Samsung Galaxy A57 5G: higher price, small upgrades, and tough rivals
The Galaxy A57 5G now costs more than some Samsung flagships. The top version, with 12GB RAM and 512GB storage, crosses the S$1,000 mark. That's a first for the A series since the Galaxy A80. This price hike puts the A57 up against faster rivals and even Samsung's own Galaxy S26 FE. The midrange bar just got higher.
What do you get for the extra money? The A57's design is all about small tweaks. It's lighter than last year's model at 179g. The phone is slim at 6.9mm, with an aluminum frame and Gorilla Glass Victus+ on both sides. It feels solid and expensive. But the sharp edges and a habit of picking up sweat or condensation might annoy some users. The old dust-trapping gap around the camera is gone. Still, the camera bump makes the phone wobble on a table. IP68 dust and water resistance is now included. That's rare at this price.
The Galaxy A57 5G is powered by Samsung's new Exynos 1680 processor, built on a 4nm process and featuring a combination of Cortex-A720 and Cortex-A520 cores with Xclipse 550 graphics.
Display and daily experience
The 6.7-inch Super AMOLED+ screen stands out. It offers sharp 2,340 x 1,080 resolution and is easy to read indoors. To get the full 1,200 nits outdoors, you need to use adaptive brightness. Colors are punchy but not overdone. The 120Hz refresh rate is smooth. You can only pick between 60Hz and adaptive 120Hz-no per-app settings. Security uses an optical under-display fingerprint sensor. It's a bit slower than ultrasonic or physical sensors but works reliably.
The A57 runs One UI 8.5 on Android 16. Samsung promises six years of OS and security updates. Not every flagship feature makes it here. Galaxy AI is trimmed down. You get Photo Assist and AI voice transcription, but not Now Brief or Now Nudge. Bixby is more deeply built in. You can set up routines and change some settings by voice. It still struggles with complex commands. For most people, the AI tools are enough for a midrange phone.
Camera and performance trade-offs
The A57 uses the same camera hardware as the A56. There's a 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, and 5MP macro. Color accuracy is good. Sensor consistency is better than expected. But background detail drops off, and there's no telephoto lens for zoom. Night Mode brightens dark shots but can blow out highlights and cause lens flare. The ultrawide camera struggles in low light. For social media and messaging, the A57's camera is fine. It won't please anyone chasing pro-level photos.
The camera system on the Galaxy A57 5G features a 50MP main sensor with optical image stabilization, a 12MP ultrawide, and a 5MP macro camera, while the front camera is 12MP. This setup is designed to balance versatility and everyday usability, though it lacks a dedicated telephoto lens.
Inside, the Exynos 1680 chip brings small gains over last year's Exynos 1580. PhoneArena's technical comparison lists one Cortex-A720 core at 2.9GHz, four Cortex-A720 at 2.6GHz, and three Cortex-A520 at 1.95GHz, with Xclipse 550 graphics. Benchmarks show only slight improvements. On-device AI features like Circle to Search and Object Eraser run well. Gaming is mixed. Rhythm games can hit 60FPS. Demanding games like Minecraft drop to about 20FPS at max settings. The 5,000mAh battery matches the Galaxy S26 Ultra in size. But screen-on time is shorter than some rivals with bigger batteries. Still, the A57 lasts a full day for most users. That's enough for many.
Value in a crowded market
The A57 5G's prices are clear: S$678 for 8GB/128GB, S$878 for 12GB/256GB, and S$1,058 for 12GB/512GB. The base model is up 26% over last year's A56. The top A57 now costs more than the entry Galaxy S26 FE. At these prices, Samsung is not just up against Honor 600 Pro and Poco F9 Pro-both with stronger Snapdragon chips-but also its own flagships. Component costs are rising. Buyers have to decide if the A57's build, display, and software support are worth it.
If you want a reliable, well-made phone with a great screen and long software support, the base A57 is a strong pick. The higher-end versions blur the line between midrange and flagship prices. They don't bring a big jump in features or speed. As shown in our earlier coverage of Samsung's recent launches, the company is pushing its midrange phones into new territory. But the A57 5G's value is less clear than ever. Samsung delivers a polished phone. In a market where every dollar matters, "decent" may not be enough.
