The year is turning out to be a good one for Samsung as it moves from one device to another. In January, the company launched the AI-driven Galaxy S24 series and now it’s making all the right noises with Galaxy A55 5G and Galaxy A35 5G.
The two latest phones offer outstanding software and camera performance but the price is affordable for a midrange device. It will receive software updates longer than most midrange Android phones, too.
Bright, contrasty display
Last couple of weeks we have been using the A35, which has a number of flagship-grade features. Compared to Galaxy A34, you get a new chipset and camera setup, Wi-Fi 6 connectivity and a glass back panel, besides tougher glass on the display. We are talking about Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection on the phone. I have used this on a few flagship devices and it has withstood a few drops. The overall design of the phone has flagship vibes, complete with separate camera rings for each snapper. A new design element on the phone: The frame protrudes a bit where the power and volume rockers are to offer a better grip as well as make it easier to access the buttons. The phone has a solid build, complete with IP67 rating for protection against water and dust. The display helps the Samsung phone take a lead over rivals.
The display of Samsung Galaxy A35 5G is bright enough to be seen under sunlight
It’s a 6.6-inch sAmoled display with 120Hz refresh rate and 1080p (FHD+) resolution. Overall, the display packs sharpness and contrast. Colours are accurate and so are viewing angles. It can hit 1,000 nits brightness in High Brightness mode, making content easily visible under bright sunshine. With 120Hz refresh rate, scrolling through feeds appears smoother.
Samsung is offering a pair of stereo speakers that are not only loud but offer enough bass and make vocals shine. Even if you don’t use a pair of earbuds, you will be able to enjoy videos on, say, YouTube.
Nimble performance
There are two storage variants — 128GB or 256GB — besides support for microSD card (up to 1TB). For review, we have the 256GB option with 8GB RAM.
Sample of a 2x shot taken on the new phone from the South Korean company
The interface you will be greeted with is Samsung’s latest OneUI 6.1 running on top of Android 14. Users are given up to four generations of OS upgrades and up to five years of security updates to keep the phone and personal data in good hands.
Powering the phone is the Exynos 1380 octa-core processor, which offers improved GPU and NPU, making multitasking, gaming, and streaming effortless. Galaxy A35 5G features a 70 per cent larger vapour chamber cooling system that can handle demanding tasks. Given the pricing, the processor is efficient and will ensure all your apps run smoothly. As far as gaming goes, you should be able to make it through most titles at decent frame rates.
Keeping the phone going is a 5,000 mAh battery that should offer around a day-and-a-half of screen-on time, even if you do a fair amount of video conferencing, browsing and watching videos. There’s support for 25W fast-charging but there is no power brick in the box.
Let’s talk about camera
On the back, the triple camera setup offers 50MP on the main, 8MP ultra-wide and 5MP macro while the selfie snapper is 13MP.
Pictures are processed quickly and there is no shutter lag
Output on the main camera is at 12.5MP because of pixel binning and photographs retain a high level of detail. The processing is also fast and colours look natural, complete with solid contrast and dynamic range. The main camera can handle skin tones well. There is no telephoto camera but with 2x zoom you get good output. In low light, the phone uses an automatic night mode which does a good job and triggers quite consistently on its own. Even the ultra-wide is worth using because of the dynamic range and good contrast. I didn’t expect the ultra-wide snapper to do such a good job at night.
On the video front, colours are slightly punchy but perfect for social media. It’s good that Samsung allows UHD resolution on both the front and main camera, recording at 30fps. The electronic stabilisation is enabled by default and it works flawlessly.
Though you get a 5MP macro camera, I wouldn’t rely on this lens on any phone. The front snapper takes sharp photos and retains details.
Should you buy it?
Giving the phone an edge is Samsung Knox Vault, which protects sensitive information, such as your PIN, password and pattern. Your encrypted data can be safely transferred to Samsung Knox Vault storage, which is completely isolated and separated from the main operating system.
The main camera does a good job with colours
If you want a well-rounded Android phone, this is a good option — Galaxy A35 5G has just about all you need in a phone.
At a glance
Device: Samsung Galaxy A35 5G
Price: Upwards of Rs 30,999
High notes
It offers a glass back and there is Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection
Good software support
Secured by Samsung Knox Vault
Excellent camera output
Battery easily lasts a day
Muffled note
Some bloatware; can be deleted
