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  Samsung Galaxy A54 5G

  Mid-range madness

  Packs a punch for under $500

  $400 $450 Save $50

  Samsung's Galaxy A54 is an excellent phone for under $500 that improves in a few key areas over its predecessor. It won't be as fast as the Galaxy S22, but with a stellar 120Hz AMOLED display and a bigger battery, you may want to save your cash and get the A54 instead.

  Pros

  • Excellent Display
  • More affordable
  • Bigger battery

  Cons

  • Not as powerful
  • Can't charge as quickly

  $400 at Amazon $450 at Samsung $450 at Best Buy

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  Samsung Galaxy S22

  Former flagship

  Mostly still in true flagship form

  $660 $800 Save $140

  Samsung's flagship phones are usually super-powered; however, the Galaxy S22 has a few notable disadvantages compared to the new Galaxy A54. The smaller design features a small battery, and its selfie camera isn't quite as good. Still, the Galaxy S22 has a powerful chipset and a more versatile camera array on the back. 

  Pros

  • Faster chipset
  • Telephoto lens
  • Has more premium features like DeX support

  Cons

  • Worse battery life
  • More expensive

  $660 at Samsung $700 at Best Buy

When it comes to saving money on your next phone, you have a few choices. You can opt for a mid-range phone that may lack some flagship features, or you can consider purchasing an older flagship model with the high-end specs you desire, but on slightly outdated hardware. Making a decision can be challenging, and Samsung has made it even more difficult this year. The Samsung Galaxy A54 is a superb midrange phone, and when you compare it to the Galaxy S22, last year's smallest S series flagship, it becomes a close call as to which phone to choose.

• 	Samsung Galaxy A54 5G	Samsung Galaxy S22
  SoC	Samsung Exynos 1380	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
  Display
  RAM	6GB, 8GB	8GB
  Storage	128GB, 256GB	128 or 256GB
  Battery	5,000mAh	3,700mAh
  Front camera	32MP f/2.2	10MP f/2.2
  Dimensions	158.2 x 76.7 x 8.2 mm	146 x 70.6 x 7.6mm
  Colors	Lime, Graphite, Violet, White	Phantom Black, Phantom White, Green, Pink Gold, Graphite, Cream, Sky Blue, Violet
  Weight	202 g	167g
  IP Rating	IP67	IP68
  Price	From $450	From $699

Price & availability

The Samsung Galaxy A54 comes with a $450 MSRP for an unlocked model. You can sometimes find it on sale for $400, and there may be trade-in offers to take advantage of through your carrier. You should have no problem finding it from your carrier or through Samsung.

The Galaxy S22 is over a year old, and with the Samsung Galaxy S23 already here, there are some discounts on the hardware. You should be able to find a brand new S22 for around $100 off its original price, but that still means you'll need to fork over $700 to make the S22 your new daily driver. There's no shortage of places to get it, though, as it's available through Samsung, Amazon, and Best Buy and still available at most major carriers.

Last year's design looks a tad dated now

Samsung's flagships have traditionally had a much more luxurious design. The Galaxy A54 was redesigned to look more in line with the Galaxy 23 lineup, consequently making the S22 look a tad dated when you put them side-by-side. The most notable difference between the two is the lack of a camera bump on the A54; instead, the glass back (a nifty upgrade from the A53 before it) sits uniformly on the back of the device, so just the individual cameras peek out a little bit.

The Galaxy S22 still has the advantage of a slightly more sturdy construction, though, thanks in part to its IP68 water-and-dust resistance rating. Plus, the S22 has Gorilla Glass Victus+ on the back and front, whereas the Galaxy A54 has Gorilla Glass 5. This probably won't be too noticeable of a difference in practice, but the Gorilla Glass 5 is technically a little weaker.

Two really great displays

Samsung absolutely slays the display game and has for a while, so regardless of what phone you get, you're going to have a lovely screen for watching videos, scrolling social media, answering emails, or any other task you like doing on your phone.

