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      Samsung Galaxy A55 Rumours: A 7-Year Commitment with Regrets?!

      Mondo Admin / 03-04-2024 / Tech

      Do you feel like you’re expecting too much when it comes to your smartphone requirements? You want the best cameras, performance, battery life and display – and you want it all at an affordable price. Guess what? You can have it all and a little extra with the upcoming Samsung Galaxy A55. It’s the new generation of budget mid-rangers that follows the wildly popular and praised Galaxy A54.


      Like its predecessor, it’s expected to cost less than R10 000 while promising sought-after features like a two-day-plus battery life and an addictive display that indulges your bingeing habits.


      Although there are no official reports on the Galaxy A55, there are plenty of rumours, leaks, and predictions to piece together this budget beast. It’s expected to be released around March 11, but if you can’t wait until then to find out more, join us as we predict its features. Spoiler alert: It looks set to be one of the best affordable phones of 2024!


      Design: No longer a ‘Plastic’

      The rumour mill is serving some piping-hot tea about the designs of the Samsung Galaxy A55. It looks likely to adopt some style cues from the Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus, hitting the market with a polished aluminium frame, ditching the plastic from the previous generations. Affordable meets premium? We love to see it!

      This move is not just about aesthetics; it's about longevity. Aluminium brings better durability, ensuring the Galaxy A55 can handle the hustle and bustle of daily life without breaking a sweat. However, some familiar design elements are sticking around, like the vertical arrangement of the three rear cameras and the IP67 rating for dust and water protection, which effortlessly handles unexpected rain showers or accidental spills.


      Display: Regrets are here to stay

      The Galaxy A55 is rumoured to hang on to many display features of its predecessor, the Galaxy A54, boasting a top-notch AMOLED screen, Full HD+ resolution, and a snappy 120Hz refresh rate. Finding these specs in an affordable phone is like striking gold, so we're thrilled to see them stay. To sweeten the deal, Samsung might just throw in a little extra with a larger screen at 6.5 inches, up from 6.4 inches. It's crystal clear that the Samsung Galaxy A55 won’t be shy about indulging your late-night binge-watching habits. Why watch a new series in a sensible amount of time when you can stay up all night and have regrets the next morning?


      Cameras: A top-tier photoshoot for your close companion

      We all deserve a camera that immortalises those heart-warming memories with friends, family and, of course, the most treasured companion – food. When the Samsung Galaxy A54 hit the scene last year, it opened up new possibilities for affordable phones, capturing high-quality photos and videos with its brand-new 50MP OIS main shooter, a 12MP ultrawide camera, a 5MP macro lens, and a 32MP selfie snapper. On the video front, it served Ultra High Definition 4K video resolution. All of that in a phone that costs less than R10k? Now, that was a moment worth capturing. As we eagerly await the Galaxy A55, we anticipate seeing a similar camera array carried over because, frankly, it's one of the best.


      If Samsung decides to increase the price of this new model, perhaps we'll see the cameras get another massive bump. At this point, it's likely the hardware will remain the same, but overall picture and video quality will improve thanks to a new chipset. Either way, your food adventures are going to be looking real good.


      Performance & Storage: Why delete when you can keep

      Under the hood, the Samsung Galaxy A55 is tipped to be flexing some serious muscle with the latest Samsung chipset, the Exynos 1480. Expect no-delay multitasking, non-stop gaming, and silky-smooth streaming. Adding to this seamless experience is its RAM and storage capacity, rumoured to be available in two flavours: 6GB RAM paired with 128GB storage and 8GB RAM with 256GB storage. Expanding your storage to 1TB via microSD is also highly likely, meaning you don’t need to limit your digital life - instead, download all the movies, apps, and games.

      The dreaded "storage full" alert can finally be a thing of the past!


      Battery: With great power comes great efficiency 

      If you’re in search of a smartphone that doesn't tap out after a few hours, the Galaxy A55 is for you. In the past two generations, a beefy 5000mAh battery matched with 25W fast charging cruised through more than two days of usage. That’s two whole days and a little extra on a single charge!


      Now, the anticipation is high that the new generation will retain these features, but this time around, its upgraded specs promise not just more power but also enhanced power efficiency.


      Software: A sprinkle of AI magic

      2024 is the year AI and smartphones collide on a big scale. What does this mean for the Galaxy A55? Well, it’s gearing up to be part of this journey with a sprinkle of AI magic. Running on Samsung's latest software, the One UI 6.1 based on Android 14, the Galaxy A55 shares the same software that fuels the Galaxy S24's mind-blowing AI capabilities. While it may not reach the heights of the flagship range, the integration of AI features is imminent as we move towards more intelligent and intuitive smartphones.


      Now, let's talk long-term commitments. Could the A55 pull off seven years of security updates and seven generations of OS upgrades like the Galaxy S24 range? This possibility could be on the horizon, especially considering the Galaxy A55's potential as one of Samsung's most popular mid-range offerings. Such a feat would undoubtedly set it apart from many other phones in its price bracket. If not, it will likely offer an impressive four years of OS updates and five years of security patches like the previous generation. In other words, the Galaxy A55 is with you for a long time and a good time.


      You’ve met your match

      The stage is set, and the Samsung Galaxy A55 is primed to take the crown or at least come close as the best budget smartphone of 2024. If you've been holding out for a device that meets or even surpasses your high expectations, it seems like your perfect match has finally arrived. Here’s to titanium frames, photoshoot sessions, endless downloads, a two-day-plus battery life, a 7-year commitment, and of course, regrets in the morning!

      TECH NEWS

      Samsung’s 100 Megapixel Camera is Coming!

