That’s because most of said change is happening on the rear of the phone. The most immediately noticeable is that Samsung has ditched the contour camera housing present on last year’s model, instead opting for the same minimalistic design as the flagship Galaxy S23 line. The Samsung Galaxy A54 next to the Galaxy S23 Actual battery life varies by network environment, features and apps used, frequency of calls and messages, the number of times charged, and many other factors. Estimated against the average usage profile compiled by Strategy Analytics. Independently assessed by Strategy Analytics between 2023.01.19-01.30 in UK with pre-release versions of SM-A546 under default setting using 5G Sub6 networks, LTE and Wi-Fi. Battery : Actual battery life varies by network environment, features and apps used, frequency of calls and messages, number of times charged, and many other factors. To be honest, it would’ve been pretty decent for the money had Xiaomi not released the Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus 5G and its 200MP sensor that truly excels in low light. The 6.4-inch AMOLED panel sports an ‘Infinity O’ design that, to you and I, simply means it has a single hole-punch camera cutout in the middle of the display. It’s the easiest way to tell the difference between it and the Galaxy A34 with its ‘Infinity U’ design.

Yes, the megapixel count has dropped from 64MP to 50MP with the Galaxy A54, but it’s worth noting that it’s a completely new camera with a larger sensor, larger pixel size (0.8um to 1um, or 2um if you pixel-bin) and an enhanced OIS. That’s also without using the phone to listen to music and otherwise kill time on the two-hour trip from London to Paris via Eurostar, so I thought I’d put that to the test on the way home. Reader, I was very disappointed. I took the phone off charge at around 10:30am, used it for maps, listening to music and playing a couple of games on the Eurostar and the battery dwindled to just 30% by 3:30pm. Safe to say it didn’t make it until that night without a top-up. Given that the A53 5G was such a success, it makes sense that the overall design of the A54 5G isn’t all that different, although some small tweaks have been applied here and there. Typical value tested under third-party laboratory conditions. Typical value is the estimated average value considering the deviation in battery capacity among battery samples tested under the IEC 61960 standard. Rated capacity is 4,905mAh. The Apple iPhone SE (2022) costs the same as Samsung’s mid-ranger, too, but it isn’t really in the same ballpark in terms of features. It’s a smaller phone, with a 4.7in display, and it only has a single 12MP camera. The sole draw is Apple’s A15 Bionic chipset, which is night-and-day faster than the Exynos 1380 found inside the Samsung Galaxy A54. Samsung Galaxy A54 5G review: Design and key featuresStill, results across the board are fairly acceptable for the price tag. What isn’t acceptable, however, is the autofocus performance. With VDIS and a wider OIS angle, Galaxy A54 5G helps shoot high-quality videos with ease through automatic reframing and autofocus. *VDIS : Video Digital Image Stabilization. The camera’s new Auto Night feature is quite handy, too, measuring the amount of light and automatically switching to night mode to improve low-light shots. The results are rather good, too, and while there’s a slight loss in detail, darker areas are boosted nicely and highlights are expertly softened. Charging isn’t quite up there either, especially when powering such a large-capacity battery, capping out at just 25W – and you don’t get a charger in the box either. That means that even once you’ve sourced a charger, the process is slow, reaching just 41% in half an hour of charging, with a full charge taking 1 hour and 33 minutes.

The display is coated in a protective layer of Gorilla Glass 5, as is the rear panel, to prevent scuffs and scratches and, on the weather-proofing front, the Galaxy A54 5G is rated to IP67, certifying it as dustproof and able to withstand being dunked in 1m of water for up to 30 minutes. The A34 5G announced alongside the A54 5G is similar in build but has a matte rear panel, which looks a little more attractive in my eyes, despite being the cheaper phone. As the name suggests, 5G support is carried over from the previous model and it’s joined here by compatibility with Wi-Fi 6. Finally, unlike the S23 series, there’s space for a microSD card, or you can add a second nano-SIM in the same slot if you prefer. Samsung Galaxy A34 5G review: DisplayBased on average battery life under typical usage conditions. Average expected performance based on typical usage. Actual battery life depends on factors such as network, features selected, frequency of calls, and voice, data, and other application-usage patterns. Results may vary. With a premium glass finish, clean camera layout and energising colourways, Galaxy A54 5G wears the Awesome identity on a seamless and graceful frame. Gaming performance is on the up as well, although the improvement here isn’t quite as dramatic. In the onscreen portion of the GFXBench Manhattan 3 benchmark, this year’s model achieved an average frame rate of 70fps, compared to just 57fps last year. It also sports the more rounded corners of the Galaxy S23 range, which helps the phone stand out from a sea of similar-looking mid-range alternatives, and IP67 dust and water resistance should protect it from most accidents. FDD 2100, FDD 1800, FDD 2600, FDD 900, FDD 800, FDD 700APT, TDD TD 2600, TDD TD 2500, TDD TD 3700, TDD TD 3500, TDD 2300

The display is dynamic, dropping between 60Hz and 120Hz depending on what you’re doing, though you can also force a 120Hz refresh rate at the expense of battery life. It won’t drop down to a battery-saving 1Hz, but what mid-range phone does? The sensor is physically larger than the one used on the A53 5G; now measuring 1/1.56in, the pixels are bigger – up from 0.8µm to 1.0µm. And optical image stabilisation (OIS) has been improved, too. Band 1, Band 2, Band 3, Band 4, Band 5, Band 7, Band 8, Band 12, Band 17, Band 20, Band 26, Band 28, Band 32, Band 38, Band 40, Band 41, Band 66 HDR, Panorama, Bokeh Mode, AI Features, Pro Mode, Automatic Mode, Slow Motion, Time Lapse, Burst Mode

The camera setup, at least where the main lens is concerned, looks like a downgrade – on paper, that is. On paper that sounds pretty damn impressive, especially when coupled with Samsung’s claims of two days on a single charge, but that doesn’t always reflect real-world usage. On paper, the same cannot be said for the A54’s main camera. However, while the resolution has been reduced from 64MP to 50MP, it’s clear that the rest of the hardware is much better. All that said, my final impressions of the display are largely positive; it’s big enough to comfortably watch YouTube videos and movies on Netflix, colours are vibrant and punchy (if not a little too vibrant) and it’s easily legible in direct sunlight with a maximum brightness of 1000nits. I did miss elements like HDR10+ when watching Netflix though, features you can find on the likes of the Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus 5G and Google Pixel 6a. Camera