Samsung’s M series phones have been known to offer good value for money and the new Galaxy M55 5G is a similar deal. However, it gets a couple of features that are a first for the M-series. For example, it offers an in-display fingerprint scanner and a 50-megapixel front-facing camera. It is also the first Galaxy M series phone to offer 45W fast charging support. The phone features a slim design and is mostly an upgrade to last year’s Galaxy M54 5G. I’ve been using the phone for about a week now and here’s why I think it’s a good mid-range smartphone.
The Samsung Galaxy M55 5G is available in India at a starting price of Rs. 26,999 for the base variant with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. You also get an 8GB + 256GB option priced at Rs. 29,999, and a 12GB RAM + 256GB option that’ll set you back by Rs. 32,999. Samsung provided us with the 12GB RAM and 256GB storage variant for our review.
The rear panel on the Galaxy M55 is made from plastic
As for colour options, the phone is available in Denim Black and Light Green. We’ve got the Light Green variant with us.
Inside the box, you get the phone, some paperwork, a SIM ejector tool, and a USB Type-C to Type-C charging cable. Despite the box having plenty of space for a charger, there isn’t one included.
In terms of design, the Samsung Galaxy M55 offers a slim form factor coming in at just 7.8mm. The slim profile gives the phone a good in-hand feel and makes it easy to hold as well. It’s slimmer than last year’s Galaxy M54 and is also lighter at 180g. The phone features a plastic frame with a plastic back and there’s no key island that we’ve seen on other mid-range Samsung phones. The key island places the volume and power buttons on a raised frame.
The phone is 7.8mm thin and is one of the slimmest phones in the M series
You get rounded corners and tapered sides. The phone doesn’t feel cheap despite the lack of metal or glass. The back panel features three individual rings for the triple camera system positioned on the top left corner with an LED flash placed separately on the side. The camera rings protrude a little and cause the phone to wobble when laid flat on the back.
On the front, you get uniform left and right bezels with a slightly thicker chin. There’s a punch-hole cutout at the top for the front camera and Dragontrail glass covering the display. Unfortunately, there’s no Gorilla Glass, which is disappointing at this price. There’s also no IP rating on the Galaxy M55 5G.
The Galaxy M55 5G lacks a 3.5mm headphone jack
The right side of the phone houses the volume and power buttons, there’s a SIM card tray on the left side, a microphone at the top, and a USB Type-C port, another microphone, and a loudspeaker at the bottom.
Samsung’s new Galaxy M55 more or less looks similar to the Galaxy M45 from both the front and the back. The difference is only in the thickness. Overall, the phone gets a simple minimal design that we’re used to seeing from Samsung.
Alright, now let’s talk about specifications. The Samsung Galaxy M55 5G gets a 4nm octa-core Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC paired with the Adreno 644 GPU. It comes with up to 12GB of RAM, which is a first for an M-series phone. You get up to 256GB of onboard storage with support for expansion using a microSD card.
The in-display fingerprint scanner on the Galaxy M55 works well
The phone gets a USB Type-C port, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, GPS, dual 5G SIM with dual standby, and dual-band Wi-Fi 6. The SIM card tray is of the hybrid variety and can take either two SIM cards or 1 SIM and a microSD card. There’s no 3.5mm headphone jack here.
As I mentioned in the beginning, the Samsung Galaxy M55 5G is the first phone to offer an under-display fingerprint scanner. Its predecessor came with a capacitive fingerprint reader housed underneath the Power button. The in-display fingerprint is fast and worked well most of the time with some misses here and there.
Galaxy M55 5G runs Android 14-based One UI 6.1 and has minimal bloatware
Samsung has packed a 5,000mah battery on the smartphone, which is a downgrade compared to the 6,000mah unit found on the Galaxy M54 5G. And while you do get 45W fast charging support, there’s no charger in the box.
The Galaxy M55 5G comes with Android 14-based One UI 6.1. It has some pre-installed apps and lock screen ads, but otherwise, it’s pretty clean. Samsung is promising four years of OS updates, and five years of security patches, which is commendable. Most phones in this price segment only offer around 2 years of major OS support.
The phone is confirmed to get 4 years of Android OS updates
In terms of software features, you get Always on Display, a one-handed mode, Quick Share, Live Caption, Kids Mode, Screen Recorder, Link to Windows, Multi-window support, and more. You get most of the features introduced with One UI 6.1, apart from Samsung DeX or any of the AI features from Samsung’s Galaxy AI suite.
Coming to performance, the Galaxy M55 performs well for daily usage, including playing games and streaming content. Most people, including me, will thank Samsung for including a Snapdragon chipset on the phone. The Snapdragon 7 Gen 1, although not a new chipset, is better than the Exynos 1380 SoC from the Galaxy M54. You may not notice anything major when normally using the phone, but the Snapdragon chipset does perform better in resource-intensive scenarios, and is more efficient.
