Pros
– A gorgeous, Super AMOLED, 120Hz display
– Solid feel in the hand with a great design
– Samsung’s software update policy
– 45W fast charging
– Solid battery life
Cons
– Thermal and battery management in heavy games isn’t optimal
– 8MP wide and 2MP macro cameras need optimisation
– No charging brick in the box
– Tons of bloatware and ads. Difficulty in disabling Glance
Price: Rs 26,999 for the 8GB + 128GB variant
Rating: 4.25/5
The Galaxy F55 is a bit of a gamble for Samsung. Even though Samsung was one of the first smartphone companies to work with a leather back panel, it was a luxury mainly reserved for its premium devices. It was first seen in the Galaxy Note 3 for the first time if I am not mistaken. With the Galaxy F55, Samsung is finally reviving that tradition, but for mid-range budget offerings only.
With the Galaxy F55, a sleek and stylish design, and a premium hand feel are not the only things you’re getting. You also get an impressive set of specifications, such as the Super AMOLED+ display, Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC, a 50MP main camera, and surprisingly, 45W fast charging capability. All of this certainly certainly makes it a strong contender in the sub-Rs 30,000 segment. So how does the Galaxy F55 fare? We find out.
Samsung Galaxy F55 5G review: The design
Right from when you unbox the Galaxy F55, you’ll notice that Samsung has put a much greater emphasis on design for this device. The standout feature of the Galaxy F55 is its vegan leather back, which has this stitched pattern flanking the back cover, which adds another layer to premium looks.
We got to test the bold Apricot Crush or orange colour, which has a very strong, striking appearance. We also have a Raisin Black colourway for those who would prefer something subtle.
Although leather panels are currently a popular trend in budget-midrange smartphone design nowadays, not many people remember that it was Samsung who started off this trend with one of their flagship devices years and years ago.
The vegan leather back panel on the Galaxy F55 not only adds to the aesthetic appeal but also provides a practical benefit by making the device substantially easier to grip. You also don’t have to deal with smudges or nasty-looking fingerprints. You also don’t have to worry about any cracks on the back panel should you drop the device.
Having said that, we would still urge you to use a back cover if you’re planning on buying any device with a vegan leather cover as they do tend to get scuffed up, if you use your devices very roughly, or have the tendency to carry your smartphone along with a set of keys or some coins in the same pocket. Samsung, in this regard, should have taken a cue from manufacturers like Realme and Oppo and included a transparent cover.
The vegan leather on the Galaxy F55 feels soft to the touch, and the Apricot Crush colour I’ve been testing looks quite stunning. It stands out in a crowd, as there aren’t many phones with such a vibrant hue. The detailed saddle stitching, the embossed Samsung logo, and the golden plastic frame all contribute to the device’s sophisticated look. What adds to it is just how slim it is at 7.8mm.
At the front, the Galaxy F55 features a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display, which also houses the fingerprint scanner. The display has a centred punch-hole cutout for the front-facing camera, which I prefer over the teardrop design. This choice gives the device a more modern and premium look. The bezels around the display are very thin and are almost equally proportioned on all sides. This creates a balanced and harmonious look
On the right edge of the device, you’ll find the power button and the volume rockers, which have been slimmed down. They do, however, feel very sturdy and solid.
The left side houses a hybrid SIM tray, allowing you to use either two SIM cards or one SIM and a microSD card. The bottom of the device features a USB Type-C port, a speaker grille for one of the stereo speakers, and a microphone. The top has a secondary microphone that helps with noise cancellation and audio recordings in videos, as well as the other stereo speaker in the earpiece.
At the rear panel of the Galaxy F55, we see three cameras arranged in a linear fashion towards the left, which are accompanied by an LED flash. You don’t get a camera island housing all three elements separately from the rest of the panel. Instead, the cameras sit directly on the back panel. Like all of Samsung’s recent devices, the elements have a deco ring, this time in golden-coloured metal that enhances the phone’s premium look.
