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I’m surprised how much I enjoy using it Samsung Galaxy A35 5G. The 2024 midrange phone in Samsung’s lineup isn’t necessarily anything special — it looks like any other Galaxy phone from recent years, and doesn’t have any flashy features. Still, the mission of mid-range phones isn’t to make waves; It aims to provide a balance between performance, quality and price. This phone achieves that balance well.
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Some will argue that this isn’t the best $400 phone on the market, but it’s definitely one of them, and the screen is the main reason why.
The Galaxy A35 5G features a Samsung signature Super AMOLED display that measures 6.6 inches tall. The display has a Full HD+ resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate for smooth motion, and 1,000 nits of brightness, making it easy to view in direct sunlight. Plus, it’s protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+, which is a nice perk.
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One of the best features of the Galaxy A35 is the battery size. Clocking in at 5,000mAh, this thing can easily last for two days on a full charge. During my testing, I plugged the phone in only three times, and that was with moderate usage. Unfortunately, there are no wireless charging capabilities, and charging speeds are capped at 25W, so it may take a while to reach 100%. Still, it’s nice to have a battery that lasts several days on any smartphone, let alone one that costs $400.
Another thing I wasn’t expecting to say after spending some time with the A35 is that the cameras aren’t that bad. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that at least two of them are good, which is almost impossible to say for most Android phones priced under $500.
The main 50MP camera is fully capable of taking some good photos. Colors aren’t overdone like older Samsung phones, while contrast and exposure are generally on point. The A35 is, for better or worse, fine at maintaining shadows, while photo quality generally suffers as the lighting dims. This isn’t terrible by any means, but it’s hard to avoid extra particles and noise until it happens. Ton of outdoor or natural light in the frame.
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I’ll also give credit to the 13MP selfie camera, which is perfect for Snapchat or Instagram Stories. Unfortunately, the other cameras on the back of the device are disappointing. The 8MP may be ultra-wide due to its 123-degree field of view, but it’s grainy and low-quality in almost every lighting condition. Meanwhile, the 5MP macro camera is bogged down, and impossible to capture anything usable – unless you’re in broad daylight.
You can’t buy the Galaxy A35 5G expecting movie-quality video, but at least you can shoot in 4K, albeit at 30 frames per second. Additionally, I like Samsung’s camera app, which is well-optimized and easy to navigate.
Some other notable features include a fast, reliable in-display fingerprint scanner, IP67 water- and dust-resistance, Gorilla Glass Victus+ on the back, and a microSD card slot to expand your storage whenever you want. However, the A35 falters in performance. The phone isn’t slow, but it’s not always fast either. It is equipped with an Exynos 1380 octa-core processor which is fast enough for everyday use, but during my testing, the phone would sometimes become so slow that it would take several seconds to open an app or switch to multitasking.
The device sometimes gets unnecessarily hot during regular use. For example, one time I was scrolling through an article with Spotify running in the background, and the A35 got so hot that I had to put it down.
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This is a known problem with Samsung’s Exynos chips, which have historically lagged behind Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors in performance and efficiency. Luckily, you can rig the A35 with 6GB, 8GB, or 12GB of RAM, so you won’t run out of memory during use — just don’t push the phone too hard.
ZDNET’s shopping advice
It’s hard to find a midrange device that balances the smartphone experience well, but Samsung Galaxy A35 5G works great. Although the display and camera quality lag in some areas, the rest of the phone is good for the price (especially that gorgeous screen).
There are other solid options like pixel 8a or excellent oneplus 13r, Which provides a similar experience. However, they are significantly more expensive. As mentioned earlier, the Galaxy A35 is on sale for less than $200. In comparison, the OnePlus 13R costs three times that amount.
