It was inevitable. The spotlight has continued to shine on Samsung’s flagship smartphone – the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, for a few weeks after its launch. The device was part of a trio of flagship S23 devices that debuted in February. Now the focus shifts to Samsung’s A series that has become a key element in Samsung’s portfolio. The A series devices rival some of the major Chinese brands in the key sub Rs 40,000 price band. This is the zone of the flagship challengers and the Samsung Galaxy A54 5G will aim to offer an option for buyers who don’t want to spend top dollar on the Samsung Galaxy S23 devices.

The Colour purple

The first thing that you are likely to notice about the A54 is its rear camera set up. It borrows the same design template from the pricier S23 siblings. We like the new camera housing. The A54 opts for a triple rear camera (its predecessor – the A53, offered a quad camera). This new design plays out particularly well in the ‘Awesome Violet’ shade that we checked out. We like the psychedelic lustre especially on the metal frame. The device feels good in your hand, although it’s a tad heavier than its 2022 predecessor. The A54 is also IP67 certified for dust and water resistance, a handy add-on feature at this price.

Not afraid of the dark

On paper it might seem that the A54 cuts corners over it’s predecessors with its rear cam. After using this device for a few days, we can conclude that this is actually a step up over the A53. It sheds the depth sensor but the primary lens is much improved. The rear cam combines a 50MP lens, a 12MP ultra-wide lens and a 5MP Macro lens. It’s the macro lens that may be a hit or miss depending on your usage patterns. I don’t use the macro lens much and would always prefer a zoom lens or a depth sensor over the macro lens but this might be a personal preference. The rear cam benefits from OIS, Samsung’s ‘Nightography’ solution and AI capabilities that all come together for impressive results in lowlight at this price point.

A dependable flagship challenger

It’s not just the rear camera that give it an edge over some of its similar priced rivals, there’s the Samsung display too. This one’s a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display (1080 x 2340 pixels) that also features a 120Hz refresh rate. This is an immersive display – videos are terrific and gaming is ultra-smooth. The device is powered by an Exynos 1380 processor. We checked out the top-end 8GB/256GB variant and it clocked a respectable score of 2743 on our Geekbench (multi-core) benchmark test. It’s certainly not the fastest device in its class but should satisfy most users with its everyday performance. There’s no charging brick in the box; fast charging is another key selling point for some of the A54’s similar priced rivals. The 5000 mAh battery is robust; you can comfortably sail through a day even with extended screen time and camera usage. It’s one of many features that make the Samsung Galaxy A54 5G one of the most stylish and dependable options under Rs 40,000.

The Samsung Galaxy A54 5G comes in Awesome Lime, Awesome Graphite and Awesome Violet colour options. The 8GB/128GB variant costs Rs 38,999 while the 8GB/256GB option costs Rs 40,999. Samsung is offering a bank cashback of Rs 3,000.