Samsung Galaxy A56 deals

Samsung Galaxy A56 release date

The Galaxy A56 was released in the UK on March 19, and pre-orders were live from March 2.

Design and display

After bringing a unified design to the Galaxy S and Galaxy A series last year, Samsung has taken a different approach with the latest Galaxy A models. Especially with its camera design—unlike the Galaxy S25 series, which features separately embedded lenses, the Galaxy A56 has all three rear cameras within a single vertical block.

Elsewhere, the Galaxy A56 comes with an IP67 dust and water resistance rating and is reinforced with Gorilla Glass Victus Plus on both the front and back. Unlike other Galaxy A models that use plastic frames, the A56 features metal sides, giving it a more premium look than its price might suggest.

Samsung has retained the 6.7-inch FHD+ display from the Galaxy A55 but with slimmer bezels. While they aren’t perfectly symmetrical, this trade-off helps keep costs down. The larger display also gives the A56 an advantage over the Pixel 8a, which has a more compact 6.1-inch screen.

Samsung rates the A56’s display brightness at 1,200 nits in high brightness mode, with a peak of 1,900 nits. Finally, Samsung brands all its Galaxy A56 colours with the "Awesome" label, but in simpler terms, the four options available are graphite, light gray, olive, and pink.

Samsung A56 camera

The Galaxy A56 features a new 12MP ultrawide camera on the back and a new 12MP selfie camera on the front. The rest of the camera setup, including the 50MP main camera and 5MP macro camera, remains the same as the Galaxy A55.

Despite this mix of old and new hardware, Samsung has made some notable improvements. The main camera now benefits from a more advanced AI-powered image signal processor (ISP), designed to enhance low-light photography. Meanwhile, the new front camera sensor improves low-light selfies and adds support for HDR video.

The AI portrait mode has also been upgraded to better focus shots and enhance details—not just for faces, skin, and hair but also for background elements like the sky and grass, so there is plenty to play with.

What AI features does the Samsung Galaxy A56 have?

The Galaxy A56 doesn’t get full Galaxy AI support, but it does include "Awesome Intelligence,", which brings some of Galaxy AI’s core features. For example, Circle to Search returns now allowing users to search phone numbers, email addresses, URLs, and even songs.

Samsung has also upgraded its Object Eraser, giving A56 users more control over tidying up photos, while a filter creation tool lets you transfer the style of one photo to another, with manual adjustment options available.

The A56 also has exclusive tools compared to other new Galaxy A models. These include Best Face, which helps combine your and your friends' best expressions into one perfect shot, and Auto Trim, which automatically cuts and assembles video clips for you.

Performance and software

The Galaxy A56 is powered by Samsung’s Exynos 1580 chipset, an upgrade on the A55’s 1480, paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, which is standard in the UK. This is a generous storage offering, especially considering that some flagship phones costing significantly more still start with just 128GB.

To help maintain consistent performance, the Galaxy A56 has been equipped with improved vapour chamber cooling, featuring a chamber the same size as the one in last year’s Galaxy S24 Plus. While the Galaxy A series hasn’t been known for gaming performance in the past, this cooling upgrade should help provide a better experience when running demanding apps or games.

Out of the box, the Galaxy A56 runs on One UI 7, Samsung’s Android 15-based OS, which brings a refreshed, more practical interface. The A56 is promised six generations of Android updates and six years of security updates. While this falls short of the seven-year update commitment for the Galaxy S25 series and Google Pixel 8a, it’s still a solid software support guarantee for a budget-friendly device.

Battery

The Galaxy A56 is equipped with a huge 5,000mAh battery, the same capacity as the Galaxy S25 Ultra. This should translate to a really impressive battery life, especially for a phone in this ‘budget’ price range.

What’s even more notable is that the A56 supports up to 45W charging, matching the Galaxy S25 Plus and S25 Ultra. This is a great upgrade over previous models, offering much faster charging speeds—as long as you have a compatible charger. Interestingly, this puts it ahead of the standard Galaxy S25, which remains limited to 25W charging, just like older Galaxy A models.

Written by Archie Burkinshaw, Content Editor