Samsung Galaxy A57 review: well-rounded and nails the essentials

The Samsung Galaxy A57 has moved into more premium territory compared to its predecessor, largely due to ongoing memory component shortages affecting the industry. Priced at Rs 56,999 in India, the handset sits closer to flagship-adjacent devices rather than value-driven mid-rangers, aiming to offer a refined experience with long-term software support and a polished design.

We’ve been using the Galaxy A57 as a daily driver for quite some time now, and here’s our experience detailed in this review.

Verdict

The Galaxy A57 is a well-rounded smartphone that nails the essentials, offering a sleek design, vibrant display, and long-term software support. Furthermore, the handset brings a taste of the flagship Galaxy S26 series experience, albeit with a few compromises. The device is best suited for users who want a premium Samsung phone with a polished software experience and reliable updates, rather than top-tier performance.

Design and display: sleek, lightweight, and immersive

Samsung has focused heavily on design this year, and it shows. The Galaxy A57 measures just 6.9mm in thickness, making it impressively slim for a phone with a large display. Despite its size, it doesn’t feel too large in hand, and one-handed usage is still manageable, helped in part by thoughtful One UI optimisations.

The Awesome Navy variant we tested stands out for its deep, understated blue finish, which looks elegant and premium. The vertically aligned camera module, paired with a frosted glass finish, adds subtle contrast while keeping the design clean and unflashy.

On the front, you get a 6.7-inch FHD+ flat display with thin bezels, making it a reliable companion for content consumption. The panel supports up to 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10+, Vision Booster, up to 1,900 nits peak brightness, and Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection. In everyday use, the display feels vibrant with punchy colours and good brightness levels even in peak sunlight outdoors, making it ideal for streaming and browsing.

While the FHD+ resolution is perfectly adequate, a higher 1.5K resolution panel could have further elevated the experience at this price point. The in-display fingerprint sensor is well-placed for the tall screen and easy to reach, although it can feel slightly slow to respond at times. 

Performance: reliable for everyday use

Powering the device is Samsung’s new Exynos 1680 SoC, which is claimed to offer around a 15 percent performance improvement over its predecessor. In real-world usage, the Galaxy A57 handles everyday tasks comfortably, whether it’s scrolling through social media, streaming videos, multitasking, or even light gaming. The experience feels smooth and stable.

The handset doesn’t score the highest benchmark numbers among its peers. It isn’t a performance-focused device, and the Galaxy A57 doesn’t try to be one. Instead, it delivers consistency for regular users. If you’re not into heavy gaming or intensive workloads, performance here should be more than sufficient.

Cameras: made for everyday photography

The Samsung Galaxy A57 features a fairly balanced camera setup with a 50MP primary sensor, accompanied by a 12MP ultra-wide lens, a 5MP macro camera, and a 12MP front-facing camera for selfies. In good lighting conditions, the main camera captures detailed and well-balanced shots with pleasing colours, making it reliable for everyday photography.

On the front, the 12MP selfie camera performs well, delivering natural skin tones and good detail. Portrait shots also come out nicely with decent edge detection, even without a dedicated telephoto lens. While the absence of a telephoto camera at this price point might stand out to some buyers, the overall camera experience remains dependable and well-suited for casual photography.

We compared the Galaxy A57’s cameras with those of the Motorola Signature to provide a clearer perspective on what to expect in this segment. The Motorola Signature has a 50MP triple-camera setup with a primary, ultra-wide/macro, and periscope telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. 

Daylight

In daylight, the Galaxy A57 delivers pleasing colour reproduction with good contrast, resulting in vibrant and balanced shots. The Motorola Signature manages to pull slightly better detail and sharpness, along with marginally improved dynamic range and exposure, but the differences are subtle and not immediately noticeable in most scenarios.

