Samsung’s Galaxy M55 5G phone is the most recent model in a long line of M-series phones that have always been exceptional value for money. However, this year they have given it a couple of firsts: an in-display fingerprint scanner and a 50-megapixel front-facing camera. This is also the first time any phone from Samsung’s Galaxy M series has supported charging at 45 watts. The design is slim and mostly an upgrade on last year’s Galaxy M54 5G. I’ve had one for about a week now and here’s why I think it’s a great mid-range smartphone.
Samsung Galaxy M55 5G price in India
The Samsung Galaxy M55 5G starts at Rs. 26,999 ($360) for the base variant with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. There’s also an option with 8GB + 256GB priced at Rs. 29,999 ($400), and the top-end model with 12GB RAM + 256GB storage will set you back by Rs. 32,999 ($440). Our review unit was the latter.
Samsung Galaxy M55 Review: Design
In terms of design, the Samsung Galaxy M55 has a slim form factor, measuring just 7.8mm thick. Its slim profile gives it a nice in-hand feel, which makes it comfortable to hold as well. It’s slimmer than last year’s Galaxy M54 but also lighter, weighing only 180 g. The phone has a plastic frame with a plastic back; there isn’t even any key island like we’ve seen on other midrange Samsung phones, where they place the volume and power buttons on raised frames.
You get rounded corners and tapered sides, but despite not having metal or glass, it doesn’t feel cheap either. On the back panel, there are three individual rings for each lens in its triple camera system, placed on the top left corner, with an LED flash positioned separately on the side. These rings slightly protrude and cause the phone to wobble when laid flat on its back.
On the front, you get uniform left and right bezels with a slightly thicker chin. There is a punch-hole cutout at the top for the front camera, and Dragontrail glass covers the display. Unfortunately, there is no Gorilla Glass, which is disappointing at this price range, nor an IP rating on the Galaxy M55 5G.
The right side of the phone houses the volume and power buttons. On the left side, there’s a SIM card tray, and at the top, there’s a microphone. At the bottom, we have a USB Type-C port next to another microphone beside it, with a loudspeaker located further down.
Samsung’s new Galaxy M55 looks almost identical to its Galaxy M45 from both front and back views; only in terms of thickness do they differ. Overall, it has the clean, minimal design that we’re used to seeing from Samsung.
Samsung Galaxy M55 5G Review: Specifications and software
Now let’s talk specifications. The Samsung Galaxy M55 5G packs a 4nm octa-core Snapdragon 7 Gen1 SoC coupled with Adreno 644 GPU. It comes with up to 12GB of RAM, which is another first for any M-series phone so far by them; you also get up to256GB onboard storage expandable via microSD card expansion slot as well
The device receives a USB Type-C port, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, GPS, dual 5G SIM with dual standby, and dual-band Wi-Fi 6. The SIM card tray is hybrid and can take either two SIM cards or one SIM and a microSD card. There is no 3.5mm headphone jack.
As I said at the start, below-display fingerprint scanner first came with Samsung Galaxy M55 5G. The previous model had a capacitive fingerprint reader located beneath the Power button. Sometimes here and there, the in-display fingerprint is quick and worked well most of the time, with some misses.
Samsung has packed the smartphone with a 5000 mAh battery, a downgrade from the Galaxy M54 5G’s 6000 mAh unit. While you get fast charging support for 45W, there’s no charger in the box.
Galaxy M55 5G comes with Android 14-based One UI version 6.1 It has some pre-installed apps and lock screen ads but otherwise, it’s pretty clean.Samsung promises four years of OS updates and five years of security patches, which is commendable as most phones in this price segment only offer around two years worth major OS supports .
The phone promised to get updated to Android OS within four years
Always on Display, one-handed mode, Quick Share, Live Caption, Kids Mode, Screen Recorder, Link to Windows, Multi-window support, etc.
Apart from Samsung DeX or any AI features from Samsung’s Galaxy AI suite, this phone gets most of the features introduced with the One UI version.
Samsung Galaxy M55 Performance
Talking about performance, the Galaxy M55 performs well for daily usage like playing games, streaming content, etc. Most people, including me, will thank Samsung for putting the Snapdragon chipset in this phone. Snapdragon gen 1 (it’s not new) is still better than the Exynos 1380 SoC from the Galaxy M54. You may not notice anything major when normally using the phone, but it does perform better in resource-intensive scenarios. The Snapdragon chipset is also more efficient.
The 120Hz refresh rate of the Galaxy M55 5G’s display makes it offer smooth performance, too. It features a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with full-HD+ resolution and a peak brightness of 1,000 nits. Even in direct sunlight, I had no issues using this phone. The colors are punchy, but there are no color modes if you want to fine-tune things.
The Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC on this smartphone is a boon. I was able to play BGMI with HDR graphics and Ultra frame rate settings. Touch sensitivity in the game was good as well. The phone did heat up a little, but nothing too bad.
The Galaxy M55 5G packs a 5,000mAh battery. In my battery test, where I left the phone running a YouTube video at 50 percent brightness with no audio, Wi-Fi on, and Airplane mode enabled, I got about 11 hours and 30 minutes of screen-on time. In daily usage, the phone easily lasted more than one day. With gaming (BGMI), camera usage (mostly for scanning QRs), YouTube/video streaming (using Wi-Fi), and heavy usage otherwise throughout the day, I only had to charge it the next morning during breakfast time when it was already around 25 percent or so juice left.
What’s not great is that they say it supports x45W fast charging support” (times sign read as “by”), but I don’t think it actually does because I tried charging this thing with multiple chargers, including a 125W brick, and each time it took about ‘80~90 mins’ to fill from zero; seems like -x45W fast charging kicks in after -x90%
Samsung Galaxy M55 5G Review
The Samsung Galaxy M55 5G starts at Rs. 26,999 and goes up to Rs. 32,999 for the top-end 12GB RAM variant. This means that it’s priced in a segment where there is a lot of competition. For starters, there’s the Nothing Phone 2a (Review), which was recently launched with its unique design and almost stock software experience. Not only is it cheaper, but it also offers faster performance along with a slightly better camera setup too. Or you can consider checking out either the Realme 12+ (Review) or the Realme 12 Pro (Review) for an improved design at this price. Then again, there is always Poco X6 Pro (Review), which once again retails at a lower price point while delivering much more bang for the buck by being significantly more powerful too.
It can be quite hard to recommend the Samsung Galaxy M55 5G when there are so many other options available at this price range which are simply better deals overall. The Samsung Galaxy M55 5G is undoubtedly a good mid-range smartphone but it does not have any standout features. However, if you’re someone who is fond of Samsung’s One UI and desires four years’ worth of Android OS updates, decent camera capability, midrange performance , and long-lasting battery life, coupled with simple aesthetics, then do take a look into purchasing or considering buying one such device like the galaxy m55
