Galaxy A55 vs Pixel 7a: Low cost, good value

Galaxy A55 vs Pixel 7a: Low cost, good value،

Introduction

Samsung has already kicked off 2024 with a bang, launching the Galaxy S24 series earlier than usual. It's by no means ready to shut down for the first half, however, as it has a full slate of mid-range devices to update.

One of them is the Galaxy A55, which should arrive very soon. The upcoming mid-ranger will succeed the Galaxy A54, one of Samsung's biggest announcements of 2023, and will hopefully right some of the wrongs we don't like about the Galaxy A54.

Which of these phones would be the best affordable phone to buy in 2024? Even though we don't know everything about Galaxy A55 for now, the basics can be compared!

Galaxy A55 against Pixel 7a differences explained:

Galaxy A55	Pixel 7a
A modest Exynos 1480 chipset	Tensor G2 on board, a flagship chipset
A larger phone with a 6.5-inch screen	A much more compact device with a 6.1-inch screen
Large 5,000 mAh battery	Built-in smaller 4,385 mAh battery with wireless charging
Water resistance IP67	IP67 water and dust resistance
Triple camera setup with a macro camera	Dual camera setup
Starting price of $450	A slightly higher starting price of $499

Design and display quality

Candy bars never go out of style

Both Galaxy A55 and the Pixel 7a don't stray from the classic, well-established candy bar paradigm. Standard devices, with a standard design and a traditional exterior. Both Galaxy A55 and the Pixel 7a are glass-aluminum sandwiches, but each has a unique design element.

On the Pixel 7awe have the metal 3D visor which houses the dual cameras and mimics the flagship Pixel 6, Pixel 7 and Pixel 8 series. Of course, it scratches easily and may not be everyone's cup of tea , but hey, it surely fits into Google's recent and unique design language.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy A55 comes with what is called Key Island, which is a bump on the right side of the frame. It houses the power button and volume rocker. An intriguing design element, of course.

Both phones are IP67 rated and will withstand submersion in water up to 1 meter for 30 minutes, which should give you peace of mind.

Now, the two phones have quite different things when it comes to screens. THE Galaxy A55 will be the much larger device, apparently sporting a 6.5-inch FHD+ OLED display, perhaps far brighter than last year's Galaxy A54. It will most likely also support a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR.

Meanwhile, with the Pixel 7a, we get a 6.1-inch OLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate, so we get a smaller screen that isn't as smooth. It may also be much dimmer, as the peak brightness isn't great. The display could surely be one of the weakest aspects of the Pixel 7a.

Performance and software

Exynos vs. Tensor

Each manufacturer puts their own flavor of chipset on their respective device.

Google puts the flagship-grade Tensor G2 on the Pixel 7awhich is the same chip that powered the Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel Fold. So for the most part, you can expect flagship performances that will age well although they are a bit lackluster in terms of raw performance.

Meanwhile, Samsung will most likely place the Exynos 1480 inside the Galaxy A55which may not be a very powerful engine either.

Both devices will come with 128GB of native storage in the base version, which is a standard mid-range amount these days. THE Pixel 7a comes with 8GB of RAM, and there is a good chance that the Galaxy A55 will also come with this for future-proof reasons.

Camera

Who needs a macro?

THE Galaxy A55 would again come with a macro camera. This sensor joins the much more useful wide and ultra-wide cameras that you probably use much more frequently. There aren't many rumors on the subject, but we assume that Galaxy A55 will just be a generational upgrade over the Galaxy A54 and will introduce a few improvements here and there. To recall, the Galaxy A54 came with a 50 MP main camera and a 32 MP ultra-wide camera, joined by a 32 MP front camera. There's no shortage of megapixels here.

At the same time, the Pixel 7a comes with the 64MP main camera powered by Sony IMX787, which is pretty much on par with the flagship Pixels and takes equally good photos. There's also a new camera sensor for the ultra-wide camera, which is now a 13 MP Sony IMX712 and also performs admirably in most situations.

Audio and haptic quality

We expect that the Galaxy A55 will provide an above-average audio experience. Of course, this cannot be expected to happen at the level of Galaxy S24 series, but not too bad at all. Meanwhile, we were happy with the audio quality coming from the Pixel 7A. We said that this created “a very decent soundstage that doesn't shine with deep bass or super clear treble, but delivers strong, punchy sound with bright mids.” We were quick to point out that the Galaxy A54 sounds livelier, so our expectations are already relatively high.

Haptics is an area in which the Pixel 7a didn't excel, and we don't really expect anything mind-blowing from the Galaxy A55 either.

Battery life and charging

Long-term champions?

THE Galaxy A55 will most certainly come with a traditional 5,000mAh battery that has been the de facto standard for several Android flagships over the years. Hopefully it will pair well with the Exynos 1480 and provide excellent battery life. Judging by the Galaxy A54, the Galaxy A55 could deliver exceptional battery life.

Meanwhile, the Pixel 7a did well compared to Galaxy A55's predecessor, beating it in our video streaming test, but narrowly losing in the web browsing test. It also took a beating in the 3D gaming test, where the Galaxy A54 performed much better. There's a smaller 4,385mAh battery on board, so there's that.

From a charging point of view, the Pixel 7a supports 18W slow wired charging and 7.5W wireless charging, so nothing too impressive. In fact, it takes a full two hours for the phone to fully charge from 0 to 100, which isn't great at all. THE Galaxy A55 should charge much faster with its rumored support for 25W charging speed.

Summary and final verdict

So which of these two could be the ultimate affordable phone recommendation for 2024? Well, it all depends on the quality of the Galaxy A55 East! THE Pixel 7a is already a safe choice in the mid-$500 bracket and is often our default answer for a low-cost but high-value device.

Certainly, the same goes for previous Galaxy A5x phones. Galaxy A55 could potentially be another great recommendation. Of course, if Samsung plays its cards right!