Comparison between Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy S23 FE (Exynos)

The Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy S23 FE are a completely unexpected pairing for one of our dedicated vs. articles articles, but Samsung's pricing strategy led us here. After launching the popular Galaxy A55 this year at around €450 (now just over €400), the company has positioned it very close to its budget flagship, the Galaxy S23 FE.

But these devices are by no means created equal. The Galaxy S23 FE is still the more expensive of the two devices (now selling for around €500), but it also offers a flagship experience, while the A55 tries to strike a good balance between hardware and cost. They have two different target audiences and very similar price tags.

There's a lot to do, so we'd better get started, but before we do, head over to our specs page and compare the Galaxy A55 and S23 FE to understand what to expect in this comparison.

Size comparison

The Galaxy A55 and S23 FE are similar in size, but there are noticeable differences. The S23 FE is the more compact option, with a slightly smaller screen (0.2-inch difference), resulting in a slightly shorter and narrower body.

The difference in absolute size may not seem like much on paper, but you can feel the difference when holding the two side by side.

The Galaxy S23 FE arguably feels more comfortable in the hand due to its rounded side bezel. It feels nicer to hold, while the Galaxy A55's sharp edges blend into the palm of your hand. On the other hand, others will like the A55's sharper design.

The build quality is quite similar – sheets of Gorilla Glass on the front and back are held together by aluminum side frames. It's worth noting that the A55 sports the newer Gorilla Glass Victus+ on the front, while the S23 FE settles for Gorilla Glass 5. Alternatively, you may have greater peace of mind due to the S23 FE's higher IP68 ingress protection compared to the A55's IP67, Which means it has a slightly higher water resistance.

Show comparison

Aside from the screen size, the Galaxy A55 and S23 FE have the same displays. If you're looking for a slightly larger panel, the A55's 6.6-inch OLED display will likely suit you better, while the S23 FE's 6.4-inch OLED display will appeal to users looking for a more compact solution.

Both displays support HDR10+; It's capped at 120Hz, the resolution is 1080p+, and we measured the same maximum brightness in both manual and automatic modes. The latter is equally bright with both – around 1000 nits.

Battery life

The difference in battery life between the two devices is night and day, and the smaller cell inside the Galaxy S23 FE is partly to blame.

The A55 has a standard 5,000 mAh unit, while the S23 FE settles for a 4,500 mAh battery. But the difference in endurance is so significant that we can't blame overall ability alone.

Remember, we're comparing the A55 to the Exynos version of the Galaxy S23 FE because the A55 isn't yet available in the US where you'll typically find the Snapdragon S23 FE, which objectively has better battery life in all tests.

The Galaxy A55 blows the Exynos S23 FE out of the water in our battery stress tests. The average guard has Degree of active use 13:27 hours Against the disappointing S23 FE 8:28 hours active use degree.

Despite its larger screen, the A55 scored better in all four tests. The video playback time was twice as long. The Exynos 1480 is much easier on the battery than the flagship Exynos 2200.

Shipping speed

Charging speed is not adequate for either phone. Samsung rates the charging capacity of the A55 and S23 FE at 25W on the Power Delivery standard. Neither of them comes with a charger inside the retail box either.

As expected, the difference in charging times is negligible despite the S23 FE's small cell. The two feel equally sluggish at the 15- and 30-minute marks, but the A55 beats the S23 FE by a few minutes at the end of the charge cycle. However, the difference will remain unnoticeable in the real world.

It's important to note the S23 FE's wireless charging capabilities, which the A55 lacks. The former supports 15W wireless charging and reverse wireless charging as well, which can come in handy for wearable accessories that support wireless charging.

Speaker test

The two phones feature a similar hybrid stereo speaker setup, meaning one of the speakers acts as an earpiece. But the tuning seems completely different, as does the loudness.

The Galaxy S23 FE is undoubtedly the loudest, achieving a “very good” loudness rating. -23.7 LOVswhile the A55 follows -25.7 LOVsbut still rated “Very Good”.

However, upon closer inspection, the Galaxy A55 may be the better choice when it comes to sound quality. The Galaxy S23 FE gets a little deeper bass, but it's barely noticeable. The A55 sounds cleaner overall, with clearer vocals and less distortion at high volume levels.

performance

It's no surprise to anyone that the Galaxy S23 FE outperforms the Galaxy A55 by a significant margin. After all, the Exynos 2200 inside the S23 FE is a flagship chipset, and the Exynos 1480 is a mid-range chip, even if it was released recently.

The memory configurations are the same, with both devices offering 8GB/128GB by default and maxing out at 256GB of internal storage. The S23 FE will only give you up to 8GB of RAM, while the A55 can go up to 12GB. The latter also has a microSD card slot.

Reference performance

We already know that the S23 FE (Exynos 2200) is more powerful, but how powerful is it? Well, in pure CPU benchmarks, the Exynos 2200 outperforms the Exynos 1480 by about 18%, and the gap widens on single-core tasks – by up to 41%.

In batch workloads, like the AnTuTu 10 test, the difference is hard to ignore. The Exynos 2200 is about 56% faster than the Exynos 1480, and the Xclipse 920 GPU is probably the main reason.

An even bigger gap can be seen in GPU-intensive tests like 3DMark Wild Life, where the Xclipse 530 GPU inside the Galaxy A55 is more than twice slower compared to the Xclipse 920 in the S23 FE.

Camera comparison

Interestingly, the two devices have very similar camera systems. They offer 50MP main cameras using a 1/1.56-inch sensor size, f/1.8 aperture, and 1.0µm pixels. They are both optically stable as well. The only difference is the sellers.

The ultra-wide cameras are almost identical too – 12MP with an f/2.2 aperture and a 123-degree field of view. However, the S23 FE gets a slightly larger sensor behind the optics.

The Galaxy S23 FE is a more versatile solution because it has a dedicated 8MP telephoto camera with 3x zoom. This alone may sway buyers who are on the fence and looking for the better photography-oriented solution

picture quality

In terms of actual image quality, the two devices take very similar still photos with their main cameras. We find it difficult to find any meaningful difference between the two. However, the S23 FE's ultra-wide solution produces slightly better images – they're sharper and have a wider dynamic range.

The 3x telephoto camera beats the A55's 2x zoom any day of the week. This is a very clear cut.

Galaxy A55: 0.6x • 1x • 2x

Galaxy S23 FE: 0.6x • 1x • 3x

The S23 FE steps up at night with better processing and image quality. This may be due to the more capable ISP on the chip. Overall, images are sharper and offer a wider dynamic range.

Judgment

Checking the spec sheet, the Galaxy S23 FE is the best value for money despite its high price. It has superior hardware under the hood and is a more capable photographer, too. If you're looking for a more compact and comfortable solution, the Galaxy S23 FE will definitely fit better in your palm.

A deeper dive reveals that the Galaxy A55 can get you a lot of the same distance at a slightly lower price. The A55 surprises with superior battery life, the same display quality and features, comparable main camera performance in different scenarios and a better stereo speaker setup.

So, unless raw performance and camera versatility are your top priorities, the Galaxy A55 is the more logical choice between the two.