Samsung unveils warmed over Galaxy A37 and A57 smartphones and not much has changed

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Samsung’s flagship smartphones might have stolen all the headlines in February, but the company’s A series handsets will probably sell in bigger numbers this year. That’s why the announcement of the Samsung Galaxy A37 and A57 is a big deal – but not necessarily because the hardware has been refreshed in any meaningful way.

Like 2025’s Galaxy A36 and Galaxy A56 mid-rangers, the 2026 phones don’t change much. Even the prices haven’t shifted all that much with the base A57 now starting £30 more expensive than the A56 at £529 and the cheapest A37 remaining at £399. Samsung fans in need of a new blower will be rubbing their hands in glee.

Samsung Galaxy A37 5G: Key specifications

• 6.7in Super AMOLED display
• Samsung Exynos 1480 processor
• 6GB or 8GB of RAM
• 128GB or 256GB of storage
• 7.4mm thin, 196g
• 5,000mAh battery
• Cameras: 50MP main, 8MP ultrawide, 5MP macro
• IP68 dust and water resistant
• Price: £399 (6GB, 128GB); £459 (8GB, 256GB)
• Availability: From 10 April

Samsung Galaxy A57 5G: Key specifications

• 6.7in Super AMOLED+ display
• Samsung Exynos 1680 processor
• 8GB or 12GB of RAM
• 256GB or 512GB of storage
• 6.9mm thin, 179g
• 5,000mAh battery
• Cameras: 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 5MP macro
• IP68 dust and water resistant
• Price: £529 (8GB, 256GB); £699 (12GB, 512GB)
• Availability: From 10 April

Design, features and first impressions

With rivals such as the Nothing Phone (4a) and Nothing Phone (4a) Pro offering compelling alternatives, though, those with more open minds might wonder what on earth Samsung is playing at.

Because other than some new “awesome” colours and a slightly tweaked camera turret design – it’s now translucent, which does look quite attractive – there’s nothing that catches the attention.

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Like 2025’s mid-range Samsung phones, both of these handsets have 6.7in AMOLED displays that go up to 1900 nits in “Vision Booster” mode playback and 1200 nits in regular use.

Both are, admittedly, slimmer and lighter than before and have thinner bezels – the A57 measures 6.9mm from screen to rear and weighs 179g; the A37 is 7.4mm thin and 196g. Both phones are remarkably svelte for their size, too, but you’d have to examine all four phones with a magnifying glass and a pair of vernier calipers to actually observe this.

Even the battery inside each phone is the same, with 5,000mAh units delivering up to “two days” of stamina. Again, that’s not bad, but is it too much to hope for at least some improvement somewhere?

There are some differences worth having. Both phones’ weatherproofing has been improved from IP67 to IP68, meaning you can submerge them in 1.5m of water for up to 30 minutes. I’d hesitate to plunge them in the pool but at least there’s peace of mind if you get caught in a heavy shower. 

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Elsewhere, the phones’ processors are new: the Samsung Galaxy A57 gets one of Samsung’s Exynos 1680 chipsets; the A37 gets an Exynos 1480. The A57’s main 50MP camera sensor has slightly larger 1um pixels than before vs 0.9um.

And coupled with a new “enhanced” ISP (image signal processor) that should at least mean improved, lower noise, low-light photography. Samsung also says this leads to better HDR and portrait imaging on the A57 and faster shutter speeds. The A37 doesn’t have this enhanced ISP.

But as far as the rest of the camera lineup is concerned there’s nothing to report. The A57 accompanies its 50MP main shooter with a 12MP ultrawide and a 5MP macro. The A37 has a 50MP, an 8MP ultrawide and a 5MP macro.

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Samsung Galaxy A37 and A57: Early verdict

Both the A37 and A57 will inevitably sell like hot cakes, despite not much changing this year, and that’s okay. We really liked the A56 last year and this year’s phones are slightly better. And software support remains excellent, with six years of security updates and six generations of OS updates baked in.

The only problem these phones have, really, is that the competition is that bit stronger, with the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro, in particular, offering a more interesting look and including an optical telephoto camera in the mix for less money.

Both phones will be available to buy from 10 April, with the Galaxy A37 starting at £399 for the model with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and the A57 starting at £529 for the model with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. We’ll be reviewing both just as soon as we can lay our hands on samples, so watch this space. 

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Written By

Jonathan Bray

Head of reviews at Expert Reviews, Jon has been testing and writing about products since before most of you were born (well, only if you were born after 1996). In that time he’s tested and reviewed hundreds of laptops, PCs, smartphones, vacuum cleaners, coffee machines, doorbells, cameras and more. He’s worked on websites since the early days of tech, writing game reviews for AOL and hardware reviews for PC Pro, Computer Buyer and other print publications. He’s also had work published in Trusted Reviews, Computing Which? and The Observer. And yet, even after so many years in the industry, there’s still nothing more he loves than getting to grips with a new product and putting it through its paces.

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