The Samsung Galaxy A55 vs. Galaxy S23 FE is unlikely for one of our dedicated articles, but Samsung's pricing strategy led us here. After launching this year's flagship Galaxy A55 at €450 (now a little over €400), the company has brought it very close to its budget flagship, the Galaxy S23 FE.
But these tools are by no means equal. The Galaxy S23 FE is still the more expensive of the two (it now sells for €500), but offers a flagship-like 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 more to come, so we'd better get started, but before we do, head over to our specs and compare the Galaxy A55 and S23 FE to get an idea of what to expect in this comparison.
Size comparison
The Galaxy A55 and S23 FE are similar in size, but there are significant differences. The S23 FE is a more compact choice, with a slightly smaller screen (0.2″ difference), resulting in a shorter and narrower body.
The difference in absolute size may not seem like much on paper, but you can feel the difference when you hold the two side by side.
The Galaxy S23 FE almost feels more comfortable in the hand due to the rounded side frame. It feels better to hold, while the Galaxy A55's sharp edges dig into your palm. On the other hand, others like the A55's design more.
Build quality is pretty much the same – Gorilla Glass sheets on the front and back are held together by aluminum side frames. Notably, the A55 leads the way with the latest Gorilla Glass Victos+ sheet on the front, while the S23 FE settles for Gorilla Glass 5. Alternatively, you can have a little more peace of mind with the S23 FE's high IP68 ingress protection. The A55's IP67, which means it has a slightly higher water resistance.
Display comparison
Aside from the screen size, the Galaxy A55 and S23 FE have the same display. If you're looking for a slightly larger panel, the A55's 6.6-inch OLED may suit you better, while the S23 FE's 6.4-inch OLED will appeal to users looking for a more compact solution.
Both display panels support HDR10+; They clock in at 120Hz, the resolution is 1080p+, and we measured the same maximum brightness in both handheld and auto mode. The latter is equally bright with both – in the area 1,000 nits.
Battery life
The difference in battery life between the two devices is night and day, and the smaller cell in the Galaxy S23 FE is partly to blame.
The A55 runs a standard 5,000 mAh unit, while the S23 FE supports a 4,500 mAh battery. But the difference in endurance is so great that we can't just blame it on general ability.
Keep in mind that we're comparing the A55 to the Exynos version of the Galaxy S23 FE because the A55 isn't available in the U.S. yet, because the Snapdragon S23 FE usually has better battery life in all of our tests.
The Galaxy A55 blows the Exynos S23 FE out of the water in our battery life tests. The middle has one Active usage result 13:27 h With S23 FE low pressure 8:28 h active usage point.
Despite its larger screen, the A55 scored better in all four tests. Video playback runtime is twice as long. The Exynos 1480 is much lighter on the battery than the original Exynos 2200.
Charging speed
The charging speed is not the strong suit of either phone. Samsung rates the charging capacity of the A55 and S23 FE at 25W under the Power Delivery standard. A charger is also not included in the retail box.
As expected, despite the S23 FE's smaller cell, the difference in charge time is negligible. The two seem equally slow at the 15 and 30 minute marks, but the A55 is a few minutes faster than the S23 FE at the end of the charging cycle. Still, the difference remains elusive in the real world.
It's worth noting the S23 FE's wireless charging capabilities, which the A55 lacks. The former supports 15W wireless charging and flips wireless charging, which can be useful for your wearable accessories that support wireless charging.
Speaker test
The two handsets feature the same hybrid stereo speaker setup, meaning one of the speakers doubles as a headphone jack. But the tuning looks very different, as well as loud.
The Galaxy S23 FE is undoubtedly the loudest, scoring “excellent” loudness. -23.7 LUFSFollowing the A55 -25.7 LUFSbut still rated as “very good”.
On closer inspection, however, the Galaxy A55 might be a better choice when it comes to audio quality. The Galaxy S23 FE gets a little deeper bass, but it's not noticeable. The A55 sounds cleaner overall, with clearer tones and less distortion at higher volumes.
Performance
It's no surprise to anyone that the Galaxy S23 FE outperforms the Galaxy A55 significantly. After all, the Exynos 2200 in the S23 FE is the flagship chipset, while the Exynos 1480 is a mid-range chip, albeit a recent release.
Memory configurations are the same, with both devices offering 8GB/128GB by default and backed by 256GB of internal storage. The S23 FE only gives you up to 8GB of RAM, but the A55 can go up to 12GB. The latter also has a microSD card slot.
Benchmark performance
We already know that the S23 FE (Exynos 2200) is more powerful, but by how much? Well, in pure CPU benchmarks, the Exynos 2200 outperforms the Exynos 1480 by around 18%, and the difference widens in single-core operations – up to 41%.
With combined workloads like the AnTuTu 10 test, the difference is hard to ignore. The Exynos 2200 is 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-specific tests like 3DMark Wild Life, where the Xclipse 530 GPU in the Galaxy A55 is twice as slow as the S23 FE's Xclipse 920.
Camera comparison
Interestingly, the two devices have very similar camera systems. They offer 50MP main cameras using 1/1.56-inch sensor size, f/1.8 aperture and 1.0µm pixels. Both are optically stabilized. The only difference is that of the suppliers.
The ultra-wide cameras are also the same – 12MP f/2.2 aperture and 123-degree field of view. The S23 FE gets a larger sensor behind the optics.
The Galaxy S23 FE is a more versatile solution as it has an 8MP telephoto camera with 3x zoom. This alone can sway buyers who are on the fence and looking for the best of the two photography-oriented solutions.
Image quality
When it comes to actual image quality, however, the two devices hold very similar specs to their flagship cameras. We are hard pressed to find any meaningful difference between the two. However, the S23 FE's ultrawide resolution produces slightly better images – they're cleaner and have a wider dynamic range.
The 3x telephoto camera beats the 2x crop zoom from the A55 any day of the week. This is a very obvious shortcut.
Galaxy A55: 0.6x • 1x • 2x
Galaxy S23 FE: 0.6x • 1x • 3x
The S23 FE pulls ahead at night with better processing and image quality. It could be due to ISP with more capable chipset. In general, images are cleaner and offer a wider dynamic range.
The verdict
Examining the spec sheet, the Galaxy S23 FE is the best bang for the buck despite its hefty price tag. It has superior hardware under the hood and is a more capable photographer as well. And if you're looking for a more compact and comfortable solution, the Galaxy S23 FE will definitely fit your palm better.
A deeper dive reveals that the Galaxy A55 gets a good portion of the same mileage at a slightly lower price. The A55 boasts far superior battery life, similar display quality and features, comparable main camera performance in a variety of situations, and a better stereo speaker setup.
So, unless raw performance and camera versatility are your main priorities, the Galaxy A55 is the more sensible choice of the two.
- low cost.
- Longer battery life.
- Good speakers.
- The biggest display.
Get the Samsung Galaxy A55 for the following
- A more powerful camera setup.
- Much better performance.
- Slightly louder speakers.
- More compact and convenient design.
Get the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE for: