Samsung Galaxy A55 5G vs Galaxy A21s

Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.6-inch Samsung Galaxy A55 5G (with Exynos 1480) that was released on March 11, 2024, against the Samsung Galaxy A21s, which is powered by Exynos 850 and came out 3 years and 11 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A55 5G
  • Waterproof body (IP67 classification)
  • 4x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1021K versus 258K)
  • Has 3x more RAM: 6GB versus 2GB
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Delivers 105% higher peak brightness (1005 against 490 nits)
  • 44% higher pixel density (390 vs 270 PPI)
  • Shows 7% longer battery life (26:41 vs 25:00 hours)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • Optical image stabilization
  • More recent OS version: Android 16 versus 12
  • Slow-motion recording at 240FPS
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Exynos 1480
  • Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 3200 MHz
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A21s
  • Weighs 21 grams less
  • Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy A55 5G and Galaxy A21s crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

Should I update?
No 93% Yes
Yes, this is a clear and meaningful upgrade.
Updating from Samsung Galaxy A21s to Samsung Galaxy A55 5G is a clear step forward, and the improvements should be easy to notice.
Main improvements: display, performance, and camera.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type Super AMOLED PLS TFT
Size 6.6 inches 6.5 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2340 pixels 720 x 1600 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 20:9
PPI 390 ppi 270 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) No
Max rated brightness 1000 nits 540 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ No
Touch sampling rate 240 Hz -
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus Plus Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 85.8% 82.9%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
-
Display tests
RGB color space 100% 88.4%
PWM 120 Hz 500 Hz
Response time 1 ms 30.4 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity 1500:1
Peak brightness test (auto)
1005 nits
490 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 161.1 mm (6.34 inches) 163.6 mm (6.44 inches)
Width 77.4 mm (3.05 inches) 75.3 mm (2.96 inches)
Thickness 8.2 mm (0.32 inches) 8.9 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 213 g (7.51 oz) 192 g (6.77 oz)
Waterproof IP67 No
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber -
Rear material Glass Plastic
Frame material Metal Plastic
Colors White, Blue, Purple, Yellow Black, Blue, Red
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, rear
Screen-to-body ratio
85.8%
82.9%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Samsung Galaxy A55 5G and Samsung Galaxy A21s
SoC
Chipset Samsung Exynos 1480 Samsung Exynos 850
Max clock 2750 MHz 2000 MHz
CPU cores 8 (4 + 4) 8 (8)
Architecture - 4 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 4 cores at 2.75 GHz: Cortex-A78
- 8 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55
L3 cache 4 MB -
Manufacturing Samsung Samsung
Lithography process 4 nanometers 8 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Yes No
GPU
Graphics Xclipse 530 Mali-G52 MP6
GPU shading units 128 16
GPU clock 1300 MHz 1001 MHz
FLOPS ~665.6 GFLOPS ~48 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Samsung Galaxy A55 5G and Samsung Galaxy A21s
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
1137
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
3437
Compute Score (GPU)
Compute Score (GPU) 4101 -
Single-core score 1137 300
Multi-core score 3437 836
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
1021736
258064
CPU 348485 100392
GPU 226076 18008
Memory 182794 86289
UX 264381 53375
Total score 1021736 258064
Samples [29 tests] [4 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Stability 98% -
Graphics test 3 FPS -
Graphics score 459 -
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability 98% 96%
Graphics test 5 FPS -
Graphics score 982 -
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
13134
Web score 11788 4948
Video editing 7255 5163
Photo editing 23283 8993
Data manipulation 10941 3929
Writing score 17673 5825

