Could this be Samsung’s best-value model yet?

The Galaxy A57 has a 6.7-inch screen, which is larger than what you get on Apple’s mid-range smartphone, the iPhone 17e.

Aside from the skinnier bezels, the biggest change this year is the increase in screen brightness. The A57’s screen is 58 per cent brighter, with Samsung bumping it up to 1,900 nits (the unit of brightness) versus last year’s 1,200 nits. This made a big difference in my demo session, with no impact on visibility underneath the bright overhead lights.

I wasn’t able to fully test the screen quality, but at first glance, it seems there’s a lot to like here. It’s a large screen that’s colourful and vibrant, and I can’t say I noticed much of a difference compared to the display on the much more expensive Galaxy S26.

There’s plenty of power

The important thing about buying a mid-range smartphone (apart from saving money) is that you hit the key specifications. That’s one thing the Galaxy A series has always been good at: it’s a cheaper Samsung handset, but it does much the same as the flagship model.

It’s powered by a less powerful chip than the Galaxy S26, but there’s a sizeable upgrade over the 2025 model, with a boost to gaming performance. It’s going to be better at playing mobile games, and it should be able to handle more power-hungry tasks, thanks to a better vapour chamber to keep the phone cool.

There’s a 5,000mAh battery, which is a fairly average capacity these days, although the charging speeds have been increased, with Samsung saying that it can charge to 60 per cent in just 30 minutes.

There’s a triple camera on the back, which promises smoother transitions between lenses, but I didn’t get to test them to any great degree.

Is it really ‘Galaxy Awesome’?