Samsung Galaxy A37 review: Samey but solid

Finest Costs Right this moment: Samsung Galaxy A37 5G

The Samsung Galaxy A37 is an affordable telephone providing up the design language and among the AI options from the agency’s flagship S collection gadgets.

It’s not designed to blow you away with efficiency or next-gen instruments, however what it does purpose to ship is that quintessential Samsung expertise in an affordable package deal. For this reason the Galaxy A-series telephones are widespread for the value-seeking common Joe.

There’s loads of competitors across the A37’s £399/$449 beginning value, with the Honor 600 Lite, Nothing Telephone (4a), Moto G86 5G, plus the now-discounted Oppo Reno 13, Google Pixel 9a and Xiaomi Redmi Notice 15 Professional all vying for consideration.

And if you need a contact extra energy with a thinner design, Samsung additionally has the Galaxy A57 in case you’re keen to half with slightly more money.

Samsung payments the A37 as a slim smartphone with enhanced cameras over its predecessor, a two-day battery, AI enhancing instruments and the newest One UI 8.5 interface. I’ve put the Galaxy A37 5G to the take a look at for a number of weeks with my SIM in it to see if it lives as much as the billing.

Notice: Our Galaxy A37 assessment pattern was equipped by Three UK, but it surely had no say in how we reviewed the machine.

Design & Construct

• Equivalent design to predecessor
• IP67 mud and water resistance
• Quantity key’s too excessive as much as be snug

You’d be hard-pressed to visually inform the Samsung Galaxy A37 aside from its predecessor (the Galaxy A36), with the brand new handset borrowing the identical design and body measurement.

The one discernible variations are an additional gram in weight on the Galaxy A37, which suggestions the scales at fairly hefty 196g, together with its recent palette of fairly cheesily named colours; Superior Charcoal, Superior Lavender, Superior White, and Superior Graygreen.

My assessment unit was the fairly muted ‘Superior Charcoal’, with Lavender and Graygreen trying to be the extra attention-grabbing hues for these wanting to face out slightly from the group.

John McCann / Foundry

Whereas Samsung hasn’t wasted any time on a redesign, that’s not completely a nasty factor. The Galaxy A37 seems to be good and is solidly constructed with Gorilla Glass Victus+ on the back and front, sandwiching a plastic body that does an affordable job of imitating steel within the hand – though it definitely lacks the premium polish of the flagship S collection.

The raised ridge on the proper of the telephone that homes the quantity and energy keys – dubbed Key Island – makes it straightforward to seek out them if you slide a finger or thumb up the telephone, though the quantity key does really feel slightly too excessive up the facet. These with smaller fingers may discover it a little bit of a stretch.

One other enchancment Samsung has revamped the A36 is the water resistance, with the Galaxy A37 providing IP67 safety, permitting the handset to outlive a 1.5m dunk for half-hour. Tub time scrolling is a-go.

Display screen & Audio system

• Vibrant 6.7-inch show is nice for media
• Not the brightest display screen in its class
• Stereo audio system are nice for the worth

The A37’s giant 6.7-inch show is vibrant and vibrant with Samsung’s Tremendous AMOLED expertise making certain colors get a lift. It’s the identical because the display screen used on its predecessor, the A36.

The Full HD decision (1080 x 2340) provides you a pixel density of 385ppi, there’s a 120Hz refresh fee for easy scrolling, and a brightness of 1200 nits, all of which match its dearer, A-Sequence sibling, the Galaxy A57. Not unhealthy contemplating the A37 is £100/$100 cheaper.

John McCann / Foundry

What all this implies is you get a show which is brilliant and vibrant sufficient for texting, streaming, gaming and extra. In brilliant daylight, it may possibly grow to be slightly tough to see although, with brightness not matching the likes of the Nothing Telephone 4a or Moto G86.

Samsung quotes a 1900 nits peak brightness. If you’d like a telephone you’ll be able to see simply for prolonged durations in brilliant daylight, the A37 may not be just right for you.

You additionally get stereo audio system right here, situated on the brief edges of the machine. They kick out respectable quantity and readability contemplating the scale of the telephone and its value level. You received’t be disillusioned, however there’s Bluetooth connectivity in case you’d fairly hear through an exterior speaker or set of headphones.

Specs & Efficiency

• Samsung Exynos 1480
• 6GB or 8GB of RAM
• 128GB or 256GB of storage

The Samsung Galaxy A37 makes use of the model’s personal Exynos 1480 chipset, a change from final yr, when the A36 got here with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chip.

Samsung’s decrease mid-range chipset does the job, however the greater level with the Galaxy A37 is with RAM. My assessment unit was the pricier 256GB of storage mannequin, which comes with 8GB of storage.

In the event you’re after the entry-level mannequin, which prices £399/$449.99, you’ll solely get 6GB of RAM, and primarily based on my expertise with the pricier mannequin, I’d be cautious about recommending the cheaper configuration. In actual fact, Samsung UK doesn’t even promote this feature on the time of writing.

