Samsung Galaxy A35 Review

Among Samsung's Galaxy A Series, models with numbers starting with 30 have attracted a lot of attention in the past. These models generally struck a good balance between price and performance. However, we saw that these products were a little behind in terms of design and feel. Now we see that Samsung has changed this greatly with the Galaxy A35. Details about this mid-segment Android phone, which has similar features to its sibling Galaxy A55 in many respects and features the Exynos 1380 on the processor side that we saw in the A54 last year, are included in the Samsung Galaxy A35 review article and video.

Design

When we look at the 2024 model members of the Galaxy A Series, we see that they have made small but significant improvements in terms of design compared to their predecessors. With the Samsung Galaxy A55, which we reviewed previously, the metal frame came to this series for the first time. Galaxy A35, on the other hand, offers the design and dimensions of the A55 with a stylish-looking plastic frame, while providing a higher level of feel and atmosphere than its predecessors.

Galaxy A35 has the thickness value of A55, with 8.2 millimeters. Although they have the same size screen, the A55 has a slightly thinner screen frame, making that phone slightly smaller in terms of surface area. As a result of using plastic on the edges, the phone is slightly lighter at 209 grams. This phone also has water and dust resistance certified with IP67. In this way, you can use the phone with peace of mind under heavy rain, by the pool or by the sea.

While the phone has a USB-C port, new design speakers and microphones on the bottom edge, there is an additional microphone and a nano SIM and microSD card slot on the top edge. You can insert a second SIM card into the microSD card slot. On the right edge, the volume keys and power button are placed in the slightly curved and protruding section. We have seen this design before on the Galaxy A25 and Galaxy A55 models.

The front of the Galaxy A35 is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus + glass, just like the A55. This screen also seems resistant to scratches. A solid glass is also used on the back. During our use of the phone, we did not encounter any notable scratches on either the front or back glass.

Screen and Sound

The Galaxy A35 also has a 6.6-inch Super AMOLED display. With a maximum brightness of 1000 nits, there is sufficient visibility even under sunlight. High brightness allows you to watch HDR videos properly on platforms such as YouTube. The screen with 1080 x 2340 pixel resolution and 19.5:9 aspect ratio is sufficient for vertical use, such as navigating social media applications, viewing web pages, and using two applications at the same time in split windows. The presence of the Super AMOLED screen allows wide viewing angles as well as efficient use of the Always on Display feature.

The A35's screen offers a good viewing area for photos and videos with its vibrant colors. The Infinity O screen design also allows the front camera to function without cropping much from the video or full-screen games. Watching movies on this phone is enjoyable, and the dual-speaker sound system provides a good opportunity for this. There is no headphone jack, but you will be able to enjoy good music or videos with Samsung's Galaxy Buds series headphones or other Google Fast Pair supported headphones. Moreover, such headphones will also offer easy connection.

Performance and Battery

Galaxy A35 comes with the 5nm-based Exynos 1380 processor, which was used in the A54 model last year. This processor is accompanied by 6 GB RAM and 128 GB internal memory in the test product we received. This hardware package is enough for daily tasks and using 2-3 applications at the same time. RAM Plus may increase performance a little more with its support for up to 6 GB of virtual RAM on the multitasking side, but it must be admitted that it will not make a huge difference. 128 GB may not be enough after a while, considering the camera system that can take high-resolution photos and 4K videos. For this, it would be appropriate to choose the 256 GB capacity version, taking into account the advantage of 8 GB RAM.

The Exynos 1380 processor provides good performance for daily tasks. Although we occasionally see hangs when dragging the application transition screen and switching between applications, overall a fluent and smooth performance is provided. The phone does not heat up too much. It is possible to play PUBG Mobile fluently at high graphics settings and make moves quickly. Galaxy A55 looks a little ahead thanks to the advantage of Exynos 1480 in terms of graphics power. However, the performance of the A35 is quite good for a phone priced around 15 thousand TL. By the way, let's not forget to mention that we got more or less the same results in the GeekBench 6 tests we conducted with the Galaxy A54.

