Mehul Reuben DasJun 12, 2023 08:45:13 IST
Pros
– Excellent Battery life
– Premium-looking sleek design
– Impressive main camera
– Vibrant Super AMOLED, 120Hz display
– Samsung’s software update policy
Cons
– 25W charging, with no charging brick in the box
– The back panel gets very smudgy and is a properly fingerprint magnet
– A ton of bloatware and ads
– Missing 3.5mm headphone jack, a common feature in the segment
Price: Rs 29,999 for the 8GB + 256GB variant
Rating: 4/5
Samsung has launched yet another device in the already saturated mid-range smartphone segment in India, the Galaxy F54. This device comes just months after the launch of the Galaxy A34, and the Galaxy A54, almost on its heels. It seems that Samsung has adopted a strategy to completely saturate the Indian smartphone market with various series of devices that focus on a specific aspect or the other.
With the Galaxy A54, it seems that the focus is on the cameras and the looks of the device.
Having said that, the Galaxy F54 delivers a pretty solid and rounded user experience with its versatile features. Its camera system works well in most conditions, it has a huge battery that effectively lasts for a complete day, and it performs admirably in everyday tasks, ensuring seamless functionality. Plus, it has a premium, almost retro look to it. The design is by and large similar to what we have seen from Samsung’s devices this year. All in all, this is a device that many people will consider.
So where does the Samsung Galaxy F54 5G stand? Is it a solid choice for its price, or is it a device that will be ignored, especially when you consider that you literally have N number of options to go for, especially at this price point?
Samsung Galaxy F54 5G review: The design
The Samsung Galaxy F54 follows the same design language that we have seen in other Samsung devices from this year, which started with their premium flagship S23 series.
Needless to say, in terms of design, the Samsung Galaxy F54 5G looks pretty premium. It is when you pick up the device and feel the materials that were used that you get the sense that it actually is a mid-level budget smartphone.
Our test device was a lovely looking silver-coloured one, with an iridescent finish. The rear panel of the Galaxy F54 5G is made using polycarbonate, which has a glossy finish. The silver colour variant looks a lot like the older flagships from Samsung that had the iridescent finish – it changes colours and takes up a mix of pretty, cool, looking hues from a rainbow.
The downside, however, is the fact that more than any other Samsung device that we have tested this year, the Galaxy F54’s back panel is the biggest fingerprint magnet. It is very susceptible to fingerprints and grease marks. This takes away a lot of the premium appeal of the look. You will need to carry a microfibre cloth in your pocket and wipe the device every 15-20 minutes if like me you too are irked out by grease marks on your phone.
The frame or the railing is made of plastic too and is silver in colour. Because it is curved, it makes holding the device much easier.
Other than the silver colour, which Samsung is calling Stardust Silver you have the option to go for the dark blue, or Meteor Blue option. While the Stardust Silver looks more premium, the blue colour feels easier to live with, although that too catches fingerprints very easily.
On the front of the display, we get to see a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED panel. The display has a glass panel on the front, but we are not sure if it is a Corning Gorilla glass or something else.
The display also has a centred punch-hole cutout that houses the front-facing camera. We are actually glad that Samsung went for a cutout punch-hole instead of using a teardrop design for the front-facing cameras as the hole-punch cutout gives the device a premium-looking feel from the front,
While the device does feature some bezels, they are very thin by Samsung’s standards. Moreover, these bezels maintain equal proportions across all sides of the device, resulting in a balanced and harmonious look. Notably, the chin of the device does not draw attention and blends seamlessly with the overall aesthetic, ensuring a cohesive and visually pleasing look.
On the right edge of the device, you will find the power button, which also doubles up as the fingerprint scanner and the volume rockers. The left side houses the SIM tray which uses a hybrid style, allowing you to either insert two SIM cards or one SIM and a microSD card.
Moving to the bottom of the device, there is a USB Type-C port, a speaker grille which houses the mono speaker, and a microphone, enabling connectivity and audio output. Lastly, on the top, there is a secondary microphone for capturing audio and for noise cancellation purposes.
