Samsung Galaxy A55 5G vs Samsung Galaxy S25 | TechTalkTown
Samsung Galaxy A55 5G vs Samsung Galaxy S25
Samsung Galaxy A55 5G
Samsung
7.8
Premium feel, solid midrange value
Samsung Galaxy S25
Samsung
7.8
Safe small-Android pick
Samsung Galaxy A55 5G
What Reviewers Agree On
The aluminium-frame, Gorilla Glass Victus+ build feels genuinely premium — close to a flagship and a step above most midrange rivals.
The 6.6-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED at 120Hz is a great-looking screen and the highlight of the daily experience.
The 5,000mAh battery delivers strong all-day-plus endurance with very low standby drain.
The 50MP OIS main camera is dependable with excellent video and strong low-light for the price.
Four years of OS updates plus flagship-grade Knox Vault security is class-leading long-term support for a midranger.
Deal Breakers
Pros & Cons
Samsung Galaxy A55 5G
Pros
The aluminium-frame, Gorilla Glass Victus+ build feels genuinely premium — close to a flagship and a step above most midrange rivals.
The 6.6-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED at 120Hz is a great-looking screen and the highlight of the daily experience.
The 5,000mAh battery delivers strong all-day-plus endurance with very low standby drain.
The 50MP OIS main camera is dependable with excellent video and strong low-light for the price.
Four years of OS updates plus flagship-grade Knox Vault security is class-leading long-term support for a midranger.
Detailed Comparison
Design & Build
Samsung Galaxy A55 5G
The A55's standout: a premium aluminium frame with Gorilla Glass Victus+, subtle design refinements, and IP67 — it feels far more expensive than it is.
Subtle design updates make the A55 look and feel desirable from the moment you pick it up.
Build is Gorilla Glass Victus+ front, glass back and an aluminium frame.
Premium in-hand feel — about as close to a premium flagship feel as any midrange phone, with a build nicer than the S24 FE.
It's a few millimetres bigger and 10g+ heavier than before thanks to the more premium build, but still comfortable.
Owners consistently single out the build quality and premium feel as the best part of the phone.
Samsung Galaxy S25
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Charging is a slow 25W wired with no wireless charging at all.
The Exynos 1480 is midrange — there's occasional micro-stutter/lag launching the camera or switching apps.
The display maxes at ~1,000 nits (well below flagship brightness) and there's no official US availability.
Samsung Galaxy S25
What Reviewers Agree On
The 6.2-inch form factor makes the S25 the last 'reasonably sized' Android flagship you can buy in the US — a real selling point in 2025.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy delivers a legitimate generational jump (Engadget measured multi-core 8,950 vs 7,049 on the S24; Trusted Reviews logged Geekbench 6 multi 9,450) and the phone stays cool in normal use.
Battery life is meaningfully better than the S24 despite the unchanged 4,000 mAh cell — Engadget measured 28+ hours of video playback, roughly four hours longer than its predecessor, thanks to the more efficient 3nm chip.
The 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display is bright (2,600-nit peak), sharp at 1080p / 416 ppi, and pleasant to use day to day.
Seven years of OS and security updates match Google and Apple and remain one of the strongest reasons to buy a Samsung flagship.
One UI 7 on Android 15 is a genuinely big software step — the Now Bar, redesigned Quick Settings, smoother animations and deeper Gemini integration are reviewer favorites.
Build quality is high — IP68 dust/water resistance, Gorilla Glass Victus 2 front and back, Armor Aluminum 2 frame, and a 5g weight reduction over the S24.
Deal Breakers
Hardware is virtually unchanged from the S24 — the same camera trio, same 4,000 mAh battery, same display, same 1080p resolution and same $799 price tag make the upgrade case very weak.
The 12MP ultrawide is now lackluster — the S25 Ultra got the new 50MP ultrawide and the base S25 / S25+ did not, so reviewers like Wired call out that an $800 Pixel 9 has a 48MP ultrawide for the same money.
