Samsung Galaxy M55 review: Is it better than the Galaxy A35?

This is the Samsung Galaxy M55 that retails for 48,999 rupees. When Samsung launched this phone, looking at the specs, my initial impression was, okay, this looks like a decent phone for the price. A Snapdragon chipset, 4 years of updates, 45-watt charging, Samsung’s AMOLED screen, nothing much to complain about right?! But, after using it for around 10 days, I have mixed feelings. Let me explain. Now, I like to think of myself as a positive person, so let me talk about the good things first. And then later I will spill the tea. Before that, let's take a quick look at the specifications, shall we?

Samsung Galaxy M55 5G Specifications:

• Display: 6.7-inch Super AMOLED Infinity-O Display, 120Hz refresh rate
• Resolution: Full HD+ (1080×2400 pixels)
• Processor: Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 (4nm)
• Software & UI: One UI 6.1 based on Android 14
• Rear Camera: Triple – 50MP main, OIS – 8MP ultrawide – 2MP macro
• Front Camera: 50MP (hole-punch cutout)
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, 5G, GPS, VoLTE
• Battery: 5000mAh with 45W charging (25W charger free with every purchase)
• Color Options: Black and Light Green
• Price in Nepal: Rs. 48,999 (8/256GB), Rs. 53,999 (12/256GB)
• Check out the full specs of the Samsung Galaxy M55 5G

Samsung Galaxy M55 Review

Typical AMOLED panel from Samsung

• 6.6-inches FHD+ OLED panel
• 120/240Hz refresh/touch sampling rate

Okay, when it comes to Samsung phones, the display is one aspect you can barely be disappointed with. Here too, you get a nice 6.7-inch AMOLED screen, that is rich in contrast, has really pleasing color reproduction, and is bright. I know, it does not sport insanely high peak brightness levels, but in real-life usage, I haven’t faced any visibility issues on this phone!

And I appreciate that the bezels here are actually thinner than what you get with the A35 or even the A55 for that matter! You get a tiny punch hole notch which is not obtrusive at all and overall it’s a nice pleasant display to interact with. So it’s safe to say that the display here is as good as you get with the Galaxy A35! You also get an in-display fingerprint sensor here, which is a first for Samsung’s M- series by the way. This is a welcome step up, but unlocking the phone might feel a little slow sometimes and I wish the placement of it was better too, it’s just too down below for my liking!

No HDR videos here

For some reason, you also don’t get HDR video playback support in apps like Netflix on the M55, but I won’t complain about it since the core quality of this display is top-notch!

Not a very good-looking design for the price

• 163.9 x 76.5 x 7.8 mm, 180 grams
• Glass front, Plastic frame, Plastic Back
• Dragontrail Glass Protection

I wish I could say the same about the design here though. I mean, I like that the M55 is not as thick as other M series phones from the past, but if you look at other phones in the same price bracket, you will definitely notice how it’s not the most good-looking phone.

In fact, the most concerning thing for me here is the build quality. A couple of days ago, I accidentally dropped this phone and it suffered two major bumps right away. The sad thing is, I didn’t drop it from much high above either. Even on the display side, it has caught a lot more scratches than I thought it would, which might be because it features no gorilla glass protection at all, there’s Dragontrail glass protection, which evidently is not very effective. And, to top things off, there is no IP rating as well. So, if you decide to get this phone, first thing, get a solid cover and a screen protector too because Samsung does not provide one out of the box!

The battery side of things

• 5000mAh battery with 45W fast charging support
• 25W charger provided for free

And guess what else you don’t get inside the box, a charger! But thankfully Samsung Nepal is providing a 25W charger for free. Even though the phone actually supports 45-watt charging. But the overall time gap to fuel this phone from both 25W and 45W chargers is quite negligible. So, I wouldn't complain here.

Other than that, I will give it to Samsung to optimize the battery well on the M55. Even with a heavy usage pattern, I was able to get around 7 hours of Screen on Time from this phone, which is commendable.

How's the SD 7 Gen 1?