The three rear cameras are arranged linearly towards the left, along with the LED flash. There’s no camera island as such that houses the camera. Instead it is just sitting on the rear panel. Each camera has a metal deco ring which only adds to the premium appeal of the device.
All in all, the Galaxy F54 looks very premium, barring its tendency to become smudgy and fingerprint cover mess from the back. And giving credit where credit is due, Samsung has taken care of some aspects of sustainability. The SIM tray and the buttons are made of recycled plastic. They also claim that no hazardous material has been used in the device, and that the device ships in a box that mostly uses recycled paper.
Samsung Galaxy F54 5G review: The display
The Galaxy F54 5G boasts a pretty impressive display that surpasses the usual expectations that people have from devices at this price point. It even fulfills most of the criteria one would anticipate from a high-end, nearly flagship-level device that would cost way more.
Featuring a 6.7-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED Plus panel, the display has a maximum refresh rate of 120 hertz and a maximum brightness of 950 nits. The resolution is set at 1080 x 2400 pixels, presenting a 20:9 aspect ratio. Additionally, the display is HDR10+ certified, ensuring enhanced dynamic range.
The Galaxy F54’s display has all the qualities of a typical Samsung display – vivid colours, sharp visuals, and something that offers an enjoyable viewing experience. The colour reproduction is fantastic and vibrant, providing aesthetic satisfaction. Although the black levels may not be as intense as those observed in higher-end Samsung devices, they still achieve satisfactory darkness. Both gaming and content consumption benefit from razor-sharp clarity.
Overall, the F54’s display sets a high standard for reliability in a smartphone within its price range and may even outperform some more expensive alternatives.
Samsung Galaxy F54 5G review: The camera
The Samsung Galaxy F54 5G has three cameras on the back and one on the front. The main camera has a 108MP sensor and an f1.8 lens, as well as a much better, more comprehensive, and enhanced OIS and VDIS or Video Digital Image Stabilization.
Following that is an ultrawide 8MP camera with an f2.2 lens, followed by a 2MP macro camera with an f2.4 lens. At the front, there is a 32MP selfie camera that performs admirably.
Daylight shots from the 108MP sensor are pretty good, and the camera captures a good amount of detail, creating well-exposed photos with good dynamic range and detailing.
Samsung tends to apply a warmer tone and vibrant colours to their photos, aiming for a visually pleasing effect rather than natural colours. This approach enhances the appeal of the shots, especially for sharing on social media platforms.
The 8MP ultrawide angle camera offers a wide field of view and captures detailed and clear shots during daylight hours. However, its performance diminishes in low-light conditions, which is expected. On the other hand, the 2MP camera doesn’t contribute any significant advantages and serves a rather basic purpose.
The Galaxy F54 produces impressive results when capturing images at night as well. However, there are some instances when Samsung’s software processes things a little too much once you’re out of ambient lighting.
The selfies taken with the Galaxy F54 exhibit an impressive level of attention to detail. Although there may be occasional oversharpening, it doesn’t really bother most times. The camera accurately reproduces skin tones, ensuring a natural appearance. Like other Samsung smartphones, the front-facing camera tends to slightly overexpose faces especially when it is a little dark.
In terms of video recording capabilities, the Galaxy F54 offers some versatile options. It supports 4K video recording at 30 fps on both the front, rear and ultra-wide cameras. The rear camera can also shoot videos at 1080p and 60 fps. Both the ultra-wide and main cameras have basic normal stabilization, while the main camera further benefits from improved optical image stabilization (OIS). The video digital image stabilization (VDIS) has also been enhanced, contributing to better video stability. Furthermore, the device features a dedicated Super Steady mode, which utilizes the ultra-wide camera to capture highly stable 1080p at 30fps footage.
You can check out some camera samples of the Galaxy F54 5G here.