Cameras still lag the Pixel 9 and iPhone 16 in stills for most reviewers — Wired and Trusted Reviews both say the competition has pulled ahead while Samsung stood still.
Charging is slow versus rivals — 25W wired and 15W wireless trail the OnePlus 13R (80W) and many Chinese flagships; full charge takes around 90 minutes (Trusted Reviews), and Qi2 'Ready' only works through a separately purchased magnetic case.
Galaxy AI is a mixed bag — Gemini cross-app actions help, but Now Brief is openly described as useless by Digital Trends and 9to5Google, and Samsung will not commit to whether Galaxy AI stays free after the end of 2025.
Cons
Charging is a slow 25W wired with no wireless charging at all.
The Exynos 1480 is midrange — there's occasional micro-stutter/lag launching the camera or switching apps.
The display maxes at ~1,000 nits (well below flagship brightness) and there's no official US availability.
Samsung Galaxy S25
Pros
The 6.2-inch form factor makes the S25 the last 'reasonably sized' Android flagship you can buy in the US — a real selling point in 2025.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy delivers a legitimate generational jump (Engadget measured multi-core 8,950 vs 7,049 on the S24; Trusted Reviews logged Geekbench 6 multi 9,450) and the phone stays cool in normal use.
Battery life is meaningfully better than the S24 despite the unchanged 4,000 mAh cell — Engadget measured 28+ hours of video playback, roughly four hours longer than its predecessor, thanks to the more efficient 3nm chip.
The 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display is bright (2,600-nit peak), sharp at 1080p / 416 ppi, and pleasant to use day to day.
Seven years of OS and security updates match Google and Apple and remain one of the strongest reasons to buy a Samsung flagship.
One UI 7 on Android 15 is a genuinely big software step — the Now Bar, redesigned Quick Settings, smoother animations and deeper Gemini integration are reviewer favorites.
Build quality is high — IP68 dust/water resistance, Gorilla Glass Victus 2 front and back, Armor Aluminum 2 frame, and a 5g weight reduction over the S24.
Cons
Hardware is virtually unchanged from the S24 — the same camera trio, same 4,000 mAh battery, same display, same 1080p resolution and same $799 price tag make the upgrade case very weak.
The 12MP ultrawide is now lackluster — the S25 Ultra got the new 50MP ultrawide and the base S25 / S25+ did not, so reviewers like Wired call out that an $800 Pixel 9 has a 48MP ultrawide for the same money.
Cameras still lag the Pixel 9 and iPhone 16 in stills for most reviewers — Wired and Trusted Reviews both say the competition has pulled ahead while Samsung stood still.
Charging is slow versus rivals — 25W wired and 15W wireless trail the OnePlus 13R (80W) and many Chinese flagships; full charge takes around 90 minutes (Trusted Reviews), and Qi2 'Ready' only works through a separately purchased magnetic case.
Galaxy AI is a mixed bag — Gemini cross-app actions help, but Now Brief is openly described as useless by Digital Trends and 9to5Google, and Samsung will not commit to whether Galaxy AI stays free after the end of 2025.
The S25 keeps the S24's flat-edge aluminum chassis nearly intact — 0.4 mm thinner, 5 g lighter, and visually distinguishable only by slightly more prominent camera rings. Reviewers unanimously call out that this is now the last 'small' Android flagship you can buy in the US, which has become a feature in its own right. Build quality is high: Gorilla Glass Victus 2 front and back, Armor Aluminum 2 frame, IP68 rating.
The Galaxy S25 is secretly the best small Android phone you can buy in the US — almost more by attrition than by design, since Google's Pixel only comes in big and bigger.
After several years of testing 6.5-inch-plus phones, having the 6.2-inch S25 around is refreshing — small enough to use one-handed but still big enough for everything but extended video.
The S25 is a 'pocket powerhouse' — its lightweight, compact build delivers a refreshing change from larger devices while still offering a big enough display for everything you need.
Aside from the camera lens hubcaps and the new chip inside, the S25 is essentially the same boxy, sharp-cornered phone we've seen for the past three years.
