I spent three weeks daily-driving the Galaxy A56 alongside my iPhone, and somewhere around the second week I caught myself reaching for the Samsung more often. Then I looked at what else you can buy for the same money—and that’s where the honeymoon ended.
The Galaxy A56 is a textbook Samsung mid-ranger: polished, familiar, and technically solid. But in a 2025 market packed with aggressive competition and a Pixel 9a waiting in the wings at the same $499 / £499 / AU$849 price, “solid” isn’t enough.
Premium Hardware, Mid-Range Ambition
On build quality and ergonomics, Samsung didn’t phone this one in.
You’re getting a 162.2 x 77.5 x 7.4 mm glass-and-metal slab with Gorilla Glass Victus+ front and back, an aluminum frame, and IP67 dust and water resistance. At 198 g, it’s lighter and thinner than the A55 while stretching the screen from 6.6 to 6.7 inches thanks to slimmer bezels.
The design is clean and very obviously Samsung, just without the top-end S25 Ultra price tag. This is basically flagship feel on a mid-range budget—no plastic rails, no flex, no creaks. It looks and feels like something that should cost more than the €479 / $499 asking price.
If you’re crossing over from a cheaper Android or an older iPhone, this alone will impress you. But nice glass doesn’t take photos or run games.
Display and Audio: Flagship Vibes, Mid Pack Brightness
The 6.70-inch Super AMOLED panel checks all the usual Samsung boxes: 1080 x 2340 resolution, 120 Hz refresh, HDR10+ support, and an always-on option.
Brightness is where the A56 improves over the A55 but still doesn’t lead. In auto mode it can hit about 1,213 nits, with Samsung rating it at 1,200 nits HBM and 1,900 nits peak outdoors. That’s fine for outdoor use, but rivals like the upcoming Pixel 9a are expected to go significantly brighter, and we’re already seeing 2,000+ nit panels become normal in this class.
Refresh behavior is basic: Standard locks you to 60 Hz, Adaptive tries to sit at 120 Hz and drops to 60 Hz for static content and video. It’s not LTPO-smart, but it’s what every mid-range 120 Hz OLED is doing.
On the plus side, games that support 120 fps do actually hit 120 Hz on this panel, so you’re not buying a fake-high-refresh screen.
The stereo speakers are quietly one of the nicer touches. The hybrid setup (bottom main + earpiece) measures at -26.2 LUFS: not the loudest, but with a warmer, fuller sound than most similarly priced phones, and less harsh treble at high volume. If you stream a lot of video or podcasts, this absolutely beats the tinny setups you still get from some rivals.
Exynos 1580: Better Than A55, Worse Than Rivals
On paper, Exynos 1580 doesn’t look bad. It’s a 4 nm chip with ARMv9 cores (1x Cortex-A720 at 2.9 GHz, 3x Cortex-A720 at 2.6 GHz, 4x Cortex-A520 at 1.9 GHz) and an Xclipse 540 GPU based on AMD’s RDNA 3 architecture. Storage is UFS 3.1, and you can get up to 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage.
In benchmarks, it’s a clear step up from last year’s Exynos 1480:
- ~17% faster CPU (Geekbench 6)
- ~11% faster overall in AnTuTu 10
- ~30% faster GPU in 3DMark Wild Life Extreme
That’s a healthy generational jump. But Samsung isn’t competing with its old self—it’s competing with phones like:
- Xiaomi 14T with Dimensity 8300
- OnePlus Nord 4 with Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3
- Poco F6 Pro with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
Those chips simply outmuscle the Exynos 1580 across CPU, GPU, and especially gaming performance.
The one bright spot: sustained performance is excellent. In CPU and GPU stress tests, the A56 kept 80–100% of its max CPU and ~99% GPU performance. It doesn’t throttle hard, it doesn’t cook your hand, and it feels stable during long tasks.
The problem is you’re starting from a lower performance ceiling than the best mid-rangers in this price band. If you’re into heavier gaming—think Fortnite, not just Clash Royale—this is not the phone to buy.
