So, you end up on the lookout for a Samsung midranger. At round €480, the Galaxy A55 is admittedly fairly pricy and also you discover that the Galaxy A35 will get you lots of the best way there at a extra cheap beginning value of €380.
However do some digging, and you’ll discover that final yr’s Galaxy A54 can be price contemplating on this value vary. It has depreciated fairly properly (from shopper’s viewpoint) and may be discovered promoting for lower than the A35 on common.
In order that’s an attention-grabbing conundrum proper there. There are definitely positives and negatives to going both means, and we’ll do our greatest to cowl them on this comparability.
Desk of Contents:
For starters, you may examine the entire specs sheets or straight proceed with our editor’s evaluation within the following textual content.
Measurement comparability
Regardless of Samsung’s barely complicated numbering scheme, the Galaxy A35 is the larger system of the 2. It has a bigger 6.6-inch show, in comparison with 6.4 inches on the A54, and that type of distinction is definitely noticeable.
The brand new A35 just isn’t that dissimilar to its Galaxy A34 when it comes to dimensions, however it has grow to be notably heavier, tipping the size at 209 grams this yr. That additionally makes the A35 heavier than the A54, which weighs in at 202 grams. After all, this isn’t an considerable distinction in observe, however it’s nonetheless price mentioning because it signifies the up to date invoice of supplies.
Certainly, the Galaxy A35 has gotten a extra premium construct this yr. The again is now manufactured from glass as a substitute of plastic. The entrance glass has been upgraded to Gorilla Glass Victus+. Whereas removed from probably the most premium hardened glass Corning has to supply, it’s undoubtedly an improve over the Gorilla Glass 5 that each the Galaxy A54 and A34 are rocking. Relating to sturdiness, we must always point out that each the A35 and the A54 supply the identical IP67 ingress safety score, so there isn’t any distinction there.
We must always speak concerning the design briefly. The Galaxy A34 and A54 are rocking final yr’s design, which is noticeably rounder, particularly in the case of the uniform center body.
In distinction, the Galaxy A35 has a brand new and up to date look, together with flatter sides and an elevated portion of the center body the place the buttons reside.
Left: Galaxy A35 • Proper: Galaxy A54
Additionally, as a part of the brand new look, the Galaxy A35 not has its predecessor’s teardrop notch stile digicam. It has been swapped for a punch-hole model unit, which arguably makes for a extra premium look, in step with the higher-end Galaxy 5X household. That implies that visually, from the entrance, there is not a lot of a distinction between the A35 and A54. The show bezels are barely thinner on the A35, however not by lots.
By way of shade choices, the selection is certainly going to rely upon private choice. The A54 arguably has some extra “conventional” shade choices in there. It’s obtainable in Lime, Graphite, Violet and White. The A35 may be present in Iceblue, Lilac, Navy, and Lemon.
As we mentioned, the A35 and A54 are very comparable when it comes to controls and structure. Each have stereo speaker setups and optical under-display fingerprint readers. NFC is obtainable on each fashions in most markets. Each even have expandable storage by way of a microSD slot, shared with the second nano-SIM slot. Neither mannequin has a 3.5mm audio jack or an onboard FM radio receiver. Additionally it is price noting that regardless of their completely different relative market positioning, each, sadly, are geared up with proximity sensors of the digital sort.
Show comparability
Not a lot has modified concerning the show on the Galaxy A35 coming from the A34. In truth, it would even be the identical 6.6-inch, 120Hz Tremendous AMOLED panel. The Galaxy A54 has a barely smaller 6.4-inch show however with the identical 1080 x 2340-pixel decision. The refresh price is similar at 120Hz, and it is dealt with in the identical trend.
In our testing, we measured comparable brightness ranges on the Galaxy A54 and the A35. Neither is industry-leading, however each are adequate to be usable outdoor.
The one noteworthy distinction is that the Galaxy A54 is formally licensed for HDR10+, whereas the A35 lacks any formal HDR certification. Some apps, notably YouTube, will nonetheless supply HDR streams to the A35 and can max out its brightness throughout playback. Nonetheless, there isn’t any official HDR help and apps like Netflix do not supply HDR streams.
Battery life
Each telephones have massive 5,000 mAh batteries on board and use the identical Exynos 1380 chipset. There’s a slight distinction in show dimension between the 2, however general battery life is predicted to be very comparable.
