Samsung Galaxy A56 Review: Balanced Longtime Companion

The Galaxy A56 5G is one of Samsung’s latest mid-range offerings and features a few improvements from its predecessor, the A55. It also comes with Awesome Intelligence, which is a set of practical and fun AI-powered features, some of which are currently only available for this model out of the other newly launched Samsung Galaxy A series. Samsung also promises six generations of OS upgrades and six years’ worth of security updates, so it’s clear that the A56 is meant to be a lasting companion.

This sounds nice in theory and does hold up in practice, most of the time. The A56 is designed to have a little bit of everything, which makes it practical for day-to-day tasks while also offering some fun additions on the side without being too flashy.

Specifications

Looks & Functionality

As far as looks go, Samsung seems to be playing it on the safe side, which means there’s nothing that sticks out in particular, positive or otherwise. The A56’s design is pretty spartan, although that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

The A56 is wider than its predecessor, but it’s also thinner, so it still fits pretty comfortably in one hand and you can more or less operate it one-handed without turning on the dedicated mode if you so choose. Meanwhile, its metal frame gives the device a sturdy, solid feel. It is worth noting that the smooth glass back does collect fingerprints like there’s no tomorrow, and the smudges can be quite visible. If that’s something that bothers you, I do recommend using a case.

As I mentioned , the A56 comes with AI features, such as Circle to Search and AI Select, which are both practical and convenient tools. With the former, you can pretty much look up whatever you have on your screen without having to pull up your browser. Meanwhile, AI Select lets you take snapshots of specific elements on your screen, and even quickly create GIFs of videos you might have playing.

There’s also the Read Aloud feature which does exactly what it says on the tin. The readout is mostly consistent and mostly sounds smooth and natural, although it does depend on the language. Although, there are instances of it struggling to identify text for some websites, which results in only the headings being read out loud.

Performance & Battery

I would say the chipset is one of the weaker points of the Galaxy A56. It runs on the Exynos 1580, which doesn’t pack quite as big a punch compared to other market offerings, but in practice, it’s not much of an issue if you’re not trying to push the phone to its limits. The phone runs smoothly, even with quite a few apps going at the same time.

The A56 is fine for casual games, but it will struggle somewhat to keep up with the more intense stuff. With Genshin Impact, for instance, the game is slow to load at the start, though this can be attributed to preloading assets. Once we’re past that, the game does all right, although it won’t consistently hit 60 fps. The phone also gets quite warm after some time, although not more than you would expect when it comes to gaming.

As for our continuous video looping test, the Galaxy A56 managed to last for over 19 hours, which isn’t necessarily bad for phone of this category. Real life usage, on the other hand, saw the mid-ranger lasting close to two days or so without charging. This isn’t far off from the 29-hour battery life that’s advertised by Samsung for the Galaxy A56.

Camera

The Galaxy A56 is equipped with a 50MP f/1.8 main camera, a 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide lens, and a 5MP f/2.4 macro lens. It also sports a 12MP front camera. You’ll notice that the A56 does not come with a telephoto lens, unlike some other midrangers out there. It seems Samsung is sticking to a formula, and the A56 very much fits the mold. The camera performs as one would expect, with images coming out clear enough with minimal noise. There are some colour inaccuracies, as there is a tendency for some colours to look washed out.

Naturally, the camera system comes with some AI-powered features. I do need to highlight the filters, as they proved to be quite versatile. In addition to the preset filters, you have the option to create your own using any image, which leaves a lot of room to get creative.

The A56 also boasts the Best Face feature, which is a tool that as the name says lets you pick out the best faces from a motion photo and apply it to a still frame. This pretty much lets you have the ideal group photo without spending too much time trying to get everyone’s faces just right. It pretty much works as advertised, although in poor lighting conditions you might get some uncanny faces as the AI struggles to match your features.

Camera Samples

Competition

OPPO Reno13 Pro

The OPPO Reno13 Pro comes at a pricier RM2,999 and comes with a 6.83-inch AMOLED 120Hz display, MediaTek Dimensity 8350 chipset and a 5,800mAh battery. On the optics side, it comes with 50MP main + 50MP 3.5x telephoto + 8MP wide-angle cameras on the back, with a 50MP front camera.

Nothing Phone (3a)

The Nothing Phone (3a) is a more affordable option at RM1,699 and its main appeal is in its unique design. Beyond that, it comes with a 6.77-inch AMOLED 120Hz display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset, and a 5,000mAh battery with support for 50W charging. As for imaging, it sports a 50MP main + 50MP telephoto + 8MP ultra-wide combo in the rear, with a 32MP selfie snapper.

Conclusion

Overall, the Galaxy A56 is a solid choice if you want a jack-of-all-trades phone that can do a little bit of everything, and at a fraction of the cost of a flagship device. It’s not exceptional, but it doesn’t have to be when it has a good balance of features. As Goldilocks would put it: the A56 is just right.

I also expected the AI tools to be superfluous additions, but I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of utility they provided. Personally, if a phone has to come with AI, which in 2025 they tend to do, I would prefer they come with tools that have practical use even once the novelty wears off. The Galaxy A56 checks that box. Of course, the long-term software support is also a bonus, since you’ll be getting a lot of use out of the phone for a long time. At RM1,999, I’d say it makes the A56 a worthwhile investment.

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