Samsung’s latest A Series device is an affordable phone with some premium features. The $399.99 Galaxy A35 5G gets a processor bump, a nicer screen, and a sleeker look over the Galaxy A25 5G. We had some time to play around with it ahead of the launch; here are our early thoughts. Samsung Galaxy A35 5G: A Refined LookThe Galaxy A35 lands between the Galaxy A25 ($299.99) and the Galaxy A54 ($449.99) in terms of price and features. It measures 6.37 by 3.07 by 0.32 inches (HWD) and weighs 7.37 ounces. It’s a little bigger and heavier than the A25 (6.34 by 3.01 by 0.33 inches, 7.05 ounces), but it’s hard to notice the difference when holding the phones together.
Galaxy A35 (Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
The A35 feels sturdy in the hand. It embraces Samsung’s familiar rounded rectangle shape with mostly flat side edges and a trio of lenses on the rear. Both the front and back panels are made with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ for a premium look and structural strength. The frame is made of plastic. The right edge houses the volume rocker and power button in a raised area Samsung calls the Key Island. Each provides clicky and responsive feedback. The bottom includes a speaker grille and a USB-C port, while the top edge contains the combined SIM/microSD card tray. The Galaxy A35 supports one physical SIM card and one eSIM. IP ratings on $400 phones are hit or miss, so I’m happy to report that the Galaxy A35 is IP67 rated, which is the same as the Google Pixel 7a ($499). This means it is dustproof and can withstand being dunked in shallow water for a short time. The A25 doesn’t have an IP rating but the $349 Nothing Phone (2a) rates IP64.
Galaxy A35 and Galaxy A25 (Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
The Galaxy A35’s fingerprint sensor is built under the screen rather than into the power button, though I couldn’t test it during my quick time with the phone. The front-facing camera pokes through a hole near the top of the display, which is a nicer look than the camera notch on the A25.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
Samsung is selling the Galaxy A35 in Awesome Lilac and Awesome Navy. The Awesome Navy is a deep blue that’s highly reflective when combined with the rear glass. Dust and fingerprints are quite visible, which spoils the look a bit. Awesome Lilac is more appealing. This light shade takes on an iridescent appearance and is beautiful to look at while the finish masks dust and fingerprints. The matte plastic frames do their best to complement the shades of Lilac and Navy.A Smooth DisplayYou might call the A35’s display medium-sized for a modern smartphone. It has a 6.6-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display with an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz. For comparison, the cheaper A25 also has a 120Hz refresh rate while the pricier Pixel 7a has a 90Hz refresh rate. Faster refresh rates mean smoother scrolling. A uniform black bezel surrounds the screen without the thick chin of the A25. Animations looked great and the colors were vibrant while I used it indoors. What’s InsideSamsung’s own Exynos 1380 system on a chip (SoC) powers the Galaxy A35. It has 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, expandable by an extra 1TB via microSD. Premium phones rarely support external expansion and I am glad to see the feature on a $400 phone.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
Samsung preloaded the demo units with only a handful of apps, so it is hard to tell how well the A35 will perform in the real world. However, the processor, memory, and base storage of the A35 are identical to the Galaxy A54. In our tests of the A54, the Pixel 7a and its Tensor G2 chip easily outperformed Samsung’s phone on benchmarks. I look forward to putting the A35 through its paces once I receive one for review. The A35 supports sub-6GHz 5G including C-Band, but not the faster mmWave variety. Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 are on board, as is NFC for tap-to-pay transactions. Samsung gave the phone a 5,000mAh battery that supports up to 25W wired charging. The phone doesn’t support wireless charging or reverse wireless charging. While there’s no charger in the box, Samsung does include a USB-C-to-USB-C cable and a SIM tool.Familiar CamerasThree individual cameras pop out of the rear panel. The main camera has a 50MP sensor at f/1.8 with optical image stabilization (OIS), the wide-angle camera has an 8MP sensor at f/2.2, and the macro camera has a 5MP sensor at f/2.4. There’s no telephoto camera. The front-facing selfie camera rates 13MP.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
The main and ultra-wide cameras are the same as those of the Galaxy A25. In our experience, the A25’s camera produces natural-looking colors and preserves details.
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For video capture, the A35 tops out at a resolution of 4K at 30fps for both the front and rear cameras. I’ll have to see how the A35’s camera compares in testing.Android With a Samsung TouchThe A35 ships with Android 14 and Samsung’s One UI 6.1 running atop it. One UI makes it easier for Galaxy devices to talk to each other and offers multitasking features like placing apps in a pop-over view. Samsung’s security suite Knox, which protects from hardware and software attacks, is also on board. This is the first time Knox is on a “Galaxy A” phone. What’s not on board? Galaxy AI. Samsung went big on artificial intelligence with the Galaxy S24 series, but it’s nowhere to be found on the A35. If you need an AI-assisted phone, your best starting point is the Pixel 7a.Samsung will support the A35 with four years of OS updates and five years of security updates. This level of commitment is commendable. Google offers just three years of Android OS updates and five years of security updates for its own Pixel 7a. Both Samsung and Google offer seven-year update commitments for their flagship phones, the S24 and the Pixel 8 series, respectively. On Sale TodayIf you’re interested in the Samsung Galaxy A35 5G, you won’t have to wait to get one. The Galaxy A35 is available now at Samsung.com and Samsung’s carrier and retail partners. We plan to review the Galaxy A35 in the weeks ahead, so check back soon for our full report.
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