Should I upgrade my Galaxy A56?
The Samsung Galaxy A56 went on sale on 28 March 2025, launched at £499 (Samsung Newsroom UK — Galaxy A56 5G, A36 5G and A26 5G). It has a 6.7-inch display, a weight of 198 g, the Exynos 1580 chip, a 50 MP main camera and 256 GB of storage to start. Samsung claims up to 29 hours of video playback. Security updates are committed until 28 March 2031. Every figure in the Samsung Galaxy A56 specifications below links the page it came from and the date it was read.
1.5 years oldPatched until 2031-03-28Read
Is it still supported?
Yes. Samsung has committed to security updates for the Galaxy A56 until 2031-03-28. A phone that is still patched is not a phone you have to replace.endoflife.date — Samsung mobile, retrieved 2026-08-20
What the Galaxy S26 changes
This line has nothing newer on this site; the newest Samsung phone within a year of it is the Galaxy S26 at £879, released 6 March 2026. Judged row by row against our published thresholds; the full table is at Galaxy S26 vs Galaxy A56.
On the makers’ figures and the named third-party sources, the Galaxy S26 wins on weight (167 g against 198 g), peak brightness (2,600 nits from GSMArena against 1,200 nits from the maker) and battery per charge (51 h against 44.57 h); the Galaxy A56 wins on battery lifespan (2,000 cycles against 1,200 cycles). 4 gaps are borderline, differences most people would not notice: display size (6.7 in against 6.3 in) for the Galaxy A56, RAM (12 GB against 8 GB) for the Galaxy S26, battery capacity (5,000 mAh against 4,300 mAh) for the Galaxy A56 and fast charging (45 W against 25 W) for the Galaxy A56. The difference in claimed video playback is below the threshold you would notice. Both state the same refresh rate and storage (base). The other 36 rows have no threshold or no direction to judge by, so nobody wins them.
- Weight: 198 g → 167 g
- Peak brightness: 1,200 nits → 2,600 nits
- Battery per charge: 44.57 h → 51 h
- Display size: 6.7 in → 6.3 in borderline; marginal — most people won’t notice.
- RAM: 8 GB → 12 GB borderline; marginal — most people won’t notice.
- Battery capacity: 5,000 mAh → 4,300 mAh borderline; marginal — most people won’t notice.
- Fast charging: 45 W → 25 W borderline; marginal — most people won’t notice.
Other makers at the price
Phones from other makers released within a year of the Galaxy S26 and priced within a quarter of its £879, nearest price first, each judged the same way against your Galaxy A56 — or, where that pair is not one this site indexes, against the Galaxy S26.
What yours is worth
Our reading of the figures
The Galaxy A56 is committed to security updates until 28 March 2031, so nothing forces a move yet.
The Galaxy S26 clears our noticeable threshold on 3 rows: weight, peak brightness, battery per charge. 4 more gaps are borderline, which most people would not notice. You would give up battery lifespan.
At £879 new, less the £188 CeX was paying for a grade A Galaxy A56 on 2026-08-14, the move costs about £691.
Every sentence above is built from the figures on this page by a rule, not written for this phone: a support date, the rows that clear a published threshold, a price and a trade-in. There is no score and no recommendation. The methodology page has the thresholds and where they come from. Every phone’s version of this page is listed at All upgrade questions.