There was a time when Samsung's mid-range or budget phones were simply not worth considering. In no time at all they would slow to a crawl and behave in a clunky over-loaded fashion. Displays were lacklustre, battery life bad, heating was an issue and signals were poorly handled. Samsung climbed out of that rut, however, and now has quite a healthy mid-range smartphone collection to choose from. One of these makes a great second phone or even a decent gift.

The recently launched F54 5G is a mid-ranger at ₹29,999 but you wouldn't know it until you try to really push it into performance realms it wasn't designed for. As an everyday phone, the F54 is value for money.

Slippery customer

As has become typical for Samsung these days, the phone arrives in an impossibly slim box. Quite obviously there's nothing in there but the phone and the cable and a few odds and ends. There's no charger, so the customer has to get the right one (25W) when buying the device. This is definitely more than a little annoying.

When you open the little box, a rather large phone emerges. It isn't that it's particularly heavy, but it's broad, which makes its 6.7-inch screen seem larger than it is. Actually, most smartphones have settled at the screen size for now, but if you have small hands, you may want to rethink. The phone is also a bit slippery because of its glossy back and for this and the fact that it shows finger smudges you may want to opt for a case. This will give a better grip, but may just make the phone feel larger. The phone has slightly curved edges - meant for a better hold - but these too will be hidden when using a case. The back and frame, incidentally, are plastic, so a case will help protect it from unseemly scratches.

Crisp display

Having acquired a charger, case and tempered glass, you can set up the F54 for use. The first thing you'll notice is the phone's bright full HD+ (1080×2400p) Super AMOLED Plus display - after all, Samsung is the king of displays. It's easy on the eye and crisp enough to read with comfort. Most of all this is a screen that has sliming bezels but the bottom bezel is thicker - generally a signature of mid-range phones - but there is an expanse of space for watching movies and so on. There are no stereo speakers. The screen has a 120Hz refresh rate, a specification that does its bit towards making the phone feel fast to use. The display is Gorilla Glass-protected.

This device could have been much heavier, considering it has a 6000mAh battery inside. Samsung phones don't follow the same charging technique as some of the Chinese phones do so don't expect 30-minute charging. It's more like an hour and a half. But because the battery is so huge it can last two days of light to average use.

For extras, the F54 has a hybrid SIM card, so you can store some data on a memory card. The fingerprint sensor is on the power button, a convenient spot for it to be. There's no 3.5mm jack, and nor can one expect one any longer.

Samsung Galaxy F54 price

Samsung Galaxy F54 5G All rounder mid-ranger