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Sketching New Horizons With The Samsung Galaxy A54

Many mid-range Android smartphones are available today, but only a few truly stand out as worthwhile investments. Among Samsung enthusiasts, the A54 has earned its place on that exclusive list, due to its seamless performance, reliable battery life, and extended software support.

If your primary focus is on photography and a clean Android user experience, you might find better options in other mid-range smartphones. However, the A54 offers advantages such as extended battery life, expandable storage, and a higher refresh rate.

The outstanding feature of the A54 is undoubtedly its impressive screen. It's generously sized, bright, and highly responsive, making it perfect for on-the-go streaming. The A54 also serves as an excellent and affordable alternative to Samsung's flagship S23 series.

What’s Inside The Box

The A54 steps up its game in terms of design. Unlike the previous year's model, it now has Gorilla Glass 5 on both the front and back, giving it a more premium feel. Samsung has also ditched the camera bump, aligning the A54 with their sleeker design language, which mimics the standalone camera lenses found on the S23 series.

The phone's frame is made of matte plastic, providing a solid and comfortable grip. At the top, you'll find the SIM card/microSD card slot and a microphone. The left side of the device is devoid of any buttons or features, while the right side houses the volume rocker and power button.

Speaking of the buttons, Samsung has improved their tactile feedback this year, making each press feel less mushy compared to the A53. Moving to the bottom, you'll find the USB-C port, the primary speaker with Dolby Atmos tuning, and another set of microphones. For the second consecutive year, Samsung has opted not to include a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The A54's speakers offer an excellent audio experience. With both the primary speaker and the earpiece working together, they produce loud and rich sound without distortion even at higher volume levels. Additionally, the speakerphone quality is above average, providing crisp and clear phone calls.

The A54 showcases a clean and elegant flat-back design, featuring three rear-facing cameras, with the LED flash seamlessly integrated into the back glass. Notably, the A54 is also IP67 certified for water and dust resistance.

When unboxing the device, you'll find the phone itself, a SIM tool, a USB-C to USB-C charging cable, and the usual set of paperwork. 

A Remarkable Display

Samsung has a well-deserved reputation for its exceptional OLED displays, and the Samsung Galaxy A54 only reinforces this perception. It highlights a truly breathtaking 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display that offers a remarkable 120Hz refresh rate. Despite its 1080p resolution, this display is truly impressive. While last year's display was commendable, the A54's screen takes it up a notch by making colors come to life in a vivid and striking manner.

Speaking of colors, Samsung has opted to crank up the saturation levels on the A54's display. This decision results in an eye-catching visual experience, particularly when playing games. The elevated color vibrancy enhances the overall gaming experience, making it more immersive and engaging. Moreover, when you stream movies on platforms like Netflix, the display's sharp contrast comes into play, ensuring that darker scenes maintain their intended atmosphere and mood.

With an impressive brightness of up to 1000 nits, the Galaxy A54's display remains perfectly viewable even when you're outdoors in direct sunlight. This means you won't struggle to read text on your screen, improving the device's usability in various lighting conditions.

However, the Samsung Galaxy A54's display has a true prominent feature, offering a rich and immersive visual experience with vibrant colors and ample brightness for both gaming and content consumption, whether indoors or outdoors.

Samsung Galaxy A54’s Software Journey

The Galaxy A54 comes equipped with Android 13, featuring One UI 5.1 straight out of the box. The positive strides are appreciated which Samsung has made with its software in recent years. One UI 5.1 offers a clean, well-optimized, and user-friendly experience. Its design exudes a sleek and modern aesthetic without imposing a burden on the device's performance. The user interface animations are notably fluid.

Whether you're a fan or not, Samsung's pre-installed apps are once again present on the Galaxy A54. Some Google apps, like Messages serving as the default texting service, come bundled as well. Additionally, Samsung's Internet Browser remains the default choice for web browsing. If you haven't explored Samsung's browser lately, it's worth giving it another try. Samsung neatly organizes its software within its designated folder.

One noteworthy improvement on the A54 is the enhanced haptic feedback system, closely resembling the premium haptic experience found on flagship devices such as the Galaxy S23, OnePlus 11, and Xiaomi 13 Pro. This results in precise vibrations for various interactions, from unlocking the phone to zooming in while using the camera.

However, an important feature of the A54's software experience lies in its support. Samsung pledges to provide users with four years of OS updates and an impressive five years of security updates, significantly extending the phone's lifespan compared to many competitors in the same price range.

Moreover, some Samsung enthusiasts might be disappointed by the absence of DeX, a feature found in the company's flagship Galaxy S23 series. While this price difference may dissuade most people from considering the more costly flagship products and lead them to choose the Samsung Galaxy A54.

Versatile Camera Focus

Samsung has always placed significant emphasis on the camera capabilities of its Galaxy A5X series, and the A54 continues this trend with its impressive 50MP f/1.8 sensor. This sensor marks a praiseworthy improvement over the 64 MP sensor found in the previous model's camera system.

The Samsung Galaxy A54 comes with a versatile camera setup, featuring three rear-facing cameras: a 50 MP main sensor equipped with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), a 12 MP ultra-wide lens, and a 5 MP macro lens. One feature to be noted is that the 5 MP depth sensor present in the A53 has been omitted, as the A54 relies on its 32 MP front sensor for capturing selfies.

