Samsung Galaxy A56 review

 

Introduction 

Samsung's popular Galaxy A56 mid-range smartphone is here, and it brings some notable upgrades over its predecessor, the Galaxy A55, without going up the price ladder. In fact, someone might even argue that the A56 brings better value per dollar compared to the vanilla Galaxy S24 and S25.

This year, the Galaxy A56's display has grown from 6.6" to 6.7" without getting bulkier. Samsung managed to fit in a larger panel by trimming the bezels without making the chassis noticeably bigger. Quite the opposite, actually. The A56 is now lighter and thinner. The display supposedly also gets brighter too.

The device rocks Samsung's relatively new Exynos 1580 chipset, which we haven't seen in action elsewhere yet.

Samsung Galaxy A56 specs at a glance:

• Body: 162.2x77.5x7.4mm, 198g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus+), glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus+), aluminum frame; IP67 dust/water resistant (up to 1m for 30 min).
• Display: 6.70" Super AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1200 nits (HBM), 1900 nits (peak), 1080x2340px resolution, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 385ppi; Always-on display.
• Chipset: Exynos 1580 (4 nm): Octa-core (1x2.9 GHz & 3x2.6 GHz & 4x1.9 GHz); Xclipse 540.
• Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
• OS/Software: Android 15, up to 6 major Android upgrades, One UI 7.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 1/1.56", 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 123˚, 1/3.06", 1.12µm; Macro: 5 MP, f/2.4.
• Front camera: 12 MP, f/2.2, (wide).
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60fps, 10-bit HDR.
• Battery: 5000mAh; 45W wired, 65% in 30 min, 100% in 68 min.
• Connectivity: 5G; eSIM; Wi-Fi 6; BT 5.3; NFC.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); stereo speakers; Virtual Proximity Sensing, Circle to Search.

There's no change in the camera department, as the device features the same 50MP main unit paired with a 12MP ultrawide and 5MP macro snapper. The 12MP selfie replaces the old 32MP one, though, so we expect better-looking selfies this time around. But despite the modest camera hardware upgrade, Samsung claims the AI improves image quality in certain scenarios, like nighttime photography.

Speaking of AI, the Galaxy A56 supports some of Galaxy AI's features, but not everything trickled down from the Galaxy S series.

Last but not least, the Galaxy A56 now features a faster 45W charging, which is faster than the vanilla Galaxy S25. The battery capacity remains unchanged - 5,000 mAh.

Notably, Samsung promises 6 years of major OS updates, which is a nice future-proofing bonus and perhaps one of the midrangers with the longest, if not the longest, software support.

Design

Samsung retained the same footprint for the A56 as last year's A55 while increasing the display diagonal, which is quite nice. It also means that the screen bezels on the front are thinner, allowing a slightly bigger display without enlarging the device. It's now a tad taller but thinner (7.4mm) and lighter (198g).

This is rather impressive, given that the handset uses high-quality materials. The side frame is made of aluminum, while Gorilla Glass Victus+ sheets protect the front and back. A small upgrade over last year's model, which had a Victus+ panel only on the front.

Familiar camera system with upgraded selfie

The Galaxy A56's camera system remains largely unchanged from last year. The device has the same 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide and 5MP macro cameras. The 32MP selfie unit from the A55 has been swapped out for a far better 12MP shooter, though, so at least there is an upgrade there.

Main camera

The main camera produces somewhat underwhelming stills even in favorable lighting conditions. The pictures are detailed, and the colors are punchy, for the most part, but there are the occasional clipped highlights or at least slightly overexposed highlights. Along with the overall soft nature of the photos, it leaves more to be desired.

Battery life

The Galaxy A56 runs on the same 5,000 mAh battery as last year but gets a slightly more powerful and, thus, potentially more power-hungry Exynos 1580 SoC. The phone also has a bit larger display and the battery endurance results reflect the changes.

The A56 has a slightly lower Active Use Score of 12:08 compared to last year by posting lower gaming and video playback runtimes.

Verdict

As you can see, the Galaxy A56 is hard to recommend, even though we liked the selfies, the video recording, the premium design and the nice display. It looks like a good all-rounder on paper but fails to stand out from the crowd.

Want better cameras? You can get them at a lower price. Need a more powerful chipset? The sub-€400 price bracket has you covered. The same goes for battery life and charging.

One could make a case for the Galaxy A56 once the price settles down, but we already have more capable phones at a much lower price, so the Galaxy A56 will have a hard time competing even in the future. And even if you absolutely want a Samsung, then the Galaxy S24 FE is the better buy.