Choosing your next phone upgrade is not an easy thing to do. Especially not in this economy, where the budget on practically everything is starting to get tight. Sure, you can look at whatever flagship brand there is and decide you’re just going to keep on saving until you have enough. By then, maybe the next flagship successor will be out, and sure, you can keep your sights on the predecessor, thinking the prices for that will go down. But some names have wisen up, keeping the value of the phones high enough that you might as well save a bit more to get the newest flagship.

It’s still going to be really expensive though, especially if you hit pause and consider what you will be paying for versus what you will be getting. We are in an era of smartphones where flagship and mid-range no longer mean much. Yes, cameras for flagship phones outperform the mid-range ones, but that isn’t to dismiss how far mid-range cameras have reached. The point is, mid-rangers are in a better place right now, and more people should check them out, without ever worrying what they don’t have that significantly more expensive flagships have.

The Galaxy A27 5G is a mid-ranger with all the Samsung pizzazz. It’s powered by a decent specs sheet, if a little dated, and a very bright and colorful screen. In fifteen years reviewing Samsung phones, they never disappoint with their screens. The Galaxy A27 5G has reached and maintains the bar that Samsung set to ensure entertainment is well experienced.

The Samsung Galaxy A27 5G is powered by a Snapdragon 6 Gen 3, a chip released in 2024. However, this version of the chip uses a new architecture that is more efficient than the older architecture. In short, it still packs a punch. We also believe this chip was used to help lower the cost of the device.

RAM comes in two configurations 6GB and 8GB, the latter also features up to 256GB storage. The unit we received for testing was 6GB RAM with 128GB of storage. From my tests, performance held steady, fast and capable. The usual apps launched quickly and the usual games, MLBB, Wildrift, COD: Mobile, and Honor of Kings. I did, however, experience a couple of lag and some drops in frame rate with Arknights: Endfield. Nothing dealbreaking in my opinion, with the game still mostly playable.

However, this phone shines with its software. One UI 8.5 has a nice visual identity, and Samsung is promising support of up to six OS upgrades, which approximately gives you about six years to keep your phone. Of course, battery health is another matter. Samsung has also worked closely with Google to be getting fast and easy dibs on AI features. Here, Samsung attempts to declare owning AI in their A series as “Awesome Intelligence.”

Under “Awesome Intelligence” Circle to Search returns, allowing users to circle objects within images to get more information out of it. And smarter voice to text integration, which makes notetaking a bit easier.

The Samsung Galaxy A27 5G is a very pretty phone to look at. No questions about that. These are what made flagship phones, flagship, a couple of years ago. The back panel is made with glass, which was a huge craze back in the day, and reminiscent of the Galaxy S6 series. Yes, it’s pretty and nice to look at, very much so. But it’s also a fingerprint magnet. I cannot hold this phone without smudging it within the first two seconds after picking it up. Yes, you can use a case to cover it up and keep it clean. But something I’ve always believed in, having a pretty phone only to cover it up defeats the purpose of the design. Perhaps a different material would have suited better to pull prices down a little more. But then again, going by the price point, any alternative material used may diminish the appeal of the phone, which is where Samsung seems to be betting on.

Along the right side of the chassis there is a slight, really thin, bump, where the power and volume rockers are. It’s a nice visual inclusion and adds a unique grip to it. It is IP64, so a few drops of water should be fine without hurting the phone. In these times, IP ratings should be a staple among all devices, including mid and entry.

The rear cameras feature a trio of 50MP, 5MP ultra wide, and 2MP macro. Yes, the images produced are nice and bright, very colorful. These are images you will not be ashamed to share online. There’s also the AI erase feature that allows users to remove unwanted background objects. This includes the front 12MP camera, being a more than decent snapper.

Overall the Samsung Galaxy A27 5G is a phone you can depend on. It’s not the same as the Galaxy S lineup, and that is very much okay, because what Samsung has offered here is a phone with enough firepower to take on the day to day challenges, be it for entertainment or productivity. The price point as well, isn’t that bad and is something that definitely factors in when choosing your next upgrade.