ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Samsung’s Galaxy A35 5G is a well-rounded smartphone that is on sale for $198
- You will love the two-day battery life, wonderful display screen high quality, and 4 years of software program updates
- The largest difficulty? Efficiency tends to range from each day and may result in overheating
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I am stunned how a lot I take pleasure in utilizing the Samsung Galaxy A35 5G. The 2024 midrange cellphone in Samsung’s lineup is not essentially something particular — it appears like every other Galaxy cellphone from latest years, and it would not have any flashy options. Nonetheless, the mission of mid-range telephones is to not make waves; it is to supply a steadiness between efficiency, high quality, and worth. This cellphone achieves that steadiness nicely.
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Some would argue this is not the most effective $400 cellphone available on the market, however it’s definitely one in all them, and the display screen is the principle purpose.
The Galaxy A35 5G contains a Samsung Signature Tremendous AMOLED show measuring 6.6 inches diagonally. The show has a Full HD+ decision, a 120Hz refresh price for clean movement, and 1,000 nits of brightness, making it simple to see in direct daylight. Plus, it is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+, which is a pleasant perk.
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The most effective perks of the Galaxy A35 is the battery dimension. Clocking in at 5,000mAh, this factor can simply final two days on a full cost. Throughout my testing, I solely plugged within the cellphone thrice, and that was with average use. Sadly, there are not any wi-fi charging capabilities, and the charging velocity is capped at 25W, so it’d take a while to get to 100%. Nonetheless, it is good having multi-day battery life on any smartphone, not to mention one which prices $400.
One other factor I wasn’t anticipating to say after spending a while with the A35 is that the cameras aren’t that unhealthy. In truth, I might go so far as to say that no less than two of them are good, which is sort of inconceivable to say for many sub-$500 Android telephones.
The primary 50MP digicam is completely able to taking some good photos. Colours aren’t overdone as a lot as on older Samsung telephones, whereas distinction and publicity stay typically on level. The A35 is okay at sustaining shadows, for higher or worse, whereas picture high quality typically dips when the lights get low. It isn’t horrible by any means, however further grain and noise are exhausting to keep away from until there is a ton of exterior or pure gentle within the body.
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I will additionally give credit score to the 13MP selfie digicam, which is completely fitted to Snapchat or Instagram Tales. Sadly, the opposite cameras on the again of the gadget are disappointing. The 8MP could also be ultra-wide because of its 123-degree area of view, however it’s grainy and low-quality in nearly each lighting situation. In the meantime, the 5MP macro digicam is washed out, and it’s inconceivable to seize something usable — until you are in broad daylight.
You possibly can’t purchase the Galaxy A35 5G anticipating movie-quality movies, however no less than you’ll be able to shoot in 4K, albeit at 30 frames per second. As well as, I like Samsung’s digicam app, which is well-optimized and straightforward to navigate.
Another notable options embrace a quick, dependable in-display fingerprint scanner, IP67 water- and dust-resistance, Gorilla Glass Victus+ on the again, and a microSD card slot for increasing your storage everytime you need. The A35, nonetheless, stumbles in efficiency. The cellphone is not gradual, however it’s not at all times quick both. It is outfitted with an Exynos 1380 octa-core processor that is quick sufficient for on a regular basis use, however throughout my testing, the cellphone would typically decelerate a lot that it took a number of seconds to open an app or change to multitasking.
The gadget would additionally typically get inexplicably scorching throughout common use. For instance, as soon as I used to be scrolling via an article with Spotify enjoying within the background, and the A35 received scorching sufficient that I needed to put it down.
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It is a identified difficulty with Samsung’s Exynos chips, which have traditionally fallen behind Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors in efficiency and effectivity. Fortunately, you’ll be able to rig the A35 with 6GB, 8GB, or 12GB of RAM, so you will not run out of reminiscence throughout utilization — simply do not push the cellphone too exhausting.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
It is exhausting to discover a midrange gadget that balances the smartphone expertise nicely, however the Samsung Galaxy A35 5G does a reasonably good job. Whereas efficiency and digicam high quality fall behind in some areas, the remainder of the cellphone is nice (particularly that attractive display screen) for the value.
There are different stable options, just like the Pixel 8a or the superb OnePlus 13R, that provide the same expertise. Nevertheless, they’re considerably dearer. As talked about earlier, the Galaxy A35 is on sale for lower than $200. The OnePlus 13R, as compared, prices triple that quantity.
