With a good camera, a big screen, and solid battery life, the Galaxy A54 offers a lot for the money. It might not have the most blazing performance, but Samsung’s policy of four years of OS updates and five years of security support makes it last longer than many other phones.
Display
The Galaxy A54’s 6.4-inch display is perfect for enjoying your favourite movies, TV shows, and social media. Thanks to the phone’s high-resolution graphics and fast response, it’s also great for gaming.
Samsung’s AMOLED screen on the A54 is incredibly vibrant and has deep blacks, making it easy to read even in direct sunlight. The display also reaches a high maximum brightness of 513cd/m2, which makes it easily readable in bright light.
Unlike last year’s model, this year’s Galaxy A54 has a 120Hz refresh rate that can automatically scale up to a higher frequency when needed. This makes a big difference and further separates the A54 from smartphones like the Pixel 6A and iPhone SE, which have static 60Hz screens.
Besides the excellent display, the A54’s other features are impressive for a midrange smartphone. You’ll get Samsung’s user-friendly interface, powerful performance, and regular software updates. It’s also packed with a 5,000mAh battery, which is more than enough for two days of moderate use. And thanks to its Wi-Fi 6 support, you’ll be able to stream HD video on services like Disney+ and Netflix more quickly than with older Android phones.
Camera
Samsung’s Galaxy A54 might not be the most potent cameraphone on the market. Still, it demonstrates impressive low-light performance, innovative shooting features and a versatile set of functions for a budget smartphone. It also offers a premium rear glass finish and a choice of punchy, eye-catching colourways that give it more visual appeal than its similarly priced rivals.
The main camera features a 50MP sensor, while the ultra-wide and macro cameras have 12MP and 5MP sensors,s respectively. The A54’s triple-camera setup should satisfy casual photographers and those who enjoy sharing on social media.
The Galaxy A54’s selfie snapper is also impressive, offering a wide range of fun and valuable modes to choose from. Shot suggestions help users frame their subjects better, and a manual mode allows for more control over camera settings. Native integration for Snap filters and other social apps is another welcome addition to the A54’s camera experience. The A54’s ‘Fun Photo’ camera mode is a perfect way to apply Snapchat-style filters to your images.
Processor
Samsung sticks with its in-house Exynos chipset for the budget A54, upgrading from the 1280 found in 2022’s Galaxy A50 to the 1380 in this model. That’s a modest improvement, but the new chip scores better in Geekbench tests and should offer smooth performance for everyday apps and games.
On the GPU side, the Mali-G68 MP5 is good enough for most games to run smoothly at their default settings, though titles like Genshin Impact struggled a bit with higher graphics. One UI has handy features tailor-made for gamers, too, including performance monitoring and optimization tools.
Overall, the Galaxy A54 is a solid entry in the 5G mid-range arena. It may not generate the best benchmark scores or provide the swiftest real-world performance, but it delivers a big 6.4-inch display, reliable day-to-day performance, and a durable design to resist water and dust ingress. Thanks to Samsung’s support policy, it should be well supported for years into the future.
Battery
The Galaxy A54’s battery is designed to provide a reliable power experience that can help you get through your day. Thanks to its 5,000 mah capacity, it can deliver up to 15 days of use on a single charge. The phone also supports 25W wired charging to keep your device charged and ready to go.
During our testing, the Galaxy A54 outlasted its flagship brethren and even the Pixel 7a in our battery rundown test. In fact, it lasted almost an entire day, with its display set to 120Hz. However, it’s not as energy-efficient as the new S23 Ultra and last year’s S22 Ultra.
Still, the A54’s mid-range price and trickle-down premium features offer great value for money. Plus, Samsung’s software support policy promises up to four years of major Android updates and five years of security updates. That’s a lot of security assurance for an affordable smartphone. You’ll also find that the earpiece and down-firing speaker both work well to deliver impressive sound quality without distortion or excessive noise. They also do a great job of handling playback and streaming.
Software
Samsung extends its impressive commitment to Android software updates down into the mid-range, with the A54 promising four years of OS updates and five years of security patches – expanding its lifespan far beyond rivals at the same price point (and above). The A54’s big win has to be its display, with a 6.4-inch 1080p OLED that delivers superb brightness in all lighting conditions and silky-smooth screen time thanks to a top refresh rate of 120Hz.
Its underlying Exynos 1380 processor also produced decent scores in benchmark tests and proved capable of handling everyday tasks, such as WhatsApp messaging and web browsing. Games like Genshin Impact and Apex Legends Mobile ran well at default settings. One UI features some handy gaming functions, too, like Perf Z for monitoring performance load and temperature and Game Booster for tweaking graphical settings.
The A54’s other notable addition is 5G support, which should allow it to access faster wireless networks and keep pace with the latest 4G LTE technologies. Its front-facing camera has a punch hole at the top of the screen and supports face unlock, which I found to be quick and reliable in testing.
