Review of the Samsung Galaxy A15 (SM-A155F/DSN) Smartphone

The Samsung Galaxy A15 (SM-A155F/DSN) is a budget-friendly smartphone aimed at users looking for reliable performance and essential features at an affordable price. Here’s a breakdown of its key features:

Package Contents

• Smartphone
• USB Type-C cable
• SIM tray ejector tool
• User manual

Technical Specifications

Positioning

Samsung continues to hold its position as the global leader in the smartphone market, with budget models among its best-sellers. Analyzing the sales figures for the second quarter of 2024, we see that these models rank alongside the premium Galaxy S24 Ultra, even surpassing it in terms of units sold.

The company’s most popular model is the Galaxy A15, available in two variants: 4G and 5G. This versatility and competitive pricing make it a standout choice for a wide range of users.

For a long time, Samsung’s budget models were rather uninspiring in terms of features, with their hardware specifications lagging significantly behind competitors. This often made the price-to-performance ratio far from optimal.

It’s important to understand that the success of these models largely stems from operator-subsidized phone sales (not applicable to the Russian market), where customers receive the devices for free. Additionally, these models are favored by people who prioritize brand trust over technical specifications.

The power of a brand is often underestimated, and people tend to project their own logic onto everyone else, believing it to be the only correct perspective. However, it is precisely the strength of Samsung’s brand perception that allows the company to sell budget solutions at a high price. Buyers of such devices, as a rule, are quite inert in their choices and don’t consider looking at alternatives.

This model has been on the market since early 2024, but I hadn’t gotten around to writing about it until now. Finally, I decided to fill that gap, even though I studied the device back in spring and started preparing a review in the summer. Something always seemed to get in the way, but now is the perfect time to talk about it since it is significant in many ways. This is the first device in which Samsung is trying to improve the characteristics of a budget model to the extent that it can compete with affordable models from Chinese manufacturers.

Design, Dimensions, and Controls

In a budget phone, plastic is always the primary material, and here we see it everywhere except for the screen, which is covered with tempered glass—though its specific type is not specified. The matte plastic frame is quite robust, as is the device itself, in line with its large 6.5-inch display. The phone weighs 200 grams, giving it the feel of a hefty block. Its dimensions

The back panel is glossy but doesn’t attract fingerprints and is almost scratch-resistant, with minor scratches being barely noticeable. Unlike the Galaxy A25, which features a patterned design resembling a repeating grid of dots, this model’s panel is simply a solid color finish.

The camera module is designed in the style of the Galaxy 2024 lineup, featuring individual lenses that slightly protrude from the body.

Despite being a budget model, it features two microphones—one on the top edge and another on the bottom. Catering to its audience, it also includes a 3.5 mm headphone jack located on the bottom edge. Alongside it are a USB Type-C port and the main speaker. There’s no stereo setup, as the earpiece speaker is used exclusively for calls.

On the left side, there’s a slot for two nano-SIM cards, along with space for a microSD memory card. On the right side, you’ll find the power button, which also houses the fingerprint sensor. The sensor is quite fast and reliable, with no complaints about its performance. The paired volume control key is located above the power button.

If you prefer not to use the fingerprint sensor, you can opt for face unlock, which works just as quickly. The front camera is housed in a U-shaped notch on the screen.

The display features a noticeable raised edge, designed to protect the screen glass in case you prefer placing the device face down. Both in terms of build quality and materials, this is a typical representative of the budget segment.

Display

Here’s a quick overview of the screen’s technical specifications:

• 6.5 inches
• 1080 x 2340 resolution (20:9 aspect ratio)
• 90 Hz refresh rate
• Super AMOLED
• 396 ppi
• Automatic brightness adjustment (up to 800 nits)
• Tempered glass

The first thing to highlight is the inclusion of a Super AMOLED display in a budget model, as other manufacturers typically opt for IPS panels. This gives Samsung a clear advantage. However, this advantage is somewhat relative, as it’s important to consider the device’s other features, not just the screen.

There are few settings available: you can enable the 90 Hz refresh rate for animations, activate a blue light filter, adjust the color palette, and increase the screen’s touch sensitivity.

Unfortunately, there is no Always-on Display (AoD) feature, which would have been a logical addition for this type of screen. However, Samsung has reserved this feature for its higher-end models.

Battery

The smartphone features a built-in 5000 mAh Li-Pol battery, which supports fast charging. Unfortunately, the charging adapter is not included in the package, following the common trend. When using a 25W charging adapter, you can expect the following charging time:

• From 0% to 50%: approximately 30 minutes
• Full charge (0% to 100%): around 1 hour and 30 minutes

On average, the device lasts around three days with moderate usage (2 to 2.5 hours of screen time, typical app usage). With heavy use, the battery will drain in about two days (4 to 4.5 hours of screen time). It’s important to note that the usage profile of this device differs from typical smartphones, as its target audience doesn’t use the network as actively and generally doesn’t spend as much time on their phone daily.

Memory, Chipset, Performance

The Galaxy A15 is powered by the MediaTek Helio G99 chipset (built on a 6nm process). This chipset is quite old and well-known in the budget segment, and it’s clearly not enough to make the device feel smooth and fast. Micro-lags are noticeable in the interface, and there are occasional slowdowns. This is a budget model, so these limitations are to be expected.

However, the most important issue is that the base version with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage is insufficient; more memory is needed. This is why Samsung offers various memory configurations, though we are focusing on the budget version here.

In synthetic benchmarks, the device shows very modest results.

Under load, throttling is practically non-existent, and the device does not overheat.

Connectivity

The Galaxy A15 supports dual-band Wi-Fi with VHT80, providing good data transfer speeds. It also features Bluetooth 5.3 and NFC (availability depends on the region, but it is present in Russia).

When it comes to navigation, the device performs very well with GPS/A-GPS/GLONASS/Beidou support. The cold start in urban areas takes just 2-3 seconds, and the navigation accuracy is excellent, with no issues to report.

Camera

These are the camera modules used in this model. (If you have more details about the specific camera specs or features, feel free to share, and I can help describe them further.)

The camera interface is familiar from other Samsung models, offering a user-friendly layout with easy access to various modes and settings. It provides intuitive controls, making it easy to switch between features like photo, video, and different shooting modes.

The device lacks optical zoom, relying instead on a digital crop from the main camera (2x) for zooming in.

The front camera is 13 MP (f/2.2), offering a bokeh effect and various additional features. Everything here is familiar and on par with other models in the same range.

Software – Features

The device comes with Android 14 and OneUI 6 out of the box, making it equipped with the latest version of Samsung’s interface at the time of its release. Samsung promises three years of updates for both OneUI and Android, ensuring continued support and security patches.

The standard apps include a calculator, file manager, voice recorder, and other essential applications needed for a comfortable out-of-the-box experience.

There are also “scenarios,” a very useful feature that I personally use and highly recommend. This feature allows you to automate certain actions or adjust settings based on specific situations or triggers, enhancing the overall user experience.

Impressions

The call quality is as expected, with no issues. In Russia, this model is available in the 4G version, with the base variant priced between 120-150 $, and the 8/256 GB version available for around 200 $. Here, we come to the point where numerous Chinese brands offer much better price-to-performance ratios and more features. One key advantage is that they provide more memory by default (a 4/128 GB variant at this price point is not available here). Additionally, the chipsets they use are often newer and faster.

So, while Samsung has made some improvements with the A-series in 2024—offering better specs—the market largely overlooks these changes. Competitors offer far better value for money and superior performance. Yet, the strength of the brand still prevails, with solid sales driven by the fact that people choose it simply because it’s Samsung. This is a real-world example of brand power in action.