      It’s no secret that the camera has always been the smartphone’s strongest selling point. With the growing popularity of social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, users have become photo-centric, constantly chasing after the best cameras to produce the best pictures to share with their followers. In fact, digital camera sales have taken a dip since the rise of the camera phone, which allows users to carry one device that performs many functions rather than purchasing a specific device for each of their needs. The first phone with a built-in camera was manufactured by Samsung in the year 2000. This digital camera could take up 20 photos at 350 000-pixels, or 0.35-megapixels, but you could only access your photos by connecting to a computer. By the year 2003, camera phones were becoming more popular with better specs and lower prices. In 2004, Sprint released a phone with a 1.3-megapixel camera that could capture images, share them wirelessly and even allowed you to print them. Finnish manufacturer Nokia jumped on the bandwagon in 2005 and released a 2 megapixel camera on their N90 model. Shortly after, the world was introduced to Sony Ericsson, whose aim was to steal the crown from Nokia. They adopted Sony’s Cybershot digital camera branding, which earned them first place in the camera phone market. The Sony Ericsson K800i was released in 2006 with a 3.2-megapixel camera that had auto focus, image stability and a Xenon flash. The baton was passed back to Samsung when they released the first ever 5-megapixel camera and then the 8 megapixel camera in 2008. The smartphone camera race continued, with Samsung appearing to be the winner with their release of the M8910 Pixon 12, which had a 12MP camera, in 2009. However, they were soon bested by Nokia’s N8 in 2010 and then the 16MP Sony Ericsson S006 that came at the end of 2010. Fast forward a few years and Samsung are at it again! To maintain their position in the market, the technology giant has decided to partner up with Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi to create the world’s first 108-megapixel camera. Current high-end smartphones typically host cameras with between 12 and 16-megapixel resolutions, so a 108 megapixel camera would be a massive improvement to the conventional smartphone camera. The Isocell Bright HMX is designed to shoot incredibly detailed photos and is said to be comparable to a top DSLR camera. You can expect to capture better low-lit images as this camera will merge pixels to absorb more light. In terms of video recording, no smartphone camera will have better capabilities than this one. It will be capable of shooting up to 6K resolution at 30 frames per second which is very impressive compared to the 4K resolution at 60 frames per second limit of other smartphones. It’s been predicted that Xiaomi will release a smartphone with a similar camera before Samsung does, and even though Samsung has announced that production on these camera lenses begun at the end of August, they’ve remained tight-lipped about when we’ll be seeing a device with the 108-megapixel camera on the shelves.

      Read More...

      Samsung Galaxy A Series: Flagship Experiences on a Budget

      South Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung has blazed a trail in the local smartphone market with the launch of their mid-tier A series cell phones that give their more expensive flagship counterparts a run for their money. Most likely, this range was created in response to stiff competition in the mid-tier smartphone category from the likes of Chinese rivals Huawei and Xiaomi. The company launched the Galaxy A2 Core, A10, A20, A30, A50, A70 and the A80 in South Africa this year, with the A90 expected soon. The A Series is a welcome change in pace for the company’s mid-tier devices, as the range now offers you a premium look and feel at a lower cost, as well as upgrades to the internals to give these devices more power and features, such as triple-lens camera systems on selected models. Let’s take a quick look at each model in the Galaxy A range: Galaxy A2 Core A simple but powerful entry-level device, the Galaxy A2 Core features the Android Go operating system, which is designed to optimise performance through the device’s hardware. Android Go is a lite version of the OS but allows devices like the A2 Core to offer a smooth user experience at an affordable cost. The A2 Core also features 5 MP cameras on the rear and face of the device and can support an SD card of up to 512GB, complementing its 8GB or 16GB of onboard storage. This will allow the user to cram more music and pictures into the device. The A2 Core also comes fitted with a 5-inch display. Galaxy A10 & A20 The Galaxy A10 and Galaxy A20 smartphones have many similarities. While both come with the Android 9.0 operating system, one of the most distinct differences is the screen size, as the A10 features a 6.2-inch display, while the A20 features a slightly larger 6.4-inch AMOLED display. Both devices feature the same processor, with the A10 featuring 2GB of RAM and the A20 fitted with 3GB of RAM. Another major difference between the devices is that the A20 features a dual 13MP and 5MP rear camera, while the A10 offers a 13MP rear camera. The A20 offers an 8MP front camera versus the A10’s 5MP shooter. Both smartphones pack 32GB of internal storage. Galaxy A30 & A50 The A30 and A50 smartphones set a new benchmark for affordable smartphones in the mid-tier category. The A30 comes with 64GB of onboard storage, while the A50 offers a massive 128GB of storage. Both devices feature a gorgeous 6.4-inch AMOLED display, the Android 9.0 operating system, 4GB of RAM and all-day battery-life thanks to a colossal 4000 mAh battery, usually found in premium smartphones. The A50 smartphone features a triple rear camera setup with a 25MP, 8MP and 5MP cameras offering great wide screen shots, while the A30 features a dual 16MP and 5MP rear camera configuration. The A50 sports a powerful 25MP selfie camera and the A30 a 16MP front camera. Galaxy A70 & A80 Essentially competing in the premium smartphone segment, the A80 is set to become one of the most unique smartphones available on the South African market. The A80 will feature one of the first pop-up rotating camera modules, consisting of a powerful 48MP wide lens, 8MP ultra-wide lens and a Time of Flight (TOF) 3D camera to capture not only images from the rear but also for selfies. The device sports a 3700mAh battery and 128GB of onboard storage, with a 6.7-inch display. The Galaxy A70 features a slightly larger 4500mAh battery compared to the A80 but will run off the same processor and operating system – Android 9.0. The A70 smartphone features a triple camera module consisting of a 32MP lens, 8MP wide-angle lens and 5MP depth sensing lens with a 32MP selfie camera. Read the reviews: Galaxy A2 Core Galaxy A10 Galaxy A20

      Read More...