Verdict
It does n’t look or finger in particular exciting , but the Samsung Galaxy A35 5 G is one of the most balanced phones usable for less than £ 350 . Acceptable performance , a decent main television camera , solid build quality , and strong staying power make it a safe bet within its class .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
you could always numerate on Samsung to take the battle to Apple in theflagship phonecategory , but it ’s had to ferment hard of late to stay private-enterprise in themid - range market place .
The Samsung Galaxy A35 5 G shows just how hard it ’s having to scrap . This is a headphone that run across some of theGalaxy A34 5G’smost appealing characteristic while also pack a match of cardinal upgrades – all at a slightly low-spirited starting price of £ 339 .
This fresh price pitches it now up against the Redmi Note 13 Pro 5 G , and very close indeed to theNothing Phone ( 2a)andMotorola Edge 40 Neo . That ’s some high - gradation competition .
With the new Galaxy A55 also arrive for £ 100 more , Samsung really call for to hit the value sweet slur here .
Design
Samsung has beat with conversant design principles for the Galaxy A35 5G. It looks a lot like the Galaxy A34 5 G , and from the front and the back it also bet a lot like theGalaxy S23 FE .
There ’s one noticeable embellishment to its flattened skeletal frame . The magnate and volume push button on the right - hand edge resist out a little , which feels dainty under the quarter round when holding the phone in your right hired man .
I ’ve remark the alikeness already , but the Galaxy A35 5 G really does give me distinguishable Galaxy S23 FE vibes . Not only does it look very alike , but it ’s exactly the same 8.2 millimeter heaviness , and it press exactly the same 209 g.
The latter fact is somewhat surprising given that the Galaxy A35 5 G employs an ostensibly lighter credit card frame . It does n’t feel too tinny , however , thanks to the use of chicken feed on the rear of the gadget .
Meanwhile , the Gorilla Glass Victus+ used on the front of the phone is actually well than the Victus 5 in the Galaxy S23 FE .
Another welcome agiotage contact here isIP67certification . It ’s not quite flagship - standard , and the Motorola Edge 40 Neo gives you IP68 for £ 300 , but this still cater a good deal more water impedance than most sub-£350 phone .
All in all , this is a substantial , well - built phone that feels nice and better put together than other similarly price phone such as the Nothing Phone ( 2a ) – even if it does n’t face as interesting .
Screen
The Galaxy A35 5 G has a 6.6 - in 1080 x 2340 display , which is nigh ( in sizing terms at least ) to the 6.7 - inchGalaxy S24 Plusthan to the 6.4 - column inch Galaxy S23 FE . It also features a 120Hz refresh rate , though it lack the full scalability of an LTPO jury .
In truth , it ’s much the same screen as that of the Samsung Galaxy A34 5 chiliad before it . Indeed , with a posit peak brightness of 1000 nits in high luminance mode ( HBM ) , it seems to be on the nose the same gore .
wrick auto - brightness off , and the top brightness ready remains comfortable on the eyes even when take in indoors . Ideally you ’d require to be crank it down in such a situation .
for certain enough , I measured a top brightness of 384 nits , which really is n’t too great . The Motorola Edge 40 Neo and the Nothing Phone 2a both output brighter picture for less money .
The Galaxy A35 5 G show is reasonably colour - exact though , at least once you switch away from the default Vivid setting to the more natural - looking rude style .
There ’s a right in - presentation fingermark sensor provision here , which I found to be overnice and honest . It ’s sure as shooting better than some other low-priced phones I ’ve used latterly ( Redmi Note 13 , I ’m looking at you ) .
Performance
Samsung has jam the Galaxy A35 5 G with anExynos 1380processor , which is a small-scale but welcome pace up from the Dimensity 1080 of the Galaxy A34 5G.
This is a bit of voguish recycling from Samsung , as it used the Exynos 1380 in last year’sGalaxy A54 5 G – albeit with just 6 GB of RAM rather than 8 GB . It ’s backed by 128 GB of inner storage , and there is a microSD slot should you wish to expand that .
Just like last twelvemonth ’s pricier mid - ranger , the Galaxy A35 5 G runs well enough in universal usage . It ’s not flawless though , with the odd pause or stutter when jumping between apps , or when hopping between the master and ultra - wide cameras .
console table racer Wreckfest remains playable on intermediate configurations and a 30fps cap , so gaming certainly is n’t out of the inquiry , even if it ’s far from a strong performer .
bench mark scores bear this middling performance out , with lowly scores across our usual excerpt of CPU and GPU tests . It competes well with the Nothing Phone ( 2a ) in CPU terms , but drops well unforesightful in GPU term .
Samsung ’s phone persist nice and cool under insistency , and it score closely to perfect patsy in the 3DMark Wildlife Extreme Stress Test . This means that its performance remains at a ordered degree across extended period of intensive use .
Camera
Samsung has switched to a enceinte , sharper main camera with the Galaxy A35 5 G , and it pay up off . The Galaxy A35 5 G contain good shots for a sub-£350 headphone .
Snaps take in strong daytime lighting possess that accustomed Samsung soda pop , with vivacious blue skies , substantial contrast , and self-colored detail . It share with HDR scenarios well , dealing with highlights and shadows alike . Indoors shots , too , manage to maintain their sonorousness even as the detail level drops .
Night shot are n’t dealt with anywhere near as confidently . Even shots with plenty of artificial lighting lack a certain clarity , with a certain softness to them – though to Samsung ’s credit , they do n’t perforate up the brightness to an affected degree . There ’s a certain naturalness to the look of these dark shots that is n’t always present in cheaper phones .
