Samsung’s Galaxy line is part of an ever-expanding universe, from the $199.99 Galaxy A15 5G to the $1,299.99 Galaxy S24 Ultra. At $399.99, the Galaxy A35 5G falls somewhere in between. We like its vibrant display, dependable cameras, long-term software support, and expandable storage, while its elegant glass panels and waterproof build set it apart from other phones in this price range. That said, the lack of mmWave 5G and a relatively low amount of RAM hold it slightly back. It’s still a strong buy for the price, though if you’re willing to spend $100 more, the Google Pixel 7a is our Editors’ Choice winner for midrange Android phones thanks to its superior cameras, better 5G support, and longer battery life.Design: Sleek and FamiliarWith flat sides and rounded corners, the Galaxy A35 strongly resembles other Galaxy phones. It measures 6.37 by 3.07 by 0.32 inches (HWD) and weighs 7.37 ounces, making it bigger and heavier than the $299.99 Galaxy A25 (6.34 by 3.01 by 0.33 inches, 7.05 ounces) and Pixel 7a (5.98 by 2.87 by 0.35 inches, 6.8 ounces).
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Slightly inset Gorilla Glass Victus+ panels cover the front and back, while the phone’s plastic frame is devoid of antenna lines. The volume rocker and power button are part of a raised area on the right side that Samsung calls the Key Island. The buttons feel sturdy and have a satisfying click. A down-firing speaker and a USB-C 2.0 port are on the bottom, while a combined microSD/SIM card tray is on the top. Unlike the Galaxy A25, the phone doesn’t have a headphone jack.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
The Galaxy A35 sports an IP67 rating, which means it’s fully dustproof and can withstand being submerged in water for up to 30 minutes. The Pixel 7a matches this rating, while the Galaxy A25 lacks one entirely.
On the rear, a trio of camera lenses protrude from the upper left. The front-facing camera sits within a cutout at the top of the screen; it makes for a more premium look than the U-shaped notch on the Galaxy A25. An under-display fingerprint sensor is available for biometric security. A less-secure face scanner is also available via the front-facing camera.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
The Galaxy A35 is available in two colors, Awesome Lilac and Awesome Navy. The dark blue glass on the back of my Navy review unit is a fingerprint and dust magnet (as you can see in the image above). The Awesome Lilac version has an iridescent appearance, which should hide dust and fingerprints better. In a nice touch, the device’s matte plastic frame closely matches the color of the rear panel.Display: Big and BrightThe Galaxy A35’s 6.6-inch screen is larger than that of the Galaxy A25 (6.5 inches) and the Pixel 7a (6.1 inches). The Super AMOLED panel has a resolution of 2,340 by 1,080 pixels, a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, and a peak brightness of 1,000 nits. Animations look smooth and the display is easy to see indoors. Glare from direct sunlight can be an issue outdoors, but many lower-cost phones struggle under the sun.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
For comparison, the Galaxy A25’s screen has the same resolution, refresh rate, and brightness. The smaller Pixel 7a has a slightly higher resolution of 2,400 by 1,080 pixels, the same 1,000-nit peak brightness, and a lower refresh rate of 90Hz. Performance: In Line With the PriceA Samsung Exynos 1380 system on a chip (SoC) powers the Galaxy A35 and is paired with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage (the microSD slot works with cards up to 1TB). At this price, I would have liked more RAM. Both the Moto G Power ($299.99) and the OnePlus Nord N30 ($299.99) have 8GB of RAM, as does the Pixel 7a.Regular tasks like browsing Amazon and Reddit or using Gmail and Google Calendar were smooth in testing. Switching between apps didn’t pose issues either. I never felt the need to close apps to improve performance.
(Credit: Geekbench/PCMark/GFXBench)
On Geekbench 6, a suite of tools that measures raw computing power, the Galaxy A35 reached a score of 1,010 on the single-core test and 2,790 on the multi-core test. For comparison, the $349 Nothing Phone (2a) running on a MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro SoC scored 1,127 and 2,571 on the single-core and multi-core tests. The Pixel 7a, with its Google-made Tensor G2 chip, outperformed both with results of 1,343 and 2,853. The Galaxy A25, which uses an Exynos 1280 processor, fell behind the rest with marks of 964 and 2,058.On the PCMark Work 3.0 test, which simulates general mobile tasks, the Galaxy A35 scored 11,785. The Nothing Phone (2a) did slightly better (12,854), but the Pixel 7a fared worse (11,123). Surprisingly, the budget A25 outperformed the A35 and the Pixel 7a with a score of 12,718. To evaluate gaming and GPU performance, I ran the GFXBench Aztec Ruins benchmark at a resolution of 2,251 by 1,041 pixels. Here, the Galaxy A35 managed 19 frames per second (fps). The Nothing Phone (2a) managed 30fps at a resolution of 2,286 by 1,021 pixels, while the Google Pixel 7a averaged 26fps at 2,560 by 1,440 pixels.The Galaxy A35 performed admirably when I ran the resource-intensive Genshin Impact at the lowest settings. When bumped to 60fps with medium or high graphics settings, however, I noticed slowdowns when I panned the camera or fought multiple characters. The back of the phone felt warm after a 20-minute gaming session but never uncomfortable. Less-intensive games like Alto’s Odyssey performed flawlessly without heating up the device. Battery Life: About AverageThe Galaxy A35 has a 5,000mAh battery that supports wired charging at up to 25W. Like the Galaxy A25, it doesn’t offer wireless charging or reverse wireless charging. The Pixel 7a has a smaller 4,385mAh cell that charges at up to 18W over a wired connection and supports wireless charging. To test the phone’s battery life, I streamed a 1080p HD video at maximum brightness. The Galaxy A35 lasted 10 hours and 35 minutes in this scenario. The A25 did better on the same test (13 hours and 10 minutes), while the Pixel 7a held out even longer (13 hours and 25 minutes). The shorter battery life could be attributed to the A35’s larger screen and potentially less-efficient processor.It took about 1 hour and 34 minutes to fully charge the Galaxy