By Alex Harrington
Sports Contributing Writer
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Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy A27 5G, with availability in select markets beginning July 3. The phone arrives in four colors: Black, Blue, Light Green, and Light Pink. It represents a substantial step forward from the Galaxy A26 5G in some areas, while quietly trimming a few things buyers may notice on closer inspection.
The headline hardware is a 6.7-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, now paired with an updated Infinity-O punch-hole design that replaces the waterdrop notch carried by the A26.
The switch brings the A27's front panel in line with Samsung's flagship S-series and newer mid-range devices, which is a visual upgrade the A26 arguably needed. The body itself measures 162.4 x 78.2 x 7.8mm and weighs 200g - slightly wider than its predecessor, but still slim enough to sit comfortably in one hand.
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What's New, What's Changed, and What's Gone
The processor is the most consequential upgrade. The switch from Samsung's in-house Exynos 1380 to Qualcomm's Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 is the big change, and the move to Qualcomm should bring improved power efficiency and potentially fewer thermal throttling issues - a recurring criticism of Exynos-powered A-series phones.
The chip is built on a 4nm process and runs an octa-core configuration at 2.4GHz and 1.8GHz, with LPDDR5x RAM in 6GB or 8GB configurations. Storage options run from 128GB up to 256GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage, with microSD expansion supported up to 2TB.
On the camera side, the rear setup is a 50MP OIS wide camera, a 5MP ultra-wide, and a 2MP macro. The 50MP main sensor with optical image stabilization carries over from the A26 unchanged, and the front camera moves to a 12MP unit that Samsung claims improves low-light performance over the 13MP sensor it nominally replaces. The A26's 8MP ultra-wide, however, drops to 5MP here - a downgrade that runs counter to the usual direction for mid-range refreshes at this tier.
Battery is a 5,000mAh cell with 25W wired fast charging, which is the same capacity as the A26. The phone runs Android 16 with One UI 8.5 out of the box, a full OS generation ahead of the A26's launch software.
On the protection front, it carries an IP64 rating, a slight step down from the IP67 rating the A26 introduced as a first for the A2x lineup. Samsung Knox Vault handles hardware-backed security.
Samsung is also extending its AI feature set on the A27, including an updated Circle to Search with Google that now supports multi-object recognition within a single image, an improved Object Eraser, and a Voice Recorder app with real-time translation across 22 languages. The phone supports Google Gemini and Perplexity as AI assistants, alongside Bixby for hands-free device control.
Software longevity is where Samsung continues to make a strong case against the competition. The Galaxy A27 5G comes with a commitment to six generations of Android OS and One UI upgrades, plus six years of security patches from global launch.
The Galaxy A26 5G carried that same six-year promise, so Samsung is at least holding the line on a policy that genuinely matters for buyers keeping a phone for three or four years.
The A27 is a solid package for most people who don't push their phone hard, and the Snapdragon switch should make day-to-day responsiveness feel cleaner than its predecessor. The downgrade on the ultra-wide and the IP64 rating (versus the A26's IP67) are the two details worth thinking about before handing over the money.
Pricing
Galaxy A27 (128GB) - £319
Galaxy A27 (256GB) - £379
Galaxy A27 Enterprise Edition (128GB) - £329
Galaxy A27 5G Full Specs
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