Samsung Galaxy A54 👉 mikeobrienmedia.com/GalaxyA54 Samsung Galaxy S23 👉 mikeobrienmedia.com/S23Plus Samsung's midrange phone looks exactly like the flagship S23, but what is actually different, and which should you buy?
I'm glad you pointed out the obtrusive metal ring around the selfie camera. My S20 FE had it and it drove me nuts! They do it on their budget phones to make them less attractive than the flagships
I have an A52s 5G, it also has the same metal ring, yes it is noticeable, but it doesn't drive me crazy, I don't notice half the time, so it's no an issue for me 😊
A54 has that 2/3 flagship experience, but it's half the price of S23. If i'm budget oriented, i would definitely go with A54 as it is value for money. But if i'm rich enough not to care about my spending, i would go with S23.
Thanks for an amazing review! It almost looks the same but for me it's just the video stabilisation I need to get smooth results when moving from one subject to another and for that reason I would go for S23 plus 😎
Notice the laggy gesture animation at 6:10 on the a54. That's the only reason I spent the extra money to get a flagship Samsung device. The midrange software experience just isn't very good.
So buy the 54 an stop complaining. Some of us like myself will always be flagships there no comparison to the ultra it's a beast. Fyi did you not her him say that the plus is better in every way so technically its a better phone that happens to look the same .....but there not
@@no_name4080 if your paying full price for any phone in 2023 then your doing it wrong . Can't remember the last time I paid full price on the lastest Samsung flag ship because I trade up every cycle . An don't think for one minute the apple fan boys are paying full price either
@@rolins3279 hey no shade on the a54 my wife traded her a52 for it it's a good phone all day probably the best mid range phone , that will have better battery the the s21 by now . But to say it compairs to the s23 plus is misleading
How would you justify the price of A54 when at almost the same price you can buy s21 FE which is having flagship features. I guess s21 FE will make more sense than a54 . 🤔
I watched the Marques Brownlee video comparing the A54 to the S23 Ultra, and he said in the end that the A54 costs 33% of the price but with 78% of the capability of the phone
I recently bought a flagship phone for the first time in my life and the difference in speed, especially when it comes to opening apps and typing, is amazing to me. I didn't think it would be that drastic but it's kind of a completely different experience. That alone makes me unsure if I'd ever be able to go back.
Flagship phones are in a league of their own with all the little touches that make it much more pleasant to use day to day. You’re better off getting one and keeping it for 4 years than a midrange every 2 years.
@@User-cb4jmYup, that's the ideal way to keep one. Although some may prefer a 2 or 3 year upgrade cycle, but going flagship to flagship is probably the bedt way (provided one can afford it)
You may want to redo your speed test section, I could see in the notification bar that something was being downloaded in the background for the A54, which definitely was contributing to that weird lag you saw where the phone would only respond a brief moment after tapping on the icons. Doubly so if it was doing something like e.g. restoring the phone from a backup or doing some kind of setup. Samsung's skin is far too heavy to let that work properly without compromising cpu speed, so I don't think it's quite as bad as that speed test makes it look.
I saw a lot of A54 reviews and about 90% of them mentioned weird lags, hiccups and stutters in the A54 ! Wanna blame something? Blame the Exynos 1380 !
based just on the photo and video comparisons you showed, i'd say i much prefer most of the shots taken on the S23, except maybe for one or two comparisons, but definitely not more the two. i think the shots on the S23 were more natural looking colors, are sharper and had more resolution. the video stabilization seemed better, too. this, then add the cost of the processor and other things like ingress protection and finish, i'd say the 2x cost is justified. but this is not to say that the A54 is a bad phone. in fact, i came upon this video because i am planning to get the A54 myself. My daughter has an A52s and we're very happy with photos it takes. but i don't want to buy the top of the line S23 just because it's better in everything. it's still a lot of money and i don't want to spend it on features i won't regularly use or even appreciate. but of course, there are those who buy top of the line because they just feel more secure knowing what their gadget is capable of and there are lots more of these people than we think. in short, the phones A54 and S23 are meant for two, or three, different kinds of users. you buy what you think is right for you. as long as you're happy, that's money well spent 😄 but, i have to add, i think this is a great video you made and, as i have never considered the S23, i learned alot from it.