John McCann / Foundry

Samsung doesn’t seem to have made any nice strides with efficiency versus the A36 this telephone replaces. The Galaxy A37 did deal with the whole lot I threw at it, however there’s noticeable lag when switching between apps, at occasions a sluggish interface, and longer wait occasions (in comparison with extra highly effective fashions) when loading intensive video games. I used to be capable of play Name of Responsibility Cell on the excessive graphics setting and nonetheless be aggressive in matches, although.

You shouldn’t count on flagship velocity at this value level, however I’m involved the decrease RAM configuration may make the telephone greater than slightly irritating to make use of.

Looking on the benchmark outcomes, the 8GB of RAM Galaxy A37 performs equally to the Telephone (4a), although the Nothing handset feels extra fluid total, whereas each telephones outperform the Moto G86.

The Galaxy A37 additionally packs Bluetooth 5.3, WiFi 5, NFC, GPS and dual-SIM functionality.

Samsung Galaxy A37 5G benchmarks

Cameras

• 50Mp most important sensor
• 8Mp ultrawide
• 5Mp macro
• 12Mp selfie digital camera

The Samsung Galaxy A37 cameras are similar to these discovered on its predecessor. Samsung has caught with the 50Mp most important, 8Mp ultrawide, and 5Mp macro setup on the rear, whereas around the entrance we get one other 12Mp snapper.

It’s not fully similar, although, as the principle 50Mp digital camera options a few small enhancements, with a bigger sensor measurement and enhanced ISP (picture sign processor) over the A36.

What this implies is the Galaxy A37 presents up a stable pictures expertise for its value bracket, but it surely doesn’t break any new floor or significantly stand out from the group.

You do get brilliant, clear pictures from the principle 50Mp snapper, with a superb stage of element and colors that pop due to Samsung’s picture processing.

John McCann / Foundry

The 5Mp telephoto permits you to take 2x optical zoom pictures whereas sustaining cheap high quality. You possibly can zoom (digitally) all the way in which to 10x, however picture readability takes a noticeable dip, so I’d advise towards zooming an excessive amount of if you wish to keep good photographs.

The 4x zoom doesn’t do badly, and I used to be in a position to select a transferring police boat with sufficient element to learn the lettering on the ship – test it out within the samples under.

Go the other manner on the zoom bar and also you’ll enter the 0.6x, 8Mp ultrawide digital camera, permitting you to squeeze extra of a panorama into your shot. The Galaxy A37 does fairly nicely right here, though dynamic vary and total readability aren’t fairly nearly as good on this mode.

Portrait mode does a pleasant job of blurring backgrounds round a topic, however it may possibly generally fail to correctly outline the define of some topics – equivalent to cat ears at 2x zoom.

Slide into the ‘extra’ digital camera modes part of the app and also you’ll discover a devoted macro possibility for close-up photographs. The A37 suggests you progress the digital camera inside 3 and 5cm of your goal topic for one of the best outcomes – and with some endurance and focus help, I used to be capable of take a few detailed up-close photographs.

There have been a number of which weren’t nearly as good, although, and outcomes will differ relying on lighting, hand steadiness, and the willingness of the main target to play ball.

Just like the rear cameras, the selfie digital camera produces photos you’ll be proud of, and its wide-angle mode means you’ll be able to match extra of your folks within the shot with out having to stretch your arm all the way in which out of your physique.

Portrait mode on the selfie snapper additionally does a reasonably good job of separating the in-focus individual from their blurred background, though much less outlined edges – equivalent to fuzzy hair – aren’t at all times crisply outlined.

One other improve Samsung has given the Galaxy A37 over its predecessor is an optimised Nightography mode with the purpose of manufacturing improved low-light photographs. And the excellent news is, it really works. A snap of a dingy, graffiti-covered steel door in a darkish London facet road comes out splendidly brilliant, permitting the colors to pop excess of they did with the bare eye.

In terms of taking pictures video, the Galaxy A37 can document in as much as 4K (3840 x 2160) at 30fps, and at 60fps for a smoother body fee in case you cut back the decision to Full HD (1080p). As with its predecessor, video recordings are easy, regular and even.

Battery life & Charging

• 5000mAh battery
• Comfortably presents a full day of use
• 0-60% cost in as little as half-hour

Samsung claims the Galaxy A37 can supply as much as two days of battery life between expenses, due to the sizable 5000mAh battery it’s squeezed inside. Nevertheless, from my assessments, I’ve discovered this will probably be very tough to attain.

With gentle utilization, I used to be capable of get round a day and a half of use, and with my typical utilization (roughly 4 to 6 hours of display screen on time) the A37 gave me a stable 16 hours (7am – 11pm) of use with between 20% and 30% left within the tank as I climbed into mattress.