Spot-the-difference between the S25 and S24 is a tough game — the camera lenses sit slightly more prominent on the rear, the weight is 5g lower, and that is basically the entire visual delta.
Build quality is excellent — Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on both sides, an Armor Aluminum frame, IP68 water and dust resistance, and a high-quality feel in the hand.
The S25 series is so visually similar to the S24 that the new color palette is one of the few obvious ways to tell them apart — Black is now a Samsung.com-exclusive, leaving Navy, Mint, Icy Blue and Silver Shadow at most retailers.
Unbox Therapy noted the S25 design language is 'as minimal as you can get' — a familiar boxy phone with very little flair in the camera layout, branded with a small mirrored Samsung logo on the back.
Display
Samsung Galaxy A55 5G
A 6.6-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED at 120Hz — vibrant and the highlight of the experience, but caps at ~1,000 nits, below flagship brightness.
6.6-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED at 120Hz, the same bright, smooth panel class as the A35.
The viewing experience is basically what makes this phone 100% worth the money.
It can't match the S24's 2,600-nit peak, maxing at 1,000 nits in High Brightness Mode.
The AMOLED gets very dark at night, which photophobic users particularly appreciate.
Samsung Galaxy S25
The 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel is unchanged from the S24 — 1080p / 416 ppi, 1–120 Hz LTPO, 2,600-nit peak brightness, HDR10+. Reviewers praise the sharpness and color but flag that the base S25 does not get the Ultra's new anti-reflective Gorilla Armor 2 coating, peak brightness is rarely sustained in manual mode, and PWM dimming sits at a low 240 Hz on Notebookcheck's measurements.
The 6.2-inch display has not changed from the Galaxy S24 but remains a great screen with good detail, vibrancy and plenty of punch — perfectly sized for one-handed use.
The 2X AMOLED screen tops out at 2,600 nits peak and is plenty bright, with variable refresh rates from 1 Hz to 120 Hz — though at 6.2 inches it can feel small for extensive Netflix or YouTube watching.
Notebookcheck measured 1,311 cd/m² in APL18 white and a 2,594 cd/m² HDR peak — light output is almost identical to the S24, but PWM dimming sits at just 240 Hz which can bother sensitive eyes.
Brightness is not as high as some Android rivals — the OnePlus 13R reaches 4,500 nits — but the S25 is bright enough for sunny days and HDR streaming.
The S25 keeps Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 instead of the Ultra's Gorilla Armor 2 — meaning no anti-reflective coating on the base model, a step Trusted Reviews wishes had trickled down.
Dave2D notes the regular S25 and S25+ did not get any design overhaul — the new anti-reflective coating is exclusive to the Ultra, and the difference vs the Plus is visible side-by-side under overhead light.
Performance
Samsung Galaxy A55 5G
Exynos 1480 with up to 8/12GB RAM — solidly midrange. Smooth for daily use thanks to 120Hz, but with occasional micro-stutter under load.
The A55 ups the ante with more memory (8GB), a faster Exynos 1480 and a superior camera setup over its predecessor.
There's occasional lag or micro-stutter when launching the camera in social apps or switching between apps.
120Hz is well optimised and the UI stays smooth, with the camera even opening slightly faster than on the A56.
It runs cooler than a Galaxy S24 in sustained tests (A55 ~31–34°C vs S24 ~37–38°C) and beat the A35 on AnTuTu.
An owner found it ran cooler/better than an S23 FE, which heats up faster even just browsing social media.
Samsung Galaxy S25
The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy is the single substantive hardware change this year and reviewers agree it delivers — Engadget measured multi-core Geekbench jumping from 7,049 on the S24 to 8,950, Trusted Reviews logged 9,450 multi-core / 3,101 single-core. The base S25 lacks the Ultra's larger vapor chamber so it warms up under sustained load, but everyday performance is butter-smooth. RAM is now 12GB across all storage tiers — a real upgrade.
With the 3 nm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, CPU multi-core hit 8,950 (up from 7,049 on the S24) and GPU scored 19,158 (up from 15,082) — a meaningful generational jump.