Another great option is buying last year's flagships or even the year before. I bought a reconditioned s21 ultra last year instead of going s22 and saved myself a fortune. Even now I can't even remotely justify upgrading because the 21 ultra is still so good. Even this week I seen a very good condition s22 ultra with 512gb for less than £500 here in the UK.
Not in the US or the ones i find they are normally like 100 or 200 dollars cheaper an for me that's not enough of a discount to get a older model phone
Same here. I bought a note 2020 rose gold (last in stock) at the end of 2021 in an emergency. It was less than 50 percent than the actual price and is still going great.
I read that Samsung sells more mid-tier phones, worldwide, than it does its top-tier phones. I went from a Galaxy S9 to an A53, and that's been a clear step up in every way, but especially the camera system.
👋Hello. I currently have an S9 and looking at the one you purchased. Mind telling me how long you've had the new one for? Im glad you like it.. Its so difficult picking phones 😭🤣
@@_sol_8263 I will not tell you what to pick I might recommend you tho, I have tried a52 and 54 so 53 should be good,now it also depends on what you wanna use it. If it's for normal use sure go for it maybe Xiaomi 11t. Do some research on your specific needs. For gaming there's alot of options a52 poco X3 pro poco x4gt redmagic 6 and 6 pro. But yes it's up to you
They okay in mid range segment especially their ecosystem and stable software. But lacking specs(midrange) compared to other brand like Xiaomi. But I'll pick their flagship over other android phone. Shame the pixel does not have local store and authorized service centre here.
As a previous A series user that switched to S series... I know that it looks like the A is neck to neck with the S ... But it isn't. There's a reason why people that tried S don't want to go back to A. It's not very good to lie to yourself that you have "just as good" experience as if you had a proper flagship. A series is good, but Sis simply the better experience
Honestly - there is a difference but it's not substantial by any means. For the price jump on the s23 - the a54 is astonishing value for money. But nothing takes away from the fact that the s23 is superior.
It's on the time for me to change my old Samsung, so I was considering both phones from the A and S series. I decided for the S23+ 512 GB in the end. The sd-slot may sound appealing but I already experienced a loss of data due to sudden malfunction of the card. With a phone memory only you are more motivated to backup your data more often. Then a lot of apps are designed to remain in the phone memory. Not every app can be moved to the sd-card, which can eat a lot of space when there aren't alternatives available or the mobile page is just crappy. So I prefer to have a big memory within the phone. Than the camera performance is definitely superior due to the availability of several modes the A series is lacking. The S23 series is able to take pictures in RAW, which was for me a huge factor. I'm an art historian who travels a lot. It's very great to have the option of taking RAW pictures without the need of transporting a huge professional camera. Especially for photos and videos in bad lighting is the s23 the better option. The guaranteed support for the next five years sound good to me as I'm usually using my phones for about 5 years, because I get used to them in long term and just hate to exchange the phone every 1 to 2 years for a newer model. The s23 is an investment, but definitely justified if you need specifical features. In the case of a normal use the A54 may perform just fine, I guess.
Even if we were still able to move apps to the SD card, it would just be moved back to main storage when google play or whatever sideload app updates those moved installs. I think I experienced this with the A50 before it overheated.
5:10 - It's not about worse tolerances, but the fact that the frame of A54 is plastic, so it must be thicker to keep the phone strong enough and avoid easy bending.
my a50 has borderline no frame and doesn't bend. If the core construction is good, you don't need any fancy frames. But my old 2016 a5 also had a metal frame, and samsung could be less greedy.
@@Daniel-dj7fh , I also had A50 several years ago. Keep in mind that the visible thickness of the frame is not telling the full story. Usually thinner phones tend to have wider frame inside, which is not visible from the outside. In the case of A54, I suppose that the thicker visible portion of the frame is made to compensate for the thinner wall of the plastic, in order to leave more space for internal components.
