Galaxy A54 vs realme 10 Pro Plus: which phone is the cost-effective king? | Comparative

We have yet another duel in the fiercest cell phone segment: those vying for the title of king of cost-effectiveness. The focus of this segment is to deliver the cell phone with the most complete set possible, charging a fair price. And in today’s dispute we have the Galaxy A54 facing the realme 10 Pro Plus. What will be the winner? That’s what we’re going to check now.

• design and connectivity
• multimedia and software
• Performance
• Battery
• cameras
• Price
• Conclusion

Samsung Galaxy A54

realme 10 pro plus

We started our clash with the design and right away we see that we have two very different devices fighting for the attention of consumers. The realme 10 Pro Plus is the biggest, while the Galaxy A54 is the thickest and heaviest.

The Chinese manufacturer goes against the grain of the market by betting on a cell phone full of curves. She claims that decision was based on several studies that suggest that a phone with curves tends to be more comfortable to hold. There’s really no denying it, the curved edges also give it a beefier look compared to its all-flat rival.

Both have sides made of plastic, with the difference that the Galaxy A54 has a glass back. Despite the simple finish, the realme 10 Pro Plus adopts reinforced glass on the front, which the manufacturer claims is very resistant to falls. It only remains to be seen whether it is better than the Gorilla Glass 5 present on the Galaxy A54.

An advantage for Samsung’s intermediary is the IP67 certification that guarantees protection against water and dust. Another plus for the Galaxy is that there’s a microSD card slot, but none come with a standard headphone jack.

Both adopt biometrics incorporated into the screen itself with a sensor that responds well, but with a slightly more comfortable position in Samsung’s intermediary. In terms of connectivity we have a small advantage for the Galaxy with its Bluetooth 5.3, while Wi-Fi generation and NFC support are equal in both.

We start with the first point for the Galaxy A54.

Screen

If you are interested in having a large screen, then you will prefer the realme 10 Pro Plus because of its 6.7-inch panel against just 6.4 inches from the rival. Both have Full HD + resolution, 120 Hz refresh rate and AMOLED technology.

The advantage of the Galaxy is the higher level of brightness, which ensures better visibility in open places. The Korean model also features better color calibration when using the Natural profile that cuts the over-saturation that comes by default.

There’s HDR10+ support on both, which lets you exploit each screen’s brightness to the fullest on supported streaming services.

Point to Galaxy on screen.

Sound

Galaxy A54 has two sound outputs when using the call speaker as a secondary channel. realme also follows this approach, but there are small holes at the top of the cell phone that help to expand the sound experience.

It is at this point that the realme 10 Pro Plus takes advantage of delivering more powerful sound than the rival. Both guarantee a good balance between bass, mids and treble. However, in the Chinese model it is possible to activate the Sound Booster that forces the treble to achieve greater sound power, which is good when you are in noisy places where the sound volume matters more than the quality.

We give point to realme in sound.

Software

realme 10 Pro Plus comes with Android 13 modified by Realme UI 4.0. This new interface brings improvements to power management, enhanced media controls, greater interface customization, and various improvements to system privacy and security. The system runs smoothly and has a good response time.

The Galaxy A54 also comes out of the box with Android 13 and has been on Samsung’s list of phones receiving Android updates for several years. This is a point where the Korean model takes advantage of its Chinese rival with superior longevity in support updates with up to five years of security patches guaranteed.

Samsung’s intermediary comes with more features, while Realme delivers fluidity a little more agile.

So we give each one a point.

The realme 10 Pro Plus is found on the market in two options: one with Dimensity 1080 and the national one with Dimensity 920. In terms of RAM we have options ranging from 6 to 12 GB, while in terms of storage we can choose between 128 or 256 GB.

The Galaxy A54 has only one chipset option, the Exynos 1380. There is only the option with 8 GB of RAM in the domestic market with the possibility of storing up to 256 GB.

Despite the Galaxy delivering good performance with such a configuration, the realme 10 Pro Plus proved to be more agile in multitasking, both opening and reopening applications and games. It also managed higher numbers in some benchmark tests. In games, both run well even heavier games with high quality, as long as you don’t activate all the extra features.

We have one more point for realme 10 Pro Plus.

We have 5,000 mAh of battery in the two intermediaries in our comparison, but which one delivers the best autonomy?

Even with a larger screen, the realme 10 Pro Plus lasted the longest in our standardized test of autonomy with 30 hours of moderate use away from the socket. The Galaxy was slightly lower at 27 and a half hours.

Such a small difference may seem irrelevant, but the realme intermediary also takes less time to recharge thanks to its powerful 67W charger that takes 1 hour to fill the battery. Galaxy A54 comes with 15W charger which takes twice as long.

Point for realme on battery.

We have triple photographic set in both. The realme 10 Pro Plus wins in resolution with a 108 MP main sensor against the rival’s 50 MP. In ultra-wide, it is the Galaxy that stands out with 12 MP against a simpler 8 MP of the Chinese model. We also have an advantage for the Galaxy in the macro with higher resolution.

We know that pixel counts don’t always equate to quality, so which one is better at photos? It will depend on the use. The Galaxy captures sharper images overall despite the lower resolution. It also gets the better of using the digital zoom and gets sharp images from a good distance away.

realme saturates colors less and tends towards the more natural side. The ultra-wide suffers less loss at the edges and even with its macro camera with a lower resolution, we don’t see it being below the rival in close-up shots.

Galaxy’s HDR is the most balanced and helps correct brightness and color in backlit photos without looking unnatural. Its night mode is a little more efficient, while the ultra-wide suffers less in dark places.

As each has its strengths, we give a tie.

Photos captured with the Galaxy A54

On the front we have a 32 MP camera on the Galaxy A54 and a 16 MP camera on the realme 10 Pro Plus. The Galaxy is the one that records selfies with greater detail and this is not even because it has a sensor with twice the resolution, but because the realme software tends to smooth the skin to hide imperfections.

Galaxy selfies tend towards warmer colors, which can give that impression of an artificial tan effect, while the realme completely limits saturation, leaving photos with dull colors. In places with low light, we have clearer selfies on the realme 10 Pro Plus, but in exchange for less sharpness.

We will give the Galaxy A54 a point in selfies.

Photos captured with realme 10 Pro Plus

And finally the camcorder. It is possible to record in 4K with the main camera of each device, but only the Galaxy A54 allows such resolution with the front one. Samsung’s intermediary brings optical stabilization that handles shakes better and doesn’t need to cut the edges of the videos as it happens in the realme 10 Pro Plus.

The Chinese model excels in sharpness in daytime shooting, but the Galaxy comes out on top in low-light settings. We have snappy focus on both with more detailed sound capture on Samsung’s midrange.

So, one more point for the Galaxy A54.

The Galaxy A54 hit the market in March 2023 for R$2,900. The realme 10 Pro Plus arrived here a month later costing BRL 1,000 more and is currently the more expensive of the two, which makes its cost-effectiveness lower than the Korean model.

We end with the last point for the A54.

It was a good dispute with two great intermediaries in the fight for the best cost-benefit title. The victory went to the Galaxy A54, not only for being the cheapest, but also for having a complete set with IP67 certification for protection against water, a screen with superior brightness, Android updates for more years, photos with better HDR and night mode more efficient, superior selfies and camcorder with optical stabilization.

The realme 10 Pro Plus also proves to be a great option for an intermediate cell phone and surpasses Samsung’s rival in terms of sound, it has a more fluid system, delivers more agile multitasking performance, its battery lasts longer and takes less time to recharge. The cameras are good and will please those who don’t like Samsung’s saturated colors.

RESULT

Samsung Galaxy A54: 7 POINTS

• Better finish and IP67 certification
• higher brightness screen
• Updates for more years
• Best HDR and night shots
• best selfies
• superior camcorder
• Lowest price

Realme 10 Pro Plus: 5 POINTS

• Greater sound power
• System with great fluidity
• superior performance
• Superior battery life and shorter recharge time
• Less saturated photos and better contrast

• The Realme 10 Pro Plus is available on Amazon for BRL 2,219. The cost-benefit is average but this is the best model in this price range.
• The Samsung Galaxy A54 is available from Girafa for BRL 1,789 and on Amazon for BRL 1,879. The cost-benefit is average and this is one of the best models in this price range.