Samsung has always tried to strike a good balance between price and features with its A-series, but is the Galaxy A27 5G the phone you’re actually looking for? I want to review this phone inside out, from the design and display to the camera, hardware, and battery.
If you’re looking for a phone for photography, videography, or everyday use, this review can help you make the right choice. I have shared the pros and cons of the Galaxy A27 honestly and even compared it with the similarly-priced competitors from brands like Xiaomi.
Design & Build
I think the design of this phone is really good. Why? Because its back panel is made of glass, and it’s even Gorilla Glass Victus+, which makes it quite resistant to scratches. Finding a phone at this price point with such a high-quality glass back is rare.
Apart from the quality, it looks beautiful too. Its design is somewhat similar to Samsung’s more expensive phones, and it doesn’t look like a cheap phone at all. You can get the Galaxy A27 5G in four colors: Black, Blue, Light Green, and Light Pink. I highly recommend buying this phone in a light color. Why? Because it doesn’t show fingerprints, whereas on the black version, fingerprints stick like crazy.
This phone is dust and splash-resistant with an IP64 rating. However, this is a downgrade because the A26 had an IP67 rating.
The weight of the phone is exactly like the previous generation at 200 grams. Its thickness has increased by 0.1mm, but it’s still comfortable to hold.
The button placement is just like most Samsung phones. The volume and power buttons are on the right side in a raised section that Samsung calls the Key Island. The SIM tray is on the left, and at the bottom, you can see the speaker, microphone, and charging port. The frame is made of plastic, and if it had been aluminum, there wouldn’t be much difference between this and Samsung’s pricier phones.
I think this phone is like the two-faced people in our lives. One side, which is the back panel, looks beautiful and attractive, but the other side, the front panel, shows all its flaws. There’s hardly any phone left on the market with such thick bezels. Luckily, the selfie camera is no longer in a teardrop notch like the previous generation and is now housed in a punch-hole.
Display & Sound
The Galaxy A27 screen is a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED with a 120Hz refresh rate, and it hasn’t changed from the previous model. The quality is excellent and it displays colors well; however, since you’re not going to do professional editing on this phone, it doesn’t matter much if the colors are off by a small percentage. Just know that you can really enjoy using this screen in daily life.
The brightness hasn’t changed either, and if you’re under very harsh, direct light, viewing content gets a bit difficult. It’s weaker in this area compared to rivals like Xiaomi. I think other than the thick bezels and slightly low brightness, the display doesn’t have any major issues.
What disappointed me isn’t the screen, but the speaker. It’s decent for a mono speaker, meaning it gives you exactly what you expect. It offers average sound with acceptable separation, but it isn’t stereo. How is it possible to have stereo speakers on the A25, but a mono speaker two generations later? The only way to get great sound from this phone is to buy Bluetooth headphones. I don’t think you have any other choice.
Well, since I am pointing out the negatives, let me mention another one. The fingerprint sensor is on the power button and unlocks the screen very quickly and smoothly, but it uses older and cheaper tech.
An under-display sensor, even if it’s slow, gives you a better feel, making the phone seem more advanced. If that wasn’t the case, they wouldn’t use power-button sensors on pricier mid-rangers like the Galaxy A37 and A57, or even on flagships. But that is just my opinion, and I would love to know yours. Do you think a fingerprint sensor on the power button is better, or an under-display one? Let me know in the comments.
Performance
Samsung has used the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 on the Galaxy A27 5G. It’s a very good chipset that performs well for both moderate gaming and daily tasks, without getting too hot, and it has great stability. You can play Call of Duty at a smooth 60fps without any issues, but as I said, this isn’t a gaming phone, so don’t expect it to run heavy games perfectly. To play heavy games, you need to look at more expensive gaming phones.
Out of the box, the Galaxy A27 5G runs Android 16 with One UI 8.5. Another awesome feature is that this phone will receive 6 years of updates.
Many people ask how a chipset this basic can stay relevant for 6 years. Its chipset isn’t incredibly powerful, but someone who uses their phone for daily tasks will definitely find it working well for 6 years. Unless you want to install heavy games on it every year, in which case it won’t last that long.
Even if that day never comes, the fact that Samsung promises 6 years of updates right from the start makes a huge difference compared to the 2 years offered by competitors. It gives you a better feeling about the phone, knowing it will stay up to date for at least 6 years.
Camera
Another strength of the Galaxy A27 is its camera. There’re three cameras on the back panel: a 50MP main camera that luckily includes optical image stabilization, a 5MP ultrawide, and a 2MP macro. The selfie sensor is 12MP.
Let’s start with the selfie camera. If most of the photos you take are selfies, like mine, this phone is perfect for you. In my opinion, it has one of the best selfie cameras at this price point. Colors are captured quite well and the details are excellent, though the dynamic range is just acceptable.
I say acceptable because it’s fine in normal conditions, but if there’s a high contrast of light in your photo, it can’t capture details in dark and bright spots perfectly, which is normal for the price. You can record video up to Full HD at 30fps with this sensor.
Photos taken with the main sensor have excellent details, great dynamic range, and very good color reproduction. With this sensor, you can shoot video up to 4K at 30fps, and the quality is genuinely good. I can say it’s one step ahead of its competitors.
The ultrawide and macro sensors aren’t anything to write home about, and you can’t rely on them much. They are only good enough to take a few casual photos. Don’t expect high-quality shots from these two sensors.
Battery & Charger
How is the battery? The capacity hasn’t changed. The Galaxy A27 5G has a 5000mAh battery that performs similarly to the Galaxy A26, and if you aren’t a heavy user, you can rely on it to last a full day.
It charges with a 25W adapter that you have to buy separately, and charging takes a bit of time. It hits 50% in 30 minutes and gets fully charged in about 1 hour and 20 minutes.
