The Flagship vs Midrange Debate: Galaxy A54 Review!
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- Опубликовано: 4 июн 2024
- How close is a midrange phone actually to a flagship in 2023?
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Samsung Galaxy A54: geni.us/9ccVJI5
Galaxy S23 Ultra: geni.us/BAj7Bbx
Tech I'm using right now: www.amazon.com/shop/MKBHD
Playlist of MKBHD Intro music: goo.gl/B3AWV5
A54 provided by Samsung for review.
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I tell you what, the A54 vs. Pixel 7a is going to be a good comparison. With all the upgrades the Pixel a series is getting this year.
I would love to see this comparison as well when the 7a is out!
Yes pls marques!
Expectations are the thief of joy. Leakers can be wrong at times.
My money is on the 7a
@Zaydan Alfariz Google has to work on availability. They treat their phones like enthusiasts phones but market them like mainstream phones.
Not everyone needs a flagship, and not everyone can pay a premium to enjoy the latest tech. Midrange are good enough for most people, and Samsung is doing a good job with the A series.
No they aren’t. You’re buying overpriced archaic hardware.
Not everyone needs a flagship, you can still buy an old flagship new, even as old as the $120 S10e, FROM SAMSUNG, and get equal to better performance than this piece of trash. The A series is there to force you into incremental upgrades and to push you into higher price brackets year after year. It’s the definition of anti-consumer.
U can buy s21 ultra used ,for this price
@@majidali-iw4if Note20 Ultra is literally like $300 used, $400 new old stock.
@@vegcharli stupid comment. your buying a s10e thats virtually discontinued from sercurity updates and no android updates!
@@vegcharli s20 ultra will get 3 year os upgraedes and 5year security updates?
I'm old and I don't really understand a lot of tech stuff. That said, this was one of the best comparison reviews I've ever seen. You spoke concisely and to the point without over-explaining anything. Because of my age and my needs I will seriously consider the a54 for my next phone which is coming very soon. Thanks for being awesome. I'm subscribed.
If you don't really use all the fancy tech that expensive phones have ,you should definitely not buy a phone over 350 for your next phone
@@15Stratos Yeah, i tend to only recommend A30/A50 series smartphones to elderly people or just generally to people that are not tech-savvy. Samsung is a reputable brand, and the A series doesn't lack any features those more expensive S phones have, that an average person would use. I'd advise to stay away from brands like Oppo or Xiaomi, they do tend to have better specs at the same price, but they are usually much harder to use than Samsungs.
@@hsko8007 yeah true and you're definitely very right to do that,even though most of the a series phones are pretty shit but apparently just enough for average people
@@hsko8007harder in what way?
@@Xorthane maybe as they are cheap, they don't give hardattacks when they fell down
This should be a series... comparing Flagship vs Midrange Phones across all brands.
Probably Not gonna happen. If it does, then he would have to talk about the apple midrange phones, which we all know are shit.
It’s great to see the 5 pillars make a come back, I remember when it used to be the baseline for the “perfect” phone and now a midrange is basically nailing all the criteria for a “perfect” phone
A5 2016 perfect phone
A series would be amazing to buy if last generations S series didn't exist, S21 fe is going for cheaper than A 54 everywhere rn, and in good conscience, I cannot recommend anyone to buy a inferior phone. Android phones generally have a very mediocre processor, it's not as obvious when the device is new but after a year mid range android start to stutter nd suffer. Buying last year's high end is still always a better bet for smoother experience.
@@ManuSaraswat
That’s a good thing btw
i'm still using my a5 2017 and it's still very good
except the battery
@@esdril3897 i had it until a couple months ago and I had nothing bad to say about it! It had slowed down a bit, but not too much and even the battery held an entire day without any problem.
For me it is more interesting to see if a new midrange phone is better than an older version of the flagship that are almost equal in price. I don't need the best phone, but want good quality and support.
Fun thing about samsung is they cut their 1 year previous flagship out of sales instantly once the new one comes out. And comparing used to new is also a whole shoe box of itself
@@Daniel-dj7fh That's really interesting. However at least where I live these phones are still sold in other big chain shops brand new which is great
I'm still rocking exynos 9820 s10 from 2019 and I'm pretty fine with it, it's funny how he described a54's features as "okay" even though it's better in performance and 4 times the battery life of my s10.
Maybe I should upgrade...
@@reyfauzi I had a galaxy a52 5G and it wasn’t even close to better than my s10+.. not worth the switch. Like he said. Constant batter drain and not as snippy as flagship phones. The s10 felt more premium in all aspects than my galaxy a52 5G
@@reyfauzi I think the os upgrade alone is worth it.
I did my research on A53s and went out to buy one, but ended up with an A54 (that I only then realized replaced it) on sale for about the same price! "Flagship finesse for fractional funds" is exactly what my intuition needed to hear! Mid-range value gang for life! Thank you MB!
Mid-range gang for life
Same exact thing happened to me i went for the a53 ended up with the 54
Ive had both and truthfully liked the everyday usage of the a53 a little better
How much did you look into getting an older flagship? It's always an option that I find difficult to entertain because it introduces so many different factors and makes option paralysis so much worse. But in theory you'll probably end up with a better phone if you can find a good deal.
Hey bro is this mobile is good no lagging and how it's performance in heavy game like PUBG mobile and is the mobile performance doesn't change till now as it is new?
I'm an a54 user since almost 1 year. I had previously the A52. What I like is that the phone runs smoothly an all day to day aps. I have not tried games so far, but for Microsoft Teams and all office package, it is really a great phone. The camera is decent, it has eSIM capability, microSD or dual-SIM, the battery is great, and I'm here because I needed somebody to convince me not to upgrade :))).. you did it!
I tried the A54 a couple of days ago and was absolutely astounded at how good it is for the price. It almost feels exactly like the S23 be it the design, the display or the software. Even the camera is great. Can't think of any reason why any normie would spend $1000+ on a phone these days. Kudos to Samsung and I hope they keep pushing the A-series more.