The 8MP ultra - wide camera represents a big drop off in caliber . shot taken with this are flatter and dimmer than the primary sensor , with inferior photograph and detail . They ’re far from unusable , though , and it ’s far from uncommon to experience such a drop off even in more expensive phones .
There ’s no consecrate telephotograph camera here , but that decent independent sensing element and Samsung ’s solid icon processing think of that the cropped - in results seem serious , at least at 2x . Any further and the deficiency of sharpness starts to show .
Instead of a telephoto there ’s a macro camera . It ’s fairly senseless , though at least it stretch to a semi - usable 5MP . Still , the childlike dual - detector attack of the Nothing Phone ( 2a ) and thePixel 7awould have been preferable here .
Video captures at up to 4 K at 30fps or 1080p/60fps , and the footage I captured was reasonably crisp and unbendable , courtesy of OIS .
Around front there ’s a 13MP camera that produces solid selfies with reasonably full-bodied colours and accurate tegument tone , and a subtly defocused background . You have a option between two angles , though the ‘ close ’ one is fundamentally just pasture in a little . Still , it ’s useful for switch between solo selfies and chemical group dead reckoning .
Software
The Samsung Galaxy A35 melt on Android 14 , top by Samsung ’s latest One UI 6.1 .
Opinion varies on Samsung ’s treatment of Android . For many people , it ’s the only reading of Google ’s operating system that they ’ve ever known , and switching to any other producer ’s approach – even Google ’s own – feels jarring .
For others , Samsung ’s approach is annoyingly engaged , with too much app duplication , too many third - party apps , and a whole bunch of unnecessary port tinkering . find the horizontally scroll app tray , or the use of Samsung ’s own payment app rather than Google Wallet .
The need to plant Chrome as the default web web browser app and then to dive into the options to get Google ’s Password Manager working is another power point of annoyance that you do n’t confront on other customs Android UIs . Samsung ’s Bixby assistant , meanwhile , is something you ’ll probably wholly ignore mightily up until you incidentally trigger off it with a long tycoon button press .
Even so , there ’s no denying that Samsung ’s software package is packed full of features , and that it works swimmingly and reliably . Samsung has been make for at this for virtually all of Android ’s lifespan , which has resulted in some dependably whole software program .
Meanwhile , Samsung has committed to four years of bone updates and five years of security update , which is an telling supply at the Mary Leontyne Price . It quiver the Nothing Phone ( 2a ) by a year in both typesetter’s case .
Battery Life
The Samsung Galaxy A35 5 G does n’t require for stamen , with a large 5,000mAh battery easily seeing you through even the most intensive of days .
On a 16 - hour day of lighter usage , which entailed 3 hour and 35 minutes of screen on prison term , I was left with 56 % left , propose genuine two - day potential .
At the other end of the musical scale , after a 15 - hour day of intensive usage with 7 hours and 20 minutes of concealment on time , I still had 9 % leave . That ’s pushing it , of course , but this really was an excessively hard day that included several hours of Slay the Spire .
lecture of which , 30 minutes of light-headed gaming on Slay the Spire sapped 4 % of a charge with the screen light determine to half , while an time of day of Disney+ ate through 6 % . That ’s militant with the Nothing Phone ( 2a ) and its similarly telling mobile phone .
The Galaxy A35 5 G strike behind its challenger when it comes time to charge up , with a mere 25W charging livelihood compare to the Nothing Phone 2a ’s 45W. Even so , it does n’t take too much longer to buck up ab initio , attaining 25 % ( from empty ) in 15 minutes and 52 % in 30 transactions .
You ’ll take to wait around 1 time of day 25 minutes for a full charge , which is a small longer than its rivals . Like the Nothing , and unlike the Redmi Note 13 Pro 5 G , you do n’t get a battery charger in the box either .
There ’s no wireless charge here , but then we would n’t expect such a feature film in a sub-£350 phone .
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Should you buy it?
The Galaxy A35 5 G ’s chief 50MP tv camera can capture good results in decent inflammation .
The Galaxy A35 5 G is a whole phone , but it is n’t peculiarly interesting to look at or take for .
Final Thoughts
The Samsung Galaxy A35 is a safe option at the sub-£350 price head . It ’s a petty meretricious than theGalaxy A34 5Gbefore it , but it makes some welcome improvements to its carrying into action and camera .
It ’s not the most exciting earpiece even within its low-cost category , lacking the stand - out design of theNothing Phone ( 2a)or theMotorola Edge 40 Neo . However , there ’s something reassuringly solid about its look and finger , specially as it resemble some of its more expensive brothers so closely .
Performance is good enough , particularly when it comes to the CPU . Though this is no play powerhouse , meanwhile , the Galaxy A35 5 G can extend long with such intensive project and not break a sweat . barrage life , too , is very good .
Meanwhile , Samsung ’s switch to a new 50MP main tv camera has resulted in some truly adequate shot being made potential , in decent light at least .
It might not be the most interesting phone in its family , or even the best , but the Samsung Galaxy A35 5 G is certainly one of the most reassuringly competent . When you have n’t come much money to part with on a phone , that counts for a fate .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every fluid headphone we review soundly . We use diligence - standard trial run to equate features right and we utilise the telephone set as our main equipment over the review period . We ’ll always tell you what we find and we never , ever , accept money to refresh a product .
Find out more about how we try in ourethics insurance .
FAQs
No , you ’ll have to source your own 25W courser individually .
Yes , with an IP67 evaluation .
Test Data
Full Specs
