Samsung Galaxy A15 4G (SM-A155) Review, Price And Specifications.

Samsung Galaxy A15 4G (SM-A155) Quick Specs:

Display: 6.5" Full-HD+ (2340×1080) 90hz AMOLED Infinity-U Display.

Software: Android 14 OS, One UI 6.0 Skin.

CPU: Helio G99 Ultimate (6nm).

RAM: 4GB/6GB/8GGB (And up to 4GB of Virtual RAM).

Storage: 128GB/256GB (expandable up to 1TB).

Rear Camera: Triple-lens (50MP+5MP+2MP).

Front Camera: Single-lens (13MP).

Security: Side-mounted fingerprint reader, Face Unlock.

Port: USB Type-C.

Network: 4G (LTE).

Speaker: Single.

Battery: 5,000mAh.

Charging Speed: 25W..

Starting Price:

₦245,000, KSh 27,999, UGX 630,500

While most of the phones at this price point are fitted with IPS-LCD displays, Samsung Galaxy A15 (SM-A155) features an AMOLED display. The phone also packs a more stronger CPU and offers a longer software (major) updates. Also despite having the same battery capacity as the contenders, the A15 battery last a little longer. However, all those selling points come at the expense of lower RAM and lower inbuilt storage. Also, like other Samsung phones, Galaxy A15 doesn't come with a charger in its box.

By the way, Samsung Galaxy A15 is the successor to the Samsung Galaxy A14 4G. Though, basically, the latest phone preserves the familiar simple looks of its predecessor, but it's more compact and looks more appealing. The prettier looks is as a result of its slimmer bezel and Infinity-U (U-shape) notched display (compared to the Infinity-V or tear-drop notch on the earlier phone). The back of the latest phone also sports a more appealing semi-glossy finish.

Furthermore, the PLS-LCD display on the earlier model, as i said earlier, has been replaced with an AMOLED display. The latest phone's CPU is also more powerful, and its base version is equipped with twice storage capacity. The charging speed has been increased too.

However, the camera set-up remains the same. Therefore, photos taken with the latest phone look almost like the ones from its predecessor. Even, personally, i prefer the shot from the earlier phone. In addition to the camera, almost all other features of the A15 remain as those of the A14.

Price And Design Colours:

Samsung Galaxy A15 4G is available in four colour options of Blue, Light Blue, Blue Black, and Yellow. And the phone's current price is about 

The Contenders:

At a price that's even cheaper than the base version of the Galaxy A15, Itel RS4 offers higher RAM and twice storage space,

Still, the Itel phone has the same CPU as the Galaxy A15. However, unlike the Samsung phone, the RS4 is pre-installed with previous version of Android OS (even with no assurance of OS update). The Itel phone also comes with IPS-LCD display and it has a lower megapixel front-facing camera. Though its main rear camera remain as that of the A15. Still. the quality of the shots taken with the main camera slightly fall below those of the Samsung phone.

Like the Itel RS4, Xiaomi Redmi 13 offers an higher RAM and twice storage space than the Galaxy A15. Yet the Redmi phone has the same Android OS and the same front-facing camera as the Samsung phone. Even the rear camera on the Redmi phone has an higher megapixel sensor. Still, the phone features an IPS-LCD display and it's fitted with a little less powerful CPU than the A15. Also in spite of its higher megapixel main sensor, photos taken with the Redmi 13 are similar to those of the Samsung. So also the selfies taken the Redmi phone.

NOTE: Our review unit of the Galaxy A15 is the base (4GB/128GB or SM-A155F/DSN) version. The higher RAM and higher storage versions of the phone attract higher price. And at that higher price, it's easier to fine other phones that offer better value for money. 

DESIGN: Sleeker Look Than The Galaxy A14, But Identical To The Galaxy A24.

Though the Galaxy A15 wears a more appealing looks than its predecessor, but it is still the same simple looks that's common among most of the recent Samsung budget phones. In fact, A15 looks almost like the last year's Samsung Galaxy A24. It would have been difficult to tell apart A15 from the earlier phone if not for the latest phone's flat edges. Also, the flat section below the power and volume keys has been elevated or raised a little. And Samsung calls the elevated area Key Island. Except for those two modifications, every other physical attributes of the A15 remain as those of the A24. In details, the new phone has an identical 6.5-inch Infinity-U display and the same back cover as the A24. Galaxy A15 also comes with a triple rear camera; and the sensors are also arranged in a similar (vertical) manner.

The arrangements of ports and buttons (and their numbers) are also similar to those of the A24. In details, Galaxy A15 volume keys and power button (which also doubles as a fingerprint reader) are placed on its right edge (on the Key Island precisely). While the phone's 4G Hybrid nano-SIM tray is located on its left edge.