Ultra-wide

The Motorola Signature holds a slight edge here with its 50MP ultra-wide camera, delivering better detail and colour reproduction. It also shows less distortion and slightly improved dynamic range compared to the Galaxy A57. That said, the Galaxy A57 still performs well in its own right, but in a direct comparison, the advantage leans toward the Motorola device.

Selfies

Selfies are fairly comparable on both phones, but the Galaxy A57 leans toward a more pleasing and natural tone, while the Motorola Signature tends to add a bit more contrast. Both devices deliver good skin tones, accurate colours, and similar levels of detail. In terms of dynamic range, the Motorola Signature has a slight edge, likely due to its more capable sensor, though the difference isn’t significant in everyday use.

Portrait

The Galaxy A57 still does a commendable job with portraits despite lacking a dedicated telephoto lens. That said, the Motorola Signature has a slight advantage when it comes to more accurate skin tones and colours, along with better detail and clarity. Edge detection and background blur, however, remain quite similar on both devices, keeping the overall portrait experience fairly comparable.

Night mode

The Galaxy A57 delivers an impressive low-light performance, with its dedicated night mode managing to brighten scenes without overexposing them. It handles light flares and exposure well, while keeping noise in check and preserving good detail. Colours and overall realism remain fairly similar on both phones, resulting in a consistent low-light experience.

Overall, the Galaxy A57 holds its ground well with a balanced and reliable camera performance across different scenarios. While it may not lead in every aspect, the handset delivers a consistent and dependable experience that should satisfy most users.

Battery life: balanced and dependable

The Galaxy A57 packs a 5,000mAh battery, which might seem modest at a time when some competitors are pushing much larger capacities. However, the phone still delivers a reliable battery life for its size. In day-to-day use, the phone comfortably lasts an entire day, though you may find yourself reaching for the charger by the end of it, depending on usage. Considering the battery size, the endurance is still quite impressive.

Charging is rated at 45W, which is notably higher than what Samsung offers on some of its flagships, like the Galaxy S26. The phone takes a little over an hour to fully charge. This gives the A57 a practical edge when it comes to quicker top-ups.

Software: long-term support

On the software front, the Galaxy A57 runs One UI 8.5 based on Android 16, bringing the same core experience as the Galaxy S26 lineup right out of the box. Samsung is also promising six years of OS and security updates, which is a major advantage and adds long-term value, especially at this price.

One UI continues to be one of the most polished Android skins, offering a smooth, fluid experience with extensive customisation options. The addition of Galaxy AI features further enhances usability, with tools like Object Eraser and Best Face for group photos. You may not get the entire Galaxy AI suite exclusive to the flagship models, but these features integrate well into everyday use and add a layer of convenience without feeling gimmicky.

Object Eraser, for instance, does an impressive job of removing unwanted elements from photos while keeping the edits looking clean and natural. Overall, the software experience remains one of the Galaxy A57’s strongest highlights, especially for users who value longevity and ease of use.

Final verdict

Overall, the Galaxy A57 is a balanced offering aimed at users who prioritise design, customisable UI, and long-term usability over raw power. The handset delivers a comfortable in-hand feel, a large and immersive screen for everyday content consumption, and the reassurance of extended software support, making it a reliable choice for most users.

If you’re someone who values strong gaming performance or a bigger battery, you may want to explore alternatives like the Vivo X200T (review) and the Motorola Signature (review). In short, this phone makes the most sense for users seeking a well-rounded phone for casual photography, regular usage, and a smooth software experience. 

Editor’s rating: 8.2/10

Reasons to buy

• The Galaxy A57 is comfortable to hold and easy to use for long periods, thanks to its slim and lightweight build. 
• The display is good for streaming, gaming, and everyday scrolling with sharp visuals and a smooth UI.
• Long-term updates of six years ensure better security and usability over time.
• The Galaxy A57’s selfie camera delivers good results for social media and everyday photography.

Reasons to skip

• The Galaxy A57 handles daily tasks well, but heavy gaming or demanding usage may push it to its limit.
• Unlocking the phone takes a few seconds.