A35 from 0% to 100% with a 25W charger. A 15-minute charge took the battery to 30%, while a 30-minute charge brought it to 51%. You don’t get a charger in the box, so you must provide your own.Connectivity: Fast 5G, But Not the FastestThe Galaxy A35 supports sub-6GHz 5G (including C-band) on AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, but not the faster mmWave variety available from some networks. It works with one physical SIM and one eSIM. Otherwise, the phone has Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, and NFC for mobile payments. For comparison, the Pixel 7a connects to sub-6GHz, C-band, and mmWave 5G, and it works with Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, and NFC.On Verizon’s 5G UW network in New York City, the Galaxy A35 reached a peak download speed of 455Mbps and a maximum upload speed of 97.9Mbps. On the same network and at the same location, the $599.99 Samsung Galaxy S23 FE hit a download speed more than three times as fast at 1,462Mbps (or 1.46Gbps), but a slower upload speed of 36.7Mbps. The Galaxy S23 FE supports mmWave, which explains the enormous difference in download speeds.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
When I connected the Galaxy A35 to a Wi-Fi 6 access point, it reached speeds of 425Mbps down and 17.4Mbps up. Over the same connection, the Galaxy S23 FE had a slightly higher download speed of 479Mbps and a slightly lower upload speed of 16.0Mbps. I then took the two devices as far away from the access point as I could. The Galaxy A35 dropped to a respectable 277Mbps down and 15.9Mbps up, while the S23 FE fared worse with respective download and upload speeds of 217Mbps and 11.1Mbps.The phone offers good call quality. On a test call, my voice was easy to understand, though a bit muffled. The A35 does a fine job of rejecting background noise to isolate voices. The earpiece speaker reached a maximum volume of 73dB, while the speakerphone hit 61.1dB. I find volumes over 70dB easy to hear even with moderate environmental noise, so I would have liked a louder speakerphone. When playing Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” the stereo speakers topped out at 95.5dB. That’s loud enough to fill a small room. Deep bass frequencies, like those in The Knife’s “The Silent Shout,” are hardly present, however. Wireless headphones are a better bet if you care about sound quality.Cameras: Good Image and Video CaptureThe Galaxy A35 features three rear cameras, including a 50MP f/1.8 main shooter with optical image stabilization (OIS), a wide-angle 8MP f/2.2 camera, and a 5MP f/2.4 macro camera. The selfie camera on the front captures 13MP images at f/2.2.The 50MP shooter produces detailed shots at full resolution, though the pixel-binned 12MP photos show better shadow detail and a broader range of colors. Overall, colors are somewhat oversaturated compared with reality, but that’s typical for Samsung.
Main camera at 50MP (Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
Main camera at 12MP (Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
Images from the 8MP ultra-wide camera have the same color profile as the main camera. The camera software corrects for most distortion.
Ultra-wide camera (Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
Macro shots under bright lighting show vivid colors and great detail. In the photo below, the phone captures the texture and frayed threads of a fabric flower effectively.
Macro camera (Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
The front-facing camera takes pleasing shots with good detail and color. Portrait mode adds a pleasant blur to the background, but the processing is not perfect. It can confuse some details at the edge of the subject, like hair or glasses. As is usual with Samsung devices, you can adjust the bokeh effect to taste via the Gallery App.
Left to right: Selfie mode, Portrait mode (Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
Video capture tops out at 4K30 on the Galaxy A35. Colors appear vibrant (though slightly oversaturated), details look sharp, and the OIS on the main camera keeps things fairly steady. The front-facing camera also maxes out at 4K30 with similar results, though more of a wobbling effect is visible.The Google Pixel 7a generally takes fantastic photos with a natural color profile and can capture videos at up to 4K60, so it remains a better overall prospect for smartphone photography.Software: Updates for YearsThe Galaxy A35 ships with Android 14 and Samsung One UI 6.1 atop it. One UI features Samsung enhancements to Android like an Edge panel (a hideable taskbar), the ability to keep apps open in a pop-up view for multitasking, and cross-Samsung device interoperability.Samsung’s commitment to the A35 includes four years of OS updates and five years of security updates, which is a commendable level of support. Google offers three years of Android OS updates and five years of security updates for the Pixel 7a. Note that for their flagship phones, those in the Galaxy S24 and Pixel 8 series, Samsung and Google both offer seven-year commitments.One thing to consider is the absence of Galaxy AI, Samsung’s suite of AI tools that debuted on the Galaxy S24 series and has since arrived on older devices. If those features excite you, the Galaxy S23 FE is the lowest-cost option with AI as of this writing. A Samsung representative told PCMag that the company is working to make Galaxy AI features available to as many users as possible, but did not specify if the A35 would get them. Note that the Google Photos app offers limited AI tricks for any phone, though Pixel devices like the 7a get full access.Verdict: A Good Value in the Galaxy LineupWith premium looks, a durable build, and capable cameras, the Samsung Galaxy A35 is an excellent value at $399.99. And Samsung’s multiyear software update commitment mostly makes up for the missing mmWave 5G support. The Google Pixel 7a remains our Editors’ Choice winner because it packs more RAM, offers faster 5G, and takes more natural-looking photos, but it costs $100 more. So whether you’re shopping on a fixed budget or you prefer Samsung’s software experience, the Galaxy A35 is a worthwhile alternative. If you’re looking to spend even less, the Galaxy A25 is our top pick for low-cost phones, though it isn’t quite as sleek or durable.
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