Galaxy A15 also comes with two microphones. One on the top and the other on the bottom. The one on the bottom is placed alongside USB type-C port, 3.5mm audio jack and a mono speaker.

Though the A15 is slightly smaller (160x76.8x8.4mm) than the competition, but it's a little on the heavy side (about 200g). Still, it has a slightly better build quality than the similarly priced Xiaomi Redmi 13 and Itel RS4. It has a wider aspect too. However, the phone is not as appealing (to look at) as the two competing phones.

Notwithstanding, the A15 has a better build quality and looks more appealing than the earlier Galaxy A14. For instance, the front of the latest phone is protected with a Corning Gorilla Glass; which is missing on the earlier model. Also despite that latest phone's frame and back cover are also made of plastics, they sport a more attractive glossy finish, compared to matte finish of the earlier phone. But the glossy finish of the A15 attracts smudges and fingerprint easily. Unfortunately the A15 doesn't come with a protective casing, you need to buy one. Also in spite of its better build quality, A15 is still not dust and splash resistance certified.

Same Camera Set-Up: Same Nice Looking Photos:

As i previously mentioned, the cameras on the A15 are exactly like the ones on the Galaxy A14. In other words, the triple rear camera on the A15 comprises of a 50MP Main sensor, a 5MP Ultra-Wide sensor, and a 2MP Macro sensor. And on the front of the phone is also a 13MP sensor.

Basically, the main sensor captures photos at 12MP. And photos are noticeably sharp and clear. But if you want a more detailed photos (though at the expense of a larger megabytes), you have to switch to 50MP. And just like the ones taken with its predecessor, photos taken with the A15 are impressively clear and detailed. Colours are vibrant, true to life, and moderately saturated. Portrait shots also look good. So also the HDR shots.

Still, on a more closer look, and when compared to the ones from the A14, i noticed that some of the photos (especially the outdoor ones) have tinge of warm tone. And this, sometimes, makes the outdoor shots from the A15 appear a little less cleaner than the ones taken with the A14. This is why i said i prefer the shots from the earlier model.

Also the brightness level of the A15 photos are a little overblown. This is more obvious with video recordings and shots taken at night (or in dark environments) with the latest phone's dedicated Night mode (which was missing on the A14). In other words, the normal night shots from the A14 look slightly clearer, compared to the ones taken with the latest phone's Night Mode.

Photos from the Ultra Wide sensor also maintain the pleasant and rich colours of the ones taken with the main sensor. However, the shots lack the sharpness and detail thereof. Though one cannot expect noteworthy detailed from the photos taken with a 5-megapixel sensor.

The shots from the 2MP Macro sensor also lack detail. Yet the level of clarity is decent. Besides, the Macro shots retain the nice colour representation of the other two sensors.

Selfies taken with the A15 retain the impressive picture quality of the ones from the A14. In other words, selfies are noticeably clear, moderately detailed and have good colour representation. Skin tone also look good. Though colours tend to be on the saturated side a little, still, they're close to reality.

Dynamic Range also look good. But, background blurring effect of the Portrait selfies appear to be too much.

With both of its front and rear cameras, the Galaxy A15 can shoot video up to 1080p at 30fps (frame per second). However, almost all the competing phones can shoot videos up 2K. Still, in terms of colour representation, footage from the Samsung phone stands out among those of the contenders. There's still no Video Stabilization though.

A Nice Looking AMOLED Display:

Like the 6.6-inch screen of the A14, the minute smaller 6.5-inch screen of the A15 has a 1080p resolution. But the screen's horizontal pixel has been changed from 2408 to 2340. The latest display also has a slightly wider aspect ratio of 19.5:9, compared to the 20:9 of the earlier one. But, because it's still a 1080p display like the earlier one, the difference in their sharpness or level of detail is negligible.

However, being an AMOLED panel, the screen of the A15 looks more vibrant and crispier than the PLS-LCD screen of the earlier phone. It also looks better than the IPS-LCD screens of the competition. Colours are richer and appear more accurate on the Galaxy A15 display. The display also has an higher contrast level and wider viewing angle. The peak brightness is also on the high side; about 800nit (in Auto mode though); which makes the screen to be more clearer and viewable under direct sunlight, compared to those of the competitions and its predecessor. 

Also unlike the one on the A14, the screen of the A15 support high (90Hz) refresh rate; for a smoother page scrolling, swiping and gaming. However, almost all the competing phones offer the same screen refresh rate. Some even offer up to 120Hz.

Upgraded CPU, Roomier Storage, Stronger Performance:

Out of the box, Galaxy A15 is pre-installed with Samsung's One UI 6.0 (though the more expensive Samsung phones features 6.1 version of the Custom UI). The phone is running the new custom UI on top of Android 14 OS. Apart from the fact that it's only few phones (at this price point) that feature Android 14 OS, none of them offer up to three years major OS updates (and four years of security patches) as the Samsung phone.

