Samsung Galaxy A55 vs. A54: all the big changes, explained

Samsung has been on a roll with new phone releases in 2024. At the end of January, Samsung released the flagship Galaxy S24 lineup. It’s fantastic, but not everyone can afford the latest and greatest flagship. Thankfully, Samsung also makes budget-friendly alternatives, and that’s the appeal of the new Galaxy A55.

If you’re new to Android phones, Samsung has the Galaxy S series and the A series. While the Galaxy S range is made for high performance and advanced technological features, the A series is more about affordability while having some of the new features.

The new Galaxy A55 is the successor to last year’s Galaxy A54. It has a new design and improved specs, but just how much of an upgrade is it really? Let’s take a look.

Samsung Galaxy A55 vs. Galaxy A54: specs

Samsung Galaxy A55 vs. A54: design and display

Typically, there aren’t big changes in terms of what Samsung’s Galaxy A phones look like year to year. However, this one is different.

The Galaxy A55 is actually slightly larger than its predecessor, with its 6.6-inch display. For comparison, the A54 had a 6.4-inch display. The A55 is also slightly heavier, at 213 grams, versus the 202-gram weight of the A54.

The weight difference is partly due to the materials used for each phone. The old Galaxy A54 had a plastic frame, while the new Galaxy A55 switched over to a metal frame. Because of this, the A55 should feel a bit more “premium” than its predecessor.

The Galaxy A54 and A55 have the same vertical three-camera layout on the rear glass. Here’s an easy way to look at it: The A55 looks similar to the S24 lineup, while the A54 is more similar to the S23 series.

An obvious design change with the Galaxy A55 from its predecessor is the new “key island” it adopted from the Galaxy A15 and A25. This bump slightly protrudes from the right edge of the phone and houses the volume and power buttons. This is also an easy way to differentiate the A55 from the flagship S24 devices.

While the Samsung Galaxy A55 has the same IP67 certification as the Galaxy A54, the front glass is now reinforced with Gorilla Glass Victus instead of Gorilla Glass 5. This should mean a little more durability against drops and scratches.

Samsung has also spruced up the color options available for the A55 this year, as it comes in four vibrant colors: Awesome Blue, Awesome Black, Awesome Pink, and Awesome Yellow. The A54 comes in four colors as well, including Awesome Graphite, Awesome White, Awesome Violet, and Awesome Lime.

Despite the different sizes, the displays are both Super AMOLED with a 120Hz refresh rate and reach peak brightness of 1,000 nits. The A55 also has slightly thinner bezels around the display, and Samsung added a new feature called Vision Booster. This is supposed to make the screen look clearer and brighter in a variety of lighting conditions.

Samsung Galaxy A55 vs. A54: performance and battery

Samsung placed emphasis on giving the Galaxy A55 better performance with a new chip. The A55 uses the newer and more powerful Exynos 1480 chip, while the A54 has the older Exynos 1380.

However, Samsung has not said exactly how much faster the new chipset is compared to the previous iteration, but we should see some noticeable improvement. This is also due to the fact that the A55 has more RAM — it starts with 8GB RAM for the 128GB version, and you can get the 256GB model with either 8GB or up to 12GB RAM. For comparison, the A54 starts with 6GB of RAM and maxes out at 8GB.

As far as software is concerned, the Galaxy A55 comes equipped with Android 14 with One UI 6.1 layered on top. Samsung says the A55 will get four years of major software upgrades and five years of security patches. Since this is the same promise for the A54, the A55 will outlast the A54 by at least one major software version.

Both phones have a 5,000mAh battery and wired charging speeds of up to 25W. Neither has wireless charging.

Samsung Galaxy A55 vs. A54: cameras

On the surface, Samsung didn’t make any changes to the triple-lens camera system on the Galaxy A55 to differentiate it from the Galaxy A54. Both phones have a 50-megapixel main camera, 12MP ultrawide camera, and 5MP macro lens. The front-facing selfie camera is 32MP on both phones.

Again, it looks like no changes were made to the camera hardware, but the differences could lie with the new advanced AI image signal processing (ISP) that Samsung is using. With this new ISP, Samsung claims that the A55 should be able to take better low-light images. There is also a new Night Portrait mode and Super HDR video support.

These are big claims from Samsung, so we’ll have to wait and see if the Galaxy A55 actually does take better photos than its predecessor once we get our hands on one.

Samsung Galaxy A55 vs. A54: price and availability

Despite being the older model, the Galaxy A54 is still available to purchase directly from Samsung.com, carrier stores, and big box retailers like Best Buy.

When the Galaxy first came out, the retail price was $450, which was not a bad price at all, considering the specs. But now, since it’s an older model, it’s easy to find it discounted — meaning you can often pick one up for less than $400. The Galaxy A54 only comes in two colors in the U.S.: Awesome Graphite and Awesome Violet. The other two colors, Awesome White and Awesome Lime, are only in Europe.

The Galaxy A55 is a little trickier in terms of availability. It launches on March 20 but only in select markets. Furthermore, Samsung has confirmed that it is not coming to the United States. If you can buy the Galaxy A55, it will start at 439 British pounds, which is around $564.

Samsung Galaxy A55 vs. A54: should you upgrade?

If you are currently using a Samsung Galaxy A54, then it should still be perfectly fine for the next couple of years. The Galaxy A55 is a decent upgrade, but given the lack of availability in the U.S., it is trickier to obtain one for what appears to be a minor, iterative upgrade. Plus, the Galaxy A54 is smaller, so if you prefer a more compact phone, you’ll want to hold onto what you have right now.

But if you are in the U.K. or Europe, don’t already have the Galaxy A54, and want a decent midrange phone that won’t break the bank, the Galaxy A55 is a good option.

With the Galaxy A55, you’ll have a larger 6.6-inch AMOLED display with the new Vision Booster for more clarity and brightness. The new Exynos 1480 processor with 8GB-12GB RAM means better performance and (hopefully) power efficiency. And despite having an identical camera system, the new ISP should help you capture better low-light images.

We’ll update this comparison once we’ve had a chance to use the Galaxy A55 for ourselves, but for now, your path forward is clear: If you live in the U.S. and already have a Galaxy A54, keep holding onto it. If you need a new budget phone, the Galaxy A54 remains a solid purchase in 2024. If you can wait for the Galaxy A55 to arrive — and you live in a market where it will be available — your patience should pay off.