The legacy of the Samsung Galaxy A Series now continues with the offering of the Samsung Galaxy A35 which is a mid-range device with an affordable price. However, does the price offered match the specifications and performance available?. After testing it for a few weeks of usage period, here I will share my review about it.
SPECIFICATIONS
Samsung Galaxy A35 5G
6.6″ AMOLED screen, 120HZ
Exynos 1380 processor (5nm)
4×2.4 GHz Cortex-A78 chip
4×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55
Mali-G68 MP5 Graphics Chip
8GB LPDDR5 RAM
Internal Storage 256GB UFS 3.1
Primary Camera 50 MP, f/1.8 (Wide)
8MP, f/2.2 (Ultra-wide)
5MP (Macro)
13MP f/2.2 Selfie Camera
5000 mAh battery
25W wired charging
SIM/Telephony Dual SIM/5G
NFC Yes
No Audio Jack
Waterproof IP67
Scan System Under-screen fingerprint scanner / Face
Sale Price RM 1699 (8/256 GB)
SCREEN
6.6″ Super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels. Refresh rate settings up to 120Hz are available and can be changed to 60Hz for better battery saving. The screen is of the Gorilla Glass Victus+ type which guarantees the durability of the screen from being easily scratched and broken if dropped.
All the displays shown are excellent while providing an excellent video content viewing experience. In terms of the display, there are no errors that I want to complain about because the display is beautiful with bright and beautiful colors. The display of the screen is already impressive but the thickness of the bezel around the screen is too noticeable. There is a small circle at the top of the screen that acts as a selfie camera.
BIOMETRIC
As for security and privacy features, a fingerprint scanner is built into the bottom of the screen which can work well as long as the fingers are not wet and dirty. However, the facial scanning feature is not very fast and there were times when it failed to scan the face so that I had to make several attempts to unlock the device even in a well-lit room.
If it's in a dark room I'd be better off giving in and unlocking the device using a fingerprint scan or entering a password. This may be due to the front camera setup which is only 13MP.
DESIGN
Not just at a glance, but if you look at it many times, the design of the A35 looks very similar to the A55 model, only the construction of the body panels is different. For this A35 model, the rear body is made of plastic panels together with a metal frame. The body design is flat and the body of the device feels comfortable in the hand.
On the side of the device there is a slight curve specially designed for a more comfortable hand grip. If the screen is facing forward, you will find the power button and volume buttons located on the right side and there are no buttons on the left side. The top part houses the SIM card slot and the microphone hole. While at the bottom there is a speaker, a USB-C charging hole and also a microphone hole. On the back, there are three camera bumps with a slightly raised bump along with the Samsung logo at the bottom.
A35 is offered in three types of color options, namely Awesome IceBlue, Awesome Navy and the color I tested is Awesome Lilac. The three colors offered are pastel colors that look very minimalistic, stylish and beautiful. There is also an IP67 feature on the device which makes it waterproof and dustproof.
USAGE & SOFTWARE
One UI 6.1 operating system based on Android 14 is used to run the device software. The interface is neat and there is no problem to download any application. While using this device during the testing period, I realized that the heating issue that occurred on the device was very noticeable during the first week of use.
If the heating issue occurs when I play the game at extreme high resolution settings I may still be able to accept it. But the device heats up even if I just charge it or turn on the Hotspot. However, I found that the overheating issue on the body of this device only happened in the first few days of use, after a few days of using it, the overheating issue subsided.
The processor chip used on the device is the Exynos 1380 chip (6nm) which in my opinion is quite an old chip and definitely has a big influence on the user experience and performance of the device. It's the same chip used in last year's Samsung Galaxy A54.
Therefore, problems such as heating issues and also the time delay that I mentioned earlier are definitely related to the type of processor chip used. The device is also equipped with a memory size of 8GB RAM and a storage size of 256GB with the feature of adding virtual RAM that can be expanded up to 8GB.
Like other Galaxy A devices, the Samsung Galaxy A35 is also given support for 4 versions of Android updates and five years of security patches. Samsung offers the best update support in the mid-range at this point.
BENCH MARK
Antutu 3D Benchmark
Samsung Galaxy A35 – 503,093
Nothing Phone (2a) – 685,115
Oppo Reno 11 5G – 501800
Geekbench 6
Samsung Galaxy A35 – 780 / 2700
Nothing Phone (2a) – 1110 / 2589
Oppo Reno 11 5G – 797/2254
Wildlife Extreme
Samsung Galaxy A35 – 810
Nothing Phone (2a) – 1157
Oppo Reno 11 5G – 2278
The results of the benchmark test show a satisfactory score where it is seen lower compared to the Nothing Phone 2(a) and Oppo Reno11 5G scores. Using the device to play the game at the highest resolution settings is less than satisfactory. On the other hand on normal settings, the first one can be played more smoothly but still has heating issues.
I asked editor-in-chief Effi who reviewed the A54 last year to find out if the same issue experienced on the A34 also occurred on the device he reviewed. He said this did not happen and last year the A54 was one of the devices that operated smoothly. So I don't know what happened to cause the A34 to have a slightly less satisfactory performance.
CAMERA
In my opinion, the camera setup on the device is quite low for a smartphone priced at RM1699. The camera uses 50MP (main camera), 8MP (ultra-wide) and 5MP (macro) which gives less sharp images but the colors are still bright with enough lighting.
The result of the picture at night is also not very impressive where I found a lot of noise effects and also details that are not so preserved. However, the clarity of the image is still maintained even though the quality in my opinion is low and does not reach expectations for a mid-range device camera.
BATTERY
Something positive about the battery is that it is 5000mAh which can last quite a long time. For example if I start my morning with a full battery percentage setup, I will only need to charge it again before I go to bed around 11 or 12 pm and this is in terms of normal usage rate.
For a more extreme usage rate, playing the game repeatedly for a long time will certainly affect the battery saving rate. But the real disappointment I felt while using this device is that its charging support is limited to only 25W. This makes the time it takes to fully charge the device's battery take over an hour to fully charge.
AUDIO
The available audio system is quite good with stereo speakers that provide a clear experience of listening to music and watching video content. However, there is no audio jack hole built into its body which requires me to wear wireless earphones if I don't want to listen to audio directly from the speaker.
IN THE BOX
1x Samsung Galaxy A35.
1x USB-C to USB-C Charger Cable.
1x Manual.
1x SIM Pin.
CONCLUSION
Overall what I can conclude is that the Samsung Galaxy A35 is a mid-range device that is able to provide a good user experience and can fulfill its role as a useful daily device. But in terms of the price offer which is RM1699 I feel it is not worth it.
This is because more devices with much better specifications are also offered at the same price level. If you want to compare with the A55 model, in terms of performance maybe the A55 model is better but if you want a device with a lower price offering with almost the same specifications as the A55 model, then this Samsung Galaxy A35 model can be considered.
Another alternative is to just buy the Samsung Galaxy A54 which has comparable specifications but with a better camera. At this point the A54 can be bought at a price of around RM1400-RM1500 only.
PRO
Minimalist design, beautiful and stylish.
The same One UI 6.1 as Samsung's flagship devices.
Beautiful screen display.
Has Knox Vault security system.
4 Android version updates and 5 years of security patches.
CONS
Thick bezel.
Only 25W charging support.
The face scan function detects slowly and often fails.
Camera setup is less than satisfactory.
Heating problem.