Every year, the Samsung Galaxy A series of mid-range smartphones sell like hotcakes. They're among the most popular mid-range Android phones, with the A5 series being particularly popular. As always, the Galaxy A variants aim to meet the demand from various budget categories, with the Samsung Galaxy A56 5G sold at a starting price of RM1999.
What's interesting about this year's edition is that Samsung is introducing AI functions for the first time for the Galaxy A series. Previously reserved for the flagship Galaxy S series of phones, the AI function in the Galaxy A56 is called "Awesome Intelligence" instead of "Galaxy AI". So, will these new AI functions make the Galaxy A56 a better deal? Read on to find out.
Design – New camera bump!
Even though it's a mid-range smartphone, the Galaxy A56 has good build quality. The front and back are made of glossy Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+, giving it better durability and scratch resistance, so it feels more sturdy than other mid-range phones with plastic-only bodies. In addition, the aluminium frame around it makes this phone look like a more premium device.
The back of the Samsung Galaxy A56
Beautiful looking front screen
The right side houses the power button and volume buttons on a small bump
On the right side, the power and volume buttons are located on a 'bump', a design feature introduced in last year's Galaxy A55. It doesn't stick out much, so you might not notice it most of the time, but whether you like it or not would be subjective. Also complementing the solid build of this phone is the IP67 waterproof and dustproof rating, meaning the phone can submerge in water at depths of up to 1 metre for 30 minutes.
Aesthetically, a big change to the Galaxy A56 is its camera bump. You're still getting three cameras, but now there's one big camera bump that's noticeably thicker. In comparison, the Galaxy A55 had three camera 'rings' sticking out the back. While it seems to be a simple design change, the new camera bump helps prevent the lenses from scratching against rough surfaces.
Change to camera bump design
There is a small gap between the camera bump and the phone's chassis
Despite its glossy back, the Galaxy A56 won't smudge easily, so you probably won't need to put a case on it. As for the colours, the Galaxy A56 comes in Awesome Graphite, Awesome Olive, Awesome Pink and Awesome Lightgray. The Lightgray colour we tested looks neat but doesn't look that special, especially if you're into unique-looking phones.
Tech specs and features – Complete for general use
Here are the full specifications for the Samsung Galaxy A56 5G:
- Display: 6.7-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED (1200 nits), 120Hz screen refresh, Vision Booster
- Processing Chip: Exynos 1580
- RAM: 8GB or 12GB
- Storage: 128GB or 256GB
- Rear Camera: 50MP (main) + 12MP (ultra-wide) + 5MP (macro)
- Front Camera: 12MP (with Nightography and Low Noise Mode)
- Battery: 5000mAh
- Charging: 45W Super Fast Charge 2.0
- Operating System: Android 15 with One UI 7 (with updates for up to 6 years)
- Additional Features: Best Face, Circle to Search, Samsung Knox Vault, Digital Key
- Colours: Awesome Graphite, Awesome Olive, Awesome Pink, Awesome Lightgray
- Price: RM1999 (8GB+128GB)| RM2199 (12+256GB)
This phone has all the hardware and features you'd expect from a 2025 mid-range phone. It has an AMOLED screen that produces beautiful colours for any video and game and a high refresh rate of 120Hz that promises a smooth scrolling experience. One issue you might notice is the rather thick bezel border on the chin, but this is not something that will interfere with your viewing experience too much.
The screen is decent enough
For storage, it is only offered in two capacities, namely 8GB+128GB and 12GB+256GB. 8GB of RAM is more than enough for anyone in 2025, but the storage options are on the low side for a mid-range phone. 128GB isn't enough if you plan to take lots of photos, and it doesn't help that there's no microSD card slot to expand the storage. As such, it would make more sense to get the variant with 256GB storage.
As for the battery, the Galaxy A56 still has a 5000mAh battery like the Galaxy A55 but supports a much faster charging rate of 45W. Unfortunately, there's no charger in the box, and it does not have wireless charging. So, how long can the battery last on the new chipset? More about that in the performance section.
Now, let's move on to the main attraction for all Samsung Galaxy phones - the OneUI 7.0 software. Based on the latest Android 15, OneUI 7.0 is easy to use and the UI looks neat. The new version also delivers some interesting improvements. For example, the Control Center is now divided into two. If you swipe from the top right corner, you will access Quick Settings, while if you swipe from the top left corner, you will access the Notification Panel. Yes, this is similar to iOS.
Moreover, OneUI 7.0 gives you more options to customise your favourite widgets than in previous versions of OneUI. For example, you can choose the widget and its shape on the Home Screen.
OneUI has a user-friendly and easy-to-understand interface
Quick Settings can be accessed when you swipe from the top right of the screen
Left - Access the Notification Panel by dragging your finger from the top left of the screen; Right - Dragging from the top right brings out the Quick Settings instead
You can now change the shape of widgets on the home screen
Another noteworthy upgrade for the Galaxy A56 is its Android update schedule. The new model offers six years of major Android and security updates, so it's good till 2031. In the meantime, you don't have to worry about whether it will lack new features, as it will continue to receive support from Samsung.
