Samsung Galaxy A35
This is the Galaxy A35 5G, and Samsung has finally done it. They got rid of the U-shaped notch for the most part. We get the typical Samsung look, except now they’ve added silver rings on the inside of each camera lens.
I got mine in ice blue. Awesome ice blue. It’s a very light shade of blue, very close to off-. And although it’s not as fancy as the Lilac one, I dig it.
Samsung Galaxy A35 Phone Information
 | 🔲 8GB 🔳 Exynos 1380 📱 6.6 1080×2340 📸 50MP 2160p 🔋 5000mAh ⚡25W |
| Price in Nigeria | ₦497,500 |
| 👁️REVIEW | 📳SPECS |
Samsung Galaxy A35 Price in Nigeria
The A35 5G costs about ₦497,500, which kind of sits in the middle of the budget and mid-range, maybe closer to mid-range. So, performance isn’t expected to be insanely good. It’s just supposed to be good, and that’s exactly what you get.
| Samsung Galaxy A35 | Price in Nigeria |
|---|---|
| Samsung Galaxy A35 8GB RAM + 128GB | ₦497,500 |
| Samsung Galaxy A35 8GB RAM + 256GB | ₦538,559 |
If I had to complain though, I would complain about storage. The A35 should have started with 256GB, not 128GB. Some phones cost way less than this and start with 256GB. I think Samsung can probably do better.
Samsung Galaxy A35 Full Specifications
| Name | Samsung Galaxy A35 |
| Launch Date | March 11th, 2024 |
| DISPLAY | |
| Type of Screen | AMOLED |
| Size Of Screen | 6.6 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 |
| DESIGN | |
| Weight | 209g |
| Dimensions | 161.7 x 78 x 8.2 |
| Build Material | Gorilla Glass Victus+ front, Gorilla Glass back, aluminum frame. |
| PLATFORM | |
| Software | Android 14, One UI 6.1 |
| Processor | Exynos 1380 |
| GPU | Mali-G68 |
| CAMERA | |
| Main | 50MP |
| Ultrawide | 8MP |
| Macro | 5MP |
| Selfie | 13MP |
| Video recording | 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60fps |
| MEMORY | |
| RAM | 8GB |
| Internal storage | 128GB, 256GB |
| BATTERY | |
| Capacity | 5000 mAh |
| Type | Li-Ion |
| OTHERS | |
| Colours | Navy, Iceblue, Lilac, |
| SIM | |
| FM Radio | No |
| 3.5mm jack | No |
Design & Build
The A34 had a plastic back, but on the A35, we got a glass. Frankly, I’m not quite sure how to feel about that because yes, glass feels more premium and premium is good, but glass is glass and glass breaks, so now it’s more fragile. Another subtle change is the flat sides.
It’s so flat the phone can stand on its own. Not like that matters, but hey, it can. The sides are made of plastic. They’re also matte, so they hide fingerprints. But you notice that around the power and volume buttons, there’s a slight bump. Samsung is calling it Key Island. It’s on every A series device.
There are three mics on here, two at the bottom and one up top. The mics are fine. When you look around the phone, you notice there’s just one speaker grill at the bottom, but when you start playing any audio, sound also comes out from the earpiece slot, so technically it has two speakers.
Up top, you’d find a tray that houses your SIM cards and SD card. It’s a hybrid SIM tray, so you can only have two nano SIM cards or have one SIM card and one SD card. You kind of have to choose. And then lastly, just like the A34, it has an IP67 rating for water and dust resistance.
Display Type, Size & Resolution
So, we do get a few changes with design and build quality. If I’m correct, and I think I am, there are two small differences when you compare the A34 display with the A35. Just like the A34, the A35 has a 6.6-inch 120 Hz 1080p Super AMOLED display. It also has 1,000 nits of peak brightness. So, what are the two small differences? Well, first is the protection for the screen.
It went from Gorilla Glass 6 under the A34 to Gorilla Glass Victus Plus under 35. The second is the notch. Samsung finally ditched the U-shaped notch for a hole-punch cutout. Finally.
But how’s the display? As you probably expected, it’s great. It’s large enough for watching content. It’s sharp, has great color, it’s vibrant. It’s a good display. It’s also very fluid, like very fluid, obviously thanks to the higher refresh rate.
The only downside to this display could be the bezels. I wouldn’t say it’s a deal breaker, but when you look at phones that cost almost half the price of the A35 and you see that they have slimmer bezels, it kind of makes this one look bad. But even with that said, I would still give this display a solid 8.5. I mean, no more ugly notch.