Overall, while Samsung has stuck to the familiar industrial design language seen in other Samsung devices of late, the F55 still manages to look and feel premium because of its vegan leather and careful attention to detail in design. The device is well built and feels sturdy to hold, even though it weighs in at just about 180 grams.
Samsung Galaxy F55 5G review: The display
The displays in Samsung’s devices are usually top-notch, and the Galaxy F55 continues that tradition. The phone comes with a 6.7-inch FHD+ flat panel display with a 120Hz refresh rate, ensuring smooth visuals. With a resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels and a 20:9 aspect ratio, everything looks crisp and clear.
Samsung says that you get up to 1000 nits of brightness in High Brightness mode, making the screen easy to read even in bright sunlight. As always, Samsung’s AMOLED screens deliver pretty accurate and vibrant colours, making them perfect for watching shows and movies on Netflix and other platforms. Plus, for those who love streaming, the Galaxy F55 is Widevine L1 certified, allowing you to watch FHD content from Netflix and other OTT services.
Even under bright sunlight, the display remains clear and readable, making it easy to use text-centric functions like your email or messaging apps. It meets most expectations for a high-end, nearly flagship-level device, offering excellent performance without the high price tag. The adaptive 120Hz refresh rate performs smoothly across the user interface and supported apps.
The Galaxy F55’s display lives up to Samsung’s reputation with vivid colours and sharp visuals, providing a great viewing experience. The colour reproduction is fantastic, making everything look vibrant and pleasing to the eye. While the black levels might not be as deep as those on Samsung’s higher-end models, they are still satisfactory. Whether you’re gaming or watching content, the display’s clarity is impressive, especially when you’re not in direct sunlight.
The Samsung Galaxy F55’s display, clearly, is one of its standout features. The vivid colours, sharp visuals, and high brightness ensure an enjoyable experience, whether you’re browsing through social media or watching content on your favourite OTT platform. Despite being a mid-level budget phone, the Galaxy F55 offers a premium display that enhances everyday use.
Samsung Galaxy F55 5G review: The camera
For photography, the Samsung Galaxy F55 5G features a 50MP primary camera with optical image stabilization (OIS), an 8MP ultrawide lens, and a 2MP macro unit. The front camera is also a 50MP snapper housed in the punch-hole at the top of the screen.
The 50MP main cameras perform well in well-lit conditions, capturing detailed and colourful photos. We still get that Samsung-esque tendency to push the colours and make things more vibrant and vivid than they actually are, but that’s what people have come to expect from a Samsung device, the thing that makes photos from the device social media-ready. During the daytime, the phone captures details and colours accurately, producing pleasing images.
Both the main and selfie cameras deliver good detail and dynamic range. The colours are slightly boosted but still close to reality, with near-accurate skin tones. Portraits show good separation between the subject and background, with minimal edge distortion and a natural-looking bokeh effect.
Even at night, the photos coming out of the F55 are pretty decent. Samsung is using a bunch of software trickery and algorithms to really help the F55 push its camera capabilities, and it shows.
The supporting cameras though, tell a different story. The 2MP macro sensor works best only and only if you have great lighting — anything below that is a wasted effort. The ultrawide camera too has its own share of problems. First, its too low-res for today’s standards to do anything meaningful. The photos look fine when you’re watching them on the phone, but put it up on a PC display and you’ll see just how inadequate that 8MP sensor really is. Plus, we felt that the ultrawide camera was lacking in colour accuracy and dynamic range compared to the 50MP sensor.
The good news is, that the Galaxy F55 handles portrait shots well, with pretty solid background separation. There are times when it struggles with edges, especially when the lighting is subpar, but that too is few and far between. The portrait shots are generally pleasing, even those taken at night.
The biggest letdown though is the selfie camera. During our tests, it was sometimes slow even during the daytime, which resulted in several blurry shots. The problem was even worse in low-light conditions.
All in all, The Samsung Galaxy F55 5G offers a mixed bag in terms of photography.
