Samsung's more affordable alternative to Galaxy S24 confirmed for 11 March

The launch date for Samsung's next-gen Galaxy A devices has been revealed - and it's on 11 March. That means there's not long to wait for another set of Samsung phones to become available, giving Samsung buyers a wider range of choices - with the Samsung Galaxy A55 likely to be a contender for best cheap phone.

The Samsung Galaxy A sits below the Galaxy S family and in recent years has moved to offer a design that's nearly indistinguishable from the flagship models like the Galaxy S24 Plus. This year we're expecting to see the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 - but it's the Galaxy A55 we're more interested in, as a solid mid-range choice of handset.

Confirmation of the date comes from Samsung India; although there's no confirmation of this date in the UK at the time of writing. However, we'd expect the new devices to be announced globally on 11 March.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 devices were announced in January and have been available for some time, but the Galaxy A models will come in with reduced specs and reduced prices - but often offer a similar day-to-day experience.

Samsung Galaxy A55 specs have leaked

The Samsung Galaxy A55 specs have already leaked, so we know what to expect from the hardware side of this phone at least. The Galaxy A55 is expected to be powered by the Exynos 1480, have 6GB RAM and 128GB storage, but accept microSD up to 1TB.

A 6.6-inch AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate is expected, while a 5000mAh battery should power it through the day. The design will mirror that of the Galaxy S24, although the frame looks slightly different around the volume and power button, based on a hands-on leak. It will offer IP67 protection.

The triple camera arrangement includes a 50-megapixel main camera paired with a 12-megapixel ultrawide, and a 5-megapixel macro lens making up the numbers.

But one thing that the Galaxy A55 (and A35) will lack is long software support. The Samsung Galaxy S24 was announced with a 7-year update policy, but Samsung has confirmed that the Galaxy A will only get 4 years of OS updates.

There's also no mention of Galaxy AI on Samsung's tease for this phone. Could these handsets also miss out on Samsung's headline AI features announced earlier in the year?