@@AutomotiveCNC that's what I'm saying, that the structure is on the inside. And that makes more of the regidity than the outside visible frame thickness. Also I've seen teardowns of the a50, it's not that thick
6:25 I got my A54 this week and isn't that slow to open google and other apps as showed on this video, probably fixed by a recent update, i'm loving this phone,, the screen, the battery on 60hz, the camera, everything. also it saved me a lot because in my country those cellphones are so expensive and the A54 was the only good option that I could afford.
I like the size of the S23 plus but I don't like the huge difference between it and the Ultra. If Samsung can release a similar size with the plus but with the specs of the Ultra and without the pen, that would be great! Call it S23 Pro, it doesn't matter.
Very well-made video. Thank you. One thing you missed though, and that will be the concern of many more "advanced" photographers, is the difference within the camera menus for both, as, for example, using both the A53 and S9+, for old the S9+ is, it has quite a bit more features than the A53 menu, that seems little naked compared in Pro mode, etc. Thank you for any insight you would deem important in this area...
I have an s9+ and its screen has started to die, so was looking to upgrade, but i paid £300 for my S9+ and really dont fancy paying out 1k atm to buy a phone, so was looking at the A54, I know the A53 is the model before but have phones moved along so much that the A53 is not that different to the S9+ or is stepping down to mid still noticeable? I am also looking for the SD slot so A54 is winning out as i dont see why the S phones that do duel sims can not do an sd card reader! Did look at post the note20 ultra, but its still £700.
@@Filipomnomnom yeah, most people don't, and in everyday use, the differences are just negligible. Most flagship features like Dex is just nice to have one, and most people don't really use it, they buy it like "maybe it'll be useful someday", but never use it even until they buy a new phone.
Buying a flagship smartphone these days is just for bragging means.. you can get everything you need and more in the midrange category and you'll save up to 50% of your budget, in some cases even more.
I think the budget phone is a great deal when it's new, but after that it falls off. The S23 after 2 years is, and I am confident in saying it, still an amazing responsive phone. Said that, in my opinion the midrange phones start to struggle, or start to feel slower after a little more than a year. My S22 ultra, that I picked up day 1 with the worse exynos chip, feels brand spankin new. My mom's midrange Samsung phone isnt. I think its more like investing into the future or not!
1-2 years older flagships is better than a new sub$500 any day. except the updates, but the app for android normally support 6 versions back so not a big deal breaker.
Hardcore mobile gamers, and people who need top of the line cameras on thier phones should stick to the flagships. But those people are few and far in between. . Most would be just fine with the Samsung Galaxy A54.
Keep in mind that the s23 can be bought refurbished for way less. Just bought a used s23 for less than the price of the new A54, $470. I don't understand why more people don't buy used
I. What's Different Is Bloody Obvious!... II. As Splendid As SAMSUNG Is...They Went Arse Backwards With An Outdated 6.4 Inch Display On The SAMSUNG GALAXY A53...And Even MORE Arse Backwards With A Sad/Outdated 6.1 Inch Display In The SAMSUNG GALAXY A23...
I'm still using my A52, I don't see enough changes to justify buying a new phone. Only thing is the lack of Samsung Dex, which A series don't have (A54 included)
The s23 easily competed the a54 in battery test same results all thanks to the snapdragon 8gen 2 & the chappy exynos which heats & is battery hungry I say this because I own a s21fe 5g exynos & s23 normal were s23 is best in battery performance & all over kills the s21fe5g Greetings from India 🇮🇳
Everything. Literally everything is better and more premium in s23+. Hence the price. I feel s23+ is a bit pricey but there is no comparison between these two.
I have the Ultra. The one feature that it has that no other phone by anyone has which keeps me with it is the S-Pen. Once you have had a phone with the S-pen you will never want to go back. It's too bad I have to pay for the top flagship model to get it, but it is what it is.
