Samsung Galaxy A54 5G Review: Solid Software And Display Combo With Underwhelming Performance

SAMSUNG Galaxy A54 5G is among the recently launched highly anticipated mid-ranger and technically the latest bet of the South Korean giant to clinch customers in the sub-40,000 price category.

For starters, the phone has overstepped the offer pricing of the Galaxy S21 FE. While the phone has a regular price upgrade of over Rs 7,000, are the extra bucks justified? We think so, and here's why.

From the looks, you might mistake it for an S series handset from a distance but do not expect the same satiny feel. The soft-touch surface of the glass on the Galaxy S23 does not replicate that on the A54.

Samsung Galaxy A54 5G Design: 

The Galaxy A54 continues Samsung's tradition of using a shiny glass back with a premium feel while attracting minimal fingerprint marks after heavy use. The frame is made of plastic, which I don't mind because of the matte finish. The thickness is what bothers me.

A nitpick that ignites my design thirst is the flash placement. This arrangement makes it look similar to the iPhone 12, with a third sensor.

Samsung Galaxy A54 5G Display:

The smartphone has a 6.4-inch FHD+ 120Hz Super AMOLED display with those eye-catching chunky borders. Beyond the bezels, the screen has good viewing angles, bright colours, and enough glow to be visible in direct sunlight. In a nutshell, the screen contains almost everything you would like.

During my video experience, I noticed that the bottom-firing speaker is louder than the top-mounted earpiece. Additionally, occasional jitters during HDR video playback were evident.

Samsung Galaxy A54 5G Performance:

The phone performs nicely in day-to-day activities. However, I did notice minimal lags in scrolling through apps and multitasking that can be ironed out via updates.

Game on - I took it for a two-hour ride with Asphalt 8 (with high graphics). The results were on the expected lines thanks to the Exynos DNA. After 30 minutes, the back started to lose calm on the upper half next to the camera. After a 5 percent battery decline, I stressed it further. The battery dropped to 40 (from 70 percent). The phone did get warm. When the mercury climbs, the performance slightly tones down.

I played a 30-minute clip on YouTube with Wi-Fi connected and full brightness. The screen and the back temperatures rose here too, which is normal.

Samsung Galaxy A54 5G Software And Connectivity:

OneUI 5.1 gets a high five from my end. Once you debloat the phone and turn off third-party services, nothing can stop you from using a premium OS. Timely updates, no shady notifications, 120Hz across all apps, and more, I didn't crave anything more.

Plus, calls and networks worked fine. In noisy surroundings, Voice focus works well.

Samsung Galaxy A54 5G Battery:

The 5000mAh battery pack survived for a day at 9 percent after intense grilling. For moderate to light usage, the phone can easily surpass a day and a half. For light users, it can easily survive two days.

Coming from a 100W+ charging device, I realised the charging was sluggish. A fast charger took nearly 1.5 hours to charge the phone to 100 percent (from 5 percent). But once the battery is juiced up, the charger will miss you for a day and a half or maybe two days.

Samsung Galaxy A54 5G Camera:

Coming to the highly-reputed optics of Samsung, the 50MP primary clicks good photos during the day. The viewfinder presented boosted colours initially. But after some tuning, it was under control and the images were eye-pleasing.

Photos did lose some details in the wide-angle mode.

At night, the details are usable but not as rich as day. But the noise is well controlled.

As for macro shots, I would recommend you click a full-resolution image and zoom in. The HDR magic works most of the time.

Portrait mode works great in daylight but struggles to outline edges indoors and at night.

Speaking of the selfie camera, it packs good sharpness in shots. But as the light intensity dips, the details get soft. Here are a few clicked images for you to judge.

Verdict:

If you favour a good-quality screen, premium software, decent cameras, and an all-day battery, go for the Galaxy A54. Though 40 thousand is a steep ask, it can be opted for the given set of specs and the easy-to-use UI.

Flipping to the other side of the coin, a curved display and slightly better performance would have made the Samsung Galaxy A54 5G a complete package, considering the competition offers it. Lastly, if you droll on those aspects (like me), check out other options. However, you will have to skip five-year extended software support.