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Samsung Galaxy A55 5G
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-17 (Артем)AnTuTu 111080442
📘 2026-08-23 (No)AnTuTu 11965699
📘 2026-08-14 (Brice)Geekbench 6 CPU1115 / 3126
📘 2026-08-06 (Mazen)AnTuTu 111057022
📘 2026-06-28 (SK.EMTIAZ)AnTuTu 111021736
Samsung Galaxy A21s
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-18 -> HABIBOAnTuTu 12304257
📘 2026-05-16 (Abdul ahad)AnTuTu 11258064
📘 2026-03-29 -> quandzvl12AnTuTu 11316736
📘 2025-10-08 (MinxK)AnTuTu 11231817
📘 2025-10-04 (zayedbinnahyan)AnTuTu 11218341

Memory

RAM
RAM size 6 GB 2 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Memory clock 3200 MHz 1866 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 32 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 eMMC 5.1
Memory card MicroSD MicroSD
Memory card max size Up to 1024 GB Up to 512 GB

Software

Operating system Android 14 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) Android 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 12)
ROM One UI 8.5 One UI 4.1
OS size 20.1 GB 12 GB
OS updates 4 years 2 years
Security updates 5 years 4 years

Battery

Capacity 5000 mAh 5000 mAh
Max charge power 25 W 15 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No No
Reverse charging No No
Bypass charging No -
Fast charging Yes (55% in 30 min) Yes (50% in 60 min)
Full charging time 1:03 hr 2:10 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 10:24 hr 09:45 hr
Watching video 17:52 hr 14:13 hr
Gaming 05:16 hr 05:34 hr
Standby 125 hr 128 hr
General battery life
26:41 hr
25:00 hr

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 48 megapixels
Image resolution 8160 x 6120 8000 x 6000
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Optical Digital
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 30FPS No
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 30FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (720p) No
Angle of widest lens 123° 123°
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Ultrawide: 12 MP
3) Macro: 5 MP
1) Standard: 48 MP
2) Ultrawide: 8 MP
3) Macro: 2 MP
4) Depth: 2 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- Bokeh mode
Standard lens
Image resolution 50 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/2.0
Focal length - 26 mm
Sensor Sony IMX906 Samsung S5KGM2
Sensor size 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) 1/2.0" (≈ 0.5 inch)
Pixel size 1 micron 0.8 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Optical Digital
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 12 MP 8 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Sensor Sony IMX258 -
Sensor size 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 inch) 1/4.0" (≈ 0.25 inch)
Pixel size 1.12 micron 1.12 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital
Macro lens
Image resolution 5 MP 2 MP
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.4
Sensor GalaxyCore GC5035 -
Sensor size 1/5" (≈ 0.2 inch) -
Pixel size 1.12 micron -
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Bokeh 45 -
Preview 54 -
Zoom 75 -
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy A55 5G from DxOMark -

Selfie camera

Megapixels 32 megapixels 13 megapixels
Image resolution 6464 x 4864 4128 x 3096
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm -
Sensor Sony IMX616 CMOS
Sensor size 1/2.74" (≈ 0.36 inch) 1/3.1" (≈ 0.32 inch)
Pixel size 0.8 micron 1.12 micron
Autofocus No No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.3 5
Bluetooth features LE PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo
NFC* Depends on the region Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 2 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* Yes No
Hybrid slot Yes No
LTE Cat* 18 13
5G support Yes No

Sound

Speakers Stereo Mono
Headphone audio jack No Yes
FM radio No Yes
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
91.4 dB
79.5 dB

Other

Category Mid-range Budget
Announced March 2024 May 2020
Release date March 2024 June 2020
Launch price (MSRP) $439 $200
Successor - Samsung Galaxy A57 5G - Samsung Galaxy A24 4G
SAR (head) 0.68 W/kg 0.23 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.04 W/kg 1.38 W/kg
Sensors - Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Hall-effect sensor
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Not included -
Further details
Notes on Galaxy A55 5G:
    - The barometer is only available in the model for the USA.
    - SM-A556B/DS and A556E/DS models come with two physical SIM cards.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy A55 5G is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
22 (95.7%)
1 (4.3%)
Total votes: 23

User opinions

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