I've switched to the Galaxy fold series and stopped buying the latest flagship since the S20.
My last fold 1: $325
My current fold 3: $800
"Used" but basically new out the box. I'll never buy a new flagship again. Just not worth it.
maybe if the intent is to keep the phone for longer.
He was definitely being generous with that 60% of the performance thing. Benchmarks and clockspeeds say otherwise 😂
Bruh it's ufs 2.1 and is trash
because they have the money to spend? not everyone wants a cheap phone
I did not expect marques to review the A54. Props for him to be able to do that for us👏
Me neither.
Why should reviewers be only expected to review the top of the product line everytime? It gets boring when everyone reviews the Galaxy S Ultra every year over and over but you can't find anything about the midrange or budget segment where the majority of the market exists. No props here because it's what the job of a reviewer is.
@@PunzL totally agreed 💯👍 well said
@@PunzL That is what most people watch to begin with.
People are more interested in Apple and other companies.
@@PunzL It’s not that serious my guy. He doesn’t HAVE to do anything. A lot of techtubers don’t do it which is why he gets props for constantly doing so.
I love my S23+ but I got my Mom an A54 recently. I had no clue it was a brand new model at the time. The A54 is very nice imo. It is certainly the best cellphone Mom has had BY FAR. IF something were to happen to my S23+ I'd be fine with an A54. Impressive. I'm a new sub for you too!
Incase something happened to the S23+, I'd love to have it 😢
@@eisahkrash dont beg
Not everybody needs the best phone
Really appreciate that the A series exist, bought my dad one and he's loving the large battery and the price point of it. It does the job well and it's really impressive.
Hope you bought him a case too! lol
Good gift for your dad👍🏿.
I took this A54 in store and it works well. MKBHD did too much with Maps and fingerprint scanner. This phone is a good complete midrange which can do everything. 4 years OS Updates / 5 years Security Updates. Cameras do the job : we don't have to act like everyone is doing Content Creation or 60 FPS game everyday: average smartphone consumer still exist
not only exist but majority of it tbh
It'd be interesting to see how A54 (which is quite obviously a good phone) stacks up against some of the older flagship phones, like S21/S22 Ultra.
In my country the A54 and Oppo Find X5 has very similar prices but the Oppo is better in pretty much every way besides being a year older and Bluetooth 5.3 instead of 5.2 so I went with the Find X5 and no regrets after a month of use. I just really like wireless charging too so the A54 wasn't really that appealing.
I have a Note 10 Plus with an Exynos 9825.
I'm getting 1046 on single core and 2500 flat on the multi core score.
That A54 is slightly worse in single core but better in multicore by like 200 points.
So I'd say these are more or less the same phone by now, only that I paid 1100€ for my Note back when it launched.
That is very.... hmm... let's me think for a bit.
@@valentinvas6454 yup but the problem is that you wont use it that much. Also wireless charging destroys your phone battery. I got iPhone 13 Pro and I dont use wireless charging, even magsafe neither tbh.
@@Hangyeol97 When I'm at home I charge my phone wirelessly like 70% of the time. It's only a 10 watt charger why would it hurt the battery? As far as I know it's the heat that slowly kills them and a 10 watt charger doesn't really heat it up compared to the 80 watt wired beast it comes with.
@@valentinvas6454 yes but the charging speed is so slow. I'd prefer charging it with 25watt wired and you only wait like 20-30 minutes to charge (on iPhone)
Over the past 2 years I have opted for cheaper phones and the A Series has not disappointed. I think it helps though that I have professional camera equipment that I use for photos so I don't really miss the camera specs. Other than that, its less of a blow when you lose or break your phone because it was $400 and not $1200-$2000.
it's funny you say that because as someone who does professional photography I find having mid range cameras basically unacceptable for the same reason. I get so used to having my gear on me that when I go to events or places as a guest, where I either don't have my equipment with me, or am not allowed to have it with me, having a proper telephoto lens, strong low light performance and...Well all the little things really - are pretty important to me haha. I guess if you are able to always have your gear around when you want to be taking good shots then it doesn't matter as though.
You're so right not to mention insurance which may cost $10 to $15 per month or more for that $1000 dollar phone
@@Quivex1you can get tje best smal digital camera for that money 1200
@@LEVEL2270 Insurance is a key issue for me. There are many credit cards that offer cell phone insurance as a perk, as long as you pay your monthly service bill through that credit card. But, most of these insurance perks cap out at $800, once a year. That will cover a mid-range phone just fine. But, it will not fully cover the new flagship phones.
The biggest issue here for me would definitely be camera performance. But one could buy a nice camera for the cost difference between this and the base tier flagship and keep that for a long time while you continue to buy budget phones.
It's interesting. I'd probably consider it. The base tier flagships are just getting more expensive while pulling more and more features out. It's silly.
I really like the design of A54. Every phone should have some bezels they prevent you from accidental touches and cases can fit better. Cases can wrap around the phone more securely if it has some side bezels.
But Samsung has accidental touch protection feature
Is they kept the screen of the s23 ultra flat it would have been so nice... i can't handle phones with screen edges since im clumsy af, that's the only reason i'm reluctant in buying the ultra...
@@rubyrubi1165I've been using it for past 4 months (s23ultra) there's no accidental touches Sam has masterd curved display.
@@rubyrubi1165I was the same as you, so I was really considering the S23+. But I went to the store just to try both. I ended up with the ultra. It's not that bad of a curve. Put a phone case and everything is good. I felt like the S23+ felt like an iphone
@@rubyrubi1165S24 will feature a flat screen
3:12 - @JerryRigEverything is appreciating the callout.
