Samsung’s Galaxy A lineup of mid-range smartphones are quite intriguing. While these devices don’t offer the best value for money, they are some of the most refined premium mid-range phones in the market, and the Samsung Galaxy A55 personifies that quite well.

While there are some aspects of the Galaxy A55 that I personally think took a step back – such as its build material – there’s no denying that it is still a superior phone compared to its predecessor. Not only is it a bigger, faster phone, it is also more secure now with the addition of Samsung Knox Vault.

What It Is

Priced at RM1,999 in Malaysia, the Galaxy A55 costs exactly RM100 more than last year’s Galaxy A54. Although it is slightly more expensive, the A55 does bring a number of upgrades, including a larger 6.6-inch display, a more capable Exynos 1480 chipset, more RAM at 12GB, and a metal frame while retaining the IP67 rating.

Beyond that, however, the Galaxy A55 doesn’t see much changes in other aspects. It still has a similar camera system, 5,000mAh battery, and charging rate as its predecessor. But surprisingly enough, even with the A55’s larger display and more powerful chipset, it actually has improved battery life – I’ll get to this in the next section.

The Good Stuff

What I like the most about the Galaxy A55 is certainly its faster chip. The Exynos 1480, while not quite as popular as Qualcomm’s offerings, is more than fast enough to provide a fast, responsive user experience in day-to-day use. On top of that, it can run games quite well too.

I wrote in my hands-on of the Galaxy A55 that it had trouble running Honkai: Star Rail without crashing. Well, since then, both the phone and the game received some updates, and I’m happy to report that the A55 has no issue running Star Rail now. While it can’t sustain 60fps frame rate with maxed out graphics settings, I can still play the game quite smoothly in the medium quality setting.

Further enhancing the gaming experience of the Galaxy A55 is the sizeable 6.6-inch 2340 x 1080 Super AMOLED display. Not only is it a vibrant screen with wide viewing angles and deep, true blacks – it’s an AMOLED panel, after all – the 120Hz refresh rate also gives the impression of a more responsive device, even as I’m just scrolling through the home page.

In terms of battery life, the 5,000mAh battery of the Galaxy A55 can return about six hours of screen on time on average. This is quite an improvement over its predecessor – which averaged about five hours and 30 minutes of screen on time – despite the fact that it has a larger display and faster processor. Then again, It’s worth noting that the A55’s Exynos 1480 chip is built on a more power-efficient 4nm process over the 5nm Exynos 1380, which contributes to the improved battery life.

Next, we have the camera performance of the Galaxy A55, which is still reasonably good for a mid-range smartphone. The triple camera system is made up of a 50MP primary sensor, a 12MP ultra-wide angle shooter, and a 5MP macro lens, which can take good-looking pictures…most of the time.

As you can see in the sample shots below, the camera struggles quite a bit in more challenging lighting situations, especially the 12MP ultra-wide lens. But all in all, I’d say this is still a camera system that befits a premium mid-range phone like the Galaxy A55.

Last but not least is Samsung Knox Vault on the Galaxy A55; the Korean company says this is the first time the security feature is offered on the Galaxy A series. Basically, Knox Vault protects the phone against software and hardware attacks, and this is accomplished by “constructing a secure execution environment that is physically isolated from the system’s main processor and memory,” as Samsung puts it.

While some users may not pay much attention to Samsung Knox, keeping user data safe and secure is always a good thing in my book. So yes, I’d say this is a good feature to have on the Galaxy A55.

The Bad Stuff

On paper, the metal frame of the Galaxy A55 sounds like an upgrade over the plastic frame of the A54. But in my opinion, the glossy, polished metal frame…doesn’t feel as nice to hold. With that in mind, I actually prefer the plastic frame of the more affordable Galaxy A35, which shares the same design language as the A55; stay tuned for my review of that phone.

And then there’s the fact that the Galaxy A55 still doesn’t have a telephoto shooter. Now that it’s sitting at a higher RM1,999 price point, it’s really not unrealistic to expect the addition of a telephoto lens for a more versatile, complete camera system.

Is It Worth It?

Even though the Samsung Galaxy A55 doesn’t see much change in camera department along with a metal design that doesn’t quite work – for me anyway – it is still a very good premium mid-range smartphone. It improves over its predecessor in many areas, including display size (if you want a bigger phone), performance, battery life, and even security.

Sure, priced at RM1,999, the Galaxy A55 does cost RM100 more than its predecessor. But I think the higher price tag is justifiable given the upgrades that the phone bring. Plus, it’s also still IP67-rated, which remains a rare feature even in the flagship segment, let alone the mid-range market where the Galaxy A55 is positioned.