Samsung Galaxy A54 5G

Introduction

By now, the Galaxy A5x is one of the most beloved devices in Samsung's mid-range Galaxy A smartphone series, and through the 2023 Galaxy A54 5G model, the series has the chance to become more popular than ever.

Samsung had a slightly different approach for the 2023 Galaxy A series, especially the Galaxy A54 5G. The phone has a streamlined design similar to the Galaxy S23 and uses more premium materials. It also borrowed other elements and quality-of-life improvements from costlier phones, which could be a recipe for success.

The Galaxy A54 5G may be the go-to smartphone for Samsung customers who don't want to pay flagship-grade money but still care about specs, software, and design. The phone aims to strike a good balance between features and affordability.

Design

Samsung's new candidate for a mid-range hero device, i.e., the Galaxy A54 5G, shares many design principles with more expensive Galaxy S models. 2023 is the first year when Samsung has attempted to unify its design language across different price points, and because of this, the Galaxy A54 5G seems to punch above its weight in terms of looks and feel.

The A54 5G has a flat display and a flat back panel, sandwiching an almost-flat frame. This year, the phone doesn't have a prominent camera hump, although the three independent circular cutouts for each rear-facing camera do stick out.

The Galaxy A54 5G is the first in its series to adopt Gorilla Glass protection for both the display and back panel, not just the display. The latter has an Infinity-O display cutout for the selfie camera. The device also has a USB-C port on the bottom side of the frame, and a power and volume rocker on the right edge.

Samsung announced the Galaxy A54 5G in four colors: Awesome Graphite, Awesome Lime, Awesome Violet, and Awesome White. The device weighs 202 grams and measures 158.2 x 76.7 x 8.2mm.

Specifications

An Exynos 1380 chipset is to be found deep under the hood of the Galaxy A54 5G. The SoC features the Mali-G68 graphics chip. Memory variants for the 2023 mid-range phone include 6GB/8GB of RAM and 128GB/256GB of storage. The on-board storage is expandable by up to 1TB via microSD.

Other specs should include 5G and Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, and an IP67 dust and water resistance rating. The phone draws power from a 5,000mAh battery with 25W fast charging capabilities.

The phone also boasts stereo speakers with improved bass response thanks to Dolby Atmos. And Voice Focus enables clearer voice and video calls by separating the user's voice from background noise.

Display

The Galaxy A54 5G uses a Super AMOLED display with a 6.4-inch diagonal, a Full HD+ resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels, and a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz.

What's more, the new Super AMOLED panel used by the Galaxy A54 is SGS-certified and boasts a massive reduction in blue light emissions from the 2022 model. The new panel generates less than 6.5% blue light, down from 12.5%.

And for an even better user experience, the Galaxy A54 5G display employs Vision Booster technology, which debuted with the Galaxy S22. It pushes the display's brightness to up to 1,000 nits and maintains better color accuracy in a variety of lighting conditions.

Camera

Samsung gave the Galaxy A54 5G a 32MP selfie camera with 4K@30fps video recording capabilities and an f/2.2 aperture. The rear-facing camera setup includes a 50MP primary sensor with an f/1.8 aperture, 1.0-micron pixels, PDAF, and OIS; a 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera, and a 5MP f/2.4 macro shooter. The rear camera can record videos at 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60fps, and 720p@480fps.

Samsung also improved the Galaxy A54 5G camera system with features such as Auto Night and “No Shake Night Mode” using OIS and VDIS, a wider 1.5-degrees OIS angle (up from 0.95-degrees), 833Hz VDIS instead of 200Hz VDIS, and Auto Framing capabilities that can zoom in on five people during video recordings. To top it all off, the Galaxy A54 5G comes with enhanced photo editing tools that help users remove unwanted reflections and shadows from their images.

Software and Features

Samsung ships the Galaxy A54 5G with Android 13 and One UI 5.1, and the company promises four major OS upgrades and five years of security patches, meaning that the phone will eventually receive Android 17.

As a mid-range phone, the Galaxy A54 5G doesn't have access to more advanced One UI features such as Samsung DeX, but it has RAM Plus, which allows users to repurpose some storage to virtual RAM for improved multitasking, and improved photo editing capabilities.

Availability and Price

Samsung announced the Galaxy A54 5G on March 15, 2023. In Europe, the UK, and the USA, the phone had a launch price of €490, £449, and $449, respectively. The phone entered a pre-order period until March 30.