Geekbench 6 multi-core landed at 9,450 and single-core at 3,101, putting the S25 at the top of the Android pile and roughly on par with the iPhone 16 in multi-core.
Everyday tasks and gaming run smoothly — the S25 got warm under stress tests and back-to-back generative AI plus 4K video uploads but never uncomfortably hot.
Back-to-back generative AI requests and shooting and uploading 4K video made the S25 heat up — it lacks the expanded vapor chamber that Samsung added to the S25 Ultra.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite is the most powerful chip on Android to date, with a special enhanced 'for Galaxy' variant supporting Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 — the biggest upgrade in years.
Battery & Charging
Samsung Galaxy A55 5G
A 5,000mAh battery with very strong endurance, undercut by slow 25W wired charging and no wireless charging.
The 5,000mAh battery can stretch toward two days if you're sensible with gaming and camera use.
It uses only ~2% battery over 8 hours of 5G standby — far better than a Galaxy S24's ~5%.
Around 8 hours of screen-on-time means it easily lasts a full day; the battery 'just goes on and on.'
It does not support wireless charging at all; charging is 25W wired over USB-C only.
The lack of fast charging is the one thing owners really miss in a rush versus 90W rivals.
Samsung Galaxy S25
The 4,000 mAh battery is unchanged from the S24, but the more efficient 3 nm chip pushes real-world endurance noticeably further — Engadget recorded 28+ hours of video playback (about 4 hours longer than the S24), Trusted Reviews ended most days with 30%+ remaining, 9to5Google occasionally killed it in a heavy day. Charging is the weakness — 25W wired, 15W wireless, with Qi2 'Ready' working only via a separately purchased magnetic case. The OnePlus 13R's 80W wired charging is a generation ahead.
The Galaxy S25 clocked in at over 28 hours of video playback — almost four hours more than the S24, and a real testament to processor efficiency gains since the battery itself didn't grow.
Battery life was decent overall — most days finished with over 30% remaining, comfortably getting through a day but not a full two-day phone.
A 4,000 mAh battery at $799 is not great — 9to5Google could kill the phone in a single heavy day, and a midday top-up may become routine as the battery ages.
The S25's 4,000 mAh got me through a full day of moderate use — a smaller battery is a concern in a tiny device but the new chip earns the phone enough efficiency to compensate.
Charging speeds aren't the fastest — 25W wired and 15W wireless trail the OnePlus 13R's 80W, but Trusted Reviews considers it comparable to Apple and Google and not a deal-breaker.
The base S25 misses the S25 Ultra's anti-reflective Gorilla Armor 2 coating and the new 200MP / 50MP ultrawide cameras — reviewers say the gap between the S25 and the Ultra has widened, not narrowed.
The base S25 misses the S25 Ultra's anti-reflective Gorilla Armor 2 coating and the new 200MP / 50MP ultrawide cameras — reviewers say the gap between the S25 and the Ultra has widened, not narrowed.
Across all S25 devices the Snapdragon 8 Elite shows roughly 25–30 percent better real-world battery efficiency over the previous generation — and that is the change that matters most.
For now this is the most powerful small phone on the market — the Snapdragon 8 Elite makes the S25 feel slick and top-of-the-line, and dropping the Exynos chip globally is a big win for non-US buyers.
All three S25 models share the same Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and 12 GB of RAM — the biggest practical differences between them come down to battery size and screen size.
Qi2 charging only works through a compatible third-party magnetic case — the phone itself has no built-in magnets, and Samsung's first-party magnetic case has 'weak magnets' that lose hold over potholes.
0–50% wired charging took 33 minutes and a full 0–100% charge took 90 minutes — Trusted Reviews benchmarks confirm Samsung is happy to stay conservative versus 80W-plus Chinese rivals.
Samsung has stuck to the same 4,000 mAh capacity, 25W wired, 15W wireless and 4.5W reverse wireless charging as the S24 — there's an upgrade to Qi2.1 Ready, but it can go easily unnoticed.