That being mentioned, Samsung has clearly managed to optimize issues a bit from the A54 to the A35 because the latter has notably higher battery life. Thoughts you that our testing for the Galaxy A54 was finished on Android 13 and One UI 5.1, whereas the Galaxy A35 was examined on Android 14 and One UI 6.1. Hopefully, at the least a few of the battery enhancements are in software program and also will be delivered to the Galaxy A54.
Charging pace
Each the Galaxy A35 and A54 technically help Samsung’s 25W PPS + PD-based charging. Since each have the identical battery capability, one would anticipate that they’d cost on the identical price. Nonetheless, our testing found that the Galaxy A54 costs fairly a bit extra shortly than the Galaxy A35.
You possibly can anticipate a full cost in simply over an hour on the A54, whereas the A35 takes nearer to an hour and a half. And also you usually get increased cost percentages at any checkpoint alongside the A54’s charging curve. It isn’t a groundbreaking distinction, however it’s nonetheless price mentioning.
Speaker take a look at
The Galaxy A35 and A54 have an analogous hybrid stereo speaker setup with one devoted bottom-firing speaker and the amplified earpiece appearing just like the second channel.
Each telephones carry out very equally in our standardized loudspeaker testing. Each handle a GOOD loudness score with nice general high quality – good vocals, clear highs and even some bass. After all, there’s a very slight distinction in tuning between the 2 gadgets, however hardly price mentioning.
Efficiency
This yr, the Exynos 1380 has primarily trickled down and is now powering the Galaxy A35 as properly, so each are primarily based on the identical silicon. It’s a fashionable 5nm chip with an octa-core CPU setup consisting of 4 Cortex-A78 cores, closed at as much as 2.4 GHz and one other 4 Cortex-A55 cores, working at as much as 2.0 GHz. The onboard GPU is a Mali-G68 MP5 unit.
As for storage and reminiscence, each fashions have a base config with 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM and go as much as 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Storage is expandable by way of microSD on each too. The Galaxy A54 does appear to have extra storage and RAM choices obtainable.
Since each the A35 and the A54 use the identical chipset, you may anticipate the identical efficiency throughout the 2 successfully. Whereas that is undoubtedly true, and you will not discover any distinction in observe, benchmarks, it’s clear that Samsung in some way managed to squeeze a bit extra CPU efficiency from the chip within the newer Galaxy A35.
Once more, we will not say whether or not this small efficiency improve is solely because of software program and, therefore, will also be anticipated on the A54. It isn’t one thing to fixate on, although.
It’s price mentioning that Samsung appears to have addressed a thermal-throttling problem that was initially current after we reviewed the Galaxy A54. The Exynos 1380 appears to behave lots higher and extra persistently whereas doing stress testing contained in the A35. The distinction in thermal-throttling conduct between the 2 telephones is fairly important, and we imagine that it’s because of some {hardware} tuning, not simply software program alone.
Whereas this would possibly not essentially be one thing that almost all customers will discover in real-world use, it’s price noting that the Exynos 1380 is rather more secure and has higher sustained efficiency contained in the Galaxy A35.
Digital camera comparability
The Galaxy A35 and A54 have comparable digicam setups at first look. Each telephones have a 50MP primary digicam. Nonetheless, they use completely different sensors. The Galaxy A54 has a much bigger 1/1.56″, 1.0µm sensor (possible Samsung’s GN5 or Sony’s IMX766).
The A35, alternatively, has a smaller 1/1.96″ sensor for its primary cam. So far as we managed to establish, it’s a Samsung ISOCELL (S5K)GN8, which seems to be unique to this telephone mannequin.
Each telephones have Optical Picture Stabilization methods on their primary cameras.
The A54 additionally has a higher-resolution 12MP ultrawide digicam at its disposal, in comparison with the 8MP unit on the A35. Neither has autofocus, sadly. The third digicam on the again of each fashions is a 5MP macro shooter with mounted focus.
On the entrance, the A54, as soon as once more, has a a lot increased decision digicam (32MP) with a much bigger sensor (1/2.8″). The A35 settles for a 13MP, 1/3.06″ unit. Neither has autofocus, however surprisingly, each can seize 4K selfie video.
Picture high quality
Each telephones seize 12.5MP images with their primary cameras by default because of pixel-binning. It is extremely exhausting to select a definitive favourite from the pair since each supply comparable general high quality. If we actually had to decide on, maybe we’d give a slight edge to the A35 for its barely extra laid-back processing with much less sharpening utilized. Once more, nevertheless, the distinction is fairly minor.
