Samsung Galaxy A54 5G Audio test

We subjected the Samsung Galaxy A54 5G to our rigorous SBMARK audio test suite to measure its performance both when recording sound using its built-in microphones, and when playing audio through its speakers.

In this review, we’ll analyze how it performed in a variety of tests and several common use cases.

Overview

Key audio specs include:

• Two speakers (front top, side bottom)
• No audio jack output

Reproduction

Registration

With an overall score of 133, the Samsung Galaxy A54 5G performed well in our SBMARK audio tests for a device in its class, but left room for improvement. Overall audio quality has improved over its A-series predecessors, with consistent performance in all use cases in both playback and recording. Playback through the built-in speakers sounded punchy with nice bass, but could get a little harsh at high volume settings. Audio recordings from the A54 offered a nice tonal balance and were nearly free of unwanted artifacts. However, wind or loud background noise may have a detrimental effect on the quality of the recording, significantly reducing intelligibility. Overall recording results were better with the main camera, but performance with the front camera and memo app was also decent.

Trial summary

Learn about SBMARK audio tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone audio reviews, SBMARK engineers perform a series of objective tests and undertake more than 20 hours of perceptual evaluation under controlled laboratory conditions.
(For more details on our playback protocol, click here; for more details on our recording protocol, click here.)
The following section compiles the key elements of our extensive testing and analysis performed in the SBMARK laboratories. Detailed performance evaluations in the form of reports are available upon request. Do not hesitate to contact us.

The Samsung Galaxy A54 5G is a solid smartphone for audio playback. Tone was good, with a richer and more voluminous tonal balance than their predecessors. The bass was pleasantly warm but lacked depth in the low end. The midrange sounded pleasant overall and while the highs slightly lacked top-end extension, they did offer sufficient brightness. Dynamic performance was good too, thanks to the rather sharp attack, fairly good but slightly inconsistent bass accuracy, and great punch.

The integrated loudspeakers generate quite good stereo width and offer good localizability of individual sound sources in the audio scene. Distance rendering was mostly accurate, but depth rendering was underwhelming, with a slightly shallow sound stage. Maximum volume was average, but minimum volume was slightly too low, making it difficult to hear soft sections in dynamic audio content. On the plus side, volume steps were consistent from the lowest setting to the highest. The Samsung did well overall in keeping unwanted audio artifacts under control, but at maximum volume, excessive compression and pumping was noted, as well as harsh overall compression. Our experts also found it too easy to accidentally occlude the right speaker when comfortably holding the phone.

Hear about the playback performance of the smartphone tested in this comparison with some of its competitors:

Here’s how the Samsung Galaxy A54 5G fares in playback use cases compared to its competitors:

Here are some sound pressure levels (SPL) measured while playing our sample recordings of hip-hop and classical music at maximum volume:

The following graph shows the gradual changes in volume from minimum to maximum. We expect these changes to be consistent across the range, so that all volume steps match user expectations:

As a recording device, the Galaxy A54 5G performed well in all use cases. The timbre was well balanced when recording with the main camera, which recorded voice-based content with good intelligibility, thanks to a clean, natural midrange. Tonal balance remained consistent with the front-facing camera while more emphasis was placed on the upper midrange in the memo app. Recording dynamics were good overall, thanks to a fairly good signal-to-noise ratio in urban scenarios, even if the background could be quite intrusive. The envelope was precise, with a sharp attack in most use cases.

The main camera recordings offered a large, immersive audio scene rendition and pinpoint pinpointability. However, with the front-facing camera and in the memo app, soundstage rendering was quite small and audio sources were harder to pinpoint accurately. On the plus side, the distance rendering was realistic. The device offered good recording volume in all use cases and was almost free of unwanted audio artifacts. Our experts noticed only a slight distortion when recording louder sources, like screaming vocals. Background rendering was realistic with the main camera but slightly boomy with more intrusive bass when recording with the front camera.

Here’s how the Samsung Galaxy A54 5G fares in recording use cases compared to its competitors:

Here are the sound levels recorded in the audio and video files, measured in LUFS (Loudness Unit Full Scale); for reference, we expect volume levels to be above -24 LUFS for recorded content:

In this audio comparison, you can hear how this smartphone handles wind noise compared to its competitors:

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[“Google Pixel 7”]=> string(66) “resources/Samsung/GalaxyA545G/GooglePixel7_MicrophoneArtifacts.m4a”
[“Xiaomi 12T”]=> string(63) “resources/Samsung/GalaxyA545G/Xiaomi12T_MicrophoneArtifacts.m4a” }