Samsung Galaxy A56 Unboxing and First Impressions – Refined Midrange Workhorse with AI
The Samsung Galaxy A56 is the successor to last year’s Galaxy A55 with subtle refinements to its design, making it thinner and lighter along with the obligatory improvements to performance and several AI upgrades culled from the higher end Galaxy S25 series. We got our hands on a retail sample of the Galaxy A56 ahead of its official launch for field testing. Here’s our Samsung Galaxy A56 unboxing and first impressions of their latest midrange workhorse phone.
Samsung Galaxy A56 Unboxing and First Impressions
Among the Galaxy A 2025 series, the Galaxy A56 is the most powerful—and also the priciest -compared to its more affordable siblings, the Galaxy A36 and A26. Out of the box, the Samsung Galaxy A56 has a basic set of kit with the obligatory USB-C cable, a SIM eject pin and a set of warranty paperwork. Unfortunately, there’s no charger or free case included, meaning you’ll need to purchase these separately, adding to the overall cost.
Extra kit or lack thereof aside, our Samsung Galaxy A56 unboxing sample retains the same design language and form factor as its predecessor the Galaxy A55 but has a redesigned camera housing, is 0.8mm slimmer and is also 15g lighter. Rather than separate camera rings protecting each camera, the Galaxy A56 instead has a single combined housing protecting all three cameras, which lends the phone a distinctive look unlike its predecessor.
The new Galaxy A56 (right) is slightly thinner and lighter than the prior Galaxy A55 (left) with a redesigned camera housing
The front and rear of the phone are otherwise flat slabs with the phone featuring rounded corners and a sleek silhouette. The Galaxy A56 feels lighter and slimmer than the A55 while maintaining a premium flagship-like design, thanks to its aluminum frame and Gorilla Glass Victus+ on both the front and back. The prior Galaxy A55 only had Victus+ glass protecting the front.
The Galaxy A56 (top) has a similar design language with rounded corners and flat metal sides to its predecessor the Galaxy A55 (bottom)
The left and top sides of our Galaxy A56 unboxing sample are otherwise unremarkable while the base features a SIM card tray, a USB-C port and a grille for one of the two speakers on the phone. The right side features a raised island of sorts on the side frame for easier access to the power button and volume rocker, making it easier to feel in the dark with touch alone.
Up front, our Galaxy A56 unboxing sample hosts a 6.7-inch FHD+ (1080 x 2,340 pixels) Super AMOLED display that has a 120Hz refresh rate, 1,900 nits peak brightness and which also supports HDR10+ content. It’s also 0.1-inches larger than the one used on the older Galaxy A55 on account of slimmer bezels that offer more screen real estate.
The provision of a 120Hz display has become rather common for midrange phones though the Galaxy A56 still retains the edge as it features the aforementioned tough Gorilla Glass Victus+ protecting both the display as well as the backplate, lending it extra resistance to nicks, scratches and drops. The display itself also has a small punch hole for a single 12MP selfie camera as well as a tiny slit for an earpiece and a speaker.
Samsung Galaxy A56 Unboxing – The new phone comes in your choice of four different colourways
For the imaging hardware, our Samsung Galaxy A56 unboxing sample has similar hardware to older Galaxy A55 with a 50MP f/1.8 main camera that has optical image stabilisation for most of the imaging grunt work, a 12MP f/2.2 ultra wide angle camera and a 5MP f/2.4 macro camera. Where it gets an upgrade is that it now has the Best Face mode from the Galaxy S25 series. Best Face lets you pick from a number of pre-captured faces in a shot to ensure people in a photo have their eyes open, smiling and looking in the right direction by automatically taking a number of shots before you even press the button.
The Galaxy A56 also has a number of AI features unique to it alone that its lesser brethren the Galaxy A36 and A26 do not get. Not only do you get the vaunted and upgraded Object Eraser AI feature that can intelligently delete objects in images, you also get Auto Trim, Instant Slow-Mo mode , Edit Suggestion and an upgraded My Filter mode too.
While the design is sleek, posh looking and even stylish, the addition of the raised camera housing lends it a rather lopsided feel that is especially apparent when placed on a flat surface, making the whole affair wobble a bit but it’s not a deal breaker.
Powering the Galaxy A56 is the new Exynos 1580 processor and for Malaysia, Samsung is issuing the Galaxy A56 in two configurations – 8GB RAM with 128GB storage for RM1,999 and a better specced 12GB RAM and 256GB storage for RM2,199. The phone also hosts a large 5,000mAh battery which is even larger than the existing Galaxy S25 and even has faster charging too with 45W wired charging; the prior Galaxy A55 only maxed out at 25W charging. You also get six years of OS and security updates.
For a limited time from 18 to 31 March 2025, those who acquire the Galaxy A56 get to enjoy a double storage promotion when purchasing the phone worth RM200 – essentially you’re paying for the base 8GB RAM/128GB storage model price and you’re getting the higher end 12GB RAM/256GB configuration which represents excellent value. This limited-time offer is available at Samsung’s official online store and all Samsung Experience stores nationwide. For more details check out https://www.samsung.com/my/