Samsung Galaxy M55 5G review: a no-frills smartphone that delivers on most counts

The Samsung Galaxy M series is one of the most popular lineups in India, offering signature Samsung features at relatively affordable price points. Additionally, the lineup serves as a good entry point for anyone looking to join the Samsung ecosystem. The Samsung Galaxy M55 5G is the latest entrant to the series that comes with quite a few firsts. The handset is the first in the lineup to offer a 12GB RAM variant, a 45W fast charging solution, and a Super AMOLED Plus display. The phone boasts respectable specs as well, including a mid-range Snapdragon chipset, a 5,000mAh battery, 50MP triple rear cameras, and a 50MP front camera.

Is the smartphone worth exploring for its price? Keep reading to find out in this Samsung Galaxy M55 review.

Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy M55 5G might serve as a worthy smartphone for multimedia users. The handset provides a terrific viewing experience, along with stereo speaker output. The phone also delivers an enjoyable camera performance in daylight and decent battery life. While the performance might not be best in class, the phone is capable enough for everyday use.

Design and display

At a time when competitors are going with swanky designs like vegan leather backs, curved screens, LED lights, and whatnot, the Samsung Galaxy M55 5G keeps things nice and simple. The handset sports a matte finish atop a plastic layer on the back that provides a good in-hand feel and also keeps the fingerprints and smudges at bay. Similar to the flagship S24 series, the phone is equipped with three individual camera rings, aligned vertically in the top left corner, instead of a camera island.

The edges of the phone are nicely curved; however, I wish the corners were more rounded to provide a better grip over the device. Nevertheless, weighing 180g, the handset is comfortable to hold for prolonged usage. The smartphone ships with an in-display fingerprint scanner, which is accurate but relatively slow at unlocking the device. As for the ports, the M55 5G features a USB Type-C port for charging and data transfer on the bottom edge, along with a speaker grille. The Samsung smartphone comes with stereo speakers, which get plenty loud.

The Galaxy M55 5G sports a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED Plus Infinity O display that bears FHD+ resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and 1,000 nits of peak brightness. While it is not the brightest and sharpest display in the price range, it performs well both indoors and outdoors. The display outputs pleasing, vibrant colours, even if you look at it from a certain angle. The panel is very responsive too, and its 120Hz refresh rate works seamlessly across UI and supported apps.

Additionally, the AMOLED panel ensures a high contrast ratio, providing good dynamic range. The handset is Widevine L1 certified, ensuring FHD streaming from OTT platforms. Despite its lack of colour customisation options, it is a good display for the price.

Cameras

The Samsung Galaxy M55 5G camera setup includes a 50MP primary sensor with OIS. This is aided by an 8MP ultra-wide lens and a 2MP macro unit. For selfies and video calling, the handset relies on a 50MP shooter in the punch-hole setup. The cameras will impress you with their daylight performance, especially the primary one. The main 50MP camera outputs 12.5MP images by default with good exposure to highlights and ample detailing. The colour accuracy is not ideal, but they appear pleasing to the eyes.

The ultrawide lens also does a nice job in well-lit environments with its wide field of view. However, there is slight warping around the edges of the frame, and the colours don’t look as vibrant as images from the primary sensor. While the 2MP macro unit can be utilised for close-up shots, the details are underwhelming. Talking about the front-facing camera, the 50MP captures images with respectable facial detail. There is a slightly warm tone, nevertheless, it remains true to reality. Additionally, although not perfect, the portraits exhibit a pleasing separation between the foreground and background, and the bokeh effect looks quite natural too.

In low light, the Samsung Galaxy M55 5G requires a bit of patience to click some sharp images. You see, the phone takes roughly 8 seconds to click images with long exposure shots with night mode. It is important to keep the phone steady during this time. Although the main camera OIS helps, excessive movement of the handset can lead to hazy images with reduced detail.

Comparing the camera performance with one of its closest rivals POCO X6 Pro, the Samsung Galaxy M55 5G performs admirably well. The daylight shot with the primary camera (above) looks much more detailed on the Samsung smartphone compared to the POCO device. The latter overexposes the sky and even leaves out highlights around the shadowy areas.

Performance and software

The Samsung Galaxy M55 5G rocks Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC under the hood. This is aided by three RAM and storage variants: 8GB + 128GB, 8GB +256GB, and 12GB + 256GB. The storage is further expandable up to 1TB using a microSD card in place of the secondary SIM slot. We received the top-end 12GB RAM variant for review, which delivered respectable benchmark scores. The handset logged 5,84,312 on AnTuTu and achieved scores of 1,020 and 2,529 on the Geekbench single-core and multi-core tests, respectively.

When it comes to the real-world performance, the handset does admirably well. It is not the snappiest smartphone within the segment, but gets the job done. The handset did not freeze or encounter app crash issues during my regular usage and multitasking, though the camera app does seem to take a fraction of a second more than expected while switching modes. The phone is capable of running graphically demanding games such as BGMI and Real Racing 3 at moderate graphics settings. While there is a slight increase in the thermals after a session, the phone doesn’t get uncomfortably warm.

In terms of software, the Samsung Galaxy M55 5G comes with OneUI 6.1 atop Android 14 out of the box. The handset may not feature advanced AI capabilities, but its software experience closely resembles that of the flagship S24 lineup. The phone comes pre-loaded with a bunch of apps from Google and Samsung. Additionally, a few popular third-party apps, including Snapchat and PhonePe, are included too. That said, these apps are removable if desired.

Despite the presence of multiple apps, the UI looks relatively clean and user-friendly. Moreover, the Galaxy M55 5G is said to receive four years of OS and an additional year of security updates, which is better than its competitors.

Battery and charging

The Samsung Galaxy M55 houses a 5,000mAh battery, which scored 12 hours 58 minutes on the PC Mark battery test. During our 30-minute YouTube playback test, the handset showed a 5 percent drop in battery life at 50 percent brightness and volume levels. This indicates that the handset should last at least a day with moderate usage.

When it comes to charging, Samsung has introduced a 45W charging solution on a non-flagship smartphone. However, the charger needs to be purchased separately, which may cost an additional Rs 3,000 if you go for the official one. Charging from zero to full takes nearly an hour with this charger.

Final verdict

The Samsung Galaxy M55 5G is priced in India starting Rs 26,999. This goes up to Rs 32,999 for the top-end 12GB RAM variant. The handset delivers respectable value for money, although you can find options that deliver superior performance and cutting-edge features within the segment. The POCO X6 Pro (review), for instance, delivers a class-leading performance that can handle almost everything thrown at it with ease. The handset might appeal to power users. Additionally, most of the competitors, if not all, come with a charger bundled in the box.

However, if you are looking for a capable, no-frills smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy M55 5G emerges as a strong contender with its vibrant Super AMOLED Plus display, good camera performance in daylight, and respectable battery life. Moreover, its extended software support compared to its competitors ensures that the M55 5G will remain relevant until at least 2028.

Editor’s rating: 8 / 10

Reasons to buy

The Galaxy M55 looks quite elegant with its relatively simple design.
The Super AMOLED Plus display with 120Hz refresh rate offers vibrant colours and smooth performance.
The 50MP OIS primary camera performs well in daylight, providing detailed shots.
With its 5,000mAh battery, the handset delivers at least a day’s backup with moderate usage.