When Samsung launched the S24 series earlier this year, they played a subtle trick on the market by migrating the camera flash on the non-Ultra models to the same place you find it on the cheaper Galaxy devices.
This means that, when viewed from behind, you cannot immediately tell whether it’s a flagship variant or the volume seller.
But what Samsung didn’t do is bring its flagship AI features like the oddly exclusive Circle to Search or the fancy transcription and translation capabilities.
Instead, what you get here is all the posturing of a flagship device and that, unfortunately doesn’t cut it with Chinese brands like Huawei (the EMUI 14 improvements include a slicker way to manage Google apps), Xiaomi and Honor all crowding this end of the market with devices.
Galaxy A55 shoppers will be able to take advantage of Samsung’s partnership with AMD on its Exynos processors.
The beating heart of the A55 is an Exynos 1480 processor, with Xclipse graphics and supported by 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
That Exynos 1480 is built on an improved 4nm process and handles thermals far better than its predecessor and the Galaxy A35, which in the real world translates to excellent battery endurance even when gaming.
Ample bezels may be seen as a negative by other reviewers, but it is a welcome place to rest a finger during marathon COD: Mobile sessions, and the thick aluminium frame is wonderful to hold.
Of course, Samsung also gave this device an excellent, bright 6.6in AMOLED display that refreshes at up to 120Hz.
There are plenty of pixels and it is truly a class leader with support for all the HDR content formats.
Like I mentioned earlier, the hardware is some of the best you can get at this price, but it is heavily subsidised by some of the most predatory bloatware practices.
When setting up the device for the first time, even without a SIM installed, new A55 owners will be met with no fewer than three screens that list TikTok as an “essential” app or makes it seem as if you can’t opt out of installing a list of preselected games.
And after you jump through those hoops, a software update still installs another couple of games – and don’t get me started on the marketing messages in the notifications shade, although that problem is encountered on premium Galaxy devices too.
This is a poor user experience and, given the marketing is targeted at youths, something that cheapens the overall prestige because it isn’t encountered to this extent on iPhones.
The biggest test for any A-series device is how well it performs against the previous year’s entry-level iPhone because that is usually the purchase decision that gets made.
At the moment the iPhone 11 is the cheapest new iPhone on sale in South Africa and it packs in wireless charging and a glass back in addition to the Face ID and integration into the Apple ecosystem.
That model is already five years old, but you could argue that it could still hold its own in a fight against the A55 and will probably get replaced in the price bracket by the iPhone 12 when the new iPhone is released in September.
If Samsung had endowed the A-series with #GalaxyAI powers at launch, the value aspect would’ve been undeniable.
Failing to do that with the next release after the S24 left the A55, although much improved over its predecessor, vulnerable to the comparison I just made.
Unfortunately, I am a parent of a teenager and am personally grappling with this exact purchase decision.
The Samsung Galaxy A55 is an excellent device that gets lost in a sea of equally good Chinese Android phones and doesn’t hold the same cultural or content creation cachet as an iPhone from five years ago.
It’s a great device that Samsung users will love and can also covet the premium features of the S- and Z-series from afar, just like Android users who prefer other manufacturers.
Google needs to fix the inconsistencies in experience across the Android spectrum to give handsets like this a fighting chance with the youth. They also read reviews and compare.