In other words, if you are not planning to replace your new phone in the next four to five years, Galaxy A15 is a right choice.

The processor that powered this phone is MediaTek Helio G99 Ultimate CPU. And it's a 6nm Octa-Core CPU with clock speed of up to 2.2GHz. The graphics related tasks are handled by Mali-G57 MC2 GPU. This base model of the A15 features 4GB of RAM and 128GB inbuilt storage. This is followed by the 6GB/128GB version and 8GB/128GB version. There's also more expensive 8GB/256GB version. Yet, irrespective of your choice of version, the inbuilt storage of the Galaxy A15 can be expanded, via microSD card, up to 1TB.

Basically, this base version of the Galaxy A15 is swift and impressively responsive. Yet the higher RAM versions are likely to deliver smoother and slightly faster performance. In support of that statement, Tecno Spark 20 Pro; which features the same processor but has twice amount of RAM, outshine the A15 base version in speed test.

Nonetheless, the fact still remain that the Helio G99 Ultimate is a mid-range gaming chipset. As a result, this phone neither lag nor stutter when it comes to demanding tasks like heavy multi-tasking and high definition video streaming. We had to introduce something more stronger like high graphics gaming to test the capability of the A15. Even with that, the phone handled most of the popular graphic demanding games at High Graphics settings. However in order to preserves consistent smoothness, the Frame rates have to be dropped (depending how powerful the game is). And in all those time, the phone remain moderately warm.

Same Battery Capacity, Yet Longer Battery Life And Higher Fast Charging;

As i said earlier, Galaxy A15 also comes with a 5,000mAh battery like its predecessor, but the earlier phone's 15W fast charging has been increased to 25W. Notwithstanding, the competing phones offer faster charging speed. But when it comes to battery life, A15 bested the competition and its predecessor. In other words, and as a result of its 6nm CPU, AMOLED display and highly optimized software, A15 delivered longer battery life than the contending phones in battery tests.

Also as i mentioned before, Galaxy A15 doesn't come with adapter (charger) and earphone like the competition. You only have a Type-C to Type-C cable inside the box of the A15. In other words you'll have to buy a charger, separately, for this phone. And with a compatible 25W fast charger, it'll take about one and half hour to fully charge Galaxy A15 battery from zero percent.

Samsung Galaxy A15 4G (SM-A155) Full Specs:

GENERAL

Maker: Samsung Mobile.

Name: Galaxy A15 4G (SM-A155).

Year Released: December, 2023.

Dimensions: 168.6x76.6x8.4mm

Weight: 200g (7.02 oz).   

Colour: Brave Black, Personality Yellow, Fantasy Blue, & Optimistic Blue..

DISPLAY
Screen Type: AMOLED Touch-screen.

Size and Resolution: 6.5-inch, Full-HD+, 2340-by-1080 pixels, 90Hz (high) Refresh Rate.

Aspect ratio & Pixel Densities: 19.5:9, 396PPI.

Protection: Tampered Glass.

PORTS:

3.5mm Audio Jack: Yes.

USB Type-C Port: Yes.

MicroUSB port: No.

Lightning Connector: No.

Google Assistant Button: No.

PERFORMANCE

Chipset: MediaTek Helio G99 6nm Octa-Core Processor, 2.2GHz.

GPU: Mali-G57 MC2.

RAM: 4GB/6GB/8GB (With up to 4GB of Virtual RAM).

Operating System: Android 14, One UI 6.0.

STORAGE

Internal Storage: 128GB/256GB.

Micro-SD card slot: Yes, up to 1TB (One Terabyte).

SIM AND NETWORK

SIM: Nano, Dual SIM slots.

Network:  GSM, HSPA+, & LTE.

CAMERA

Rear camera: Triple-lens; 50MP (Wide)+ 5MP (Ultra-Wide)+ 2MP (Macro), Dual-Flash.

Front camera: Single-lens, 13MP.

VIDEO RECORDING:

Rear Cameras: 720p, 1080p @ 30 fps.

Front Camera: 720p, 1080p @ 30 fps.

CONNECTIVITY:

Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3, HotSpots, USB-OTG, NFC.

BIOMETRIC, SENSORS & LOCATION: 

Security: Face Unlock, Side-mounted Fingerprint Reader.

Sensors: Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor, G-sensor, Accelerometer And

Barometer sensor

Others: GPS, Location (Geo, Glonass).

BATTERY

Battery Capacity: 5,000mAh.

Reverse (Wired) Charging: N/a

Qi Wireless-Charging: N/a.

Fast Charging: 25W (Wired).