Samsung Galaxy A56 vs A55 vs A54: Breaking down the evolution in Samsung’s mid-range series – Ultra-Sim

Intro

Samsung has reached a comfortable design

But when it comes to design, we expect there two be little notable about the Galaxy A56. Samsung will most likely stick to the same look for 2025. That goes not only for the shape, but also for the size of the A56, which should be very similar to 161.1 x 77.4 x 8.2 mm. Those are the dimensions of the A55, which is somewhat larger compared to the A54, measuring at 158.2 x 76.7 x 8.2 mm.

Display Differences

The Galaxy A55 came with a slightly larger 6.6″ display compared to the 6.4″ one on the Galaxy A54. It’s bezels were also ever so slightly thinned out, making it more appealing at the front. That said, it scored the same 1000 nits of maximum brightness during our display lab tests, which is alright but nothing to write home about.

What we are hoping to see with the A56 is an increase by 200 nits, which would help the phone be more usable in bright conditions. Other than that, however, the displays on the A5x series are typically amazing, so there isn’t much else to want for. The A55 even comes with the very durable Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection, which is also what the A56 should have.

Performance and Software

Where the upgrades are almost certain

If nothing else gets updated with a new A5x generation, then at least the processor will be. At least that is what Samsung has stuck to for the past few years. The Galaxy A54 came with the Exynos 1380 and the A55 from this year has the Exynos 1480. 

The Exynos 1580 comes with a much better CPU consisting of 8 cores: one Cortex-A720 core clocked at 2.9GHz, three more Cortex-A720 cores at 2.6GHz, and four energy-efficient Cortex-A520 cores at 1.95GHz. It also has a AMD Xclipse 540 GPU, which Samsung says is 37% faster and 20% more power efficient than the previous generation.

In other words, we expect the A56 to be a substantially more powerful phone compared to its latest predecessors, especially if we consider the rumored higher memory of 8GB. Storage will probably remain the same, however, with 128GB and 256GB options.

Camera

We need an update

We have had the same ultra-wide, macro, and selfie cameras on the Galaxy A5x models for the past three years now. Samsung upgraded the main camera with the Galaxy A54 in 2023 with a new 50 MP sensor, which was also the one the Galaxy A55 has. So, in short, we think it is time for another camera upgrade.

Battery Life and Charging

Waiting for that wireless charging support

The Galaxy A55 and A54 both came with a 5,000 mAh battery capacity, but the former achieved much better results during our battery tests, especially when it came to battery drain during 3D gaming.

Since the A56 will probably have the same battery capacity, we are hoping that the new Exynos 1580 chip will offer yet another increase in battery life through better energy optimization. The improvement likely won’t be significant, but it will still make the new model better.

As for charging, this year we were quite disappointed to see that the A55 has the same 25W wired charging speed and no wireless charging support like the A54. By adding wireless charging to the upcoming Galaxy A56, Samsung has an easy way of making it stand out more than its predecessors.

Specs Comparison

Samsung has basically been rehashing the same specs with its Galaxy A5x series for the past couple of years, and from what we know so far it might be doing it for the third year in a row. Our hopes are that the A56 will not only come with a new, slightly more powerful chipset, but with some much-needed upgrades to the brightness and charging.

*Expected specs

Summary

It’s not hard to see that the Galaxy A55 was a somewhat uninspired upgrade over the Galaxy a54. It lacked two key features that fans really wanted — a telephoto camera and wireless charging. We highly doubt that the new, and impressive, Exynos 1580 will be the only new thing about the A56, so there is plenty of room for hope that we might get at least one of the two.

Whatever the case, we still know very little about the A56, even though the expected announcement in March is not that far off into the future at this point. But the closer we get the more will become clear, so stay tuned for more updates on this preliminary comparison.