Of course, the Galaxy A54 is bigger as it features a 6.4-inch 1080p AMOLED display, meaning it gives you that same vibrant color profile, high contrast, and deep blacks we've come to expect from Samsung displays. The S22 has nearly the same display, albeit smaller at 6.1 inches, but it can also reach a max brightness of 1,300 nits, meaning you'll be able to see your display whether you're inside or outside on a bright sunny day. The 1,000 nits that the A54 can reach isn't anything to scoff at, and it shouldn't be a problem to see in the light, either.

Well-supported with software updates

Samsung leads the charge when it comes to supporting its hardware long-term. Both the Galaxy S22 and A54 were promised four years of major OS updates and five years of security updates. So right now, both phones can run Samsung's take on Android 13 — OneUI 5.1 — which the Galaxy A54 will ship with.

The Galaxy A54 is one year newer, so it will outlast the Galaxy S22 regarding Android updates, as it is expected that Samsung will deliver up to Android 17 on the A54. But the software isn't identical — the S22 supports Samsung DeX, whereas the A54 doesn't, and it's possible that in the future, the A54 might miss out on a couple of newer top-end features of the latest Android updates. That's just a reality of hardware, though; the A54 and S22 should remain pretty comparable software-wise for quite some time.

Pressure to perform for Samsung Exynos

Unsurprisingly, the performance between the two devices may be where some users find the most significant differences, especially if you consider yourself a power user.

On paper, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 that powers the Samsung Galaxy S22 is more powerful, and there's no doubt it can handle anything you throw at it while maintaining its buttery smooth look and feel. It's truly a very powerful chip, and since Snapdragon is common in a ton of the best Android phones, a lot of apps are designed specifically to run well on its chips.

The Samsung Exynos 1380 powers the Galaxy A54 and shouldn't feel sluggish at all but will likely look a little less smooth than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. When we reviewed the Samsung Galaxy A53 (with the Exynos 1280 chipset), we noticed that the camera software seemed a tad buggy, with a noticeable lag between tapping the shutter button and taking a picture. It wasn't overly pervasive, but it's possible the A54 will launch with some issues like that.

In any case, the performance on the Galaxy A54 should feel pretty good, but you won't be able to push it to the limit like you can with the Galaxy S22. Still, for all your basic needs, I don't think too many people will find the speed of the midrange phone lacking too much.

It's all about the secondary cameras

The Samsung Galaxy A54 and Galaxy S22 have a triple camera array on the back of both devices, and the primary lens is virtually the same — each sports a 50MP f1.8 primary shooter that delivers above-average results. The low-light performance on that primary lens is pretty adequate on both models, and both can shoot in night mode. The difference starts getting a bit starker on all the secondary cameras on the two phones.

The Samsung Galaxy A54 rounds out its camera array with a 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide lens and a 5MP f/2.4 macro lens. The ultra-wide will be better suited for shooting in good lighting conditions, but the macro lens is virtually unusable no matter how you shoot with it because 5MP is not enough to make anything look good.

The Galaxy S22 has a much more solid lineup of additional cameras offering virtually the same 12 MP f/2.2 ultra-wide lens that the Galaxy A54 has. Still, it supplements it with a really cool 10 MP f/2.4 telephoto lens, which is actually fun to shoot with. In addition, it can reach an optical zoom of 3x and a digital zoom of up to 30x, which is pretty impressive for a device that fits in your pocket.

Which is right for you?

This is a tough choice that will ultimately come down to personal preferences. However, many people will be happy to save a couple of hundred dollars with the Samsung Galaxy A54 because it has a larger screen and a much better battery life. Plus, the updated design makes the phone look and feel like a high-end model.

Even though the design looks a little dated and the battery life could be better, there's a lot to love about the Galaxy S22 that could make it a good option. First, it has a great set of cameras that are much more enjoyable to shoot with, and the telephoto lens is much better than the macro lens on Galaxy A54. Also, it's still one of the smaller Android phones you can get these days, so people who don't want something too big will dig its compact design.