Samsung Galaxy A35: 12.5MP primary digicam samples
Samsung Galaxy A54: 12.5MP primary digicam samples
Regardless of the distinction in decision between the ultrawide cameras of the 2 telephones, we will not say that the Galaxy A54 has any noticeable lead when it comes to element. In truth, high quality element appears to be a bit cleaner and sharper on common on the A35. The distinction is, once more, not notably huge.
Samsung Galaxy A35: 8MP ultrawide digicam samples
Samsung Galaxy A54: 12MP ultrawide digicam samples
In one other type of mismatch between decision and high quality, now we have to say that, on common, we just like the 13MP selfie photographs of the Galaxy A35 a bit higher than the 12MP selfies that come out of the 32MP digicam of the A54. The Galaxy A35 captures a bit cleaner and extra outlined facial options with higher pores and skin tones on common.
Samsung Galaxy A35: 13MP selfie digicam samples
Samsung Galaxy A54: 12MP selfie digicam samples
Low-light images, each at 1x and 2x zoom, look very comparable between the A35 and A54. These are usually fairly clear, have low noise, and have loads of element. Dynamic vary is surprisingly broad, with well-developed shadows and highlights.
The ultrawide on the A54 appears to have a slight edge intimately over the lower-resolution one within the A35. The distinction is not large, however it’s price mentioning.
Video high quality
Each the Galaxy A35 and A54 can seize video at as much as 4K decision on their man cameras. That is finished in a regular AVC/h.264 video stream at round 48 Mbps and a regular stereo AAC stream inside an MP4 container. Alternatively, you may select to make use of HEVC/h.265 to avoid wasting area.
4K footage from the primary cameras of each telephones is comparable when it comes to general high quality. There may be loads of element, though we’d say that the A54 has a slight edge. Dynamic vary and distinction are strong throughout the board. Colours are a bit on the saturated facet, particularly on the Galaxy A35, however nothing too overboard.
Samsung Galaxy A35 video: 0.6x • 1x • 2x
Samsung Galaxy A54 video: 0.6x • 1x • 2x
The Galaxy A54 has a transparent edge over the A35 in the case of 2x and ultrawide movies since it may possibly do 4K video seize throughout the board, whereas the A35 is proscribed to 1080p on its ultrawide and, for some bizarre cause, at 2x zoom as properly. The distinction intimately and general high quality could be very noticeable and in favor of the A54.
As for low-light video high quality on the primary cameras at 4K, the 2 telephones commerce blows. The A54 appears to be a bit cleaner general, with extra high quality element within the body. The A35 is not far behind, although, and we like the way it handles mild sources higher.
Samsung Galaxy A35 low-light video: 0.6x • 1x
Samsung Galaxy A54 low-light video: 0.6x • 1x
The ultrawide low-light video is a transparent win for the Galaxy A54. The 1080p footage from the A35 could be very darkish and smooth.
Verdict
Each the Galaxy A35 and the A54 are glorious, well-rounded mid-range gadgets. Additionally, because it seems, they’re extremely comparable.
Regardless of technically belonging to the “higher-tier”, the A54 would not supply any main options that you just will not discover on the A35. The 4K video seize on the ultrawide is sweet, however it’s hardly essential. The identical goes for the HDR video certification, particularly provided that the shows on each telephones have very comparable efficiency and most brightness. And at last, the A54 costs notably quicker than the A35, however once more, we do not actually see that as sufficient of an incentive to purchase it over the A35.
Each the A35 and A54 supply 4 years of OS updates and 5 years of safety patches, however the A54 is already a yr into that schedule. The Galaxy A34’s implementation of the Exynos 1380 is working cooler with none efficiency penalty. It additionally has a bigger display with Gorilla Glass Victus+ whereas remaining virtually the identical dimension and weight. And at last, it is also scored higher battery runtimes within the net shopping/social media and gaming eventualities.
Total, when selecting between the Galaxy A35 and the Galaxy A54, we’d personally go for the A35 if the 2 had been priced equally. In sensible phrases, neither will disappoint, and so they supply remarkably comparable experiences. So, ultimately, the ultimate choice might very properly come all the way down to which one of many two may be discovered as the higher deal.
- Samsung’s newest design language.
- The extra premium construct with Gorilla Glass Victus+ as a substitute of Gorilla Glass 5.
- The bigger 6.6-inch show.
- The marginally higher battery endurance.
- The higher-sustained efficiency and fewer thermal-throttling.
- The longer software program help.
Get the Samsung Galaxy A35 for:
- The HDR10+ video certification.
- The quicker charging price.
- 4K video seize on the ultrawide digicam.
Get the Samsung Galaxy A54 for:
