A new telecom certification in China points to a Galaxy A57 that looks unexpectedly ambitious and, in key areas, poised to challenge Samsung’s upcoming base flagship. The TENAA filing outlines a slimmer chassis, faster charging, and upgraded imaging hardware — a combination that could make the A57 a realistic alternative to the entry S26 for many buyers.
While regulatory listings don’t reveal everything, they’re typically reliable on fundamentals like dimensions, battery, and component counts. Taken together, these details paint a picture of a midrange phone closing the gap with Samsung’s premium lineup.
Sleeker Body With Serious Charging Speed
The filing lists the Galaxy A57 at 161.5 × 76.8 × 6.9 mm, trimming notable thickness versus the A56’s roughly 7.4 mm profile. That sub-7 mm figure undercuts rumors around the base S26’s thickness, albeit by a sliver, and suggests a lighter hand feel. The documentation also indicates the new model drops about 16 grams compared with its predecessor, a meaningful reduction for everyday use.
Even more striking, the A57 is expected to support 45W wired charging. If the base S26 sticks to a slower rate as widely rumored, Samsung’s midrange could outpace the flagship on this convenience metric. The battery is rated at 4,905mAh and will almost certainly be marketed as 5,000mAh — the same nominal capacity as the A56. Pairing a big cell with faster charging in a 6.9 mm body implies careful thermal and energy density tuning, a sign of mature engineering trickling down the lineup.
Chipset And Memory Bump Hint At Real-World Gains
TENAA notes an eight-core processor clocking up to 2.9GHz. Industry chatter points to Samsung’s Exynos 1680, a step up from the A56’s silicon, which should translate into stronger CPU bursts, smoother multitasking, and modest GPU gains. While synthetic benchmarks aren’t public, the higher peak clock alone suggests snappier day-to-day performance.
Storage and RAM entries are also telling: 256GB is listed as the storage option, with 8GB and 12GB memory configurations. If accurate, that would mark a clean break from 6GB RAM and could signal Samsung is standardizing on higher memory across midrange tiers. More RAM pays dividends in app retention and camera processing, areas where midrangers often lag flagships.
Camera Hardware Nudges Toward Premium Territory
The certification shows a triple camera stack: 50MP, 12MP, and 5MP sensors. Separately, supply chain leaks suggest the primary could be Sony’s IMX906 in some markets, with Samsung’s ISOCELL GNJ appearing elsewhere — both modern 50MP units capable of larger pixels and improved dynamic range versus older midrange sensors. The supporting lenses are expected to be a 12MP ultrawide and 5MP macro.
Details like optical stabilization aren’t specified in the filing, but recent A-series models have featured OIS on the main camera, and the A57’s positioning makes continued support likely. An in-display fingerprint reader is also expected, implying an AMOLED panel remains on board.
Display Details And A Note On The Listing
TENAA cites a 6.6-inch display, a hair smaller than the A56’s 6.7-inch spec. That could be a rounding discrepancy or a subtle design tweak with slimmer bezels. Refresh rate and peak brightness aren’t listed, but given segment norms and last year’s A5x devices, a high-refresh AMOLED is the safe bet. Regardless, an under-screen scanner aligns with a premium-leaning panel spec.
What It Means For The S26 And Mainstream Buyers
If the A57 ships with 45W charging, a slimmer build than some flagships, modern 50MP primary hardware, and higher base memory, it creates genuine pressure on the entry S26. Feature parity in the right places — endurance, charging, and main camera quality — often matters more to mainstream buyers than raw processor peak scores.
Market dynamics are already tilting in this direction. Counterpoint Research has repeatedly ranked Galaxy A-series models among the world’s top-selling smartphones, underscoring how well-equipped midrange devices can cannibalize base flagships. A certification appearance at TENAA typically precedes retail availability by a short window, so clarity on pricing and regional configurations shouldn’t be far off.
Bottom line: if Samsung holds the line on price while delivering the slim chassis, faster charging, and upgraded camera sensor indicated here, the Galaxy A57 could be the rare midranger that makes would-be S26 buyers pause — and for good reason.