This phone has a battery with a capacity of 5000 mAh and you can easily get through a day on a single charge in normal intensive use. You can even make it through the second day with the battery saving mode and lower screen brightness setting. There is 25W fast charging support, but a power adapter is not included in the box. For this, you must make additional investment. However, if you do this, you can charge the battery to more than 50 percent in half an hour, and reach 100 percent charge in an hour and a half. There are also various protection settings within the battery settings that will allow the battery to be used for longer periods of time.

Software and Security

Galaxy A35 also comes with Android 14 and One UI 6. Like many Samsung phones released in recent years, this phone has a long-term commitment to Android and security updates. By this time next year, we should see this phone already receiving Android 15 and One UI 7 updates. It will continue for at least two years. This is good news for those who plan to use the phone for a few years.

It comes preloaded with various Google applications, OneDrive and Microsoft 365 applications, and different Samsung applications. With Smart Switch, you can quickly move your applications, media files and settings from your old phone. You can also install any application or game you want from Galaxy Store or Google Play Store.

On the security side, the in-display fingerprint reader works quickly and effortlessly. Samsung has a variety of Knox-based security tools and features. Secure Folder is one of them. It hides the files, photos and applications you want to keep secret behind authentication.

Camera

There are three cameras on the back of the Samsung Galaxy A35, just like the A55. While the main camera and macro camera share the same features, the ultra-wide camera is lower resolution. The main camera has features such as 50 megapixel resolution, f / 1.8 aperture, phase detection autofocus, optical image stabilization. In addition to the 5-megapixel, f/2.4 macro camera, there is an 8-megapixel, f/2.2 aperture and 123-degree ultra-wide camera with a viewing angle. The resolution of the front camera drops to 13 megapixels. The f/2.2 aperture value is preserved.

Galaxy A35 takes balanced, albeit slightly warm, photos under adequate light conditions. In addition to the main camera that is successful in macro shots, you can take shots closer to the subject thanks to the 5 megapixel macro camera. Performance in low light hovers around the average, sometimes very good results are achieved, sometimes the smoothing is too much. However, in general, noise in low light, in other words noise, remains at a low level. Photos taken in night mode are ideal for social media sharing, but when transferred to a computer screen, the smoothing effects are noticeable. The low light performance of the ultra-wide camera does not exceed the average. Although the Galaxy A35 is generally successful in portrait shots, the smoothing and loss of details seem to be greater in low-light portrait shots. Still, we found the separation of subject and background to be decent in such cases.

The 13 megapixel camera on the front does a good job in sufficient light conditions. This camera can be very extreme in background separation in portrait shots, sometimes losing naturalness. On the other hand, we can occasionally see that only one person is in focus in group shots. Therefore, if you are going to take portrait shots with the front camera, it would be appropriate to check it after shooting.

On the video side, you can record 4K video with both the front and rear cameras. Video recording quality is generally successful, the difference of the optical image stabilization system in the main camera is visible. The front camera is also good in terms of stability and sound recording.

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy A35 has a slightly more premium feel than the A32, A33 and A34 models we saw in previous years. Samsung made the right decision in this sense by bringing the design closer to the Galaxy A55 line. The choice of materials is also good, even though the edges are plastic, it does not feel very ordinary. If the Galaxy A55 test product we had wasn't in different colors, we could easily confuse the two phones.

A35 has a large and useful screen, providing good visibility in different environments. The performance provided by Exynos 1380 is also sufficient for daily needs and gaming. The 5000 mAh capacity battery will not let you down either. Long-term Android and security update support is also good news for those who want to pay once and use the A35 for several years.

On the camera side, the Galaxy A35 takes satisfactory photos in sufficient light conditions. While performance in low light will vary, it will generally provide sufficient quality for those who want to share photos or stories on Instagram. Its performance seems good on the video side as well.

For those who do not want to increase their budget beyond 15 thousand TL, Galaxy A35 is a phone with a high price-performance ratio and will meet expectations well.

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