Samsung Galaxy A56 Review: A Stylish Upgrade, But Is It Worth Your Money?

Introduction

The Samsung Galaxy A56 is here, bringing meaningful upgrades over last year’s Galaxy A55 — all while keeping the same price tag. In fact, some might say it offers better value for money than even the base Galaxy S24 or S25.

The A56 now features a slightly larger 6.7-inch display (up from 6.6 inches), but Samsung has managed to keep the phone slim, light, and comfortable to hold. Thanks to slimmer bezels, the device doesn’t feel bulky at all. The display is also brighter this time, making it a noticeable step up for everyday users.

Design

Samsung has refined the A56’s design without drastically changing its overall feel. The device is slimmer at 7.4mm, lighter at 198g, and still feels premium with its aluminum frame and Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection on both the front and back — an upgrade from last year’s front-only protection.

The design now has a cleaner, more modern look. The camera island, for instance, is a single piece slightly raised from the back panel — similar to the Galaxy S25 lineup. It’s minimalistic, sleek, and elegant. The brushed metal finish on the frame also gives it a classy touch.

Display

The display remains one of the Galaxy A56’s strong points. You get a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ support, and a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels.

While most of the specs are the same as last year, brightness has seen a solid jump. The screen now hits 1,213 nits in auto mode, a big improvement from the A55, ensuring great outdoor visibility even under direct sunlight.

Battery Life

The Galaxy A56 packs the same 5,000mAh battery as before but runs on a newer, more powerful Exynos 1580 chipset — which can be more power-hungry. The slightly larger screen also affects endurance.

In real-world testing, the A56 delivered a decent Active Use Score of 12 hours and 8 minutes — slightly lower than last year’s A55 due to shorter gaming and video playback times. Web browsing, however, improved marginally.

Overall, battery life is good but not class-leading. Phones like the OnePlus Nord 4 and Nothing Phone (3a) Pro perform slightly better in this regard.

Charging Speed

Samsung has finally upgraded the charging speed — the A56 now supports 45W fast charging using Power Delivery and PPS. A full charge takes about 1 hour and 13 minutes, while you can get up to 65% in just 30 minutes.

That’s solid, though still slower than some rivals offering 80W or even 100W charging. Also, note that Samsung doesn’t include the 5A-rated cable required for full 45W speeds in the box — you’ll need to buy one separately.

Thankfully, Samsung includes smart charging features to preserve battery health. You can limit charging speed or cap the charge level at 80% to reduce long-term battery wear.

Software

Running on One UI 7.0 based on Android 15, the Galaxy A56 benefits from Samsung’s excellent long-term support — 6 years of OS upgrades and 6 years of security updates. That’s one of the best in the Android world.

Samsung has also added some AI-powered tools this year. “AI Select,” for instance, can recognize content on your screen and suggest smart actions — like extracting text from images, creating GIFs, or generating wallpapers from photos.

Performance

The A56 is powered by Samsung’s new Exynos 1580 chipset, and performance is quite stable. The CPU maintains between 80% and 100% of its peak power under stress, while the GPU shows impressive stability above 99%.

This means the phone handles daily tasks, multitasking, and light gaming smoothly without overheating or throttling.

Camera

The camera setup remains familiar: a 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, and 5MP macro. However, the selfie camera gets a big upgrade — now a 12MP sensor, replacing the old 32MP unit but delivering much better quality overall.

Samsung’s updated camera app also makes shooting more intuitive, keeping modes easily accessible without cluttering the viewfinder.

Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy A56 is a solid mid-ranger with premium looks, a vibrant display, dependable performance, and excellent software support. The new selfie camera and AI features are nice touches too.

However, it struggles to stand out in a fiercely competitive segment. Rival phones offer faster charging, better performance, or more versatile cameras at lower prices.

If you’re loyal to Samsung and want a polished, reliable phone with long software support, the Galaxy A56 won’t disappoint. But for everyone else, waiting for a price drop — or considering the Galaxy S24 FE — might be the smarter move.