I own the S22U and an A54. Not all AMOLEDs are made equal. You can tell right away the difference in the Colors and Microcontrast of the screen. But on the other hand, with power save mode on I can get 2 days of battery life! a great work phone
@@snow_2500 that really depends on where you live, if you're in a hot climate it will 100% heat up during charging or even general use. but you can switch off the fast charge(if you don't care about it) to avoid heating up during charging
Your conclusion was the reason why I choose this mid range phone. At the end of the day I dont feel like spending twice the money and not getting twice the improvements. In fact most mid range phone nowdays are simply amazing and flagships will have to really justify the price that they are asking for. I am suprised by the lackluster performance of the selfie camera since it was suppose to record on 4k and have great quality. I will test the video on the selfie camera and see if it has the same saturation problem.
The good thing is Samsung's phones drop in price very fast after release. I managed to get a Galaxy s23+ brand new but on open box discount for $490. I traded in my galaxy s21 ultra for $350, so i only paid $140 for my s23+.
cool man, i was thinking if i should upgrade from samsung A51 6/128 to a samsung A34 8/256 because the A54 has almost the same performance as A34 but the A34 is much more cheaper, around 290 euro, but i dont know if i should upgrade my phone that soon.
I think one thing that wasnt mentioned here was longevity. Like i understand most people go about there phones and change it up every year or 2, but if you are like me, you want a phone that is future proof. Wich can last you a long time without requiring to upgrade, like certain games, or certain demanding apps, that get updated and slower over the years. A slower chip ussually means a phone isnt as future proof, The charging times are also indicative of this. The faster your phone charges, the less it matters if the battery drain is high because of degradation, because you can just plug it for a few seconds, and its back to full, vs long charge time, where you actively have to sit and wait for it to charge only to be down and out in the same time spent charging. Then again, the bigger the battery on the back, the less it matters if it degrades like 20% i am still carrying an s8 wich surprisingly still functions pretty well in todays era, the only downside is the batteries degradation. once i charge it, it goes down blisteringly fast. And ofcourse the updates, wich is the final year for the s8 i believe? also the s23 has a longer update cycle then the a54 does i believe. Hence why i am checking this video out.
Absolutely! I bought the A52 when it was released in 2021. it has mostly served me well but has really slowed down in the past year. For me, I’d like to save the money and only upgrade every 5 or so years. Will definitely be upgrading to the s23+ :)
I bought the a54 5g for $320 in July and lemme tell you, I did not regret at all getting this phone. the camera is pretty impressive for the price that I paid for!
I'd always recommend getting a previous-gen flagship over a new midrange phone if it's similar in price. Say, for example, you're looking for a new Android phone around Aug/Sept, rather get a S22 than an A54.
@@shadim2935except he an I and the million that buy flagship phones . You keep rocking you old blackberry . The s23 ultra is the top selling s23 line of phone fyi is the most expensive see people do care
I bought the A54 for my wife and I was really surprised with how close it is to my S23. Definitely a great midrange device but the lack of wireless charging kinda sucks.
@@helenturgeon403 Because its so hard to plug in the phone once at night. The most battery I have used on my A54 in a day is 60% (I only charge to 85% and I'm usually in the 30% range come bedtime). If you're plugging it in more than once a day, you use your phone a lot....
@@Paulo-py4mm I use my phone as a Clock on my nightstand. I also use my phone regularly at work, and not on games, youtube, etc. Prior to wireless charging? Yes, I plugged it in. I have an old phone now - technology wise - and its on its last leg. I think the battery - which isn't as easily replaceable anymore is dying (it was no biggie with phones in the past). My present phone has wireless charging, and it helps the with the port life on the phone by NOT having to use it. Which helps the extend the life of the phone itself. My first Samsung was a S4, and I used it until it pretty much died. Prior to that I used the dumbphones, because internet wasn't a thing on phones The S4 was expensive at the time. My next phone came with wireless charging, and it extended the life of the phone due to NOT wearing out the port you plug into. That Samsung phone wasn't a flagship. I have no choice but the use my phone regularly. It's part of my employment to receive texts with pictures. Sending them out as well. If I can get an extra year or so out of the phone by using wireless charging? One less bill on my plate. Your sarcasm is noted, but I would rather spend my funds on other things. Many people use their phones 'a lot' just saying.