@AquaEmbers Jerry:Well I did not expecting that
I love watching these types of videos, I imagine the majority of people watching your videos are actually somewhat into tech and care about specs to a certain degree, but I think you might be surprised how many people don’t care about phone specs. I know so many people, especially people who I work with who don’t care about their phone, all they want is something that can make phone calls texts and maybe occasionally get on Facebook or RUclips and that’s pretty much it. Theyre not worried about a name or the specs or anything like that. It’s quite different from how RUclips portrays it
This has been the state of tech reviews for as long as I can remember. A balance between precise specs and general info is helpful for most.
Nowadays Most Tech RUclipsrs do reviews as if we are all Content Creator, doing RUclips and TitkTok everyday, or playing 60FPS game 3 hours a day.
Most people just want to listen to music, going to work. We check Bank account, write a lot of messages for Family and friends, watch some Netflix and RUclips videos. We check flights for holidays...we do basics and a good phone doing basics is required.
@@iAfroTech Camera and battery life is something people still care about, apart from the price. So someone who takes alot of photos and videos would go for a70s or s23. But yea theres plenty of phones that can bridge that gap even better in xiaomi, oppo ect.
I agree@@sigfigronath , having a good battery life and enough cameras are what matters for most people. That's why those Samsung A smartphones, still work all around the world.
My mom owns a A41 since 2020. I could definitly buy this A54 if she need a new one.
Hey, just switched from a A32 to the A54 last week. Great update imo! Switching accounts & settings was a breeze. Loving it from my week usage from my picture taking, video watching & battery life. Great phone if budget is a must! 👍🏼
I also doing this
Sorry, but there is almost no difference between the two.
Hello 👋 I use a32 4g for my RUclips videos , I have plan to buy a54 5g, My concern is the camera only, Is there any difference about the camera between a32 and a54 ? thanks for the response 🙏
I had the a53 just upgraded to the a54, much cleaner appearance then the older model, looks like the s22 and s23 quality bc they went with the glass back and the cameras now also stick out a bit to give it that better feel and look then the older model. Did a comparison to the iphone 13 pro, my a54 was twice as clear streaming on fb live, the iPhone lost lighting and contrast where as mine didn't. Highly recommend this phone its also half the price. Winner winner chicken dinner. 😮
Actually bought this for my parents. They are just used to Samsung phones at this point. They were adamant to transfer from the A71 even though they were having problems already. I'm just happy to give them something better.
As an A71 user, this is good to know. It's nice to know that when it's time to upgrade, I don't have to break the bank to do it.
I have the A71 for almost 3 years and it is starting do get a bit slower at times, but the storage is 88% full somaybe I need to delete things to get maybe 1 more year of use
how old is your parent's a71?
Great phone for the parents! They aren’t able to appreciate (or even notice) the flagship features like we can!
I bought my mom the a71 and I will never buy one of these again. Not only do they have 60% of the flagship processor power, they only get quarterly updates, not monthly. Bugs are common and take longer to get patched.
I really hope samsung doesn't abandon their FE line of phones. All the power of last year's flagship for close to the price of a budget phone is such a good value.
If I'm not mistaken, Samsung will remove the A7 series and replaced the position with the FE version.
@@nazareta let's hope it's true
I think it's the opposite way round.
1-FE phones are not bought at the price or time when released. They are bought eventually 6-8 months later over online sales.
2-Its heavily eating the share of A50s/70s when at sale
3-The basic model of the premium S series also gets affected since everyone prefers FE over the basic.
All in all, although it sells, it harms 2-3 major models of the company.
Lastly one of the major selling feature of s20fe was snapdragon processors which got replaced in S21FE+poor battery life
Future of FE looks bleak
@@vaibhavanandjee according to leaks, the new FE phone might have an Exynos chipset once again
@@vaibhavanandjee yup it looks bleak and it sucks. I don't like the A series because the performance just isn't there. The FE phones have solid performance though for usually a very good price, especially with how often they go on sale.
Also I have an s21fe and it has a snapdragon 888, maybe because I'm in the US idk. But yeah if they do continue the FE line I hope they don't switch to exynos.
MKB Thank you for sharing this information because being the tech nerd I am love to see all of the details about other devices so Thanks again for sharing ✌️💯
Love ya always looking out for the regular peeps
I got the A52s and it's really impressive for the price. I never go for top of the line products because usually they are overpriced and you end up paying more for less. Value is what matters most and midrange products is where it's at.
Same, it's better than the A53, amazing phone and the camera is really good!
just buy a 2 year old flagship, dooh
I too have the A52s, I was using an iPhone 12 Pro but couldn't justify paying so much to upgrade to the iPhone 13
The A52s is more than capable and produces great photos in most situations, I have been pleasantly surprised by it's performance.
@@MESSY-AF That's a pretty outdated advice and doesn't really hold anymore. At least not in this price range. These chips are already equal in performance and better in efficiency than 2 year old flagships. Not to mention getting half the software support.
@@RashidTak i could not believe, so i looked it up.
In Benchmark Performance, this chip is not on the same level as the one in the s21, but very close to the one in the s20. So 3 years, not 2, but still i am actually impressed i expected worse performance, so thaks for the comment. Effiency is most likely the same in the S21 and the A54, they actually got the same set of cores and have both 5nm node, but the s20 has a chip with an 7nm process, so here the A54 is actually more efficient.
I never thought I’d see the day again that you’d do a mid Range/low end phone again. “A series” been under the radar for years with no exposure.
no exposure only for western markets. asian reviewers review these upon release
@@VinceIsDatBitch 🤕
Man, you did a great video review! I'm glad I watched you first.
I've had the A54 for about 4 months now. Coming from the S10.
It's a fantastic phone for the price and I highly recommend.
Does everything you need it to do including using playstation remote to play my ps5 games on my lunch break.
The down side is the laggyness between apps. If you're running Android auto, spotify, maps, instagram and the internet it can take up to 2-3 seconds (at worst) to switch apps.
The camera is nothing special also, but pics still look better than my s10 did.
The battery lasts me all day with spotify and Bluetooth going at work.
