Review – Samsung Galaxy A54 5G

The Samsung Galaxy A series smartphones are targeted at budget-conscious consumers looking for the best bang-for-the-buck device. These consumers often don’t fancy paying for the flagship model but only require a reliable smartphone to fulfil their daily usage needs.

That brings us to the device we’re reviewing today, the Samsung Galaxy A54 5G, the mid-ranged sub-RM2000 smartphone that should fit into this customer’s budget range.

Samsung Galaxy A54 5G

Design

Let’s start with the design. The 2023 Samsung Galaxy A series has received the same design template as the Galaxy S series. The end result? The Galaxy A34 and A54 look almost identical to the Galaxy S23 & S23 Plus. While it is unclear the exact reason why Samsung wanted to consolidate the design language of two different product series, however, I think it is fine to share a good design.

I love the rounded corners and the flat front and back. The use of a plastic chassis structure cuts down unnecessary weight on the phone. I must emphasize that plastic doesn’t mean cheap and you don’t need metal to show the “premium-ness” of any device. Sometimes, fancy shapes and exotic materials might backfire when it comes to actual usability.

Customers have four different colour options – Graphite, White, Lime and the one we have in our studio, Violet.

Display

The display is a 6.4-inch 120Hz Super AMOLED panel capable of peaking at 1000 nits in high brightness mode (HBM). This is quite impressive as panels of such quality used to be exclusive to flagship devices. The screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and as always, a flat display is the better option since you can easily purchase a tempered glass screen protector in the market.

At 1080 x 2340 pixel resolution and 403 PPI, this is pretty much the standard pixel density to enjoy sharp and clear text. The colour reproduction is excellent with 100% sRGB and 99.96% DCI-P3 colour coverage. The downside is slightly thicker bezels, but I guess that’s how they differentiate between expensive and affordable devices. Frankly speaking, it is not really a concern especially if you’re not trying to compare it side-by-side with a flagship device.

We have an under-screen optical fingerprint scanner and a punch-hole selfie camera.

Camera

There are three cameras at the back, a 50-megapixel f/1.8 primary camera, a 12-megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide camera and a 5-megapixel f/2.4 macro camera. This is technically a dual camera setup instead of a triple because the macro camera is a waste of space and money.

I’ve said it – macro cameras are unnecessary. I admit they work amazingly well in that 3cm-5cm range, however, the question remains how many percentages of actual users will use it? Why don’t just save the cost and invest it in the primary camera instead or reduce the selling price?

Other than that, you can expect good-quality photos coming from the primary and ultra-wide cameras. Some users might disagree with me since they’re used to flagship devices. Of course, the Galaxy S23 Ultra will have more comprehensive camera modes as well as a highly responsive focusing and shutter. That is only noticeable if you’re using the phone in low-light conditions.

Performance

When it comes to performance, the phone comes equipped with Samsung Exynos 1380 chipset alongside 8GB LPDDR5X RAM. While Samsung also offers a 6GB RAM variant in other markets, Samsung Malaysia has decided only to offer an 8GB model in Malaysia. Granted, there’s nothing wrong with this aspect because the general perspective is the more RAM the merrier. Besides, users would prefer to “future-proof” their device hence most of them would rather pay to upgrade.

That goes without saying, the phone works like a champ handling all our daily social media usage and multimedia entertainment. Games, however, you might need to lower the graphic settings in order to achieve a smooth gameplay experience. Otherwise, casual and idle games should do just fine on this device.

Battery Life

The 5000mAh battery can easily last for about one day and a half of use. While this sounds rather abstract since each and every person has different usage behaviour, due to the increased chip efficiency and battery capacity, we are now leaving behind a 1-day battery in the past.

Conclusion

Overall, the Samsung Galaxy A54 5G is an impressive mid-range smartphone that offers great value for money. It has all the required features such as excellent battery life, good camera configuration and a comprehensive user experience, with just RM1899. About half the price of flagship devices available in the market. It strikes a great balance for users who need a reliable device without breaking the bank.