The phone did heat up a little while playing games for long periods of time
I ran some benchmarks on the phone, obviously, and here’s how it performed. On AnTuTu, the phone scored 5,48,995 points, which is lower than some alternatives such as the Nothing Phone 2a, Realme 12+, and the Realme 12 Pro. I did notice some lag when opening apps, in UI animations, and in the camera app when switching modes, but otherwise, it was a smooth experience.
The Galaxy M55 5G’s display also offers smooth performance, thanks to its adaptive 120Hz refresh rate. It comes with a 6.7-inch AMOLED display that offers full-HD+ resolution and a peak brightness of 1,000 nits. I had no issues using the phone even under direct sunlight. The colours are punchy, but there are no colour modes if you want to fine-tune things. The display also offers good viewing angles.
The phone’s display offers an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate
Samsung has packed a dual speaker setup on the Galaxy M55, which is of the hybrid variety. The earpiece acts as the second speaker with a dedicated loudspeaker placed at the bottom. The sound can get loud, but there’s no bass. The phone has 2 microphones and I found the call quality to be good.
The Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC on the smartphone is a boon. I was able to play BGMI with HDR graphics and Ultra frame rate settings. Touch sensitivity in the game was good as well. The phone did heat up a little, but nothing too bad.
The Galaxy M55 5G comes with a 5,000mAh battery. In my battery test, where I left the phone running a YouTube video with 50 percent brightness, no audio, Wi-Fi on, and Airplane mode enabled, I got about 11 hours 30 minutes of screen on time. In daily usage, the phone easily lasted more than 24 hours. With gaming, camera usage, YouTube/video streaming, and heavy usage, I only had to charge the phone the next morning. What is not that great is the 45W fast charging support. I tried charging the phone with multiple chargers, including a 125W brick, but every time the phone took about 80 to 90 minutes to fully charge from zero. It seems that the 45W fast charging only kicks in after 90 percent.
The Galaxy M55 5G has a triple rear camera setup with two usable sensors. There’s a 50-megapixel primary sensor, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide, and a 2-megapixel macro unit. The camera app is easy to use with plenty of modes including a Pro mode. You also get a full 50-megapixel resolution option in the Photo mode. All the major modes and settings are available on the viewfinder for easy access.
The main rear camera takes good photos in daylight conditions
Photo quality from the main 50-megapixel camera was good in daylight conditions. You get good details and accurate colours with a good dynamic range. I did, however, find that the white balance can be off at times.
Daylight shots from the main 50-megapixel rear camera (Tap to expand)
In lowlight conditions, the main camera can take still detailed photos if you use Night mode, otherwise the photos have low details.
Lowlight photos with Night mode (1,2) Lowlight photos without Night mode (3,4) [Tap to expand]
The ultra-wide camera also takes good photos during the day but is not very usable without the Night mode in lowlight conditions. The colours are also off between the two sensors.
Ultra-wide daylight photos (1,2) Ultra-wide lowlight with Night mode (3) without Night mode (4) [Tap to expand]
While you don’t get a dedicated zoom camera, there is a 2x digital zoom available. This takes okayish photos during the day but falls apart at night. The camera system performs well when there’s plenty of light.
Turning to the front camera, it’s the same case here. You will get good usable selfies in daylight conditions but will need plenty of lighting for those low-light shots.
Coming to video performance, the Galaxy M55 5G will let you shoot max 4K 30fps videos with the main rear camera. It gets OIS support, but I found the stabilisation to be mediocre. The video quality is good in daylight conditions with enough details, but the white balance and dynamic range aren’t great. In low light, the videos aren’t really usable, with plenty of noise and artefacts.
The Samsung Galaxy M55 5G has a starting price of Rs. 26,999, with the top-end 12GB RAM variant selling for Rs. 32,999. At this price, the phone has plenty of competition. There’s the recently launched Nothing Phone 2a(Review) with its unique design and almost stock software experience. It’s not only cheaper but also offers faster performance and features a slightly better camera setup. You could also check out the Realme 12+ (Review) or the Realme 12 Pro (Review) at this price if you’re looking for something with a better design. Then there’s also the Poco X6 Pro (Review), which is once again cheaper and offers much better value for money. It’s also leagues more powerful.
The Samsung Galaxy M55 5G is a tough recommendation, especially when there are so many better options at the price. It’s no doubt a good mid-range smartphone, but there’s no stand-out feature here. If you’re someone who likes Samsung’s One UI and wants 4 years of Android OS updates, a decent camera setup, mid-range performance, good battery life, and a simple design, then you should check out the Galaxy M55 5G.
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