Samsung Galaxy F54 5G review: The performance, software experience and UI
The Galaxy F54 5G is equipped with Samsung’s Exynos 1380 SoC, which utilizes the 5nm manufacturing process, along with a Mali-G68 GPU. In day-to-day usage, the device operates smoothly, but it can become slightly warm to the touch during sustained heavy tasks like gaming. Also, The Exynos 1380 isn’t a gaming SoC and neither is Samsung marketing the Galaxy F54 as a gaming device.
Our device was equipped with 256 GB of internal UFS 2.2 storage and 8GB of LPDDR5X RAM. Samsung’s RAM Plus feature allows for the virtual expansion of the RAM by an additional 8GB. Additionally, the device includes a dedicated microSDXC slot that supports cards up to 1TB in capacity.
The F54 performs well in benchmark tests and daily usage. While it handles multitasking smoothly, some issues may arise during gaming. Games like Asphalt 9 and Call of Duty Mobile run effortlessly at medium settings, consistently achieving 60fps. However, after approximately half an hour of gameplay, the device becomes noticeably warm, though not to an alarming extent.
In terms of connectivity, the Samsung Galaxy F54 supports WiFi, and Bluetooth 5.3, and features a USB Type-C 2.0 port. The device has just one speaker, the one at the bottom. We also don’t get a 3.5mm jack. You do get support for Dolby Atmos.
There is some pretty significant bloatware, including apps from Samsung’s ecosystem. However, the Samsung Galaxy Widget is particularly egregious as it keeps on serving some ad or the other. Although it can be disabled it has to be done by going deep inside the menu. This is especially frustrating considering we also have Glance, another atrocious piece of bloatware.
The Samsung Galaxy F54 comes with the OneUI 5 operating system, which is based on Android 13. Despite being a mid-range smartphone, the Galaxy F54 incorporates some of the best features available in Samsung’s One UI. There are some notable features including AI-based Photo Remaster and Eraser which allows users to remove shadows, reflections and other unwanted aberrations and objects from photos.
Like all their other devices, Samsung will be giving the Samsung Galaxy F54 4 major Android OS updates and 5 years of security updates.
Samsung Galaxy F54 5G review: The battery life
The Galaxy F54 excels in terms of battery life, thanks to its powerful 6,000mAh battery. In our testing, the device lasted close to 2 days with light usage and a full day with heavy usage. The battery optimization is impressive, allowing the device to maintain its battery life even with a heavy UI and multiple background processes running. As a result, the device does not drain its battery quickly and provides reliable battery performance.
At 70 per cent brightness, you can easily get more than 10-12 hours of screen time and more than 22 hours of usage time. Our regular usage consisted of texting, calling, a few photography sessions, accessing the internet, playing a few video games, checking emails, holding office conference calls, and of course, binge-watching some videos etc.
We wish Samsung works on their fast charging for the more budget segment of their lineup. 25W charging just doesn’t cut it anymore. Usually, it took us about 2 hours to get the device charged from zero to 100 per cent, using a 65W third-party charging brick. When using an official 25W Samsung charging brick, the charging time gets cut down significantly somehow. However, we reckon not many people would have a 25W charging brick from Samsung lying around, which, BTW, costs about Rs 1,999.
Samsung Galaxy F54 5G review: The verdict
The Samsung Galaxy F54 5G is a reliable mid-level smartphone that lives up to its promises. It boasts an impressive set of cameras and performs well, despite the presence of the Exynos SoC, which may raise eyebrows in this price range.
However, the market at this price point is highly competitive, with several brands offering devices that boast slightly better specifications on paper. Realme, Poco, and other brands are strong contenders in this segment.
What sets Samsung apart from the competition is its reliable after-sales service, which is difficult to surpass. Additionally, Samsung has committed to providing four major Android updates and five years of security updates, ensuring long-term software support.
At Rs 29,999, the Galaxy F54 may initially seem slightly overpriced. However, there are areas where the premium price is justified. That being said, if the Galaxy F54 were priced more competitively and didn’t directly enter the territory of its current competitors, it would be much easier to recommend without any reservations. Nonetheless, the Galaxy F54 remains a solid choice for those seeking a capable and premium-looking device.
