Samsung Galaxy A57 review

Design, build quality, handling

The Galaxy A57 is the most premium smartphone to come from the A series in a while. Not because it has changed dramatically for the better, but because it has inched closer to the Edge and S models by look and feel.

The Galaxy A57 is thinner and lighter than its predecessors, with slimmer screen bezels and an improved camera island. Together with the dual Gorilla Glass Victus+ panels and the anodized aluminum frame, we found the new A57 really good-looking, flagship-grade even.

The Galaxy A37, for example, has a similar screen and battery, yet it's taller, wider, thicker, and much heavier than the A57. Here, see for yourself.

Galaxy A37 and Galaxy A57

In addition to the reduced size, the Galaxy A57 also got another hardware upgrade - IP68-rated ingress protection for complete dust and water resistance, up from IP67 on the previous model.

The Galaxy A57 is available in four so-called "Awesome" colors - Navy, Icyblue (ours), Gray, and Lilac.

Now, let's take a close look at the phone from all sides.

The 6.7-inch Super AMOLED screen occupies the entire front. It has round edges, evenly thin bezels, and a small perforation for the 12MP selfie camera.

Above the display is a super-thin earpiece that doubles as a stereo speaker.

And underneath the screen is an always-on fingerprint scanner with an incredibly fast and reliable sensor.

The back of the Galaxy A57 is really cool. The icyblue color under the Victus+ panel looks nice and because it's a rather bright hue, you cannot see the accumulated smudges on top of the glossy glass.

The camera trio sits on a rather long island made of translucent plastic with a matching color to the back. It looks very well, especially under bright light, as the semi-transparent parts become even more obvious.

The single LED flash is flush with the back.

The frame is mostly flat with barely visible chamfers on the edges. It has a matte finish and the same blue color as the back.

The top houses a couple of microphones.

The bottom has the USB-C port, the other stereo speaker, the primary microphone, and the dual-SIM tray. The Galaxy A57 also supports eSIM. It also has a proximity sensor for calls, but it's only accessible by the Phone app, as is usual for Samsung, so other apps can't make use of it.

The volume and power keys on the right sit elevated on their own island, a look that has become signature for the Galaxy A series. Furthermore, we can confirm that this design spot feels nice to the touch and somehow gives the A series a character of its own.

The Galaxy A57 measures 161.5 x 76.8 x 6.9 mm and weighs 179 g, which means it is slightly shorter, narrower, and thinner than the Galaxy A56, and almost 20g lighter!

The Galaxy A57 is a well-made handset with a premium look and feel. It has a sturdy build with balanced weight and some cool color options. Unfortunately, the phone is incredibly slippery and it will be a challenge to use it on a busy day without a case for extra grip. And that's our only complaint.