Great phone for $500au
I can't believe how good this phone is, i got it for 280 usd and it's basically a flagship
Do you think its faster than the s10? I have a s10+ and im thinking of going to the a54
@@nickguima360 yes it is, it's a great upgrade from any s10 model.
@@nickguima360 it is faster in cpu and is worse if you consider gaming, overall is pretty good and no lags
@@usernamequaalquerrI use discord most of the time,with Spotify on and switching to RUclips how is its battery and also does it support ldac?❤
Great video as usual, although I think it's time to upgrade to 6 pillars and add Longevity here, especially with smartphones peaking the way they have, people are more and more concerned with how long a smartphone will last.
Agreed and on that note, I am still using my A52 which I bought a few days after release. It is my daily and is still going strong!
I like to see Longevity also, but I understood it's very hard to do the proper test for it. Plus, I don't think that flagship's longevity will ever justify its margin compared to the lower end (having twice the price won't get twice the lifetime of the less expensive one).
I think how long the phone will last can be easily predicted by its build quality and performance. I didn't mention battery since it's relativly cheap and easy to replace it.
People usually upgrade their phone because either it's slow (performance issue) or it's broken (build quality issue). A phone hardly ever completely die because of inside component failure.
@@Alpha-kl4jo Nope. Many phones engineered in specific settings by the factory with multiple considerations. Whether these considerations work better or worse for the products' longevity, depends heavily on each company policies.
Longevity is the kryptonite of tech companies and tech reviewers alike though. If people embrace longevity the companies can't get away with releasing cosmetic refreshes of the same phone every year. And tech reviewers won't have the constant stream of "new" tech to review either.
I think an even more interesting way to look at this is that for the S23 Ultra you're paying 200% more for a phone that only gives you a roughly 20% better experience
Exactly and 99% of the people who buy expensive phones don't even use 10% of its capacities
Honestly though phones depreciate like heck anyways. I got my S22 Ultra refurb for $650 and that's only a bit over a year old. You do run a bit of a lottery with QC, but that's what the refurb return policy is for compared to buying used.
@@purplefishy8164 yeah, no one's needed better cameras in like half a decade +. Most people can't even tell.
All cameras on these mid range phones are kick ass and better than the best we were using a decade ago by far.
It's like 8k displays. Who cares at that point? What does that do for me?
We are just way way way past needing simply more performance on things. We need DRASTIC innovations that NEED that power and specs. We have nothing that's needed it in years and years other than games of course.
Why do I need a fancy new phone to scroll RUclips and Twitter like I always have since I had smart phones.
replaced s9 due to camera failure(with the same gpu as a54) with s21 plus almost 2 years ago, flagship phone have much better GPU, allowing me to play my favorite games at max settings at almost 60fps, while s9 is running at around 20 some fps, s23 with its fast GPU is actually approaching laptop gtx 1650 level in performance, allowing it to run extremely demanding games as good as gaming phones(RAZER, ASUS ROG) could
@@lsp6032 for real emulation is super amazing on flagship phones. S9 can do some PS2 emulation but god damn I've seen people doing switch emulation on S23 and it be working great.
I have an S23, which I was able to trade my old Galaxy Note 8 in for, very happy with the phone, although I don't think I'd notice if I stepped it down to the A54. I don't take picture or video, and I lock my screen to 120hz anyway, if I didn't get my phone to play some games on, I could very well use the A54 without issue at all maybe other than the fact that it's 6.4 inches instead of 6.1 which is a size I'm very comfortable with
Thanks for the great review and helping me make up my mind.
You're great at doing reviews!
That JerryRigEverything reference at 3:06 😂
For a student the A lineups are like godsend, I use A72 which was around 450 dollars, has water resistance, decent camera and 8gb ram 256 gb storage and also has a headphone jack.Although it has 90hz refresh rate it is great with battery and charges really fast
Ive been rocking the a71 for 3 years now and it still works amazingly well and has a great battery life too.
I'm super happy with mine too
I got the A52 5G, and it's pretty much the same as yours, with the only differences being obviously the 5G, 120 Hz refresh rate, and the absence of a telephoto camera.
I've got an a70, works perfectly and don't plan on upgrading soon
My dad got A70 in 2019, mom got refurbished A71 this Jan, i was hoping for A54 (coz A73 already was out of budget) but since there is time in my clg, i will wait for S22FE till oct (festival sale time in India) or will just buy this (but in oct)
@@pixsled my dad's A70 is a little slow, but that fir me I bet wouldn't even notice that, only noticeable thing for him really is that it is almost full (coz he gets many doc from office) + they really kicked out the camera now, it was wayyyyy better in 2019
Always come to your vids when I need to upgrade. I’m no longer the brand snob I used to be, and much more the frugal consumer these days. Your videos are very helpful.
I also have the A54 now the 256GB Awesome lime version as a second phone to play with and for work and it's really a little more than a midrange phone! It's smooth the 120hz refresh rate works and feels the same as my S23+, sometimes i think why would you buy a flagship if you almost can have the same experience with a midrange device like this for half of the price?
the A50 series lineup has been just insane good bang for buck over the last few years. The A54 looks to be a nice stepup over the A53 which I just got a few months ago and my A51 before this was very good as well. You really arn't missing much over a flagship in this line other than wireless charging.
Samsung was doing a pretty mediocre job with their midrange phones, for more than a decade in my opinion. But they're really nailing it in the past few years
I got my A51 when it was released in 2019 and it's still going strong. It was moving laggy and buggish at a couple points but the updates fixed that. the latest update was incredible, made the phone feel fresh and modern. I wish i could allocate some of the internal storage (128gb)to the ram but I dont have that option. i've used up my 4gb ram. it's still going but I think i'm going to need a flagship soon
I'm using A73 which I think its also good one over a54
AFAIK, the allocate some intrnal storage to RAM feature on recent android phone is quite a "gimmick". By default android will use some interal storage if it run out of RAM. The difference between the older and recent is you can specifically tell android exactly how much storage to allocate on recent android phone. Also using storage as RAM doesn't give decent performance since the memory speed of storage is way much slower than actual RAM
Their A52s just set the A5X bar too high which is why I still recommend it over the A53 and A54 *IF* they can still get it for $249 bucks brand new.
