Samsung Galaxy A27 Launches in July for $349 with Six Years of Android OS Updates

Samsung just made its $350 Galaxy A27 a harder sell than its own $329 Galaxy A37 Samsung announced the Galaxy A27 on Thursday, pricing the base 6GB/128GB model at $349.99 in the US. That is $50 more than last year's Galaxy A26, and the phone ships with several downgrades that make the price hike difficult to justify.

The Galaxy A27 launches in select international markets on July 3 and hits US shelves on July 14, available only in black. European buyers will pay EUR 349 for the base variant.

Buyers outside the US get additional color options: blue, light green, and light pink.

Samsung swapped the Exynos 1380 for Qualcomm's Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chipset, the phone's one clear upgrade. The company claims 7% higher CPU performance and 8% faster GPU performance over the A26, with LPDDR5X RAM that delivers 50% faster memory speeds.

Storage options include 6GB/128GB, 8GB/128GB, and 8GB/256GB configurations, plus a microSD slot supporting cards up to 2TB. But in nearly every other category, the A27 either stays flat or steps backward. The ultrawide camera drops from 8MP to 5MP.

The selfie camera falls from 13MP to 12MP, though Samsung says it uses a newer, more advanced sensor that should improve image quality. The rear 50MP main camera and 2MP macro sensor carry over unchanged.

Water resistance takes a hit too: the A27 carries an IP64 rating, down from the A26's IP67. The phone is slightly thicker at 7.8mm and weighs 200 grams, matching the A26's 5,000mAh battery and 25W wired charging.

One area where Samsung is pushing ahead: software support. The Galaxy A27 ships with One UI 8.5 (Android 16 QPR2) and Samsung promises six major OS upgrades and six years of security updates. The phone also brings Galaxy AI features including Circle to Search, Object Eraser, Voice Transcription, Google Gemini, Perplexity, and an updated Bixby.

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. It offers Full HD+ resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection with thinner bezels than the A26.

Samsung's own lineup creates the biggest problem for the A27. The Galaxy A37, which has better cameras and a faster Exynos chip, is currently available for $329 after a $120 discount with no trade-in required.

That is $21 less than the A27's launch price. As SamMobile noted, the choice for US buyers looking at Samsung's mid-range this month is lopsided: buy the superior A37 now for less, or wait until July 14 for the lesser A27 at a higher price.