Samsung Galaxy A56 5G

The Galaxy A56 5G is the flagship of Samsung's 2025 Galaxy A series, the range that sits beneath the Galaxy S line. Samsung unveiled it on 1 March 2025 alongside the Galaxy A36 5G and Galaxy A26 5G and announced worldwide availability on 28 March. The big theme of the launch was Awesome Intelligence, Samsung's name for a set of AI features that reached the A series for the first time, together with a larger display, a longer software promise and stronger durability. This page draws on Samsung's UK press releases and specification table. We label statements about performance as Samsung claims and list what the announcement leaves out.

Price, colours and availability

In the UK, Samsung listed the Galaxy A56 5G at 499 pounds for the 8 GB memory and 256 GB storage model, and at 459 pounds for an 8 GB and 128 GB Enterprise Edition. It comes in four colours, all with the Awesome prefix: Lightgrey, Graphite, Olive and Pink, although availability of colours and models varies by carrier. Buyers in Samsung's online store and at participating retailers could claim a Premium Pack worth 138.98 pounds with a Galaxy Fit3, a 45W charger and a silicone case, but that offer was time-limited and has ended. On 28 March 2025 Samsung announced global availability of the A56, A36 and A26 series, again noting that availability varies by country, region and carrier.

Display and design

The A56 5G and A36 5G share a larger 6.7-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display, with brightness reaching up to 1,200 nits in high brightness mode and a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz. Samsung notes that the diagonal is 6.5 inches when the rounded corners and camera hole are considered. New stereo speakers are said to make the sound richer and more balanced. The body measures 162.2 by 77.5 by 7.4 millimetres and weighs 198 grams. Samsung says the device weight may vary by market. The phone is rated IP67 for dust and water resistance, defined by Samsung as submersion in up to one metre of fresh water for 30 minutes under laboratory conditions, and it uses Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ on the front and back as a barrier against scratches and cracks.

Exynos 1580, battery and charging

The Galaxy A56 5G is powered by the Exynos 1580, while the A36 uses a Snapdragon 6 Gen 3, and both have a larger vapour chamber intended to sustain performance in games, video playback and multitasking. All models in the range have a 5,000 mAh battery, with a rated minimum capacity of 4,905 mAh for the A56. The A56 and A36 support 45W charging with Super Fast Charge 2.0, which Samsung says delivers even faster charging for extended use. A 45W charger is not shown as included in the phone's specifications, and Samsung's own offer bundles one separately, so check what comes in the box in your country. Samsung does not state a video-playback time, and independent battery tests are the best guide to real endurance.

Triple camera and Best Face

All three A-series phones have a triple-camera system with a 50MP main lens, and the A56 also has a 12MP ultra-wide lens. The main camera has an f/1.8 aperture, autofocus and optical image stabilization. The front camera is 12MP, and both the A56 and A36 support 10-bit HDR recording on the front camera for brighter, crisper selfies. Samsung highlights several AI camera tools. Best Face, which is exclusive to the A56 within the A series, lets you pick the best expression for each person in a group shot taken with Motion Photo, choosing from frames inside the motion clip for up to five people and suggesting up to three alternative expressions per person. Samsung's footnote stresses that Best Face does not generate new facial expressions. Nightography gets Low Noise Mode on the selfie camera and extra wide-camera support for low light. Object Eraser removes distractions manually or automatically, and Filters lets you create custom filters by extracting the colours and style of an existing photo.

Awesome Intelligence

Awesome Intelligence, delivered with One UI 7, is what Samsung calls the first comprehensive mobile AI exclusively available on the A56, A36 and A26. The centrepiece is Google's Circle to Search, which now recognises phone numbers, email addresses and URLs on the screen so you can act on them with one tap, and can identify songs playing on the phone or nearby: long press the navigation bar to activate it and tap the music button. Some functions require a network connection or a Samsung account, and Samsung notes that it cannot guarantee the accuracy of AI output. If you rely on a particular feature, check that it is available in your language and region.

Security and software support

With One UI 7 arriving on the A series for the first time, the phones gain Samsung Knox Vault as an additional layer of protection for sensitive data, plus features such as Theft Detection and further security settings. Samsung promises up to six generations of Android OS and One UI upgrades and six years of security updates, which is long for a phone in this price band. Digital Key rollout for the A56 began in Korea, the UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy. An Enterprise Edition offers up to seven years of security and One UI updates, three years of warranty, a two-year product lifecycle guarantee and a one-year Knox Suite licence for businesses, according to Samsung.

What the announcement does not say

Samsung's releases give no information about the phone's video recording resolution, its speaker power or the exact processor benchmarks, and they do not state a price in dollars in the material we used. They also mix statements about the whole A series with details that apply only to the A56, so it is easy to credit the A56 with something that belongs to the A36 or A26. Reading the footnotes is worthwhile, because they show which features are exclusive to the A56 and which depend on region, language or a Samsung account.

Who should look at it

The Galaxy A56 5G is aimed at people who want a large, bright 120 Hz AMOLED screen, a decent camera set and a long update promise at a moderate price. A step up in Samsung's line is the Galaxy S25 FE, which adds a telephoto lens and the Exynos 2400, and Google's Pixel 9a is an obvious rival. The Galaxy A56 vs Pixel 9a table lines up the two, and the iPhone 16e is Apple's more affordable alternative. For the flagship family that the A series sits below, see the Galaxy S25, and browse the whole phones section for more.