U rich? always go for flagship. I've been using flagship since 2014. 2023 i tried Nothing Phone 1. the result = regret. performance wise, ram management, incomparable.
Nowadays you can say the same about any comparison between a good mid range and a top range phone, differences are only in the details, mid ranges can perform very well on 95% of regular daily stuff you do with a flagship phone. I'm even surprised if anyone was expecting a different conclusion.
For many a plastic phone is so much better. Considering how many have those butter fingers and dropping them left and right. Plastic is more durable. So would actually be better.
I really like the design of both these phones. That was one of the features that convinced me to get the S23+. I've had this phone for about 1 month now and I'm very happy with my choice. The phone is fast and the battery, for me, is great. Even if I have a long day of screen time with it I still have enough battery left at the end of the day. If the battery of the A54 is as good or better than Good job, Samsung!
Doesn't it bother you that Samsung released a phone that looks just like the flagship that you bought worth double the price with no exclusivity in design? Samsung could have gone any other way to make the flagship design exclusive, recognisable and unique after spending so much on a phone.
@@akshaysharma7743 I didn't buy it to impress anyone. I don't worry about those kinds of things because I will buy a new one maybe in 5 years and I wanted something really good to last that long.
how is the screen? I got 23+ and the screen is hurting my eyes.. I can see pixels and the letters look blurred. I'm not sure if it's my eyes or the screen..
@@annadubasova1179 I can't see any pixels. Maybe my eyes are bad.😂 But just to be safe go check yours out as well. I get mine checked every year due to my job medical assesment. All the best to you!😊
50% of video - is just water, absolutely zero information. And when people watch comparison between two phones they wanna see phones, not 70% of your face
The annoying thing for me is that both are missing at least one feature that the other has. The A series has a micro sd slot, but lacks wireless charging, which I get a lot of use out of.
Ikr! I had the s23 but wasn't dual sim or hacer SD and of course the missing plug for earphones...but that's missing in most. Still feels like incomplete for a expensive cell
Can I make a suggestion... 1) when taking selfies in portrait try taking it with and without the hat on. To test it's true edge detection 2) outside shots need a perspective view on a shaded area around trees etc and show how much the A54 can compete with keeping the tiny details 3) zoom is important (at least with my spouse). Those who film thru both videos and single shots. Like when you're watching your child play a sport 4) lastly, you need more challenging darker images like in a bar setting or whatever has dim light situations Side note: Your video editing skills look good. Even though you were just talking and talking it didn't feel like it as each transition happened. However I can say imo it felt a bit more than usual but I do however think this video was more polished then other newer or lower subbed channels. Looking forward to seeing more later
Really wish that Samsung opted to use Snapdragon also to their A54 since it's considered to be the Highest Midrange Phone in their A series then it would be a no brainer since we all know Exynos has a bad reputation incomes of performance
@@gnc2475 There isnt going to be a a54s the reason there was a a52s is because of the chipshortage and they could not make enough a52 there also wasnt an a53s so why would there be a a54s
I went from the A53 to the S23+. A LOT of stuff is similar, but the main difference is performance, and that, in my opinion, is enough to warrant the massive price difference. The A53 is a good phone all round in all categories except performance, which I found to be pretty poor. Lag spikes here and there when doing demanding stuff, and overall not the smoothest experience. I went for the S23+ and it was about the upgrade I was hoping for - mostly the same, but better build quality, better cameras, HUGELY better performance, much faster wired charging (this was one i didnt expect but now that I have it I love it), and and roughly the same battery life.
Well done and well said. The S23+ is am amazing phone but what Samsung was able to do with the A54 in the midrange category is nothing short of incredible.
You should get a redmagic 8 pro for 650! It has 12 gigs of ram, 256 gogs of storage, a snapdragon 8 gen 2, haptic triggers, and built in fan and cooling vents! Its awesome!
Having both the S23+ and the A54, I find that in standby that the s23+ drains battery power slower than the a54. I have both phones set up the same with the same software and apps. The s23+ lasts 2 days on battery when the a54 lasts about 1 day and 18 hours. It's not a huge difference, but enough to be noticed. Gaming is smoother on the s23+. I also have the a34 as a work phone and the battery on that lasts about 3 days and 20 hours but this phone is doing something totally different with work apps so no direct comparison. I like all of my phones but the s23+ is not worth twice the price or more of the other two.