What's nice about these midrange phones is that they can get better over time with all the system and UI updates. I noticed that my A53 is running a bit smoother than when I got it thanks to all the major Android updates.
I dont agree a lot of these midrange phones gets slower after 2 years because of slow chips
nope lol still rocking my A71 as my main phone and its still good as new@@sawyiier4870 😂
The a53 has an snapdragon chip and the a54 exynos which is slower
@@youtubeaccount7137wrong. The exynos in this case is the most powerful
@@youtubeaccount7137A53 does not have a snapdragon chip
I think it would be intresting if you compare mid range phones with older flagships like A54 with S20 for example
As an s22ultra user, based on your review i could've bought the a54 and been just fine with the phone. I only bought the ultra bc it was the best at the time phone but i dont use it to its full capability i do like its form factor more than smaller phones now but i could readjust to it. The a54 would do everything i need it to with a decent display same ui and cameras would do what i need them to.
I believe the frame is plastic, rather than aluminum. However, the fact that you mistakenly concluded that it was aluminum says something about the build quality and premium feel, despite the frame being plastic. The only issue would be obviously the durability, but I'm pretty sure many people will be putting it in a case anyway.
true its plastic, and yea obviously we put case on our phones hahaha
The plastic feels pretty solid. It's much better than on cheaper phones
Says something about the preparation
I have the A53 5G.(previous model) I can say that I've had this phone for a little over ~6ish months and I truly love it. Camera is great, tons of space, great battery life, great game performance (can run most games at 60FPS besides maybe the *most* intensive games). I got it for around $300 and I would still recommend that if anyone wants to go with a cheaper option without losing out too much.
i also kinda feel like they downgraded the cameras compared to the previous gen. i know that megapixels aren't everything but even at the store just comparing the cameras side by side the a53's camera looks ALOT better.
Still rocking my now 2 year old A52 here! usually I'd feel a hunger for a replacement at this point. But I still genuinely enjoy using it every day. Only downside I can really find is the somewhat slow performance sometime, but that really doesn't justify a new phone for at least a few more years tbh.
I have the a53, the camera sucks...
@@wesleydjodo8823 I'm still rocking the 3 year old A51! I still enjoy using it daily, it gets the job done. I'm a pretty avid photographer and the cameras are decent, although, they are definitely starting to show their age as the camera technology has improved a lot in the A5X series since 2020. I get lag or hiccups in performance sometimes especially heavy multitasking. I heavily use my phone and it’s gotten cosmetic wear and tear like scratches despite being in a case. The screen has gotten some burn-in from heavy usage the last 3 years. I love my phone, but I would love to have a phone with a better and more powerful camera system.
buying this phone is roulette. Great when it wants to work. Terrible when it doesnt. mines less than a year old and no long will install updates no matter what i do. Battery life was TERRIBLE until i turned off always on display and changed it to 60hz. DO NOT buy an A54 at the current price point. Spend a fraction more and get a pixel 7
I love the way you did your sound check, been watching flossy, Carter, huh? Great video really enjoyed.. You have a friend in Columbus Ohio :-)!
Well written outro wordings mkbhd. That's what you are really excellent at.
I feel like no matter which of these phones you bought you would feel validated in your decision after watching this video. The person who bought the a54 would see that they got a phone that can compete in a lot of ways with the bigger phone for much cheaper, while the person who bought the s23 Ultra would see that they got real, significant extra features across the board for the money they spent.
Great video Marques! I ended up buying the A54 and a Tab s6 lite fore less than half of my other option which was the flagship. I'm pretty happy with the decision thanks again for your insight!
Very good video with important points like the camera often being the biggest trade up between classes and also a huge thumbs up for mentioning that in most normal (day) conditions mid range phones offer very good quality (almost on flagship level) with only minor difference from expensive high end models because that's what many people don't uderstand (that you don't always need perfect cameras to capture something). However I would like to correct you on the fact that the S23 Ultra does not have LTPO display and in no circumstance it goes down to 1Hz, never. When not locked to 60Hz, the Ultra will only switch between 24Hz when idling (no touches) or 120Hz when used (display is being touched) with the transition being literally instant. It does however switch to 25/30/50/60/90 and possibly even more when video or game etc. has that refresh rate.
Greatly appreciate the video brother, keep up the fantastic work.
I could watch 15 other videos on the same phone, device, content, etc. but, it's MKBHDs videos that give me the definitive answers and best overall assessments before making a final purchase decision. Been that way for years literally. Appreciate the format bro, stay on top!💯💪🏾
2:24 The A54 doesnt have aluminium rails as you said, its a plastic frame with a glass back
Marques, I'm actually only watching this video because I am considering the A54 model because of the expandable storage. I'm just confused about the security and having to deal with a cloud and being able to keep photos and videos and documents long-term if the phone were to break without having expandable storage.
Got my grandmother the A24, which is like 160$.
Maybe because it's new, but the snappiness and performance of that phone is quite impressive for how cheap it was. I was expecting a laggy disaster, but it turned out to be a great phone that I'd seriously consider getting if I was on a budget.
I'm using A22 (it doesn't have an NFC like A23). I've been using this phone for around 2 years. I love this phone. The battery lasts for 2 days. Smooth gaming experience like COD. Incredible space. Camera is good and sharp. Many of my jobs are done with this phone as well. My experience so far has been amazing, and it has everything I needed.
Did your grandma like it? I'm planning to buy my mom new phone too, she's quite old so she doesn't really care about the techy stuff but I want her to have a nice phone
@@lj5604 Yes. She just complains that it isn't as simple as her old flip phone.. which is to be expected.