Battery and Charging: Big Cell, Slow Lane
Battery capacity is the classic Samsung mid-range spec: 5,000 mAh. Real-world endurance is good but not class-leading.
In GSMArena’s Active Use Score, the A56 lands at 12:08 hours, slightly down from the A55 thanks to the bigger screen and more powerful SoC. It’s fine for a full day, but some competitors (Nothing Phone (3a) Pro, OnePlus Nord 4) squeeze more out of similar or identical capacities.
Charging gets an upgrade to 45 W wired over USB-PD PPS. Lab results:
- 0–65% in 30 minutes
- 0–100% in 1h 13m
That’s better early on than the A55, but slower to full, and well behind what others are doing. We’re talking about rivals pushing 100 W+ (Motorola Edge 50 Pro, Poco F6 Pro, Nord 4). If you care about true “splash-and-go” charging, Samsung isn’t playing the same game.
Two more annoying details:
- No charger in the box
- To actually hit 45 W, you need a 5A-rated cable that Samsung doesn’t ship
So you’re buying a €479 phone, then buying a proper PPS charger and a 5A cable if you want the headline charging spec. And there’s still no wireless charging at this price, while even some cheaper phones are starting to offer basic Qi.
On the plus side, Samsung does at least give you battery health-focused options: you can cap charge above 80%, or disable fast charging to prolong longevity. It’s a small thing enthusiasts will appreciate.
Software and Updates: Samsung’s Real Trump Card
This is where the A56 quietly humiliates most of the competition.
You’re getting Android 15 with One UI 7 and a promise of 6 major Android OS upgrades plus 6 years of security patches. For a mid-ranger, that’s essentially industry-leading. It’s longer than what plenty of premium phones offered just a couple of years ago.
One UI 7 on the A56 doesn’t get the full “Galaxy AI” flagship loadout, but it does bring a decent AI feature set under the “Awesome Intelligence” branding and some Google smarts:
- AI Select: Enhanced Smart Select that can analyze content on screen, grab text from images, create GIFs from Instagram Reels, and generate wallpapers from a photo you’re viewing.
- Circle to Search: Google’s gesture-based visual search, plus the ability to identify songs (even with humming) and translate text on screen.
- Object Eraser: Basic content-aware removal in Gallery (not as strong as the S25 series implementation).
- Custom Filters & Auto Trim: AI tweak tools for photo mood filters and automatic highlight reels from multiple video clips.
- Read Aloud: Web articles read as audio, though only via Samsung’s browser.
- Now Bar: A lock-screen bar that surfaces live info like media, timers, fitness, and more—imported from S-series territory.
The skin itself is mature and heavily customizable: app drawer options, icon and grid controls, dynamic wallpapers, themed color palettes. And unlike a lot of Chinese brands in this price range, Samsung isn’t loading the phone with aggressive bloatware or weird battery management.
If your priority is long-term software support and a clean, predictable interface, this is where the A56 actually makes sense.
Cameras: Great Selfies and Video, Disappointing Stills
On paper, the camera story looks boringly familiar:
- 50 MP main (Sony IMX906, f/1.8, 1/1.56″, OIS)
- 12 MP ultrawide (Sony IMX258, 123°, f/2.2)
- 5 MP macro (f/2.4)
- 12 MP selfie (Samsung S5K3LC, f/2.2)
The rear hardware is basically the same as the A55; only the selfie camera is new.
In daylight, the main camera is… fine, and that’s the problem. Stills are detailed enough with punchy colors, but highlights clip more often than they should, exposure can be slightly off, and everything leans on the soft side. Move indoors and softness increases while saturation drops.
The 50 MP mode doesn’t really salvage this—it doesn’t add appreciable detail and is not worth using.
Portraits are similarly underwhelming: soft rendering, and the lack of a telephoto means the 2x portraits are just crops with exposure and autofocus hiccups.
The ultrawide is a letdown for this price: soft photos, limited dynamic range, and desaturated indoor shots. The 12 MP sensor should theoretically beat the common 8 MP ultrawides in this segment, but Samsung’s tuning isn’t getting you there.