In well-lit conditions, photos taken with the A54 are primarily sharp, displaying vibrant colors and deep contrasts. Furthermore, the main sensor excels in preserving intricate details in images, even when capturing scenes in direct sunlight, avoiding overexposure.

The 32 MP front camera on the A54 delivers surprisingly sharp and clear selfies. Additionally, the camera's performance in portrait mode for both front and rear shots is fantastic. Image processing is swift, and the edge detection is relatively accurate.

Samsung's ongoing commitment to seamless integration with popular social apps, such as Snapchat, is evident in the A54. It ensures that users can achieve high-quality results when applying Snap filters and similar features through the camera's dedicated 'Fun' shooting mode.

Furthermore, the Samsung Galaxy A54 5G's camera system continues to be a focal point, offering diversity and distinguished performance for both photography and social media lovers.

A54’s Powerful Performance

The new Galaxy A54 is powered by the Exynos 1380 processor, an upgrade from the previous Exynos 1280. While the Exynos 1280 had two Cortex-A78 and six Cortex-A55 cores, the 1380 features four of each. This configuration results in higher benchmark scores and, more importantly, significantly improved real-world performance.

Manufactured using a similar 5nm process as the 1280, the Exynos 1380 is designed to offer enhanced power and efficiency, improved graphical performance ideal for gaming, and a more robust Neural Processing Unit (NPU) capable of handling AI-based tasks, such as image processing, with greater efficiency.

It's important to note that the A54 uses an Exynos chipset, so it may occasionally generate some heat, particularly when downloading apps or playing games. However, the overall user experience remains positive.

The A54 excels in multitasking, making it effortless to switch between apps smoothly and responsively. Scrolling through social media feeds on platforms like Twitter and Instagram is as fluid as you'd expect from a phone in this price range. Although artificial benchmarking may place the A54 slightly behind its mid-range rivals in terms of raw performance, this is in line with the historical focus of Samsung's A5X series on other aspects like cameras, battery life, and user-friendliness.

The A54 is available with either 6GB or 8GB of RAM, and it benefits from the One UI's RAM Plus feature, allowing users to allocate a portion of the phone's storage as additional memory. It enables more apps to remain open simultaneously and speeds up app loading times.

In terms of storage, the A54 offers options of 128GB or 256GB, with the added advantage of microSD expandability up to a generous 1TB, which is a significant feature in the mid-range market.

Connectivity features include 5G support, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3 (an improvement from Bluetooth 5.1 in the Galaxy A53), and an eSIM, enabling dual-SIM functionality.

The A54's earpiece and down-firing speaker collaborate to produce a stereo effect when you choose not to use headphones, delivering clear and loud audio without distortion.

Charging And Battery Efficiency

Just like Samsung's flagship phones, the Galaxy A53 also didn't include a power adapter in the box, and this trend continues with the A54. When you unbox the A54, you'll find a USB-C cable but there's no charger included.

Although when it is the time to recharge the A54, it's rated to match the fast-charging speed of the Galaxy S23, which Samsung claims can fully charge the phone in 82 minutes or less. Surprisingly, this claim held true with an exceptional accuracy, as the phone consistently reached a 100% charge at precisely the 82-minute mark when using a compatible Samsung charger.

One of the most significant promises here is that the hardware, combined with a substantial 5,000mAh battery, is designed to provide the Galaxy A54 with up to two days of battery life on a single charge, according to Samsung. In practice, the phone performs well, delivering six hours of screen-on time per charge, which should be sufficient for most users to go through a day and a half before needing to recharge.

Competition

At the moment, the main rival to the Galaxy A54 5G is the Google Pixel 6a. OnePlus offers some impressive Nord models at lower prices, but the Pixel 6a is often considered the benchmark for reasonably priced devices.

Samsung and Google have differing approaches when it comes to mid-range phones. Samsung prioritizes delivering an excellent display, premium build, expandable storage, and a top-notch software experience with the A54.

On the other hand, Google focuses on providing flagship-like performance and the best camera in its category. Ultimately, your choice will depend on the features that hold more significance for you.

It's also worth mentioning the Google Pixel 7a, which features a Tensor 2 chipset, a 90 Hz display, and wireless charging is considered to be a strong contender against the A54.

Pricing And Availability

The Samsung Galaxy A54 was globally launched on March 24, 2023, and it became available in Pakistan on the same day. In Pakistan, the Galaxy A54 is offered in four different colors: Lime, Awesome Violet, Graphite, and White.

In terms of pricing and availability in Pakistan, the Samsung Galaxy A54 is currently available with the 128GB version starting at PKR 119,999, and the 256GB model priced at PKR 140,000.

The phone can be purchased through Samsung's official website or from authorized retailers located across the country. It's important to note that the actual prices may vary depending on the specific retailer and the chosen storage variant.

Final Verdict

We appreciate the clear and vibrant display, the option to expand storage, the extended battery life, and the long-term software support of the Samsung Galaxy A54.

Certainly, there are some trade-offs compared to the top-of-the-line Galaxy models. The camera performance isn't as quick as we'd prefer, and the design is rather straightforward. However, the phone unquestionably offers excellent value for its price, especially when considered as a cost-effective alternative to the S-series. If you're heavily invested in the Samsung ecosystem and prefer to stick with it, this Android phone is a suitable choice for you.