In recent years, whenever someone asked for a phone recommendation, I regularly pointed to the latest Galaxy A series phone as a good place to start. The company’s mid-range lineup has built up a solid reputation for well-specced, nicely designed, and affordably priced smartphones, so it was often my go-to when others were unsure of what exactly they were looking for in a device.
Does that still ring true in 2026? Over the past couple of years a number of brands have launched competitively priced and specced mid-range phones in South Africa, so how does the latest Galaxy A57 5G stack up?
Well, we spent the past couple of weeks reviewing the device, so here are our thoughts.
An aesthetic change
The first that strikes you about the A57 is the rear cover. Samsung did shift to a metal frame and glass back cover for the A series last year, but on these latest devices it looks more noticeable. It is particularly noticeable with the Awesome Navy colourway, which has a high degree of reflection.
Samsung has, however, retained the clean lines that we’ve come to know from its Galaxy devices in recent years, with a singular pill-shaped camera housing on the rear. With the housing being the same Awesome Navy, as well as the metal frame matching this, the A57 5G definitely has a monolithic look to it, which we actually like.
Our only issue is that the highly reflective rear cover is also a magnet for fingerprints and smudges, which means you’ll need to purchase a cover for the device. A Samsung-branded one will cost you up to R350, with the only other accessory included in the box being the USB Type-C charging cable.
As such, the company is continuing its strategy of making consumers buy peripherals in order to complete their smartphone purchase. This may seem like we’re splitting hairs, but when Chinese brands are offering similarly specced and priced devices, along with including a charger, cable, and cover in the box, those elements start to add up in the minds of consumers.
Back to design and the 179g A57 feels well balanced in hand, so outside of the smudge attracting rear cover, Samsung has once again served up an ultra clean mid-range phone that looks like it has some flagship DNA.
The full specifications of the Galaxy A57 5G are as follows:
Samsung Galaxy A57 5GDisplay6.7″ FullHD+ Super AMOLEDDimensions161.5mm x 76.8mm x 6.9mmWeight179gProcessorExynos 1680RAM8GBStorage256GBBattery5 000mAhRear Cameras50MP wide-angle, 12MP ultra wide-angle, 5MP macroFront Camera12MP ultra wide-angleConnectivity5G, WiFi 6e, Bluetooth 6.0ColoursAwesome Navy, Awesome GrayRRPR11 999
Stand out?
So, in terms of design, it is business as usual when it comes to the Galaxy A57 5G, but what about performance? Well, here things get a little more interesting.
This device is certainly not underpowered, with the Exynos 1680 processors and 8GB of RAM being more than handy enough when multitasking, switching between apps and doing things that would put a strain on the chipset.
In our benchmarking, the A57 recorded a solid single-core and multi-core score of 1 373 and 4 482 in GeekBench. If we look at the similar priced mid-range phones we have reviewed over the past year, it scores on the higher end of the spectrum, but not enough to make it a stand out.
We try not to place too much emphasis on benchmark scores, especially when the margins between devices are as fine as they are, but given that networks are offering 48-month contracts and consumers are having to pay more for hardware than ever before, these scores offer some insight into the performance longevity of the device.
On this front then, the A57 is not an outlier, nor does it perform poorly. It kind of sits in the middle of the pack, and while that is perfectly fine, for a mid-range series that has routinely served as the gold standard, it does indicate that things are changing.
As such, cost savvy consumers may be looking for more value, whether that be greater RAM, storage, or battery capacity when comparing the A57 to everything else currently available on the market.
Speaking of the battery, at 5 000mAh it is large, but is actually a little less in terms of capacity than what we’re seeing of other brands around the same price point, with some going as high as 8 000mAh. Again, the Galaxy A57 delivers a full day’s use and then some when fully charged, but when other phones are going two days, or three days in some cases, in between charges, the case for this phone gets more difficult to make.
The same can be said of the camera.
On the rear, a 50MP wide-angle option is available as the largest lens, with a 12MP ultra wide-angle lens and 5MP macro lens added to the mix. It is the 12MP option that serves as the primary shooter for the A57. You can switch to the larger megapixel lens in the camera app, but it does not have the same zooming capabilities, maxing out at 4x, while the 12MP is 10x.
If you’re wanting better quality images, we found the 50MP lens a wiser choice, with the 12MP coping well in well lit environments, but yielding sub-par photos in anything else. Its zooming also yields particularly grainy results, so the 50MP lens should be the go-to for most users.
The Galaxy A57 is a solid all-around camera and will assist you ably in capturing images and videos to share with others, but there are other brands out there offering a little more at the same price range.
50MP at 4x
50MP at 4x
50MP at 2x
12MP at 10x
Final verdict
At R11 999 (RRP), the Samsung Galaxy A57 5G does indeed continue the line up’s recent tradition of delivering solidly speeded mid-range phones with clean designs and flagship-level features for a decent price.
The problem this device faces, however, is a growing number of competitors that are offering mid-range smartphones that can boast the same selling points.
For now, the Samsung brand is strong, and the A57 5G is a good prospect, but it faces a saturated market where standing out is proving increasingly difficult.
FINAL SCORE: 7 OUT OF 10.
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