Galaxy A37 Review: Premium Looks, Budget-Level Power

Verdict: A $599 Beauty Held Back by Budget Phone Performance

The Samsung Galaxy A37 is a mid-range smartphone that combines a premium-looking aluminium and glass design with 5G, a 6.7-inch AMOLED display, and long software support, but its slow Exynos processor and limited storage make it feel more like a budget phone in day-to-day use.

From the first glance, the Galaxy A37 looks like a scaled-down flagship, with a slim body, IP68 water resistance and a modern 120Hz screen, yet in use it behaves like a cheaper device. At a recommended price of $599 (approx. RM2,760), it lands in a crowded mid-range smartphone value battleground where competitors offer snappier performance and better cameras. In my view, this is a phone for people who care more about Galaxy A37 design, battery life and years of updates than raw speed. If you mainly scroll social apps, watch YouTube and take casual photos, it will be “good enough” and look great doing it. If you expect instant app launches and flagship responsiveness for this money, you will be disappointed.

Design and Display: Flagship Aesthetics on a Mid-Range Budget

Design is where the Galaxy A37 earns its place. At 7.4mm thin and 196g, it is slimmer and slightly lighter than its predecessor, giving it a sleek hand feel that many budget phones cannot match. The aluminium frame, Gorilla Glass front and plastic or light glass back look far more upscale than most phones “priced at or around the $600 mark,” and the IP68 water resistance rating is rare in this class. The Galaxy A37 design clearly borrows from Samsung’s pricier Galaxy line, which is exactly what makes it so appealing.

The 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display offers Full HD+ resolution (1080×2340) and a 120Hz refresh rate. Colours are lively, contrast is strong, and the panel is bright enough for outdoor use, even if it “doesn’t offer the clarity of other Samsung screens.” For streaming, social media and web browsing, this screen feels closer to a flagship than the price suggests. However, once you start interacting quickly with the interface, the display’s smooth potential runs into the limits of the processor, so animations and scrolling do not always look as fluid as the hardware would allow.

Performance, Battery and Cameras: Budget Phone Performance in a Mid-Range Shell

Under the hood, the Galaxy A37 runs Samsung’s Exynos 1480 with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, with no microSD expansion. On paper this puts it in low-to-mid-range territory, and benchmarks confirm that position. In practice, performance is inconsistent. Opening everyday apps can be fine one moment, yet at other times you will see delays and freezes; one test saw Google Maps stuck on a black screen for around 15 seconds before loading. The most glaring problem is that this hit-and-miss behaviour appears at a price where other mid-range phones deliver smooth performance, making the A37 feel like you are “penalised for spending less.”

Battery life, however, is a strong point. The 5000mAh battery supports a day and a half to two days of mixed use with five to six hours of screen time per charge, and controlled testing recorded close to 19 hours of screen-on operation. There is no wireless charging, and charging is wired only, which feels like a compromise at this price. Camera hardware consists of a 50MP main, 8MP ultra-wide and 5MP macro on the back, plus a 12MP selfie camera, all capable of 4K video on the main and front sensors. Photos look colourful and perfectly fine for social media, and as one review notes, “the A37 is definitely good enough for most people” who share weekend snaps online. But compared with the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s 200MP main camera, dual telephotos and 50MP ultra-wide, the A37’s images lack detail, dynamic range and zoom versatility.

Software is another area where the Galaxy A37 quietly overperforms: it ships with Android 16 and promises around six years of OS updates. That is a major advantage if you plan to keep your phone for a long time, and it helps offset some of the hardware limitations. However, the combination of Exynos 1480, limited RAM and only 128GB storage means this is not a device for heavy multitaskers, gamers or camera enthusiasts. At $599 (approx. RM2,760), the performance lag makes the overall mid-range smartphone value harder to justify when rivals from Motorola, Oppo and even discounted Pixel 9a and Pixel 10a models offer more speed or better cameras around the same level.

A37 vs S26 Ultra and the Value Question

To understand where the Galaxy A37 fits, it helps to see it against Samsung’s own flagship. One source compares the Galaxy A37, priced at $449 (approx. RM2,070), with the Galaxy S26 Ultra at $2,499 (approx. RM11,530), noting the huge difference in processors, storage options, memory and camera hardware. The S26 Ultra offers a 200MP main camera, 10MP telephoto, 50MP periscope telephoto and 50MP ultra-wide, whereas the A37 settles for a 50MP main, 8MP ultra-wide and 5MP macro. In side-by-side shooting, S26 Ultra photos carry more detail, better colour range and more accurate tones, while the A37’s images, though colourful and social-media ready, clearly sit a tier below.

The tricky part is value. Samsung lists the Galaxy A37 5G at $599, calling it “acceptable value,” but even that verdict comes with a warning to shop around because competition is intense at this level. Rivals from Motorola and Oppo, as well as discounted Pixels, compete directly on price and often beat the A37 on speed and camera quality. One reviewer argues that dropping the price to $499 (approx. RM2,300) would make the A37 more compelling, because “just above the $500 mark reads as a little too high.” As it stands, the phone’s premium shell and strong battery life are undermined by budget phone performance, leaving its value proposition unclear for buyers who care about speed. For design-first buyers, though, the A37 stays attractive: it offers a premium-feeling body, AMOLED screen and long-term updates without Ultra-level prices.

Buy if / Skip if

• Buy the Galaxy A37 if you prioritise a slim, premium-feeling design with an aluminium frame, Gorilla Glass front and IP68 water resistance over raw performance.
• Skip the Galaxy A37 if you expect fast, consistent performance from your mid-range phone and dislike waiting for apps or maps to load.
• Buy the Galaxy A37 if you want a bright 6.7-inch 120Hz Super AMOLED screen and long battery life for streaming, reading and social media.
• Skip the Galaxy A37 if you need more than 128GB of storage, rely on a microSD card, or consider wireless charging essential.
• Buy the Galaxy A37 if your main use is calls, messaging, social media and YouTube, and you are happy with cameras that are “good