Samsung Galaxy F55 5G review: The performance, software experience and UI
The Samsung Galaxy F55 5G is powered by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC, which is coupled with up to 12GB of RAM and 512GB of expandable storage. In benchmark tests, the phone performed decently well. It did not top any performance chart, but it was no slouch either. Still, there are other options at this price point for people who are looking for a device that has a solid performance in synthetic benchmarks.
In real life, regular performance though, the Galaxy F55 5G proves to be a pretty solid choice — not once did we complain, wishing that it had a bit more grunt.
In everyday scenarios, the phone handles basic tasks like browsing, social media, messaging, and multitasking smoothly, as one would expect. It can run less resource-intensive games without any issues, making it suitable for casual gamers.
However, the phone struggles a bit with more demanding games like Call of Duty: Mobile at Very High and Max settings, where it experiences noticeable stutters and lags, albeit barely The frame rates are also not very high in these settings, and the. Surprisingly though, the phone performs much better in other games like BGMI.
The Galaxy F55 comes with Android 14-based OneUI 6.1, which is well-optimized for the device. Unlike Samsung’s more premium models this year, we don’t get any of the Galaxy AI features with the F55.
Now, coming to the preloaded apps and bloatware — we get a ton of those with the device. However, they can all be deleted or disabled. What’s really annoying is Glance. There is no simple way to disable it, neither during set-up nor when you have the device ready to go. We’re pretty sure that there must be a way to disable the parasite of a service that Glance is, but Samsung has put it behind some obscured menu that is really difficult to get to.
One good thing about Samsung’s software experience nowadays is its promise of long-term support. We get four years of Android upgrades and five years of security updates for the Galaxy F55, which is impressive.
Overall, the Samsung Galaxy F55 5G offers a solid performance for everyday use and casual gaming. Its Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chipset, ample RAM, and expandable storage make it a capable device.
However, it struggles with top-line gaming and could benefit from better thermal and battery management. The software experience is mostly positive, with OneUI 6.1 providing a smooth interface, but the presence of bloatware and Glance is a major issue.
Samsung Galaxy F55 5G review: The battery life
The Samsung Galaxy F55 5G impresses with its strong battery life, making it a reliable choice for everyday use. With a robust 5000 mAh battery, it lasted around 10 hours in our PC Mark testing. This means it can comfortably get you through a full working day, even with moderate to heavy use.
In our day-to-day use, the Galaxy F55 can easily last you about 8 hours of screen time on a single charge. Whether you’re browsing, streaming, or using social media, this phone keeps up without needing frequent recharges. However, if you’re into gaming, you might find yourself needing to top up the battery more often.
The Galaxy F55 supports 45W fast charging, which is a real time-saver. Plus, it is also a refreshing change from most of Samsung’s other devices.
You can go from 20 per cent to a full charge in about an hour. The catch is that you’ll need to buy the charger separately. Samsung’s PD charger with 45W support is currently priced at Rs 3,499 on their official website.
Samsung Galaxy F55 5G review: The verdict
The Samsung Galaxy F55 5G proves to be a dependable mid-range smartphone that delivers on its promises. It impresses with its camera capabilities and overall performance. What catches the eye is its sleek design, especially with the vegan leather touch that adds a premium feel. The device’s display is vibrant, and its cameras perform decently in well-lit conditions. While it handles daily tasks and casual gaming well, it could use some improvements in battery optimization.
Although the camera performance is satisfactory, it doesn’t stand out, and the selfie camera faces occasional glitches. However, Samsung’s commitment to software updates ensures long-term usability.
Competition in this price segment is stiff, with brands like Realme and Poco offering compelling alternatives. What gives Samsung an edge is its reliable after-sales service and long-term software support.
While the initial price of the Galaxy F55 might seem a tad high for its specification, certain features justify it. Having said that, a more competitive price would make it an even more appealing choice. Despite this, the Galaxy F55 remains a solid option for those in search of a capable and stylish smartphone.
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