speeds

• Macro sensor is average at best

• No charger in the box

Samsung Galaxy A54 5G: Price and availability

• Samsung Galaxy A54 5g has the same $450 price value as its previous versions

• Its 6GB/128GB configuration will be available only in the U.S.

• Associated with awesome Graphite or awesome violet colors

On April 6, 2023, the new Samsung Galaxy A54 5G will go on sale, but as of this writing, you can place a reservation. The price of the Galaxy A54 5G is $450, but those who preorder it can save up to $250 given they bring an old phone for a trade-in. When you preorder the phone along with a set of Galaxy Buds Live earbuds, Samsung is sweetening the deal by charging just $50 for the pair.

In the United States, the Galaxy A54 5G will only be offered in the Awesome Graphite and Awesome Violet colors. Although the Awesome Violet finish we got to try is lovely, the traditional black color scheme is also a safe bet.

Design and builid quality : A substantial makeover

• Phone possesses Gorilla Glass 5 on both the front and back

• The camera island in favour of individual cutouts for the cameras at the back has been ditched by Samsung..

• It carries an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance.

The appearance of Samsung's Galaxy A54 5G differs significantly from the company's previous model. The new phone now resembles Samsung's newest Galaxy S23 series from the rear. The company also removed the camera island from the Galaxy A53 in favour of a more simplistic design with three distinct lenses sticking out from the rear. When I first saw the renders, I wasn't a big fan, but I've since come to appreciate it. With this redesigned back, the Galaxy A54 clearly belongs to the Galaxy S series, indicating that Samsung appears to be aiming for a more unified design.

Additionally, the front and rear of the Galaxy A54 now both have Gorilla Glass 5. It becomes more robust as a result, and it also feels more luxurious in the palm. The back of the Galaxy A53 was designed to appear like glass, but it was actually made of plastic. The Galaxy A54 weighs a few grams more than the Galaxy A53 due to the Gorilla Glass 5 rear panel and other weight-related factors. The Galaxy A54 has a nice fit and finish overall, and the glossy back and matte frame give it an iPhone-like luxury feel. Additionally, the Galaxy A54 has an IP67 certification, which means it can withstand brief water splashes.

Display: Brighter than last year

• Featuring a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display

• It has supported FHD+ resolution and to 120HZ refresh rate.

• The display has improved Vision Booster technology from Samsung and is brighter than its predecessor.

The 6.4-inch OLED display on the Galaxy A54 has a 120Hz frame rate. Similar to its predecessor, it has a 1080p resolution, but the new monitor is brighter. The Galaxy A53's poor outdoor visibility was one of the most common complaints, so it's encouraging to see Samsung handle it by increasing the maximum brightness from 800 nits to 1,000 nits. The new display is slightly taller and slimmer than the one we saw on the Galaxy A53 5G. The Galaxy A54's 6.4-inch display is sandwiched between the 6.1-inch and 6.6-inch displays of the Galaxy S23 and the Galaxy S23+, respectively, to put things in context.

Overall, the screen has a rich and vibrant appearance, and the quick refresh rate of 120 Hz keeps everything looking smooth at all times. Additionally, you receive an in-display fingerprint reader that authenticates your fingerprints quickly. Although it is a little slower than the ultrasonic fingerprint sensor on the Galaxy S23, it is still fast enough for me to keep using it. Both the tiny punch-hole cutout for the selfie camera and the display's bezels being slightly thicker than what you get on flagship models aren't deal-breakers.

Performance: Runs almost as well as regular Galaxy S23

• It is powered by Samsung’s Exynos 1380 chipset.

• The Galaxy A54 is shipping with One UI 5.1 on Android 12 out of the box.

For its Galaxy A-series phones in the United States, Samsung is once more using an Exynos CPU; specifically, an Exynos 1380 processor as opposed to the Exynos 1280 processor we saw inside the Galaxy A53. A 5nmk octa-core chipset with four Cortex A78 cores and four Cortex A55 cores makes up this specific device. The model I was sent for evaluation has 256GB of internal storage and 8GB of RAM.

Although the Galaxy A54 5G has so far generally performed well, don't go into this expecting any extraordinary outcomes. It's an upgrade from the Exynos 1280 CPU found in the Galaxy A53, but it's still a mid-range processor with some flaws.

There are some instances when the Exynos 1380 will remind you that you're using a less expensive phone.

I mostly didn't observe the processing differences coming from the Galaxy S23 because Samsung has optimized the One UI software quite well. In my experiments, many contemporary mobile games performed admirably, and the responsive 120Hz display made scrolling through websites and social media easy. The Exynos 1380 will, regrettably, occasionally point out that you're using a less costly phone. The overall experience is diminished by sporadic app opening lags and delayed keypad appearances. Although these occurrences weren't frequent enough for me to start doubting the phone's functionality, they were frequent enough for me to ignore them.

For those of you who are interested in the Geekbench 6 numbers, here is a quick glance at them. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy on the Galaxy S23 is obviously more powerful than the Exynos 1380, but this is not particularly surprising.

Phone Single-core Multi-core

Samsung Galaxy A54 5G 1010 2865

Google Pixel 6a 967 2633

Samsung Galaxy S23 1898 4845

I am going to show some screenshots to demonstrate the results of a couple of other benchmarks I ran to determine the performance of this phone. The prized 3DMark "Wild Life Extreme Stress" test was successfully completed by the Galaxy A54 5G with over 99% stability. On the CrossMark exam, it even managed to achieve respectable results. Take a peek at this:

However, I want to emphasize that the phone never seemed to be hot. After I finished performing a ton of benchmark tests, it only became slightly warm. This means that unless you are playing video gamesa for several hours at a time, you do not need to be concerned about speed throttling. Although the Galaxy A54 can only be purchased in the United States with up to 128GB of storage, as I stated earlier, my review device had 256GB of storage. That shouldn't affect your purchase decision because you can expand the storage up to 1TB with a microSD card.

