The Galaxy S23 series might be Samsung’s best smartphone series right now, but the company’s most popular models are budget devices like the Galaxy A series. The Galaxy A54 5G is now official, and it looks like a great phone for 2023.
The new Galaxy A54 5G isn’t too different from last year’s A53 5G, which was one of our picks for the best budget Android phone. It’s still positioned as Samsung’s main mid-range phone, situated between the regular Galaxy S23 and cheaper phones like the A33 5G, A23 5G, and so on. It has a 6.4-inch 120 Hz Super AMOLED screen, 128 GB storage, a microSD card slot for adding even more capacity, 6 GB RAM, and a 5,000mAh battery. Samsung wouldn’t say which chipset is in the phone, but previous leaks indicated it’s an Exynos 1380. There’s no headphone jack, which is a shame.
There are four cameras in total on the Galaxy A54. You get a 50MP main camera (F1.8, AF, OIS), a 12MP ultra-wide lens (F2.2, FF), a mostly-useless 5MP macro camera, and a 32MP selfie camera. That’s nearly identical to the Galaxy A53, except the main camera on that model was 64MP. Resolution doesn’t mean a whole lot on budget phones, though — it’s all about image processing.
Samsung is promising “up to four generations of OS upgrades and five years of security updates.” That’s a longer support cycle than nearly every other phone in this price range, excluding the iPhone SE, which will likely have a similar (if not longer) lifetime. The Galaxy A54 5G ships with Android 13 with One UI 5.1, so that means it should receive Android 14, 15, 16, and 17 when they become available. More importantly, security updates should continue until 2028.
There are a few other helpful features, like an IP67 rating for water and dust resistance (it will survive splashes of water, but not extended submersion) and full 5G support. This isn’t a super exciting upgrade compared to the A53, but if you’re looking for a budget phone, the A54 5G will almost certainly be one of the best options available.
The Samsung Galaxy A54 5G will be available for pre-order in the United States on March 30, 2023, and should be available in most stores on April 6. Pricing will start at $449, making it only $20 more than the 2022 iPhone SE. Samsung’s online store will take up to $250 off with trade-in discounts.
Samsung Galaxy A54 5G
Samsung’s latest budget phone has a large 6.4-inch screen, 5G support, and several years of promised OS and security upgrades.
Source: Samsung