Macro is miles better than the usual useless 2 MP sensors, but still a small, fixed-focus 5 MP module. When the light is good and your distance is excellent, it’s passable. It’s also fiddly enough that you’ll be spamming shots just to get one in focus.
Low light is where the A56 really exposes its compromises:
- The camera app often refuses to actually use Night mode on the main camera, even when you select it.
- Auto mode photos are usually better than forced Night mode. Night mode processing introduces weird purple/pink tints, colder white balance, washed-out colors, and lower contrast.
- The 2x crop at night is barely usable—sharpness falls off a cliff.
The ultrawide at night is, bluntly, bad: very soft, noisy, limited dynamic range, and with off white balance in Night mode. Night mode helps slightly with noise but doesn’t fix the underlying softness.
Now the good news: the 12 MP selfie camera is excellent. Sharp, natural, wide dynamic range, and it finally feels like a proper upgrade over the A55’s 32 MP unit despite the lower pixel count.
And video is surprisingly strong. All cameras—including the ultrawide and selfie—can shoot 4K30, and the main camera’s 4K footage is sharp, detailed, colorful, and relatively noise-free. Low-light video from the main cam holds up better than you’d expect in this class, even if highlights can blow out a bit. EIS works in 4K, and stabilization looks very good.
So you’re getting:
- Great selfies
- Very good video
- Mediocre-to-bad low-light stills
- No telephoto at all
Against what’s coming from Google with the Pixel 9a—Tensor G4, 48 MP 1/2″ main, 13 MP ultrawide, 13 MP selfie, 5,100 mAh battery—this is not going to age well on the camera front.
Competition: When €479 Isn’t Enough
Here’s the real issue: Samsung kept the A56 at roughly the same launch price as the A55 (around €479 / $499), but the market moved on.
Direct and near-direct alternatives include:
- Nothing Phone (3a) Pro – Similar price, more versatile camera hardware with a periscope telephoto, better battery and charging.
- Xiaomi 14T – Cheaper in many markets, with a dedicated telephoto and generally better photo output.
- Motorola Edge 50 Pro – Often under low €400s with 3x telephoto, AF selfie camera, and significantly faster charging.
- OnePlus Nord 4 – Comparable camera hardware but wins on performance, battery life, and charging.
- Poco F6 Pro – Around the same or less money in many regions, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, much stronger gaming, 120 W charging.
Then there’s Samsung’s own lineup:
- Galaxy S24 FE – Better cameras (including telephoto), wireless charging, nicer display, and a more powerful SoC. If you’re already buying into Samsung and willing to stretch the budget, it’s just a better device.
And looming over all of this is:
- Google Pixel 9a – Same $499 / £499 price, Tensor G4, serious camera credentials, 5,100 mAh battery, and Google’s AI-heavy software experience. If it repeats the 8a formula with better thermals and brighter screen, the A56 becomes a much tougher sell, especially in the US and UK.
Against that backdrop, the A56’s proposition—good build, good screen, okay performance, mixed cameras, average charging—doesn’t justify its premium.
Verdict: A Great Long-Term Phone in the Wrong Fight
Taken in isolation, the Galaxy A56 is a genuinely decent all-rounder.
You’re getting:
- Premium glass-and-metal build with IP67
- Bright 120 Hz AMOLED display
- Good stereo speakers
- Stable, if not blazing, Exynos 1580 performance
- Excellent thermal behavior
- Great selfies and video
- Clean One UI 7 with useful AI and customization
- Class-leading 6 OS upgrades and 6 years of security
You’re giving up:
- Truly competitive camera stills, especially at night
- Any kind of telephoto
- Top-tier gaming performance
- Wireless charging
- In-box charger, plus needing a specific 5A cable for full 45 W
- Value parity with faster, better-equipped rivals
If you want a “buy it and forget it for six years” Android with a premium feel, stable software, and you don’t care about having the most powerful chip or the best night photos, the A56 will quietly do the job.
But if you care about camera versatility, raw power, or fast charging—or you’re in a region where the Pixel 9a is going to sit on the exact same store shelf for the same $499—Samsung needed to try harder.
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