I disagree. There is a huge difference between smoothness on S23 versus A54. I daily use iPhone 13 Pro and Nothing Phone 1. S23 is a King 🥇 when A54 is a complete midrange, not very smooth but ok and with long term support.
S line Samsung are no longer worth the price differences. Same with Pixel A line devices. Splitting hairs for hundreds of dollars. If you buy your phones outright, they make a lot more $$ and sense.
I have s23 plus wife have the a54. There is a difference. Cameras difference S23 better camera system. Especially low light environment. S23 is faster, better battery. More software features. A54 is a good budget phone but does not come close to s23 flagship
*The photos may look similar from far* but on a closer look the detail rendition, HDR, Night-mode, video quality, portrait blur, stabilization etc *are all way better on S23.* Unlike Google or Apple, *Samsung reserves its high-end image processing only to its flagship* S-series and FE series. *So yeah, Galaxy S23 is substantially better than Galaxy A54 overall.* Cheers 🥂
@@frankreynolds9930 it's not just slightly better photos, they're vastly different, once you've used S series camera it's next to impossible to go back to A series especially while shooting in bad lighting
@@nothin3072 I wouldn't say they are vastly different. But certainly, s23 excels in most areas. It's incredible how well the a54 keeps up with an example that is twice the price. That the key take home here.
I have the a53 5G and the s22 ultra, the battery life on the A53 is superior. i bought the A53 256gb for £300 compared to the s22 over a £1000. buy the a53 or a54. if you want superior camera buy the s22 ultra.
my A52 opened the settings app before the A54 lol 😂😂i tested it many times but all the times my phone is faster opend the setting app i dont know but gallery app opend after the A54 in milisecond 😁superb video 😍
I wish that the A54 had a mate ceramic back as like the Redmi Note 11 and 12 series, it would look so much neater, but to be fair, they wanted to distinguish themselves a little bit. I recently opted for the A73 rather than the A54 because I felt that the design was more consistent, but I think that the A55 will do much better.
M series have toned down version of OneUI & have full plastic body while the processor is same in both A54 and M54 (Exynos 1380). M series is mid-range while A series is premium mid range.
I never buy mid range ...always flagship used or renewed less cost year old than the mid range new. I'm not saying it wiser but that seems to be a better value ...
Unless you go with an ultra phone, where you get literally everything a phone can have (minus the headphone jack), you should just go for a mid-range phone. The amount of extras you get for another $400 is almost negligible
1. I totally agree with you and I have always advocated for that buying principle. For example, get the Pixel 7 pro if you want the best or get a Pixel 6a if you want to save money. 2. RU-vid tells me you have been subscribed to the channel for 2 years. Thank you for supporting the channel for so long!
@@MikeOBrienMedia it's been my pleasure. Love your comparison videos and how you make detailed videos of less known products/brands. Keep up the good work👍🏻
that extra 400$ could be a time extension for switching to newer phone at the future. flagship phone come with the best processor, features and quality that will last more than mid range. people who bought flagship will use it for atleast 3 years before considering upgrading for the new ones because the specs of old gen flagship are still enough and comparable with the current gen midrange, i do use the S8 for almost 5 years before decide to upgrade to S22+ last year, after 5 years, the only problem i had is i can't charge it bcuse the usb port is damaged and i can't deal with always charge it wirelessly. i can't imagine if i decide to bought A5 2017 instead of S8, it will not aged as good as the S8.
Tried S23 and it's definitely worth the price difference. Much smoother experience, much better camera, much. saying that they're similar is nowhere near the truth
Yeah, the people saying that are just snorting hard copium cuz the 23 costs twice as much. That Exynos chip is even slower than my four year old SD 855 cpu smh
In most cases, buying an old flagship is a much better deal than getting a new midrange phone. Midrange phones just get painfully slow/ hot once you throw a remotely intensive task on them.