@xevavexa9649 I'd recommend you to upgrade because of NFC, everything is becoming digital these days. NFC is only getting more handy
@@kiwi.kiwi. You're right. That's the main reason I'm considering changing my phone, but I haven't made my decision yet. I'm torn between the A54 and the A24. I'm not sure if I need more; it might be overkill, and I don't want to pay extra since the A22 has served me very well.
Using the 8gb/128gb version, and I can say you're right. Display is great, handles games well. Honestly, it feels like a flagship. The bezel influence goes away with time.
It doesn't feel like flagship really, incomparably worse screen, with both worse colors and *much* less bright gives it away instantly. Camera, speakers, feeling in the hand, speed of the phone in demanding apps, multitasking, etc. Flagships are a different world, and it feels instantly in every possible way, as soon as you pick it up before even unlocking the phone, which everyone can see in a random phone carrier store with phones displayed. That doesn't mean midrange phones are necessarily bad, but to say it feels like flagship (especially to mention games where some games have literally half the fps) is wrong.
@@NiohNiohYT It feels like a flagship to him and thats the only thing that matters, of course you are gonna notice the differences when u use them side by side, but lets be honest u are never gonna do that, in the real world experience is great and for the price its even better
@@NiohNiohYT You couldn't be more wrong. The A54 actually feels very much like a flagship. This is also due to the better workmanship with Gorilla Glass on the front and back. And what you say about the display is nonsense. The specialist magazine chip measured the display of the A54 at over 1400nits. And you should take a look at the extensive measurement tests before you tell such nonsense. Just 3-4 years ago, the values of the A54 were hardly achievable even for flagships. If you think that flagships are a different world, you have to use such a smartphone excessively nowadays to see the differences. You should check out the direct, real-time comparisons between the S23+ and the A54 here on RUclips. There is nothing that the 95% of normal users would notice. And then there's the fairy tale that you could already tell in the shop or when you first set it up - it works exactly the same as with the S models. However, since the 21 series, none of them have had a memory card extension. And how many S models with eSim/Dualsim function PLUS simultaneous memory card use are there? I'll tell you: the A54 is all alone on the market. The competition doesn't even have that. By the way, I've always had S-models, but now the middle class has gotten so good that only posers buy an S-class just to show off.
@@svend.7324 Nope, it feels nothing like flagship
@@svend.7324 wrong, the only competition at the price range which doesn't offer expandable memory is the Pixel 6a. Xiamoi, Oppo, Oneplus and RealMe all have phones at that range which offer the mentioned features.
Sometimes it’s nice to watch MKBHD videos because you just know the video quality and audio quality will be the best you watched that day! Y’all are an incredible team at the studio!
actually a guy named shevon salmon makes slicker videos
Weird that you mention this on this specific video because in this one I can hear a hiss in the background the whole time during the take at 10:20
Quite happy with my A54. Two things I did not like - I had to buy USB-C to 3,5mm jack adapter since there is no 3,5mm jack and I still want to use my wired headphones. And 2nd - the sticking out camera lenses... I never use leather pouches or any other kind of cases. So now when I put the phone on a table, it wiggles. But for the rest, I am pretty happy with the phone. Got it for free when prolonging the contract and I am not hanging on the phone that much that I would ever need more.
I liked how easy was to transfer everything from my old A14... just plug the USB cable, set a few things and in 10 minutes I had all my photos / videos / programs from the old one in the new one. That's really cool and easy.
Thank you for this in depth analysis of these phones! This was really helpful.
So many good things packed in one video! Brilliant review as usual, creative signature style outro, hint of that Bentley which I'm so eager to see on Auto Focus, and the cherry on top was the Supra reference. You nailed this Marques! Kudos to your whole team as well.
Can't believe I had to scroll this far to see someone comment on the Bentley flex in this vid. Thank you.
1:29 Some phones have a 6th pillar:
Software bugs and flaws.
E.g. Google Pixels (bugs) or Huawei (no Google apps).
I think the biggest difference will be longevity through updates. My A70 and A71 both became very slow with each update, whereas my S10 kept up performance for 5 years before I traded it in.
What phone did you buy? I am currently still on the S10
@@Hamtham_ S22 Ultra. Definitely recommend the S23 Ultra over this one.
This was an important comparison for me as im going to buy A54 in coming days. Thank you MKBHD
I was thinking of buying the A54 as a replacement for my very old Note 8 and then I found a great condition used S21 Ultra for about $30 cheaper and went with the Ultra. The Ultra's battery was still in good condition and the thing that made me chose the Ultra was the lack of wireless charging of the A54 plus the Ultra looks nicer IMO.
you chose well. the S series of a few previous years is superior to the A54
Expect heating problems with S21 series lineup. 1 of our family member uses an S21 Ultra. And his complain is heating problem.
S21U uses Snapdragon 8 gen1, which is associated with heating problems and battery a drainer.
And welcome to the club of people buying a 1-3years old flagship phone with a price of new midrange phone.
@@nicholaswolfwood1300 lmao are you upset ?
@@GGJ230 Why would I be? I'm using the S23U and iPhone XR🤧
@@nicholaswolfwood1300 didn't ask , you seem really against people buying something worth the money.
I use midrange devices, but what I've seen from my family and friends using high end models is that they work well for longer.
That flagship chipset can handle tasks with less lag for more years and will still be as good as a newer midrange chipset by then.
it makes sense in a way. Processors after years of constant work day after day get tired and start to slow down (Apple is very much aware of this) but they'd probably function on par or better than a mid range after a few years of use.
@@zytoses9223 Not quite what I meant. The apps and the OS get heavier by each update as new features appear.
The older midrange processors struggle with the extra tasks while the older flagships can still keep up with the newer midrange processors.
I have an old Samsung tab lying around which works fast on stock android compared to the laggy mess it was with the final Samsung software update for that model.
Add to that the fact that we don't really re-apply thermal paste to the CPU like we do on Computers, so heating and thermal throttling can cause them to work slower as well.
