Samsung Galaxy A54 smartphone Review

At the beginning of 2023, Samsung will announce the Galaxy A54, as the successor to the A53. Concept model shows what the new A-series phone could look like.

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Last month, the Galaxy A33 and Galaxy A53 were introduced by Samsung. Both are affordable 5G phones with an IP67 rating and extra long software support. The A53 is the cheapest Samsung phone with a punch-hole selfie camera. The cheaper models are characterized by a notch at the top of the screen. This makes this A-series smartphone just as modern as the contemporary top models of the brand. The price is a lot more favorable, the Galaxy A53 5G has a starting price of € 450 (6GB/128GB).

Since the A53 will only be officially available for a few days, it will take another year before its successor is expected. However, that has not stopped graphic designer Parvez Khan, aka Technizo Concept, from making a concept of the Galaxy A54. Although the design contains clear A-series features, the smartphone has been updated on several points

Samsung Galaxy A54 display

Technizo Concept assumes that the A54 will have symmetrical bezels. In other words, the black screen edges are the same width on all four sides. This gives the phone an extra stylish look and the new A-series model follows the same trend as the high-end Galaxy S22 series.

The screen edges of the concept model are significantly thinner than is the case with the A53. It cannot therefore be ruled out that it will take another year before the A-series models also receive symmetrical bezels. Nevertheless, it is expected that in the long run, mid-range models will also have the same sleek appearance as contemporary top devices.

The display size and resolution may be retained. That would mean that the Samsung A54 will be equipped with a 6.5” Full HD+ Super AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. However, it is also very possible that the display will be slightly smaller. We also see this trend in the high-end models. Both the S22 and S22+ are slightly smaller than before.

The fingerprint sensor is undoubtedly placed under the screen, allowing you to lock the phone simply by placing your finger on the display. The punch-hole selfie camera will most likely also be part of the party. It is still unknown whether the same 32MP image sensor and f/2.2 lens will be used for this – it has been used for three years; in the Galaxy A51, A52 and A53.

Samsung A54 with quad camera

Not only the front has been revised, the back of the smartphone also has a new design. It is of course about the camera design. With the Galaxy A52 and A53, Samsung has chosen to implement a rectangular camera system, where the camera island has the same color scheme as the housing.

Technizo Concept has opted for a mix of the camera system of the A53 and the top model in its design of the Galaxy A54; the Galaxy S22 Ultra. With the latter, a so-called water drop camera design has been applied, in which the lenses are incorporated directly into the back panel. Samsung previously also applied this design to the much cheaper Galaxy A32.

The A54 still has a camera island, but it is significantly thinner. Thus, the lenses protrude a bit. It's a design that Samsung hasn't used before, but would certainly fit into its current lineup. In addition, it provides sufficient distinctiveness compared to the current A-series models.

Little is known about the camera configuration. To get an idea, the current model features a 64MP main camera with OIS and VDIS technology. In addition, a 12MP ultra-wide angle camera, a 5MP depth camera and a 5MP macro camera are built in. The cameras of the A53 correspond exactly to the one year older A52. This year, however, extra software has been used to improve image quality for evening/night shots.

Powerful processor

We are still in the dark about the chipset. It is in any case a mid-range smartphone, where you can also assume that a mid-range processor is used.

Although the Galaxy A52 and A52s were both equipped with a Qualcomm processor, the newer Galaxy A53 is equipped with an Exynos 1280 SoC. This is a new 5nm chipset from Samsung with an octa-core CPU. It has two Cortex A78 cores with a clock speed of 2.4Ghz and six Cortex A55 cores @ 2.0Ghz.

The Exynos 1280 delivers significantly better performance than the 8nm Snapdragon 750G chipset that can be found in the A52s. It is therefore certainly not inconceivable that the A54 will be powered by the successor to the Exynos 1280. Thanks to the integrated 5G modem, you can use this phone to take advantage of all the advantages that the 5G mobile internet network has to offer.

