A modern screen on a Samsung budget phone, at a cost
The Samsung Galaxy A27 is a mid-range Samsung budget phone that replaces its dated notch with a hole-punch display, adds a newer Snapdragon chipset and longer Android updates, but also cuts back on camera resolution and water resistance while raising the price over its predecessor.
Samsung has officially launched the Galaxy A27 across multiple markets, with the base 6GB/128GB model priced at USD 349.99 (approx. RM1,640) and US availability starting July 14. The headline upgrade is obvious the moment you turn it on: the 6.7‑inch Super AMOLED now uses an Infinity‑O punch‑hole instead of the old teardrop U‑shaped notch, paired with slimmer, more uniform bezels and a 120Hz Full HD+ panel. This notch display removal finally drags the A2x line into the visual present, and it matters because the screen is what users stare at all day. But Samsung’s decision to pair this modernization with a higher price and some downgrades sends a mixed message about who the Galaxy A27 is really for.
Display redesign: the one upgrade everyone will notice
The biggest change on the Galaxy A27 is its display design, and it is more than a cosmetic tweak. Samsung has finally dropped the obsolete teardrop notch from the A26 and older A2x models, switching to a central hole‑punch cutout and more uniform bezels that make the lower chin far less obvious. As one spec sheet puts it, “The 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display is the first in the Galaxy A2x lineup to use an Infinity-O punch-hole cutout instead of a U-shaped notch.”
On paper, the Galaxy A27 specs for the screen look familiar: Full HD+ resolution, 120Hz refresh, and protection with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+. In practice, this is the kind of modern display treatment that keeps a Samsung budget phone feeling current for years, especially when paired with six generations of Android and One UI updates plus six years of security patches. If all you care about is a clean, contemporary front with smooth scrolling, the A27 nails that brief; the problem is what happens when you flip the phone over or start dipping into water, figuratively and literally.
Inside the Galaxy A27: smarter silicon, stingier protection
Under the refreshed glass, Samsung has shifted the Galaxy A27 to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 6 Gen 3, moving away from the Exynos 1380 used in the A26. The company touts modest gains, with around 7% higher CPU and 8% faster GPU performance, plus LPDDR5X RAM that boosts memory speeds by about 50%. More tangibly, the base model now starts at 6GB RAM instead of 4GB while keeping 128GB of storage, with 8GB/128GB and 8GB/256GB options and microSD support reportedly up to 2TB.
These Galaxy A27 specs make it a more capable daily driver, especially for AI features and long-term Android updates. It ships with One UI 8.5 based on Android 16 QPR2 and is promised six major OS upgrades plus six years of security updates, which is flagship-level support in a mid-range shell. Yet while performance and longevity step forward, durability quietly steps back: the A27 drops from an IP67 rating on the A26 to IP64, meaning less protection against water ingress. Keeping the same 5,000mAh battery and 25W charging is fine, but reducing water resistance on a pricier successor feels like penny-pinching that users will notice the day their phone meets a sink or a storm.
Cameras and colors: style upgrades, shooting sidegrades
On the back, the Galaxy A27 still offers a triple camera setup: 50MP main, 5MP ultrawide, and 2MP macro. The headline is not improvement but compromise. The ultrawide drops from 8MP on the A26 to 5MP, while the macro and main sensors remain effectively the same. The selfie camera also moves from 13MP to 12MP, though Samsung claims the newer sensor captures a wider brightness range and richer colors. In other words, this is a photographic sideways step: you may get better processing and front‑camera quality in some scenes, but on paper you are paying more for fewer pixels on key lenses.
Visually, Samsung tries to sweeten the deal with style. You get body‑colored metallic accents around the camera island and several new colors: a deep navy blue, pink, black, and light green in many markets, while some regions only receive black at launch. This may help the phone stand out on shelves, but it does not change the fact that, for photography, the A27 is more about maintaining adequacy than delivering a clear upgrade. When rival models like the Galaxy A37 are offering better cameras and a faster chip at a lower promotional price, the A27’s camera story becomes even harder to defend.
Strategy check: modernization versus better value elsewhere
The Galaxy A27 makes Samsung’s mid-range strategy feel exposed. On one hand, the phone fixes the most obvious flaw in the A2x line with notch display removal, bumps base RAM, and delivers an unusually long promise of Android updates for a Samsung budget phone. On the other, it raises the launch price by USD 50 (approx. RM235) over the A26 to USD 349.99 (approx. RM1,640), trims camera specs, and downgrades water resistance from IP67 to IP64. One source sums it up bluntly: “In nearly every other category, the A27 either stays flat or steps backward.”
The timing also hurts. The Galaxy A27 will be available on July 14, while the Galaxy A37—offering better cameras and a faster Exynos chip—is already selling for less than the A27’s launch price. That leaves buyers with a simple choice: pay more later for a prettier screen and longer support, or pay less now for better hardware. The A27 is for those who value a modern display and six years of Android updates above all else. Everyone else should see it as a reminder that in Samsung’s own lineup, the newest Samsung budget phone is not always the smartest buy.
