Samsung’s latest flagship phone series, the Galaxy S24, delivers performance on all cylinders, besides offering photography prowess. But the phone series comes with expensive price tags. What’s the next option? A midrange phone.

Usually, Android companies cut corners to deliver phones at lower price points. Yet, Samsung has gone the other way. Samsung Galaxy M55 5G proves you can purchase a smartphone with solid performance at a reasonable price.

A photograph clicked using the Galaxy M55 while zooming in 4x

We have been reviewing the phone for a few days and despite a few quibbles, this is one of the better midrange devices we have used this year.

Designed to win

First, Samsung has managed to make its midrange smartphone look like a flagship model. Of course, to keep the pricing under check, a couple of compromises had to be made but that doesn’t take anything away from the device. The camera housing looks clean but to keep the price under check, plastic has been used across the device. Yet, there is a matte finish, which adds a touch of glitz.

A night shot clicked without a tripod over seconds

Last year, if you had picked up any Galaxy M series phone, it would have felt slightly thick. It’s now only 7.8mm and weighs only 180g. It has got a great in-hand feel. As for the light green colour, it works for most people.

On top of that, the Galaxy M55 comes with Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 processor, up to 12GB RAM and supports 45W fast-charging. These are impressive figures.

There is the Super AMOLED 6.7-inch 1080x2400 display. Samsung’s AMOLED displays are beyond comparison. There is excellent clarity and the colours are perfect. Even on the M series you get excellent colour reproduction. There is 1,000 nits of peak brightness or just sufficient for most use cases. It may not be the highest figure in the category but keeping things clear is Vision Booster tech.

Leaning in on performance

The chip is two generations old if you look at the flagship cycle but performance remains solid. You can easily play demanding games for long durations as well as switch between apps without hiccups. Sure, Samsung is balancing the cost but the chip should still hold good for a few years. The company is, in fact, offering four generations of OS upgrades.

But that’s all just one part of the deal. You get Samsung Wallet, which is helpful. Then there is tap to pay. For security, Samsung Knox Vault is there; it protects your credentials.

There is just about enough sharpness in photos taken using the main camera

The phone is running Android 14 and it is based on OneUI 6.1. Some cool features are there because of OneUI, like object eraser and image clipper, which are flagship-grade features. For those who are looking for lock-screen customisations, it’s in abundance, be it in terms of widgets, fonts or colours.

Perhaps the only issue I faced in this department are the handful of preloaded apps. Though it can be deleted, users need to be spared the exercise.

In the camera department, you get a 50MP main snapper with OIS and Nightography, 8MP ultra-wide and 2MP macro. On the front resides a 50MP camera.

The main snapper takes photos that are natural and the sharpening is just about right. And the HDR processing is good. Low-light pictures are impressive and reduces noise greatly. If you are in dimly-lit places, the camera may take an extra second to gather light but the outcome beats many rival Android phones.

The front snapper is decent and so is the ultra-wide camera. There is a slight colour shift between the main and ultra-wide but that’s expected. In the video department, you can shoot UHD@30fps.

Should you buy it?

The phone comes with a 5,000mAh battery, which you also get on other phones but the processor is efficient enough to get you extra hours out of the battery. The phone supports 45W fast-charging, which is something new to the M series.

The Galaxy M55’s combination of top performance, flagship-grade design, vibrant cameras and low price make it a potentially great midrange option. Its bright screen, expandable storage and longer software support are ticks in its favour over most Android offerings. Further, the software is nicer to use and updates arrive often. Given the pricing and list of features, this is a no-brainer of a phone to buy.

At a glance

Device: Samsung Galaxy M55 5G

Price: Upwards of Rs 24,999

High notes

Excellent display

Smooth camera performance

Good update cycle

Abundance of flagship-grade features

Muffled notes

Some bloatware

The cardbox packaging looks too big even though a charger is not present in the box