We might be head over heels for Samsung's Galaxy S23 Ultra, but with a starting price of $1,200, it might be too expensive for some Android fans to justify for a smartphone. Thankfully, the Galaxy A-series offers some excellent mid-range alternatives, affordable devices that get the basics right — and then some. Samsung already impressed us with this year's Galaxy A14 5G, and today, it's updating one of our favorite budget phones of last year. The Galaxy A54 5G is here, with pre-orders set to go live later this month.

Unsurprisingly, Samsung is continuing the design trends we've seen it use on all of its phone launches this year. Gone is the plateau-esque camera bump last seen on the A53. For the Galaxy A54, Samsung has opted to utilize the same style of camera protrusions we've seen across the Galaxy S23 series. The resulting effect is a device that looks shockingly similar to other phones we've seen this year. In fact, outside of the exterior colors, we can't imagine it would be easy for most users to tell the difference between the Galaxy A54 and smaller S23 devices.

Unfortunately, while other regions — including the UK — are getting the A54 in exotic shades like lime, US buyers are stuck with two choices: graphite (or black) and violet. Thankfully, this shade of purple is far deeper than what Samsung chose for the S23 series this year, which should please fans of colorful phones.

Unlike the S-series — which aims to deliver a premium Samsung experience with as many bells and whistles as possible — it's best to think of the A-series as giving users a great base smartphone. The Galaxy A54 doesn't push the envelope here, but on paper, it's a solid evolution over its predecessor. The 6.4" FHD+ 120Hz AMOLED display is practically everything you could hope for in 2023 in a device under $500. A triple-lens setup, including a 50MP main sensor, a 12MP ultra-wide sensor, and a 5MP macro camera alongside a 32MP selfie cam, sounds perfectly capable, especially with Samsung focusing on low-light photography this time around.

Otherwise, the specs sheet looks awfully familiar to last year's. The Galaxy A54 is powered by an Exynos 1380, the successor to the A53's Exynos 1280. It's a 5nm chipset using four Cortex-A78 cores and four Cortex-A55 cores. That's a slightly different architecture than the 2x6 clusters the 1280 used. Samsung says the Exynos 1380 should provide a perfect mix of long-lasting performance, alongside improved gaming thanks to its Mail-G68 GPU. It's effectively Samsung's version of the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1, which uses similar core clusters, albeit on a 4nm process.

Like last year, it comes with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of expandable storage, while its 5,000mAh battery should be enough to meet the multi-day lifespan set by its predecessor. Samsung is also providing the A54 with four OS upgrades and five years of security updates, besting its closing competitor, the Pixel 6a.

The Galaxy A54 5G will go up for pre-order on March 30th before hitting store shelves a week later on April 6th. Like last year, it's priced at $450, but shoppers can save up to $250 with eligible trade-ins. Samsung is also offering the Galaxy Buds Live for just $50 when pre-ordering — that's half off its usual price. UK shoppers, meanwhile, can score a pair of Galaxy Buds 2 for free, though the phone won't launch in that region until April 25th for £449.

The UK — and other various regions — are also getting the Galaxy A34. It sports a 6.6" FHD+ 120Hz AMOLED display and a MediaTek Dimensity 1080 processor, along with up to 256GB of storage. The base 128GB model will cost just £349 when it arrives next month.