Samsung recently unveiled its mid-range A Series phone update for 2025. Keep reading to learn how the Samsung Galaxy A56 compares to last year’s Galaxy A55.
The Galaxy A56 is slated to deliver improvements to the screen, build, performance and charging, to name a few areas, but has Samsung done enough to justify an upgrade from the still relatively recent Galaxy A55?
It’s been less than a year since the A55 hit the scene, with our reviewer praising it as “a Samsung Galaxy phone that feels and looks expensive without costing an absolute fortune”. In this guide, we’ll cover how the Galaxy A55 compares to the new Galaxy A56 based on the specs, photos and our first impressions of the Samsung Galaxy A56.
| Samsung Galaxy A56 | Samsung Galaxy A55 | |
| Display | 6.7-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display, 120Hz | 6.6-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display, 120Hz |
| Dimensions/weight | 162.2 x 77.5 x 7.4mm, 198g | 161.1 x 77.4 x 8.2mm, 213g |
| Camera | Rear: 50MP main camera, 12MP ultra-wide camera, 5MP macro camera Front: 12MP front camera |
Rear: 50MP main camera, 12MP ultra-wide camera, 5MP macro camera Front: 32MP front camera |
| Chipset | Exynos 1580 | Exynos 1480 |
| Memory/storage | 8GB + 256GB | 8GB + 256GB |
| Battery | 5000 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| OS | One UI 7 (based on Android 15) | One UI 7 (based on Android 15) |
| Water and dust resistance | IP67 | IP67 |
If you’re interested in more great phones, don’t forget to check out our guides to the best mid-range smartphones, the best cheap phones and the best smartphones in general.
Price
The Samsung Galaxy A56 was announced on March 1 2025 and is available to purchase from March 19. The phone comes in at £459 with 128GB of storage or £499 with 256GB.
The Samsung Galaxy A55 was announced a year earlier on March 11 2024 and hit stores on March 20. You can now get the phone for £364 with 128GB of storage or £414 with 256GB, with both configurations having experienced a £75 price drop on the Samsung website and Amazon.
The Samsung Galaxy A56 is thinner
The Samsung Galaxy A56 has received some subtle design upgrades, including a slimmer design and a larger display.
The Galaxy A56 measures 162.2 x 77.5 x 7.4mm and weighs 198g, making it both larger and slimmer than the 161.1 x 77.4 x 8.2mm Galaxy A55. The phone is also more lightweight than the 213g A55 and the camera bump protrudes more.
The screen has also seen a small increase, sizing up from 6.6 inches to 6.7 inches. While the dimensions of the phone are incrementally smaller and wider, the larger screen is mostly achieved by slimmer bezels, making the phone appear a bit sleeker than its predecessor.
The Samsung Galaxy A55 packs a 32MP selfie camera
When it comes to their respective cameras, the Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A55 carry identical triple rear sensors.
Both phones take advantage of a 50-megapixel main sensor, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera and a 5-megapixel macro camera. We’re disappointed that Samsung chose to keep the macro lens instead of trading it out for a more helpful telephoto camera, though the image quality on the A55 was generally good, so the fact that the same main and wide-angle sensors are sticking around isn’t bad news.
One potential downgrade comes in the form of the selfie camera, with the megapixel count dropping from 32 on the Galaxy A55 to just 12 on the A56. That said, fewer megapixels don’t necessarily equal worse photos, so you’ll have to wait for our full review of the A56 to hear our thoughts on the selfie camera after putting it to the test ourselves.
The Samsung Galaxy A56 is powered by a new chipset
As you might expect, Samsung has upgraded the chipset in its latest A Series smartphone, meaning you can expect more powerful performance from the Samsung Galaxy A56.
The A56 runs on Samsung’s latest Exynos 1580, whereas the Galaxy A55 was powered by the Exynos 1480. This is despite the brand dropping its Exynos chips entirely for the flagship S25 range.
According to Samsung, the Exynos 1580 will deliver 18% faster CPU speeds and 17% faster GPU speeds, along with a 12% increase in NPU smarts, though we’ll want to benchmark all of this ourselves ahead of our full review of the phone.
The NPU is particularly important as the A56 marks the beginning of ‘Awesome Intelligence’, Samsung’s AI experience designed specifically for the mid-range A Series. These include several Galaxy AI features, such as Circle to Search, auto-trim AI video editing, the ability to replicate filters and an upgraded object eraser. Some of these features are also available on the A55, though the others could potentially roll out via a software update in the future.
The Samsung Galaxy A56 offers faster charging
Lastly, the Samsung Galaxy A56 takes advantage of faster charging than its predecessor.
While both phones carry the same 5000 mAh batteries, the Galaxy A56 offers support for the same 45W charging as the top-end Galaxy S25 Ultra. We haven’t gotten the chance to test this charging speed ourselves yet, but it means the phone could potentially mirror the charging speeds available on the Ultra model.
The Galaxy A55, on the other hand, offers 25W charging, which we found to be very slow. A 50% charge took 29 minutes in our tests, while a full 100% charge took 83 minutes. That’s nearly an hour and a half.
Early verdict
After spending a short amount of time with the Galaxy A56, we were impressed by the phone’s redesigned chassis, slim bezels, excellent camera performance and powerful chipset.
However, you’ll have to wait for our full review to hear how the performance and battery life in particular compare to those of last year’s Galaxy A55.
