Samsung might be better known for it’s flagship launches, but most didn’t know that the company actually performs equally well in the middle-range segment which accounted for more than halve of it’s smartphone sale last year.
The company’s success in this highly competitive segment can be attributed to the class-leading hardware and features of the A series smartphones which give them an edge over competing models in the same segment. Take the Galaxy A54 5G as an example. It’s a phone that brings along a flagship-class 120Hz display, awesomely fast performance and a capable camera system – all at a price of just S$588 in the local market.
Having tested the Galaxy A54 5G for two weeks, I’m more than convinced that the Galaxy A54 5G is the best smartphone under the $600 price point which you should totally consider if you’re currently in the market for an affordable smartphone.
Awesome Design
On the outside, the new Galaxy A54 5G could be easily mistaken for the company’s S23 flagship just by looking at the back of the phone. It comes with the same familiar floating camera design with individual protruding lenses rather than sporting an obtrusive camera bump.
Their similarities extend to the adoption of flat edges along the sides which gives the phone a boxy outlook that goes well with the overall design of the phone. The main difference lies in the size of the phone whereby the A54 5G is indisputably larger and thicker in size than the Galaxy S23 due to a wider display.
The model I had for review comes in an Awesome Lime colorway which looks the most flashy among the four available colors including Awesome Violet, Awesome White and Awesome Graphite. While each of these colors has it’s own charm, I personally find the Lime and Violet colors to be more outstanding as they have certain uniqueness which gives them a little bit more character than other devices.
Besides looking good, the Galaxy A54 5G also offers an excellent in-hand feel thanks to it’s Gorilla Glass back which gives the phone an extra touch opulence when holding the phone. In fact, the A54 5G is the first A series smartphone to debut with a glass back since this feature was previously reserved only for the S series lineup.
@playfuldroid Samsung Galaxy A54 5G Unboxing ? #GalaxyA54 #GalaxyA545G #GalaxyASeries #Samsung #Smartphone ? Friendships – Pascal Letoublon
To sweeten up the deal, the A54 5G is also rated IP67 for dust and water resistance. This basically means that the phone is able to survive light splashes of water so you wouldn’t need to worry about the phone when it starts to drizzle while you jog.
Flip the phone over, we’ll find a 6.4” display with a centered punched-hole cutout which houses a 32MP selfie camera. The display itself uses a high-end Super AMOLED panel which looks sharp and vibrant regardless whether you’re using the phone in indoor and outdoor environment.
Likewise, it’s fast 120Hz refresh rate also makes animations look smoother and offers user a super-slick scrolling experience when browsing through webpages or social media contents. Speaking of this, the Galaxy A54 5G’s refresh rate is set to adaptive by default – meaning the screen will automatically adjusts the refresh rate between 60Hz to 120Hz depending on the onscreen content.
However, those who favors longer battery life may prefer to switch the refresh rate setting to standard which will keep the refresh rate at 60Hz all-time, giving you another one to two hours of extra screen time.
Awesome Performance
Sitting at the heart of the Galaxy A54 5G is the new Exynos 1380 chipset fabricated on Samsung’s 5nm EUV process. It’s based on an octa-core architecture, featuring four high-performing cores that enable fast app loading and multitasking – along with four power-efficient cores that drive long-lasting battery life.
The smartphone works perfectly fine in day-to-day tasks with little or no lag. This applies even to more resource-intensive such as mobile gaming or video editing which is known to slow smartphone’s performance down significantly especially during prolonged usage. That also partly because the phone handles heat relatively well, despite a lack of dedicated cooling system.
Pairing up the Exynos 1380 chipset is 8GB RAM as well as an option between 128GB or 256GB onboard storage. The latter option provides more than sufficient memory for all your multi-tasking needs as well as adequate storage for dozens of apps and photos.
Awesome Cameras
Moving on to the most exciting a aspect of the smartphone – it’s highly versatile triple-cam system lead by a 50 megapixels (f/1.8 aperture) main camera along with a 12 megapixels (f/2.2 aperture) ultra-wide and 5 megapixels macro camera.
While it’s true that the camera hardware is a step down from it’s flagship S series smartphones, but you might be surprised that the photos taken by the cameras are actually comparable to the higher-end models in some occasions (check out our comparison with the iPhone 14 Pro here if you doubt our words) as the phone leverages advanced AI computational photography which significantly improve image quality.
Regardless whether you’re shooting in a well or poorly-lit environment, the main camera is able to capture social media-worthy photos with excellent details and color accuracy in the default shooting mode. Likewise, it’s OIS-stabilized lens also makes it easier to capture faraway subjects without the need of a tripod stand. Speaking of this, the camera is able to support up to 10x zoom via digital cropping.
For landscape photography, the A54 5G’s ultra-wide camera is also capable of clicking some pleasant-looking photos with acceptably good dynamic range. The same goes to it’s macro camera which never fails to deliver flattering results though I personally prefer using digital zooming for close-up photography since it’s easier to focus on the subject thanks to it’s autofocusing capability.
Awesome Battery Life
To keep it’s light on, the Galaxy A54 5G is backed by a respectable 5,000mAh which has no trouble lasting through an entire day on a single charge even with one or two hours of gaming during my daily commuting. In fact, I often found myself getting more than 1.5 days’ battery life on lighter usage.
As far as charging is concerned, the A54 5G supports 25W fast wired charging which is able to recharge a completely flat battery from 0 to 100% in slightly more than an hour time during my testing. It’s not exactly the fastest in the segment, but is certainly good enough for most of us.
Just like any other recent smartphones from Samsung, the A54 5G will not be coming with an in-box charger. However, you can simply use back any available USB-C charger from your previous smartphones as long they’re still working.
Verdict
The Galaxy A54 5G is an awesome device which does more than the essentials, offering a slew of high-end features aimed to deliver the best smartphone experience in the segment. It’s not only a great phone for work and play, but is also a perfect phone for budding photographers who love to share their best shots on social media.
If you’re interested, the Samsung Galaxy A54 5G is priced starting from just $588 for the 128GB trim and goes up to $648 for the higher-end model with doubled storage space. Those who purchased the Galaxy A54 5G from now till May 6th will get to enjoy a complimentary Galaxy Buds Live (worth $291), $100 overtrade bonus with trade-in and 50% off 2-year Samsung Care+.
