The Samsung Galaxy A57 5G is a glamorous-looking smartphone, featuring a sleek aluminium frame that makes it noticeably lighter and more comfortable to hold than its predecessor. The thickness, even though thicker than the iPhone Air at 6.9mm, feels astonishingly well-crafted, and the phone’s 179g of weight makes it feel easy to hold. Available in attractive colours and, the phone has a glossy glass back that looks elegant but attracts fingerprints. Coupled with slimmer bezels and a hole-punch cutout for the front camera at the front, the Galaxy A57 5G looks and feels like a flagship from all angles. This is where it could compel you to buy it.
But, should you consider this at a starting price of Rs 56,999? Is this the premium phone you should pick over popular options like Google Pixel 10a and Apple iPhone 17e?
Samsung gets its display right
One of the A57’s strongest assets is its 6.7-inch Super AMOLED Plus display with Full HD+ resolution and a smooth 120Hz refresh rate. For the price range, this is a great display to consume content, especially web shows and social media feeds. Colours are rich and natural without appearing oversaturated, while sharpness and brightness make it optimal for streaming videos, scrolling social media, and gaming. You even get a fingerprint sensor for biometric verification, which, despite being optical, works well to keep your valuable data locked.
Part of that display’s appeal is the way Samsung has tuned the performance aspects of this phone. Under the hood, the Galaxy A57 5G is powered by Samsung’s Exynos 1680 octa-core processor, paired with 8GB or 12GB of RAM and 256GB storage. Samsung claims that the chipset offers a noticeable 33% boost in NPU performance, thus enhancing on-device AI tasks. In daily use, like multitasking, social apps, and light gaming, the phone feels snappy and responsive. Thermal management is decent, too, as the device keeps everything chugging.
It is worth noting that the Exynos 1680 is strictly a midrange processor and doesn’t offer the same levels of raw performance as phones using older Snapdragon 8 series processors, or custom silicon from Apple and Google. However, Samsung’s One UI 8.5, based on Android 16, is pleasantly designed to keep it all smooth. The interface is clean, feature-rich, and intelligently anticipates user needs with helpful AI integrations, thus making life a tad easier. The sidebar tool remains one of my favourite features on One UI and it should keep most people happy. Samsung’s promise of up to six years of major OS upgrades and security patches is another major highlight, something that Chinese rivals can’t offer.
Is it a good camera phone?
The Galaxy A57 features a triple rear camera setup, including a 50MP main sensor with Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS), a 12MP ultra-wide lens, and a 5MP macro camera. A 12MP front camera handles selfies and video calls (with a 50MP mode option).
In good lighting, photos are sharp and detailed, easily holding their own against rivals from Nothing, OnePlus, and Xiaomi. The main sensor does a good job in low-light conditions thanks to Nightography mode, reducing noise while preserving details. However, the colour science isn’t quite on the same level as Samsung’s base-level Galaxy S series devices. Moreover, the lack of a dedicated telephoto camera means that the phone has to rely on a digital crop for portraits, which tends to affect low-light portraits. A similarly priced phone from Vivo, Google and Apple will always deliver better results.
Handy AI features like Object Eraser, Best Face for group shots, and Edit Suggestions enhance the photo editing experience. The macro lens, however, feels largely redundant and sees little real-world use. The selfie camera is decent too.
Can it outlast Chinese phones in battery stamina?
The Galaxy A57 with its 5,000mAh battery can easily deliver a full day of heavy usage (including camera work and map navigation), with occasional instances of a 1.5-day stamina with lighter use cases. With the 45W Super Fast Charging, the A57 fills up to 60% in 30 minutes, which is respectable though not class-leading. That said, you don’t get wireless charging here.
Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy A57 5G is a sensible, well-balanced smartphone that excels in the areas that matter most for everyday users — display quality, battery endurance, and long-term and reliable software support. It doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel but refines the formula effectively, delivering a surprisingly premium experience that often feels closer to its flagship brethren. The camera section is where the A57 feels lacking compared to what the competition offers, and the choice of a midrange chipset raises questions about the device’s longevity.
What makes it tricky for the Galaxy A57 is the aspect of value – at Rs 56,999, it ventures in the territory of the iPhone 17e (Rs 62,990), Google Pixel 10a (Rs 49,999) and Vivo X200T (Rs 59,999). These phones have stood out in our reviews as great picks in this price range – the Galaxy A57 struggles to convince potential buyers here. It seems that Samsung played it too safe to convince its loyalists.
However, if you want the versatility of Android and the secure software experience from Samsung, along with a posh design and decent battery life, the Galaxy A57 is worth checking out.