Galaxy A15 Camera Guide: Blurry Photos, Settings and Limits

In this article, we’ll show you how to take better photos with the Galaxy A15. The Galaxy A15 (also known as the Galaxy A15 LTE or Galaxy A15 4G) and Galaxy A15 5G are covered.

Complaints about image quality on the Galaxy A15 revolve mostly around blurry/soft images in low light/indoors. Since the Galaxy A15 features a small camera sensor, no mention of optical stabilisation in the specs and just a 5MP ultrawide camera, there’s not much you can do besides following the tips and tricks below and using the appropriate camera mode.

Samsung’s Galaxy A15 is a budget-friendly Android phone that we haven’t tested ourselves. But based on what we know from Samsung and hands-on reviews from other outlets, here are our tips on how you can get the most out of this budget Android phone.

Galaxy A15 and A15 5G camera specs

Both models were announced on 11 December 2023. According to GSMArena, the main differences between the two models are the processor and the modem. There's one camera-related difference they mention, though: video stabilisation. On the 5G phone, videos shot with the main and ultrawide cameras are stabilised. The 4G phone doesn't stabilise video, which explains why handheld videos from it appear a bit shakier.

Not sure which Galaxy A15 you have? The 4G models have model numbers that begin with SM-A155, while the 5G phones begin with SM-A156. You can find your phone's model number in Settings and About phone.

What reviewers found

According to GSMArena’s review of the A15 5G, the main camera produced daylight images with enough detail, a wide dynamic range and no noticeable noise, although they were somewhat over-sharpened. The 5MP ultrawide was almost unusable, while the macro was only okay.

In poor lighting conditions, GSMArena got mostly disappointing images using the main camera’s Photo mode, so it strongly recommends using Night mode instead, as it saw major improvements in image detail and dynamic range and less noise. Selfies from the 13MP front camera were good.

Android Authority’s reviewer thought that the main camera was more than good enough on a budget phone, although exposures were often a bit too long, and said night shots were mostly failures.

Like GSMArena, Android Authority thought the 2MP macro camera wasn’t worth using and found video quality at 1080p was adequate.

Still, Android Authority dubbed the $199.99 A15 5G the best sub-$200 phone it had tested thanks to its excellent display and battery life as well as Samsung’s reputation for device support and updates.

DXOMARK gave the A15 5G’s camera an overall score of 83 using its now-outdated v5 camera scoring protocol. It liked the speed and accuracy of autofocus but noted artefacts including distortion and a lack of detail in videos shot in poor lighting.

Why A15 photos blur, and what to do about it

A15 photos turn out soft for a few common reasons. Enlarge the image on the screen to help identify the type of softness you’re seeing and use the table to identify the probable cause.

Blur in most indoor pictures comes from the first two rows above. A long exposure without optical stabilisation means the A15 is at the mercy of your hands, so brace yourself and use a physical button rather than a touchscreen control for best results. Our blurry photo fixes go through every cause in more detail.

When shooting at night, the best results come from propping the A15 up against a wall or table and using Night mode, which combines multiple exposures over a few seconds. When is it worth it? Our Night mode guide has an answer for that.

Best settings for the Galaxy A15

According to GSMArena, Pro mode can only be used with the main camera. Using this mode means you’ll be able to manually set things like exposure and white balance, so it’s good for taking multiple pictures of the same thing and having consistent colours. Some cheaper Galaxy handsets limit their manual shutter speed options to 10 seconds or don’t allow for it at all, so we recommend you check what options you have on your Galaxy A15. Our Pro mode guide covers what each control does.

1. 1

   Turn on grid lines

   Enable Grid lines (what Samsung calls them in its latest A-series handsets) from Camera settings, so you can be sure horizons are level, which is important on a phone camera as you're likely to do plenty of cropping.

2. 2

   Make the volume key the shutter

   Head to Camera settings > Shooting methods and choose Press Volume buttons to take pictures. Using the hardware button will result in less camera shake than tapping the display.

3. 3

   Set a shutter swipe to burst

   Allocate the Swipe Shutter button to burst shot mode (in Camera settings), so you can take a series of images with a swipe downwards on the shutter control, which is handy for increasing your chances of getting a sharp frame when shooting moving subjects.

4. 4

   Wipe the lenses

   Get in the habit of cleaning the camera lens (with a soft cloth) before taking photos, as smudges and fingerprints are magnified on small phone cameras, causing overall softness and flare around bright lights.

Features the A15 has, and the ones it lacks

• Night mode is supported by the main camera and in GSMArena’s opinion it’s the single most important improvement for taking photos in low light.
• Pro mode is also exclusive to the main camera (according to GSMArena).
• There’s no telephoto camera and the 2x option is a digital zoom (according to GSMArena).
• On both models video recording tops out at 1080p resolution with a 30fps frame rate on all cameras.
• Samsung’s Expert RAW feature page lists support for Galaxy A-series “models with advanced camera systems” but doesn’t specify which, and we couldn’t find anything that confirms support on the Galaxy A15.
• Photo Assist and Generative Edit are Galaxy AI photo editing features aimed at Galaxy S and Z flagships and aren’t mentioned by Samsung for the Galaxy A15.

Software updates in 2026

Both phones debuted with Android 14, and according to GSMArena can expect up to four major Android OS updates. According to Android Authority, the Galaxy A15 5G will receive security updates for 12 months longer than major OS updates.

The Galaxy A15 5G received One UI 8.5 in May 2026 and the Galaxy A15 4G received it shortly after, according to SamMobile.

One UI 9 (based on Android 17) first became available for the Galaxy A15 5G in South Korea in October 2026 and other countries in early November, according to SamMobile. That’s the third of its four promised major Android updates.

The Galaxy A15 4G is also said to be eligible for One UI 9 (according to an unofficial list from SamMobile), so check under Settings > Software update if you haven’t received it yet.

Who the A15 suits, and what to buy instead

If you take most of your photos in daylight and outside, and what you mostly want out of your phone is a great screen and battery life that won’t bottom out before you do, then the cheap A15 could be right for you. Buy a phone tripod with the money you save, and you can solve much of the issue with night photography of non-moving objects.

If you photograph your kids indoors a lot, take a lot of night photos (without a tripod), or zoom in a lot, you might want to look at phones with optical stabilisation first. For tips on how to get the most out of the A17’s camera, refer to our Galaxy A17 settings guide. The Galaxy A17 also offers a similar-sized 50MP main camera but with the addition of OIS. However, it can only shoot 1080p videos. The Galaxy A35 has OIS on the main camera and records 4K, and the newer Galaxy A57 and A37 both have a larger stabilised main sensor. The in-between A16 5G has the same camera layout as the A15 (50MP main, 5MP ultrawide, 2MP macro), but Samsung’s own support page in the US says that the max video is 4K30. GSMArena disagrees and lists 1080p30. Either way, we would not recommend this phone for anyone looking to film in 4K. For a real telephoto lens, the Galaxy S26 FE has a 3x telephoto camera. No A-series phone has a telephoto camera.