Samsung Galaxy A37 Review – All the AI Features, None of the Flagship Price 

For many smartphone users, having the best available device at the time is always the goal. Whether it’s the latest Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, Galaxy Z Fold 7, the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max or whatever your preference, it’s the benchmark which you’ll want to continue with each upgrade every two or three years. However, with technology progressing in the manner is has, having good-quality devices on the lower tiers doesn’t only blow less of a hole in your pocket, but also manages to close the gaps between some of the different performance tiers. This is where Samsung’s Galaxy A series comes in. With the release of the latest range, we got our hands on the Samsung Galaxy A37 5G to put it through its paces.

Samsung Galaxy A37 Design: Premium Look Without the Premium Price

From a design perspective, the Galaxy A series follows the flagship S series fairly closely. Whether it’s the shape of the chassis to the sizing, the design philosophy doesn’t stray too far. The same applies to the Galaxy A37.

The chassis closely resembles that of the S26 range released earlier in 2026. It features the same squared design with rounded edges, along with a much flatter screen than previous models, which had a slight curve to it. It looks good, even when compared to its flashier older sibling.

The device weighs 196g with dimensions of 162.9×78.2×7.4mm. It doesn’t have the aluminium finish of the flagship devices, but its plastic finish doesn’t feel cheap either. It has a similar glass front and rear, which are protected by Gorilla Glass Victus+, so it still has some level of premium aesthetic.

Overall, the design measures up to the Galaxy range, keeping the same form-factor along with front and rear glass finishes. It may be a mid-tier smartphone, but it doesn’t look or feel that way.

Samsung Galaxy A37 Display: Is a 120Hz AMOLED Screen Good Enough at This Price?

One of the main differences between top-end smartphones and those in the mid-tier and lower brackets is the screen. It is one of the simplest ways to cut overall costs, where users are willing to give up a few attributes in this regard in order to keep pricing more manageable.

Samsung has fitted a 6.7” Super AMOLED panel on the A37. In fact, it’s the same panel included on the A57 as well. The panel supports a 120Hz refresh rate, 1200 nits brightness (1900 nits peak). The display has a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels, with a 385ppi pixel density. It also has a decent 86.5% screen-to-body ratio, which means it has a slightly larger bezel surrounding the screen compared to the A57 (88.8%) and the Galaxy S26 Ultra (90.7%). As stated previously, the glass features Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+, which has a Mohs level 5 protection.

Overall, the quality of the screen is still very good. There’s a whole separate argument about the capabilities of the human eye and what maximum resolutions we can detect, but with the A37 offering above the 1080p default on a 6.7” screen, that’s more than good enough for the majority of users.

Exynos 1480 Performance and 30-Hour Battery: What to Actually Expect

Having owned the majority of the Samsung Galaxy S series smartphones over the years, as well as a few A series variants, there has been a noticeable shift from the lower-tiered range to deliver performances much closer to the middle and high-end tiers – where you don’t have to compromise on quality and performance. On some of these entry-level smartphones, there’s often an expectation, which then lowers the requirements of your overall experience. From how long each action takes to load, how good the camera quality is, or how you use the device as your daily driver for even the simplest tasks. Thankfully, with the Galaxy A37, you need not lower those expectations.

Yes, you’re not going to get S26 range benchmarks, but you don’t need those. With the tech available at the disposal of most leading brands, using last year’s chipset, or even one from two years ago, isn’t a train smash. With much better optimised software across Android’s ecosystem, you’re almost guaranteed to have a smooth performance. In the case of the A37, Samsung has fitted the Exynos 1480 with an Octa-core CPU (4×2.75 GHz Cortex-A78 & 4×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55), which is a CPU from 2024. Considering that my current smartphone, due for an upgrade, is slightly older and feels less powerful, it still feels like a good upgrade for me, personally. Whether it be daily tasks and apps, or even a few games every so often, the A37 was able to handle all my current list.