• Octa-core Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 (4nm)
• 8/12GB RAM, 256GB storage

Next, performance! No hate for Exynos, but I am happy that Samsung chose to go with the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 on this phone. It’s not the most competitive in this price range, but it sure performs slightly better than the Exynos 1380 that we get on the Galaxy A35! And that is quite noticeable from the gaming results itself. You can see how the M55 can run games like PUBG smoothly at 60 fps while the gameplay is a bit stuttery at the same settings on the A35. It’s the same with games like Genshin Impact where you can expect slightly smoother gameplay.

Even running everyday chores is no problem at all and the phone is fast enough while opening apps, multitasking, and the like. But I do have to tell you that, there were one or two instances when I randomly faced lags and stutters in the UI.

No VC Cooling

However, I found the thermal capacity of this phone to be not very good, at least not as good as the A35. A part of the reason is the fact that this phone does not feature a vapor chamber cooling system as the A35 does, so when playing PUBG or Genshin Impact for around 30 minutes, the phone would heat up to 40 degrees or even more.

Software

• Android 14 with OneUI 6.1 top
• 4 generations of OS, 5 years of security updates

As for the software, the M55 ships with Android 14 out of the box along with Samsung’s latest software version, and with most Samsung midrange phones, you also get 4 years of OS and 5 years of security updates, so on the software side, this phone is pretty much sorted! And even though this is an M-series phone, Samsung has not missed out on things like Knox security, so that’s great as well.

Average Speaker and Haptics

Okay before moving on to the cameras, let’s get done with some of the other things that I am slightly disappointed with. First is the speakers and second is the haptics, both of which are quite average on this phone.

The M55 does feature stereo speakers but they are quite bland and unimpactful. The vibration feedback here is nothing to write home about either, it’s slightly buzzy for my liking. In comparison, something like the Nord CE 4 or the Galaxy A35 will give you a better experience in both aspects.

Let's talk about cameras

• Triple camera setup at the back
• (50MP main, 8MP ultrawide, 2MP macro)
• 16MP selfie camera

Finally, cameras! Here on the M55, you get a 50MP main camera with OIS, an 8MP ultra-wide sensor, and a 2MP macro lens. On the front, you have a 50MP sensor for selfies.

Daylight

Now, you might think, it’s the camera setup as the A35, so the camera performance also should be similar, right?

It’s quite the opposite actually! While the A35 favors the classic “Samsung” color processing with a bit of a pop in Blues and Greens, the M55 goes in with a ton of contrast and extremely laid-back color processing. And I actually prefer the eye-catching colors of the A35, to be honest. A35 also does a great job in highlight management which the M55 misses out on a little bit.

Ultrawide

Both phones feature pretty average ultra-wide-angle sensors, so I don’t think it’s necessary to label one as better than the other.

Nighttime

During the nighttime, once again, the A35 pulls off a punchy output with good exposure management, while the M55 again has toned-down colors with subpar highlight management. And one thing I noticed is that the M55 takes relatively longer to process nighttime as well as night mode images for some reason.

Portraits

Both phones process human subjects very differently too. The M55 brightens and smoothens the subject’s face a lot, while the A35 tries to keep things a tad bit natural. Honestly, I would go for A35’s portraits any day of the week.

Selfies

Selfies from the M55 are good though, they are sharp and detailed, although a little brightened, not bad overall! Even quality-wise, the selfie videos are good. But the catch here is that it lacks stabilization in the 4k option.

Videos

Turning over to the rear cameras, EIS works pretty fine to stabilize the 4k 30 fps videos, but you still can notice frame jitters every now and then.

Samsung Galaxy M55 5G Review: Conclusion

Okay, so is the Galaxy M55 a good option for the price? Honestly, if I was looking for a Samsung option at that very price range, I would rather go with the A35 instead, and that too for a lot of many reasons. First, you get a premium design, better IP67 ingress protection, better display protection, and better cameras on the A35.

I know some of you might think that the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 will save this phone, but no, even the Exynos 1380 on the Galaxy A35 can pull off almost similar gaming results with much less heating. So if you absolutely need the Samsung Experience, my suggestion is you better get the Galaxy A35 instead at NPR 46,999 for the 8/128GB trim or add some more money and get the 8/256GB cue at NPR 51,999.

Samsung Galaxy M55 Review: Pros and Cons

Pros

• Good performance
• Nice Display
• Commendable battery life and 45W charging
• Good Selfies

Cons

• Plastic build
• Not the very appealing rear cameras
• No IP rating