@UsuallyClueless ah, well the point still applies anyway I guess, but yeah your right. Although an older flagship would be able to handle more demanding updates it may have to work harder to do those jobs, and more work means more battery, so yeah, everyone loses out technically whether it be mid or top tiers. Mids pay less and lose usability, tops pay more for longer use but battery shortens as their processors work to keep up.
This! A midrange works well for about 2 years, while a flagship usually lives for about 5 years and then its still usable, just slower.
Buy an old flagship for a price of new midrange phone.
I don't recommend S21 series as they are using Snapdragon Gen 1. Which is associated with heating problems and a battery drainer.
When it comes to phone cameras the most important factor is the person taking the photograph. We have a framed photo on our living room wall of our dog that was that was taken on a Samsung Galaxy 3 phone. To this day it still looks stunning..
I switched to a Samsung a54 from a Oppo A3s. So you could only imagine how much of a big jump that is for me. I've always been a Samsung fangirl. Originally, I've been YEARNING for the Samsung s21 Ultra until such time I forgot about it. Having the A54 is honestly such a premium feeling for me. I love everything about it.
I love the percentage point style of comparison, its something i do in my head when comparing phones
Both are great purchases in the networking area as well. The A54 is the first A50 to include WiFi 6, so you'll get improved networking for the rest of your time with it. The A53 only gets WiFi 5, though. And the S23 gets WiFi 7. If you haven't heard of it, that says enough. It's super new.
S23 lineup doesn't have WiFi 7. It is software disabled by Samsung, eventhough the SD Gen 2 is WiFi 7 compatible. Wait for 2024.
first one was a52s
@@saumgranmayehh95 got dam you're right
7:00 That's the most subtle call to action I've ever heard of
Peak brightness is the biggest issue with my A53. It says it does 800 nits, but when I go out on a sunny day, I can barely see anything. Sometimes it gets to a point where I can't use my phone at all. Also now and then I experience some serious lag. I think the strength of the chipset get noticable only when you use your phone for at least a couple months.
This video is great and I'd love to see an update in 6 months. Only thing I think is missing is the 2 year old flagship which is now around the same price as the midrange phone would be. Would be cool to see the comparison there as well.
A34 vs s23 ultra also seems like a real good budget option. Got a month ago the A34 5G for 270€ to replace my old s8 and it feels high end to me love it
What about the notch and the weight ?
@@Im_Z_4747 I paid 270€ for a phone that feels like a flagship, runs all games I got so far pretty nice, battery lasts way more than my 7 years old samsung s8 ever did.
I dont mind the notch at all considering the savings
@@Im_Z_4747 i just checked google about weight (never thought about it so I was curious when you asked) and here are the results: s23 ultra = 234 grams // A54 weights 202 grams and the samsung A34 = 199 grams.
But then again I never even thought about that or worried at all and as you can see more expensive models weight more
I paid 300 euros, which is ok for my country, for an A52s. 3.5mm jack, snapdragon 7th gen and it is simillar to the A34 in performance. I am fine with my choice, even if this phone is 2 years old model.
I have both phones, the s23 ultra and a54, and let me tell you, i slightly prefer the a54 because of its size and the performance on it. It's amazing for its price.
Internet speed comparison using mobile data and wifi started being an important factor when I saw the difference between some flagship models vs the cheaper ones
Good job, Marques. We need more reviews on the A series phones.
A34 is a better value IMO. Cameras a probably worse than A54 but it has comparable performance, a similar 120hz OLED display, and slightly better battery life.
6:26 Subtle Bentley flex
I'd be great to have at least one video of this kind per year, comparing a flagship vs a premium midrange from the same company. I do agree that we are at a point in time where we get diminishing returns with flagships
Excellent comparison. Thank you so much for this useful information.
Great video! I love what you're doing nowadays. Keep up the great work. I really appreciate you
I think it should be compared to the regular S23, those now are really close considering the price gap
You're missing the point, that a $400 phone is about 90% the value of a $1200 one.
thanks for only words,without music,music disturbs, very professional video,thank you, keep it so! it is rarely nowadays
You raised a very good point here on the overall feel of a mid-ranger vs flagship. If you haven’t used the more expensive phones (as most people who opt for mid-ranger do), you won’t even notice the small & subtle differences between the two - but if you have, you’ll notice the differences quite easily.
My S22 got stolen and I don’t come from money (that sweetheart was worth 1 year of savings..) so I obviously have to settle for a cheaper phone as a replacement. Was seriously considering the A54 but then got held back by its “A series” status and those small, subtle differences compared to the superior S siblings: having to wait to open heavier apps, slower fingerprint reader, thicker bezels (yes I do care about ‘em), not to mention the slightly more obvious ones like the lack of Dex & lower quality zoom photos (and believe me, once you’ve had the sweet taste of using tele lens to optically zoom, your photo-taking life will NEVER be the same). People who don’t come from flagship phones won’t get this and will probably write me off as a spoiled brat for not wanting to go back to mid-ranger but I know & feel the differences, and it matters to me. Hence why I’m planning to save up for an S23 hopefully by early next year🤞
I went from A52s 5g to 23 ultra recently. Tbh i don't really see the much difference except i going to missed the 3.5mm jack. Yea the cameras are way better but I'm not a hardcore photographer. As long as it can shoot decent photo that's okay for me.
As for the bezel, it really don't bother me at all. I still switch to my A series for gaming because of the 3.5mm jack
Because a52 has a Snapdragon processor@@subzerohorus
liked the review, hoping that we get an update on that debate of "an old flagship or a new midrange". When recommending phones usually it's a question that commonly arises. I still recommend 1-2 year old flagships since I think they'll last longer, but curious bc of the current state of things
I agree but I think you're better off getting a 1 to 2 year old flagship only because you're still guaranteed updates for at least 3 to 4 years and it seems like even though the flagship is a year or 2 old it still competes with the new mid-range at times even surpassing speed and performance. Side Note the new glass gorilla glass come out every year is a joke
I bought a new Huawei P30 in January 2020 when it was an "old flagship". I am still using it with no problems whatsoever, it's performance hasn't degraded in any area.