Software, UI
This comes out of the box with Android 14 and One UI 6.1. On the surface, not a lot has changed, but there are some cool new features. First and foremost, we can now edit the lock screen.
You can change fonts, change the color of the fonts, change the clock style, add widgets to the lock screen, and even edit the shortcuts down at the bottom. Also, with some wallpapers, you get extra customization options like a frame, which puts the image well in a frame.
There were a couple of different options. You can go crazy with that. There are also effects, which is very similar to what Apple did. You get a couple of stylistic effects to choose from. Again, you can go crazy with that. There’s also now a new app called Find.
You can use the app to share your location with people and also see the location of your Samsung devices. Is… I was hoping this would come with that feature that lets you create your wallpapers with AI, but it doesn’t. I guess it’s reserved for the more expensive Galaxy phones.
Overall, the software is very fine. It’s been mostly a smooth experience. I did experience occasional lags and glitches here and there. I even took a screenshot of one. But yeah, nothing too bad. Samsung still promises 4 years of OS updates and 5 years of security patches. I believe it’s the most you’d see at this price point, which is great.
Processor, RAM, Storage
Okay, so Exynos is back. The A34 used the Dimensity 1080 chipset, but now they’ve switched back to Exynos with the 1380. On paper, the Exynos 1380 is better, but not drastically better. My unit has 6 gigs of RAM and 128GB of storage, but it does go up to 8 gigs and 256GB of storage.
Gameplay
My experience so far has been pretty good, minus these slight hiccups I talked about earlier. The phone is very responsive, apps open quite quickly, multitasking is a pleasure, and even gaming is quite good. I’m not a big mobile gamer, but when I did play Asphalt and FC Mobile, it did okay.
After about an hour of gaming though, it did get pretty warm, but nothing too concerning. It also did get warm when I was setting up the phone for the first time, and after watching Netflix for about an hour, but I would say for the most part, the phone stayed cool.
Camera & Video Recording
There we get a new camera. The main camera is now 50 megapixels. Everything else though is the same with the A34, even the selfie camera. It’s still 13 megapixels.
The main camera by default takes 12-megapixel photos, but if you want an even crispier image, you would have to switch to the 50-megapixel mode. I took all photos in the 12-megapixel mode though because I believe that’s the mode most people would be shooting in, and the results were as expected, pretty good.
I took a bunch of photos in different settings, and I think the phone handled most if not all very well. The more light you give the camera, the better it would perform, but even when I took pictures with not-so-great lighting, I think it still held up pretty well.
mjThe selfies though didn’t do so well. Half the time it has this brownish tint to it, which makes the photo look like you applied a filter on it. Hopefully, it can be fixed.
For video, it shoots up to 4k on both the rear and front-facing camera, and yeah, footage from both cameras are pretty good. Color and HDR are spot on, and it’s also stabilized. I found that 4K looks much, much better than 1080p. So, you definitely want to always shoot in 4K minus the inconsistent selfie camera. The cameras are actually good. When compared to the A34, there hasn’t been a single change.-0+ *]0`2e
Battery life & Charging
The battery is the same size, 5,000 mAh, and charging is the same speed, 25 W. So, battery life has been solid so far. I mean, I watched Netflix for an hour, and it took just 9% of the battery, so you can expect more than 10 hours of screen on time when streaming content.
Gaming would obviously drain the battery faster, but I think for almost everyone, this phone would last a whole day and then some. And then for its charging speed, 25 W is fine. Wish it was faster, but it’s fine.
It takes a little over an hour and a half to fully charge this phone, which for most people is okay, but my real problem is that they sell the 25 W charger separately. I mean, I know they’re probably never bringing it back, but it still sucks that they do.
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Conclusion
If you’re set on getting a Samsung phone, then yes, this is a pretty good phone to go with. It nails all the fundamentals. It doesn’t really have any mind-blowing features, but it’s good in every category.
What about if you’re using the A34? Should you upgrade? No, I don’t really see why you would. And then what if you’re open to using a different brand? I actually think the Redmi Note 13 Pro might be a better or at least more interesting phone.
I actually really enjoyed using this phone. It really didn’t disappoint me, and I think if you do decide to go with the A35, you also would not be disappointed. And on the plus side, you would get 4 years of software updates, which no other phone at this price can give you. Wait, maybe that’s its special feature.
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