Samsung Galaxy A55 vs OnePlus 12R: Which Is the Better Mid-Premium Phone? | MySmartPrice

4.0 ★

4.5 ★

Samsung Galaxy A55 5G

OnePlus 12R

₹ 36,895

₹ 36,415

Samsung Galaxy A55 vs OnePlus 12R: Prices in India

Both phones have the same starting price of Rs 39,999 for 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. The Galaxy A55 has three variants, while the OnePlus 12R has four, including the special Genshin Impact Edition. The table below shows the prices for both the phones. The prices for both phones are nearly the same, except that OnePlus offers 16GB RAM on the highest variant.

Samsung Galaxy A55 vs OnePlus 12R: Cameras

The camera becomes a critical aspect for most users when considering a device in this particular aspect. Users want a camera that is worth the price, and luckily, the OnePlus and Samsung both deliver well on the front. Is this the most exceptional camera experience you will get on a phone? Of course not, but neither phone is a slacker on this front, though there are aspects where both could do better.

With the Samsung Galaxy A55, I expected the skies to be extra blue and the reds to be so vibrant that it hurts to look at the image. But surprisingly, I felt the Galaxy A55 offered a more muted and natural camera- well, as natural as one can expect from Samsung. Photos taken in bright daylight or with ample lighting come out with sharp details and good colour reproduction.

Those taken at night also preserve details, though noise is noticeable at the edges. For instance, my photo of the pool looks well-balanced on the phone's display. Of course, when you zoom in, the noise becomes more evident. Is there a tendency to sharpen some colours? Yes, sure. But the camera here is impressive and does the job that most users expect.

The OnePlus 12R has an excellent camera and slightly warmer tones. The photos I took of the lamps at the restaurant are closer to reality. Photos taken outdoors came out well, with details intact. With night shots, the OP12R keeps noise to a minimum when the light source is well-defined.

However, with the shot of the swimming pool, with no clear light source, I felt the Samsung did a better job overall. The noise is much more apparent in the photo taken with the OnePlus 12R — though remember that this image was taken in poor lighting conditions, which are generally challenging for most phones.

Regarding indoor lighting, such as a restaurant with intimate lighting, both OnePlus and Samsung do a fairly good job. The images are social-media ready and will keep most users happy. The selfies I took at dinner also came out well, though I feel Samsung was closer to the original colours. The red shirt I'm wearing looks true to colour on the Galaxy A55, as does my shade of lipstick, while on the OnePlus, it looks a little pinker.

Galaxy A55 has a 5MP macro camera, while the OnePlus 12R has an even lower 2MP macro camera. The results remain average, especially when used in poor lighting conditions, though Samsung has a slight edge. The Galaxy A55 gets a slightly better 12MP ultra-wide camera, while the OnePlus 12R has an 8MP, which is strictly passable.

Samsung Galaxy A55 vs OnePlus 12R: Performance

On paper, there's no doubt that the OnePlus 12R has a distinct edge, given that it packs the superior Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset compared to the Samsung Exynos 1480. In synthetic benchmarks, the OnePlus 12R is far ahead, scoring close to 1,343,165 points in our testing. The Samsung Galaxy A55 is lower, at 710,635. However, the score difference doesn't mean Galaxy A55's performance is inferior. We have come to expect a standard performance in this particular price bracket, and the Galaxy A55 can ensure that comfortably. Both phones work smoothly for daily tasks without hiccups or noticeable lag.

Samsung Galaxy A55 5G

710,635

AnTuTu Overall benchmark score analysis

Samsung Galaxy A55 5G

1,161

Geekbench single-core benchmark score analysis

Samsung Galaxy A55 5G

3,398

Geekbench multi-core benchmark score analysis

The one place where the difference in performance is obvious is gaming. When I played Genshin Impact on the OnePlus 12R, I found no noticeable increase in the phone's temperature, even after an hour-long session. Mind you, I played the game in a room where I deliberately switched the AC off. Most phones start to get warm within 10-15 minutes of a gaming session, but the OnePlus 12R remains mostly cool.

With the Samsung Galaxy A55, while it could handle the game, it started getting warm around the top part with 20-odd minutes. It was nothing extremely uncomfortable, but the difference between the two phones is noticeable. If you prefer to play games on your phone, the OnePlus has the edge.

