Samsung unveiled the Galaxy A57 and A37 mid-rangers this week, and they’ll go on sale in early April. We’ll have full reviews on both of these in due course, but we wanted to share our initial thoughts first.
Galaxy A56 and A36 were very successful
In its report for the second quarter last year, IDC highlighted both the Galaxy A56 and A36 as key growth drivers for Samsung. The A56 was the best-selling phone in Europe last year, overtaking the iPhone 16. It didn’t do so well in the US, but that’s because Samsung messed up the launch – more on this in a bit. Additionally, in our Top 20 Most Popular Phones of 2025, the Galaxy A56 was #2 in terms of user interest and the Galaxy A36 was #6.
Top smartphone brands in Europe for 2025
We answer the question “Who buys these phones?” To answer the inevitable comments like this, let’s start with these statistics. Obviously, many people do this. That said, we can understand how the A-series phones don’t do much to lure enthusiasts. But this is not about the A56 and A36, it is about their successors.
The Galaxy A57 has become thinner
Samsung is still chasing thinner phones – we’ve seen it with the S26 Ultra and now the Samsung Galaxy A57. Its thickness is 6.9 mm, which is less than its predecessor’s 7.4 mm. It is also 19 grams lighter, weighing in at 179 grams. Additionally, the 6.7” display is surrounded by thin bezels and the phone is 0.7 mm shorter and narrower than the A56.
The Galaxy A57 is thinner and lighter than its predecessor
This makes this mid-ranger feel more premium. The translucent camera island is also a fun design element. The overall design hasn’t changed much over the years, but we like what Samsung has done with the A57 while keeping it a neutral phone that the average Joe and Jane will love.
Samsung has also increased the water protection level from IP67 to IP68. Officially, this means the phone can be submerged in 1.5 meters of water for 30 minutes, compared to 1 meter like its predecessor. We don’t think this makes much of a difference in practice – have you ever dipped your phone in more than 1 meter of water? – but that IP67 rating was starting to look a little embarrassing when other brands had IP69 rated mid-rangers. Anyway, it’s good to see the return of Gorilla Glass Victus+ for front and back protection.
The Galaxy A57 and A37 are now IP68 rated
The Galaxy A57 is also the first phone with the new Exynos 1680 chipset. It’s still based on Samsung’s 4nm node, but it shakes things up a bit compared to the 1580 – it swaps out a Cortex-A520 for an A720 core, so it now has a 1+4+3 configuration instead of 1+3+4. This should give a slight boost to multi-core performance.
The Exynos 1680 brings a small performance boost
Additionally, the NPU is faster, delivering 19.6 TOPs, up from 14.7 TOPs on the previous chipset. Samsung is using AI as a core part of its mobile strategy, so better on-device capabilities could enable new features. The GPU is also new, the Xclipse 550, but we’re not entirely sure what’s changed – it’s still an RDNA 3-based GPU with 2 task groups like the Xclipse 540.
That’s where the A56 upgrade ends, although for those coming out of a 2-year contract, the Galaxy A55 is a more relevant comparison. There is no change in battery capacity, it is still 5,000mAh, but charging is faster at 45W (up from 25W on the A55). However, losing the microSD slot may be a problem for some people.
Camera Details: Galaxy A57 • Galaxy A37
There is not much change in Galaxy A37
The Samsung Galaxy A37 is powered by the Exynos 1480, which should give a slight performance boost compared to the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 inside the A36. The shame is that Snapdragon was essentially going head-to-head with the Exynos 1380 inside the A35.
Anyway, the A37 also has a higher IP68 rating (up from IP67 for previous models). Apart from this, its plastic frame is the same as last year, with a thickness of 7.4 mm and weight of 196 grams.
Again, we believe it is better to compare with devices that are at least two years old. No Galaxy A owner upgrades every year, right? So, comparing it with the A35, the A37 is significantly thinner – the 2024 model was significantly thicker at 8.2 mm and 209 grams. The A37 has the same battery capacity, 5,000mAh, but with faster charging at 45W. Well, it’s not very fast – we haven’t tested the A37 yet, but if it’s similar to the A36, it should charge 0-100% in 1 hour and 14 minutes, compared to 1 hour and 26 minutes for the A35. Still, 45W is more than Galaxy S26 owners can get.