As for the AI-powered "Awesome Intelligence", it's essentially a cutdown version of the Galaxy AI found on the Galaxy S25. Unlike the Galaxy AI for Samsung's flagship smartphones, this version is listed as "Intelligent Features" in the Settings menu. That alone shows that it's not the same as Galaxy AI. But more importantly, its performance isn't on par with Galaxy AI.
Say you want to use the Object Eraser to erase unwanted objects in your photos. Well, the result of the erase can sometimes be messy and inconsistent. How about Best Face? It will still scan photos taken in Motion Photo mode and select the most suitable facial expression as the final photo. But sometimes the face selection is not accurate.
AI functions offered in Galaxy A56
Object Eraser wasn't able to erase the skateboard in this photo neatly
Honestly, we welcome Samsung's attempt to add some AI functions to its mid-range series. However, Awesome Intelligence's performance leaves much to be desired. In addition, the Settings menu's Intelligent Features section shows available AI functions but doesn't teach you how to use them. Mind you, this is the same issue with Galaxy AI in the Galaxy S25.
Performance – Comfortable enough for multiple use cases
First, let's start with some benchmarks. Below are the Geekbench and 3DMark scores for the Samsung Galaxy A56.
Geekbench - This phone can perform on par with flagship phones from three to four years ago, such as the Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S22
3DMark - Maintains stable performance even after the 20-minute stress test, but its graphical performance isn't anything impressive
As you can see, the Galaxy A56 performs about as well as you'd expect from a mid-range phone. But what do these benchmark numbers mean for real-world usage situations? In general, you won't have to worry about lag with general usage like watching videos, reading articles, and browsing social media.
More demanding tasks like gaming depend on the graphics settings and the game being played. For a relatively light game like PUBG Mobile, gameplay can be quite smooth even at high graphics settings. If you are willing to lower the graphics quality, you can play with frame rates of over 60fps.
For heavier games like Genshin Impact, you won't be able to enjoy the smooth 60fps gaming experience. In fact, the default graphics settings for this game are the lowest when installed on this phone. You won't even get 30fps if it's set to the highest graphics settings, so the best option is to use the lowest graphical settings.
PUBG Mobile plays comfortably enough on high graphics
Genshin is only playable on the lowest graphics settings and the phone would get quite hot while you're playing
In terms of battery life, the Galaxy A56 packs a large 5000mAh battery capable of delivering more than a day of battery life. Even after using multiple apps throughout the day, this phone will still have enough battery when you get home from work. For light games like PUBG Mobile, a 30-minute session uses around 5% battery. On the other hand, a more demanding game like Genshin Impact burned around 14% with the highest graphics settings.
Since the Galaxy A56 doesn't come with a charger, we had to use a third-party charger. The phone supports 45W fast charging, so we went with a 65W charger for a simple test. It managed to recharge the phone from 7% to 100% in just over an hour.
We ran a video on loop to test Screen On Time, with the result being over 21 hours
Charging from 7% to 96% took 1 hour 6 minutes
Next, let's move on to the camera section. Looking at the camera specifications alone, some people may feel disappointed at the lack of a telephoto camera. The phone only has a 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultra-wide camera and a 5MP macro camera, but that's to be expected for a Galaxy A phone. The good news is that the 50MP camera can snap good photos in bright situations, with balanced colour and light reproduction. It also has a fairly wide dynamic range for a phone, and the details in photos taken were clear.
For photos in low-light situations, Night Mode produces decent shots with low noise and satisfactory details. However, that's only with the main camera. Night Mode photos snapped with the ultra-wide camera were quite blurry. The zoom shots weren't any better.
Main camera picture
2x zoom picture
Ultra-wide picture
Night Mode Picture
Portrait selfie picture
Selfie in low light
Regarding zoom photos, the main camera's digital zoom can go up to 10x. Overall, the photos looked decent at up to 3x zoom. But if you go beyond that, you'll start getting grainy images. As for selfies, they still look good and show natural-looking skin tones.
As for videos, the Galaxy A56 can record videos of up to 4K 30fps. Overall, video quality was good and the image stabilisation was decent. If all you want is to capture simple videos, this phone won't have any problems.
Conclusion – A mid-range phone that suits everyone
The Samsung Galaxy A56 5G proves you don't have to spend a fortune to get a high-quality phone that can handle most tasks. If you want a general phone to tackle 90% of your daily tasks smoothly and don't expect the highest quality for gaming, photography, or AI functions, this phone is a solid option at RM1999.
Of course, you may want something that functions better in other areas. If you prefer taking selfies, consider the vivo V50 (RM1899) for its portrait-focused camera with Aura Light Portrait. You can also opt for the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro (RM1999), which has a unique design and a telephoto camera for better long-range photos. If you want a larger battery and faster charging, the OPPO Reno13 5G (RM2299) could be another option.
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