The A37 packs a large 5,000mAh battery under the hood, which supports 45W wired charging. With the efficiency of the chipset and the increased battery capacity, users are looking at anywhere between 20 and 36 hours of battery life. For continuous video streaming for rundown tests, the smartphone is capable of about 30 hours of uptime before the battery is drained. For hardcore users who often take photos or videos and edit them afterwards, you can still get through a full day’s use before needing to charge the device. For the gamers, the results are also great, with more than 10 hours of continuous game time for a few that were tested.

A full charge using the supported 45W, you’re looking at just shy of two hours to fully recharge. That’s not bad overall. However, for those users looking for more convenience, there is no wireless charging offered here, nor is there any reverse wireless charging either. In fairness, although I do appreciate having the option to reverse charge when in a pickle, with all the technology, portable batteries and longevity of modern batteries, reverse charging isn’t a feature that’s top of mind for me, and I’d assume many others as well.

Samsung Galaxy A37 Camera and Awesome AI: Here’s What the Features Actually Do

When it comes to lower-tier smartphones, the worry is often that they will get left behind in all the latest software and features, especially recently with AI. Thankfully, Samsung features its Awesome AI, the Galaxy A series variant of Galaxy AI, available with all the thrills and frills. Samsung also offers users six years of security and OS updates and is pre-loaded with the latest Android 16 on Samsung’s One UI 8.5. These updates should be long enough to get the most from your A37 before you have to sunset the device.

The A37 expands Circle to Search, allowing users to select multiple objects simultaneously from a single image. This provides users with the information they need at their fingertips, providing a list of those items highlighted. The best of Galaxy AI also returns to Awesome AI, including Object Eraser, one of the most popular and easy-to-use AI features on any of the Galaxy smartphones. Here, users can take photos and not have to worry about any objects in the background that may be a distraction from their perfect snap. You can simply long-press to select, which the AI can automatically detect, and then opt to erase it with just one more click. It’s impressively simple to use.

These features aid to enhance its tri-lens camera. This includes the main 50MP wide-angle lens, an 8MP ultrawide lens, and a third 5MP macro lens. For the most part, the A37 utilises the 50MP main camera, which as features object and scene recognition and applying the correct filters for each shot. The photos look good overall when it comes to the main lens. The ultrawide lens is also fairly useful, but less so than the macro lens, which does tend to be a tad grainy and somewhat more challenging to get the best close-up image. But if you’re still not happy with the results, those AI editing tools come in handy as well.

There are also other useful apps in this category, including reading aloud, if you have your hands full, transcribing your calls and chats and more. These are useful tools for both your productivity at work and while you’re multitasking at home.

Samsung Galaxy A37 Verdict: Should You Buy It at R7,999?

The Samsung Galaxy A37 5G is an all-round smartphone. You have all the tools at your disposal without the need to break the bank. While the underlying hardware may be the flagship specifications of a few years back, they still deliver solid performance in 2026, even when it comes to your content creation and post-edits.

The Galaxy A37 is available in four colour options (Awesome Charcoal, Awesome Lavender, Awesome Graygreen, and Awesome White), though availability will vary by retailer, so check with your local Samsung store or service provider for what’s on offer locally.

The initial retail price for the Galaxy A37 is R8,999. However, you can pick up the smartphone for R7,999 from retailers and service providers. That’s an impressive price given its full capabilities.

The Galaxy A37 sits in a competitive bracket where the likes of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 15 Pro and the Google Pixel 10a are also vying for attention — and if you’re not loyal to the Samsung ecosystem, there are more exciting options out there that offer more raw performance per rand. That said, none of them match the A37’s combination of six years of OS and security updates, Awesome AI integration, and Samsung’s after-sales presence in South Africa.

Buy it if you want a reliable, future-proofed daily driver with flagship AI features at a mid-range price and you’re already comfortable in the Samsung ecosystem. Skip it only if raw hardware performance is your priority — a discounted Galaxy A56 will stretch your rand further.

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