Again, losing that microSD slot could be a problem for anyone who loaded a 512GB card (or larger). And if you can find the Galaxy A55, you can have both the Exynos 1480 and a microSD slot.
Galaxy S25 FE problem
The Samsung Galaxy A57 is priced at $550 / €530, while the Galaxy A37 starts at $450 / €430. However, if you check the quick price of the Galaxy S25 FE, you’ll see the problem – you might have that instead of the A57.
The S25 FE has a better screen – it’s also a 6.7″ 1080p+ panel, but it’s LTPO with a 1-120Hz refresh rate. It also has a better chipset – the Exynos 2400 has a proper prime core (Cortex-X4) and an RDNA 3 GPU with 6 task groups (3x WGP of the Exynos 1680).
The main and ultra-wide cameras are quite similar, but the FE model adds an 8MP 3x/75mm telephoto module. The battery is technically small (up to 100mAh), but it has both 45W wired and 15W wireless charging. And the USB-C port is of the faster USB 3.2 type.
At similar prices, there’s little reason to buy the Galaxy A57 over the S25 FE. Said that…
Don’t buy the Galaxy A57 or A37 at MSRP
The Galaxy A56 launched at $500 / €480 and the A36 at $400, so the 2026 model has a higher MSRP. But you shouldn’t buy an A57 or A37 at MSRP.
And you probably won’t have to do that – some regions are already advertising free storage upgrades, meaning you’ll get a 256GB phone for the price of a 128GB phone. But even after the pre-order period ends, we expect to see continued deals for the new A-phones.
Samsung Galaxy A55
Same thing happened with A56 and A36. Scrolling through older posts, here’s what we found – the A56 and A36 were launched in the UK in late March with a free Galaxy Fit3, a 45W charger, and a case. By mid-June, the offer was improved to a proper smartwatch, the Galaxy Watch7, and £100 cashback. The story with previous generations is largely the same – the A55 and A35 launched in early March, then an offer for a free pair of Galaxy Buds FE arrived in April, and a solid price cut in May.
It would be better if the Galaxy A57 becomes available in the US on day one
We noted problems with the Galaxy A56 in the US. As you may or may not remember, the phone was unveiled in March, but it didn’t finally become available in the US until mid-June.
This leaves US buyers with only two options above the entry-level model and below the flagship S-series – the Galaxy A36 and the Galaxy S24 FE. By April the S24 FE was already seeing some serious price cuts, which made it all the more awkward when the A56 finally arrived.
This year both Apple and Google have attractive offers like the iPhone 16 ($700) and 17e ($600) from Cupertino and the Pixel 10 ($600) from Mountain View, so the Galaxy A57 has no time to lose – it should launch as soon as possible.
The Galaxy A37 needs its own identity
While the A5x and A3x models were never that different, the difference between them has become much smaller in recent years. The A37 is a cheaper A57 with a plastic shell. Well, there’s a little more to it than that, but not much – in a day and age when you can have a mid-ranger with a Snapdragon 8-series chip, the choice between the Exynos 1680 and 1480 seems like a moot point.
We believe the A5x spec sheet has been designed to maintain its relative distance from the S FE model. So, it is what it is. But turning to the A37, a cheaper A57 is not that interesting because, as we mentioned above, you shouldn’t be paying full price for an A57 anyway.
Samsung needs to find a way to make the Galaxy A37 stand out — make it smaller or bigger, add back a microSD slot or anything that makes it more than a second-best alternative to the discounted A57.
Samsung Galaxy A57 5G
| 256GB 8GB RAM | ₹ 56,999 |
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| 256GB 12GB RAM | ₹ 62,499 |
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Samsung Galaxy A37 5G
| 256GB 8GB RAM | ₹ 47,499 |
£459.00 |
| 128gb 8gb ram | ₹ 41,999 |
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| Show all prices | ||