Samsung’s Galaxy A37 5G and A57 5G raise the bar

Buying a new smartphone in 2026 just doesn’t hit like it used to. Everything’s getting more expensive, and while phones are still largely better every year, it’s feeling more and more like we’re just getting a lot less for our money. Concerns like those may have caused you to delay your usual upgrade, maybe sitting out the Galaxy S26 launch in the hopes of something nearly as good — but more importantly, a whole lot cheaper — coming down the pike soon.

Today we’ve got just that sort of affordable compromise for you to check out, as Samsung introduces its latest mid-rangers: the Galaxy A37 5G and Galaxy A57 5G.

Samsung Galaxy A37 5G and A57 5G: Release date, price, and availability

• Samsung Galaxy A37 5G (6/128GB): $449.99 (8/256GB): $539.99
• Samsung Galaxy A57 5G (8/128GB): $549.99 (8/256GB): $609.99

If you’re a fan of Samsung’s affordable A-series phones, you might already be noticing an omission: Where’s your new Galaxy A2x model? Last year we saw the A36 5G and A56 5G debut alongside the A26 5G, but there’s no corresponding A27 this time around. While we have seen a few references to the hardware in Samsung firmware, suggesting that it could still be in the works, we’re not getting it just yet; today is all about the Galaxy A37 5G and A57 5G. Those join the Galaxy A17 5G, which launched in January.

This time around, prices are a little higher — last time we were starting at $400 for the A36 5G. And while that’s never great, Samsung does manage to deliver a few solid upgrades with this generation that might just tempt you to shell out that extra cash.

While Samsung doesn’t plan to offer any alluring pre-order perks for these mid-rangers, at least they’re both set to arrive quite soon, with both the A37 5G and A57 5G hitting US retail in two weeks, on April 9.

The Galaxy A series is not about overwhelming you with dazzling specs, and neither of these new handsets is about to do anything too controversial with their hardware. Compared to last year, we do see a handful of noteworthy upgrades, but mostly, Samsung is just giving shoppers a lot of the same.

Here’s a birds-eye view of how the two compare. We’ll dive more into specifics a little further down.

Samsung Galaxy A37 5G and A57 5G: Features

We’d forgive you for mistaking any of these for last year’s models at first glance, as beyond Samsung going with some slightly lighter colors for its camera islands, this hardware is highly evocative of the 2025 Galaxy A lineup. But have a little patience, and we’ll guide you through all the changes present in this new generation that are worth paying attention to.

On both the Galaxy A37 5G and A57 5G, Samsung is all about night photography — or nightography, as the portmanteau-loving Galaxy manufacturer calls it. Using Big Pixel binning techniques to optimize light sensitivity, Samsung says that users can expect exceptionally low-noise photos even in the darkest environments.

Both models still offer comparable camera hardware, with the main distinguishing factor being the 12MP ultrawide sensor on the A57 5G, compared to the 8MP on the A37 5G — but that’s also nothing new, with the same split present last generation.

What we do get, though, is an upgraded Image Signal Processor, helping you get the most out of your pics. You can expect smooth, vivid HDR video on the A37 5G, and on the A57 5G you can look forward to the ability to toggle between its wide and ultrawide cameras without any distracting blur transition effect.

Both phones are equipped with a 6.7-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display, featuring a 120Hz refresh rate. That’s pretty much just like we had last year, but with this generation the A57 5G upgrades to a Super AMOLED Plus panel (and shrinks down its bezels, to boot).

Once again, Samsung is prioritizing making its latest A-series phones even better to use outdoors, as it boosts maximum brightness all the way up to 1,900 nits (the old high-brightness mode topped out at 1,200).

As we move into the phone bodies, we’re once again looking at a whole lot of things that are going to feel very familiar, but peppered with a few key improvements. For instance, Samsung is still using Gorilla Glass Victus Plus to make both the front and rear of these handsets feel nice and premium (while also helping to resist damage). But in 2026, we’re no longer looking at plastic frames across the board, and the Galaxy A57 5G graduates to a metal frame.

Drop your phone in water entirely too often? While almost every good phone is water resistant to one extent or another these days, last year’s A-series models topped out at an IP67 rating — the “7” there at the end signifying that you could full-on submerge your phone in up to one meter of water. For these 2026 models, Samsung bumps that up to full IP68 — able to handle a dunk in water that’s even deeper than a meter.

With the Galaxy A37 5G, you’ve got your pick of colors, so long as you’re OK with awesome ones: Awesome Charcoal, Awesome Graygreen, Awesome White, and Awesome Lavender. In the US, the A57 5G won’t offer anywhere near that level of variety — or honestly, any at all. You can pick up the phone in Awesome Navy and… that’s it.

Battery life and charging

Samsung’s mid-rangers have a well-deserved reputation as handsets nicely equipped to handle the power demands of even heavy users — and that’s not changing this year.

Both the A37 5G and A57 5G return with good-sized 5,000mAh batteries. But more importantly, they both charge at a speedy 45W. That kind of fast charging is far from a guarantee on even flagship smartphones, so to be consistently getting it from devices like these is a real treat — and one of the many reasons we keep coming back to Samsung’s A series.

Just remember that Samsung is not exactly big on handing out a lot extras — to take advantage of 45W charging, you’ll want to pick up a compatible charger and cable.

We’re still waiting for Samsung to update all its 2025 Galaxy lineup (and those even further back) to One UI 8.5, but these new A-series phones won’t have to sit through more endless beta cycles — they arrive with Samsung’s latest system software, right out of the box.

Improvements to look forward to on this hardware include some Circle to Search optimizations. Samsung says that over 57% of A-series owners use Circle to Search already, and these latest handsets will support its new outfit-planner. You can also expect faster object removal when editing pics. And it should be even easier to find great shots, as Best Face no longer requires Motion Photos to operate.

Once again, you can look forward to six major OS releases and six years of security updates. Sure, you’re paying a little more for Samsung’s hardware in 2026, but with that kind of support lifetime, consider it an investment.

Samsung knows it doesn’t have to start from scratch with a new Galaxy A generation, and even with the handful of upgrades present here, it’s easy to find a lot to like about both the Galaxy A37 5G and Galaxy A57 5G. Will either one of them be finding a home in your pocket? Let us know down in the comments.