Samsung Galaxy A55 vs OnePlus 12R: Display, Design

Design is a fairly subjective aspect when considering a smartphone. Yes, the Samsung Galaxy A55 has what many will call a rather boring flat design, with the back of the phone and the camera alignment inspired by the flagship S series.

The phone has an aluminium side frame, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ on the front, and an IP67 dust and water resistance rating. Despite the larger display bezels, it sports a solid build. I believe the phone's resemblance to the S24 works in its favour.

On the other hand, the OnePlus 12R continues with the rather prominent circular camera module at the back, an aluminium frame, a glass back, and a curved display with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 at the back. It also gets an IP64 rating, meaning the level of protection against water is lower than the A55. The OnePlus also has a glossy finish on the back compared to the Samsung, which has a matte finish.

However, the OnePlus' curved display makes for a better ergonomic fit than the rather chunky Samsung A55. Still, here's the bit where I like to get practical. I prefer flat displays. In my experience, they are easier to keep safe. Plus, adding screen protectors to curved displays has always been challenging. Of course, a solid case should prevent most accidents, but I lean towards caution. Especially if you have butter fingers or a toddler who loves to throw stuff, make sure the phone you get can withstand the occasional hard fall.

On the display front, I enjoyed watching videos more on the Galaxy A55 than the OnePlus 12R—though the latter has a display marketed with all possible jargon. The OnePlus 12R claims to have a peak brightness of 4500 nits and an LTPO 4.0 display, which supports a variable refresh rate of 1Hz to 120Hz. It also comes with Dolby Vision and supports HDR10+ standards.

However, watching shows like Modern Family on the Galaxy A55, I felt the skin tones were closer to natural, while the OnePlus 12R was slightly more saturated. Both phones are perfectly legible in bright sunlight, so it should not be a problem.

But I would say the OnePlus has an edge in the audio department. I felt I had to keep volume levels right on top at times with the Galaxy A55, while the OnePlus 12R was good enough even when I kept the levels down to half.

Samsung Galaxy A55 vs OnePlus 12R: Battery, Charging

The Galaxy A55 has a 5000 mAh battery, which will easily last a day for most users. It comes with 25W fast charging support, which is not good enough in this era. Be prepared for a charging time of close to one and a half hours or more, depending on the charger. I have a 20W one for the iPhone 15 Pro Max that I used on the A55, and the full charge takes close to two hours. Plus, Samsung does not provide a charger in the box.

The OnePlus 12R, on the other hand, has a slightly bigger 5500 mAh battery and will again easily last more than a day for the regular user. OnePlus is packing this with a 100W fast charger, and as we saw in our testing, this will juice up the phone to the full in just 31 minutes. On this front, OnePlus is ahead of Samsung.

Samsung Galaxy A55 vs OnePlus 12R: Software

The OnePlus 12R runs OxygenOS based on Android 14. OnePlus continues with a clear UI with minimal bloatware, which will appeal to some users. OnePlus promises four years of software updates.

Samsung Galaxy A55 runs UI 6.0 based on Android 14. There are pre-loaded apps such as Amazon, Snapchat, Netflix, and PhonePe, but users will probably not mind these, given these are fairly popular apps. Samsung promises four years of major OS updates and five security patches. Samsung is not extending the Galaxy AI features to the A series.

Samsung Galaxy A55 vs OnePlus 12R: Which is the better pick?

Samsung Galaxy A series occupies a tough spot in a highly competitive price bracket. The phone stands out for its build quality, camera, display, and good battery life. Its biggest cons would be the lack of a charger and slower charging speeds, and this is not ideally geared for hard-core gaming. If these are not deal-breakers, the Galaxy A55 is a reliable choice at this price point.

In comparison, the OnePlus 12R has solid performance, a bigger battery, faster charging and an equally good camera. OnePlus could have added more jazz to the ultra-wide camera, and the macro is perhaps the most disappointing. But, yes, the OnePlus 12R is for those who want all the big specifications under Rs 40,000.

More importantly, if you love gaming and want a device that packs a punch in this department without compromising other aspects, the OnePlus 12R is the easy choice.