Samsung has done a pretty good job optimizing the One UI software, so I didn't really notice the processing differences coming from the Galaxy S23.

One of my favorite features is that the Galaxy A54 comes pre-installed with the same software as the Galaxy S23 line of phones. Yes, the Galaxy A54 comes pre-installed with OneUI 5.1, an Android 13-based user interface. With the exception of DeX functionality, which is only available on Samsung's premium smartphones, the general software experience is comparable to that of premium flagships.

However, because it's still a Samsung product, you'll have to put up with elements like pre-installed apps and the dynamic lock screen service, which you must actively turn off in the settings. However, these are merely petty annoyances that you can readily manage. I also like that the Galaxy A54 will receive four years of platform updates for the Android operating system and five years of security patches, just like the high-end Samsung flagships. When you consider that people who typically invest in mid-range phones typically keep their phones for many years before upgrading, that is a significant benefit.

Cameras: Decent, but not in low light

• You will get a triple camera setup

• It has ditched the 64 MP camera in favor of new 50MP sensor

• You will get a 32MP Selfie camera on the punch-hole cutout on the front.

The Galaxy A54 has a different set of optics than its predecessor, and at first glance, they appear to be downgrades. It has a 50MP f/1.8 main camera along with a 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide and a 5MP f/2.4 macro sensor, which might seem worse than the 64MP f/1.8 standard wide sensor from last year's phone. however, the fewer megapixels are less likely to play a significant role here. The larger sensor on the 50MP standard wide camera increases the pixel size from 0.8 to 1.0 millimeters. Better low-light photos should result from this, which is always a good thing. A noteworthy change made by Samsung is the removal of the 5MP depth camera, which I didn't miss at all.

As long as there is enough light, you can anticipate some excellent photos with saturated and vibrant colors. In bright light, the ultrawide and macro cameras both manage to take some decent pictures. Low light significantly degrades the quality, particularly for ultrawide shots. The images can be saved using night mode, but the outcomes won't be as impressive as they would be with a flagship. To demonstrate how much of a difference the night setting can make in your photos, here is a quick side-by-side comparison:

Since there are no moving subjects in the night mode picture on the right, it is clearly superior to the one on the left. However, since the ultrawide and macro sensors are not compatible with night mode, you will regrettably have to accept pictures of lower quality. For the purposes of this review, I only used the macro mode once to capture a sample, and I honestly don't see myself using it again. For portraits, a telephoto lens would be ideal, but that is not a choice. A 32 MP, f/2.2 sensor is used for taking selfies, and as long as there is enough light in the environment, they turn out fairly well.

Battery life: Still the same good battery

• The Galaxy A54 5G packs a 5,000mAh battery

• It tops out at 25W wired charging and there’s no support for wireless charging.

The Galaxy A54's 5,000mAh battery is the same as that of its predecessor because Samsung hasn't altered it. You can use a phone like the Galaxy A54, which isn't as powerful as the flagship models, for a very long period thanks to its 5,000mAh battery. Even with the refresh rate set to 120Hz, I was still able to use this phone for comfortably more than a day. When I'm not running benchmarks or playing games nonstop for testing, I consider myself a moderate user, and I was finishing each day with almost 50% of the charge left over for the next.

It is a relief that the Galaxy A54 5G has a decent battery life since the last thing you want to do is plug in this phone to a charger and wait for it to painfully slowly charge every day. The maximum wired charging power for the Galaxy A54 is 25W because Samsung hasn't updated the charging pace. When the battery level dropped into the single digit percentages, it took me almost two hours to completely charge the Galaxy A54 to 100%. This phone doesn't support wireless charging either, so you're basically limited to the slow wired charging method for which you'll need to purchase a charger separately.

Should you buy the Galaxy A54 5G?

You should buy the Galaxy A54 5G if:

• You want a reliable phone that won’t burn a huge hole in your pocket.

• You want a reliable phone that will be good with upcoming softwares for some years.

You shouldn’t buy the Galaxy A54 5G if:

• You want a phone that can take excellent photos and videos.

• You want a phone with flagship-grade performance.

Despite a few minor charging issues, Samsung did an excellent job with the Galaxy A54 5G. It stands out from the competition in the mid-range market and, dare I say it, is edging toward star status. As I previously stated, the design is beginning to grow on me, and I appreciate how Samsung is attempting to set its phone apart from rivals with a unified aesthetic. The Galaxy A54 5G costs $450 and provides a great display, a respectable selection of cams, and dependable performance for everyday use. I wish Samsung had added a telephoto lens in place of the macro lens or at the very least made the photos even better. I also wish it supported faster charging, but given that even the Galaxy S23 has a maximum charge of

There isn't much in the way of competition for the Galaxy A54 5G in the United States, so your options for an Android device are mainly restricted to this, the Galaxy A53 5G, or the Google Pixel 6a. Although the Galaxy A54 5G and its predecessor share many similarities, unless you can currently score an unbeatable bargain on the Galaxy A53 5G, I'd say the newer device is superior overall. Although the Pixel 6a is made of a completely distinct material, it lacks many of the features and power of the Galaxy A54 5G.