@@yoninja9164 most of phones are supported for 2-3 years. Now some android for 4 or 5 (just some). Android is still not a good choice on second hand market.
I hope EU will push producers to offer spare parts for phones.
Won't even comment on how oems are delayed with security updates (even Samsung if you don't count flagship from this year. S23 after s24 will get updates with week delay, then 2, then up to month delay).
Edit: this is why android phones are worth close to nothing on second hand market and this is why somebody who pays iPhone price for Android phone imo makes a bad business. Every single android oem sucks in terms of updates. Lately even Google itself. I hope Microsoft will came up with new system. They at least take security updates serious.
3:35 "responsive" (takes half a second to enter an already open app, on a 2023 flagship, for 1200 dollars)
Edit: that is probably due to performance, not the display.
This man has become my go-to when getting information to decide on new phone purchases.
Thank you
tengo el a54 y la verdad la calidad del panel ufff. Tuve hace un par de años atras el a50 y luego tuve otras marcas hasta que extrañaba el ecosistema de samsung y volví: el a54 es grandioso!
I am really enjoying my A54 here in Australia it also came with a Samsung Watch 4 via redemption. Quite a steal for the price imo
Awesome, it's nice to know that you can get a great phone without spending a heap on the flagship expensive models.
I had the z fold 4 but my mind was set on the pixel fold for years but I knew I'd lose some features but also gain some features with the pixel fold. To make up for the spen I brought a universal stylus with a rubber ball tip so now I'm able to write on the cover screen and inner screen , then to try and make up for Dex I cast to my Chromecast with Google TV ..
What makes or brakes a phone in my opinion is the software support. I like using phones for at least a few years, so software support is very important to me.
Yes, yes, yes, finally a video that this channel was all about. We need more of this, the master of the craft comparing a "normal people - affordable" phone to the flagships. Felt so good watching this video and confirming that it is exactly like that. Please do xiaomi version of this. Marques is an inspiration ✌💯
I think you should dedicate at some a small segment to the radio performance between devices. They are not identical. Different frequency combinations, carrier aggregation combinations, and antenna performance mean speeds could be halved on a cheaper phone (especially uplink), and one phone may have nonexistent weak signal performance while another may be usable. Screens and cameras don't mean anything if a phone performs poorly as an actual communication device. I know the Pixel devices I've tested only support 3/4 global positioning networks while the A54 and up support all 4, which is another thing that will make a difference out in the field besides mobile network performance.
Wonder how this phone would compare when coming from a Z Flip.. Could be interesting to compare the two having such a massive price difference
Great video. I love how you just laid it out for me.
Such an interesting comparison! I'm curious to see how the latest mid range compares with a flagship from a couple years back. I have the S20+ which is almost identical (battery life aside), or even a little smoother, as the day I bought it, my mother's A52 looks very very similar in many aways, it genuinely impressed me. A three years old S20 vs the brand new A54 would be an interesting test
I have the s20 ultra i would never switch to an A series from this haha
I just wrote something similar. Imo a S22+or even a S21+ is hands down better than a new A series phone.
S20+ will get updates for like 1 more year. While A54 will get updates for 5 years. Long term support. Better battery.
@@oootkarsh idc about the updates anymore and battery life doesnt bother me i prefer the one with the better specs
@@oootkarsh Will A54 last that long to get 4-5 years of software support? 😂
I have used the 2021 model of the A5X series, the Galaxy A52s 5G for the past year or so. I have also used the Asus Zenfone 8 with a Snapdragon 888 SoC and I have to admit the A52s still remains my most comfortable, most usable device I've ever used.
Sure, after a year of use it has a tendency to stutter a little bit if you reboot it, most app loading times take a fraction of a second longer and it is overall not quite as fast as a modern Snapdragon 8-series SoC but it comes damn near close. The A5X series displays with the 120Hz AMOLED screens are absolutely gorgeous with high contrast, amazing saturation (often much better than the double MSRP Zenfone 8), it still comes with a headphone jack AND it has amazing battery life. While the cameras aren't world record breaking by any means, they're serviceable and are decent enough if you don't rely on them too much.
Overall, I think Samsung checks many, many boxes with the A52, A52s and A54 series (A53 was lack luster though with a weaker SoC).
I ain't reading allat
A52s is the best phone of all time. Price, and what it offers for the price, there's no phone to match that.
Love your content. I wanna ask, what is the weather app you using at 6:53 ?
Using the A34 which had A54 beat in terms of processor. Rest is same, it was a great advice from you. Thanks.
Rest is for sure not the same... check camera specs a54 vs a34 and a34 does not support hdr10+...plastic back vs glass back
I used to always get the ultras and notes, I recently got the base s23 and I'm very happy with it, I was hoping it would be smaller but it's a phone.
i just traded in my A51 for the new A54. Given the lack of availability of the oppos, vivos, nothings of the east Samsung has got a great option in this phone in the mid range segment. i loved my a51, only had to switch it because the android updates were not coming fast enough and my work email kept getting blocked because of that. Also, pleasantly surprised to use 5G in this range, pretty quick. Can't wait to install a custom kernel when it gets old to improve performance.
LOL! Custom kernel on a 2023 Samsung. Good luck buddy, might wanna return that while you still can.
Even if you COULD figure out a way to flash something, nobody bothers with Samsung garbage because of their outdated hardware and borderline rapist mentality software.
Nothing isn't from the East.
you make great vids bro thanks
I bought A54 earlier this week. And i'm loving it! It's a jump jump for me, I used to have a low-tier Redmi... and i feel like a jumped into the future by buying a samsung's mid-range phone... Screem is great, and camera looks amazing. So far, no downsides
I had one, but what about the battery 🔋 🤔
same here, upgraded to the A54 from a Redmi 8. feels like i could use the A54 forever 😂
@sulpphy yes the mobile 📱 is amazing for it's price