The Galaxy A37 did rating higher than the earlier two generations of telephone (the A36 and A35) within the PCMark Work 3.0 battery take a look at, scoring a decent time of 13 hours and 36 minutes – a two hour enchancment over the A36. Nevertheless, that is nonetheless nothing to put in writing house about in that benchmark.

John McCann / Foundry

Whilst you’ll be fortunate to get two full days from the A37 on a single cost, the battery does final a full day with juice left in a tank – though you’ll nonetheless be charging it nightly.

The 45W charging stays (though you’ll want to supply our personal suitable charging adapter), permitting you to prime up the A37 fairly quick (0-60% in half-hour, Samsung claims) if you do want extra juice. But I didn’t see these speeds when utilizing my 45W GAN charger. As an alternative, I bought 10% each 10 minutes.

There is no such thing as a wi-fi charging possibility right here, which isn’t a shock on this decrease mid-range telephone. Look to the Pixel 9a if it is a should.

Software program & Apps

• One UI 8.5
• Android 16
• 6 years of OS and safety updates

The Samsung Galaxy A37 arrives with the agency’s One UI 8.5 interface, which sits on prime of Android 16. In the event you’ve used a Samsung telephone from the previous couple of years, it’ll have a well-known feel and look, however in case you’re transitioning from one other Android or an iPhone, issues are slightly totally different.

First up, there’s the marginally irritating duplication of apps, with Google’s suite of functions current alongside Samsung’s personal implementations for issues like Calendar and the net browser.

Chris Corridor / Foundry

Samsung will understandably push you in direction of utilizing its apps by default, however you’ll be able to swap this to Google (or others) in case you choose.

One UI is feature-packed, nonetheless, with loads of customisation choices and settings permitting you to fine-tune the expertise to your choice, which might make the telephone really feel extra pure.

Like its predecessor, the Galaxy A37 doesn’t profit from the array of Galaxy AI instruments discovered on the agency’s flagship S collection gadgets, which implies there’s no Now Bar, Now Transient and so forth.

It’s not devoid of AI, although, with easier instruments equivalent to the item eraser perform within the gallery app for eradicating undesirable photo-bombers, the power to create customized digital camera filters, and an AI choose software permitting you to spotlight a part of your display screen for AI to analyse after which counsel actions – equivalent to offering an choice to set a picture as your wallpaper.

And naturally, Google’s Gemini assistant, together with Samsung’s personal Bixby, are each current if you end up eager to converse along with your telephone.

John McCann / Foundry

The Galaxy A37 does include quite a lot of pre-loaded apps and video games out of the field – aka bloatware – however they are often uninstalled in case you wish to hold your app drawer wanting clear.

A constructive level for the Galaxy A37 is that it arrives with respectable longevity, with Samsung committing to 6 years of working system (OS) updates and safety upgrades.

There’s nothing right here which goes to blow you away, however One UI 8.5 presents the whole lot you want on a telephone on the stage of the A37.

Value & Availability

The Samsung Galaxy A37 value begins at £399/$449.99 for the 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage configuration. That’s $50 greater than the A36 it replaces, however the value stays the identical within the UK (not like the Galaxy A57).

It’s good to see Samsung maintain pricing right here, and for individuals who need slightly extra energy – and that is the mannequin I’d advocate – £459/$539.99 will get you the 8GB / 256GB mannequin.

You possibly can decide up the Galaxy A37 straight from Samsung UK (however solely the dearer mannequin) and Samsung US, and from quite a lot of retailers and carriers, after the telephone went on sale on 10 April 2026. These embrace Amazon US, Argos, Currys and Three, which equipped the pattern for this assessment.

Try our present crop of one of the best mid-range telephones for our prime suggestions.

Must you purchase the Samsung Galaxy A37 5G?

The Samsung Galaxy A37 5G is a superb gateway telephone to the Samsung model for these on a funds. It presents up a superb really feel of the Samsung expertise, from its One UI 8.5 interface to its digital camera processing and AI integration.

It has what you’d count on from a smartphone at this value: stable battery life, respectable show, succesful cameras, and sufficient energy to run the apps and video games you need – but it does it with out wowing.

This functionally makes the Galaxy A37 a reliable mid-range smartphone, however there are extra intriguing handsets in the marketplace in case you’re not loyal to Samsung and after originality and pleasure.

Specs

• One UI 8.5, primarily based on Android 16
• 6.7-inch, FHD+, Tremendous AMOLED, 120Hz, 1900 nits peak brightness
• Fingerprint scanner
• Samsung Exynos 1480
• 6GB / 8GB RAM
• 128GB / 256GB
• Cameras:
• 50Mp most important sensor
• 8Mp ultrawide
• 5Mp macro
• 12Mp selfie digital camera
• As much as 4K @ 30fps rear video
• Stereo audio system
• SIM 1 + eSIM / Twin eSIM
• Bluetooth 5.3
• 5,000mAh battery
• 162.9 x 78.2 x 7.4 mm
• IP68 licensed
• 196g
• Colors: Superior Charcoal, Superior Lavender, Superior White, Superior Graygreen