Samsung Galaxy A56

At Rs. 129,999 for the 8GB + 256GB model, the Samsung Galaxy A56 is a sensible buy for people who keep a phone for many years, but it is not the strongest spec sheet in its price bracket.

What you pay for:

• Long software support: Samsung promises six generations of Android upgrades and six years of security patches, which very few rivals at this price match.
• Build and protection: glass on both sides, an aluminium frame and an IP67 dust and water rating.
• Steady performance: the Exynos 1580 held its speed well in GSMArena's stress tests, and no overheating was reported in early use.
• Resale value: Samsung phones tend to hold their price better in Pakistan when you sell them later.

What you give up:

• A 5000 mAh battery and 45W charging, when many similarly priced phones now ship larger batteries and faster chargers.
• No charger in the box, no memory card slot and no storage option above 256GB.
• No telephoto camera, and independent lab testing found the photos less sharp than first impressions suggest.

Worth comparing: the Oppo Reno 16F costs more at Rs. 139,495 in our listings and offers a much larger 7000 mAh battery, 80W charging, a telephoto camera and a card slot. The Exynos 1580 is reported to be faster than the Dimensity 7300 family that the Reno 16F uses, so the A56 keeps the edge in speed and update length.

Verdict: good value for buyers who want a dependable Samsung that will stay updated for years and resell well. If battery life, fast charging or zoom matter more, the price is harder to justify.

The Galaxy A56 has a 6.7 inches Super AMOLED panel with a 1080 x 2340 resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ support. Samsung rates it at 1200 nits in high-brightness mode and up to 1900 nits peak.

In everyday use:

• It is among the best screens in this price range, with bright, punchy colours and good outdoor visibility.
• GSMArena's lab measured auto-mode brightness close to Samsung's high-brightness figure and called it easy to read in direct sunlight, a clear step up from the A55.
• Games that support high frame rates ran at the full refresh rate in GSMArena's testing, so scrolling and gaming feel smooth.
• Widevine L1 is supported, so Netflix and similar apps can stream in HD, and HDR content is supported.

Limitations:

• Full HD resolution is fine at this size, but some cheaper rivals now offer sharper 1.5K panels.
• The bezels are thinner than before, yet the bottom chin is still noticeable.
• The fingerprint reader under the screen is optical, not ultrasonic, and it feels a little slower than those on Chinese brands.

Gorilla Glass Victus+ protects the front, and a store demo unit used without a screen guard showed no scratches.

The Galaxy A56 runs on Samsung's Exynos 1580 (4 nm) chip with the Xclipse 540 GPU, paired with 8GB or 12GB of RAM in Pakistan.

Everyday use: apps open quickly and switching between them is smooth. Much of this comes down to how well One UI 7 is tuned, and there was no lag in the first week of use. Video export of a 4K clip also completed without trouble.

Benchmarks in context: AnTuTu results, including GSMArena's, place it at roughly 900,000 to one million. GSMArena measured about a 17% CPU and 30% GPU gain over the A55's chip, while noting that some similarly priced rivals with stronger chips are faster. It is generally rated ahead of phones using the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 or the Dimensity 7300 at this price.

Gaming: hands-on testing reports PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty running at 60fps, and Game Booster is included.

Heat and sustained speed: this is where the A56 stands out. GSMArena's stress test showed the CPU holding most of its speed and the GPU staying almost fully stable, and no overheating was seen while gaming or recording outdoors. This is still a short-term impression, and older Exynos phones had a reputation for heating.

Limitations:

• It is not a flagship-class gaming phone, and heavier titles will not run at the highest settings that top chips manage.
• Reports differ on the storage type, so the exact storage speed should be confirmed.

The rear setup is a 50 MP main camera with OIS, a 12 MP ultrawide and a 5 MP macro, with a 12 MP selfie camera on the front. There is no telephoto lens; 2x shots are cropped from the main sensor.

Real-world findings:

• The main camera is rated very highly in daylight and low-light results are solid, though Samsung's processing can look a little too bright and white.
• Another found daylight photos close to natural with good dynamic range, but noted softer detail indoors and from the ultrawide, which has a wide field of view.
• Colours come out fairly flat, which leaves room for editing.

What independent lab testing found: GSMArena was more critical. It found main camera photos lacking sharpness with some clipped highlights, Night mode adding a pink tint, and the ultrawide soft with limited dynamic range. Portraits looked soft. These views conflict with the more positive hands-on impressions, so expect good but not class-leading stills.

Selfies: this is the strongest camera by most accounts. The selfie resolution dropped from the A55, but the sensor is reported to be larger, and GSMArena found selfies clean, sharp and colourful. It records up to 4K 30fps.

Video: rear and front cameras record 4K 30fps, with 1080p 60fps from the main camera. Stabilisation is steady and footage is detailed, a result GSMArena confirms. There is no 4K 60fps option.

Useful extras: Best Face lets you swap faces from a burst of shots in a group photo, and the gallery can copy colour styles from one photo to another.

The Galaxy A56 has a 5000 mAh battery with 45W wired charging. There is no wireless charging.

Battery life: GSMArena recorded an Active Use Score of just over twelve hours, slightly lower than the A55 and about average for this price. Gaming and video runtimes dropped a little, likely because of the faster chip and larger screen. Good battery life is expected from One UI's tuning, though full endurance tests on the Pakistani unit are not available yet.

Charging: Samsung quotes about two-thirds charge in half an hour and a full charge in a little over an hour. GSMArena's test matched this closely. That is a clear improvement over the slower charging of earlier A-series phones.

Compromises:

• No charger in the box: you only get a USB-C cable and SIM tool. Full speed needs a USB Power Delivery charger with PPS support.
• Several rivals near this price now offer much larger batteries and faster charging, which makes this the A56's weak point.

If you use your phone heavily all day, the battery will get you through but leaves less margin than bigger-battery competitors.

The Galaxy A56 ships with Android 15 and One UI 7, and Samsung's official Pakistan page confirms six generations of OS upgrades and six years of security updates. Support is expected to last until around 2031.

Useful features:

• Galaxy AI tools: Circle to Search, Gemini, AI Select, Object Eraser, edit suggestions, custom filters and Auto Trim.
• Built-in video editor: quick at exporting, though less powerful than CapCut.
• Best Face for group shots and Bixby voice commands from the side key.
• Always On Display and improved haptics, which feel genuinely better than before.

Limitations:

• Some features from the Galaxy S25 series are missing, such as the AI interpreter and generative photo edits, at least at launch.
• GSMArena found Object Eraser weaker than on Samsung's flagships.
• Call recording availability on Pakistani units has not been confirmed by Samsung, so check before buying if you rely on it.

One UI is widely praised for smooth animations and polished apps, which is a big reason buyers choose Samsung over brands with faster hardware.