As for the memory, the A53 comes standard with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage memory. In addition, you can buy an extra advanced variant with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage space – Samsung charges an acceptable surcharge of €60 for this. It is certainly not inconceivable that Samsung will make the A54 available in the same memory configurations.

android software

Like all Galaxy devices, the Galaxy A54 will also run on the Android operating system. By then we'll have arrived at Android 13 – the first beta of which will be made available to developers later this month. In May, Google will provide more clarity, during the annual Google I/O event. Android 13 includes new language preferences, more theme options, a new lock screen and more privacy features.

Samsung has revised its update policy this year, not only for the high-end models, but also for a large part of the A-series models. As a result, users now benefit from 4 years of Android OS updates and 5 years of security updates.

In the case of the Galaxy A53 / A33, this means that the devices will run on Android 12 out of the box and will receive updates up to and including Android 16. Security updates will continue for another year. With this 5G phone you can effortlessly move forward until 2026/2027.

The only phone manufacturer to do better in terms of years of software support is Apple. For example, Apple provides the iPhone SE 2022 with 6 years of iOS updates, with the high-end iPhone 13 models that is even 7 years. However, many Android manufacturers only offer 2 or 3 years of Android OS updates, which means that the smartphone needs to be replaced much faster – which is also no longer in line with today's environmental goals that companies are pursuing.

Battery & Memory Card Support

Speaking about the environment, Samsung has decided this year to no longer supply a charger with the A-series models. Since last year, the high-end S-series models have been supplied without a charger. From this year you will no longer find a charger in the sales package with the A-series telephones. You have to buy this as an optional accessory.

Samsung, like manufacturers such as Apple and Nokia, believes that most consumers already have a suitable charger. By no longer supplying an 'unused' charger, you can save on the environment. The Galaxy A53 offers support for 25W Fast Charging. There is a good chance that this will also apply to the A54. The new model may also offer wireless charging support.

The battery capacity of 5,000 mAh is presumably maintained. Should Samsung decide to slightly reduce the display size – e.g. from 6.5” to 6.4” – this would obviously have a beneficial effect on battery life. This one is good, by the way, the A53 lasts an average of about 1.5 days – before you have to put the phone on the charger.

Finally, another change that Samsung has made this year is the omission of the 3.5mm headphone jack. Of course it is still possible to use a Bluetooth headset – wired earphones are no longer usable, however. We do not expect to see the 3.5mm jack on the A54 either.

Hopefully the microSD memory card support will still be maintained. This is unfortunately no longer available with the high-end S-series models. It is in line with expectations that the memory card slot will eventually also be omitted in the A-series models. This makes it all the more important to think about the required memory capacity when buying a new phone. However, it is not inconceivable that the memory of the A54 will still be expandable by means of a memory card.

Buy Samsung Galaxy A54

Samsung annually launches a large number of A-series models. The Galaxy A53 was introduced in March, just like its predecessor. It is expected that the A54 will also be announced around March, the release usually takes place a week or two later. With the A53, Samsung supplied free Galaxy Buds Live earbuds during the presale.

The new A-series smartphone will no doubt be made available in a variety of colors. The current model is available in the Netherlands in three colors: Awesome Black, Awesome Blue and Awesome Peach. In some other countries, the Samsung A53 is also available in Awesome White. The 'Peach' variant is new and replaces the 'Violet' livery of the A52.

A new color variant will undoubtedly be added next year. Consider, for example, a green variant – currently very popular with high-end models. However, details on this are still scarce. In the coming months, more will undoubtedly become known about the next-gen A-series smartphones from Samsung.

Note to publishers :  The presented product renders of the Samsung Galaxy A54 smartphone are created by graphic designer Parvez Khan – aka Technizo Concept. This product is not for sale. You can use the copyrighted images for your own website, YouTube and/or social media channels, please be so respectful to include a clickable source link into your publication.