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 quite a lot of the best way there at a extra affordable beginning worth of €380.
However do some digging, and you’ll discover that final 12 months’s Galaxy A54 can be value contemplating on this worth vary. It has depreciated fairly properly (from shopper’s perspective) and will be discovered promoting for lower than the A35 on common.
In order that’s an attention-grabbing conundrum proper there. There are actually positives and negatives to going both method, and we’ll do our greatest to cowl them on this comparability.
Desk of Contents:
For starters, you’ll be able to examine the entire specs sheets or instantly proceed with our editor’s evaluation within the following textual content.
Dimension 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 actually noticeable.
The brand new A35 isn’t that dissimilar to its Galaxy A34 by way of dimensions, but it surely has turn out to be notably heavier, tipping the size at 209 grams this 12 months. That additionally makes the A35 heavier than the A54, which weighs in at 202 grams. In fact, this isn’t an considerable distinction in observe, however it’s nonetheless value declaring because it signifies the up to date invoice of supplies.
Certainly, the Galaxy A35 has gotten a extra premium construct this 12 months. 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 positively an improve over the Gorilla Glass 5 that each the Galaxy A54 and A34 are rocking. Relating to sturdiness, we should always point out that each the A35 and the A54 provide 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 12 months’s design, which is noticeably rounder, particularly in relation to 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 digital camera. It has been swapped for a punch-hole type unit, which arguably makes for a extra premium look, according to 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 so much.
By way of shade choices, the selection is unquestionably going to rely on private desire. The A54 arguably has some extra “conventional” shade choices in there. It’s accessible in Lime, Graphite, Violet and White. The A35 will be present in Iceblue, Lilac, Navy, and Lemon.
As we mentioned, the A35 and A54 are very related by way of controls and format. Each have stereo speaker setups and optical under-display fingerprint readers. NFC is on the market on each fashions in most markets. Each even have expandable storage through 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 value noting that regardless of their totally different relative market positioning, each, sadly, are outfitted with proximity sensors of the digital kind.
Show comparability
Not a lot has modified concerning the show on the Galaxy A35 coming from the A34. In actual fact, it’d 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 related brightness ranges on the Galaxy A54 and the A35. Neither is industry-leading, however each are adequate to be usable outside.
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 provide HDR streams to the A35 and can max out its brightness throughout playback. Nonetheless, there isn’t any official HDR assist and apps like Netflix do not provide 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 total battery life is anticipated to be very related.
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 performed 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 very least a few of the battery enhancements are in software program and also will be delivered to the Galaxy A54.
Charging velocity
Each the Galaxy A35 and A54 technically assist Samsung’s 25W PPS + PD-based charging. Since each have the identical battery capability, one would anticipate that they’d cost on the similar price. Nevertheless, our testing found that the Galaxy A54 expenses fairly a bit extra shortly than the Galaxy A35.
You’ll be able to 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 typically get greater cost percentages at any checkpoint alongside the A54’s charging curve. It isn’t a groundbreaking distinction, but it surely’s nonetheless value declaring.
Speaker check
The Galaxy A35 and A54 have the same 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 total high quality – good vocals, clear highs and even some bass. In fact, there’s a very slight distinction in tuning between the 2 gadgets, however hardly value declaring.
Efficiency
This 12 months, the Exynos 1380 has basically trickled down and is now powering the Galaxy A35 as effectively, 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 through microSD on each too. The Galaxy A54 does appear to have extra storage and RAM choices accessible.
Since each the A35 and the A54 use the identical chipset, you’ll be able to anticipate the identical efficiency throughout the 2 successfully. Whereas that is positively true, and you will not discover any distinction in observe, benchmarks, it’s clear that Samsung one way or the other managed to squeeze a bit extra CPU efficiency from the chip within the newer Galaxy A35.
Once more, we won’t say whether or not this small efficiency improve is only as a consequence of software program and, therefore, can be anticipated on the A54. It isn’t one thing to fixate on, although.
It’s value mentioning that Samsung appears to have addressed a thermal-throttling situation that was initially current after we reviewed the Galaxy A54. The Exynos 1380 appears to behave so much 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 consider that it’s because of some {hardware} tuning, not simply software program alone.
Whereas this may not essentially be one thing that almost all customers will discover in real-world use, it’s value noting that the Exynos 1380 is far more steady and has higher sustained efficiency contained in the Galaxy A35.
Digicam comparability
The Galaxy A35 and A54 have related digital camera setups at first look. Each telephones have a 50MP primary digital camera. Nevertheless, they use totally different sensors. The Galaxy A54 has an even bigger 1/1.56″, 1.0µm sensor (doubtless Samsung’s GN5 or Sony’s IMX766).
The A35, however, 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 cellphone mannequin.
Each telephones have Optical Picture Stabilization programs on their primary cameras.
The A54 additionally has a higher-resolution 12MP ultrawide digital camera at its disposal, in comparison with the 8MP unit on the A35. Neither has autofocus, sadly. The third digital camera on the again of each fashions is a 5MP macro shooter with fastened focus.
On the entrance, the A54, as soon as once more, has a a lot greater decision digital camera (32MP) with an even 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 as a consequence of pixel-binning. It is rather arduous to choose a definitive favourite from the pair since each provide related total high quality. If we actually had to decide on, maybe we might give a slight edge to the A35 for its barely extra laid-back processing with much less sharpening utilized. Once more, nonetheless, the distinction is fairly minor.
Samsung Galaxy A35: 12.5MP primary digital camera samples
Samsung Galaxy A54: 12.5MP primary digital camera samples
Regardless of the distinction in decision between the ultrawide cameras of the 2 telephones, we won’t say that the Galaxy A54 has any noticeable lead by way of element. In actual fact, high quality element appears to be a bit cleaner and sharper on common on the A35. The distinction is, once more, not notably massive.
Samsung Galaxy A35: 8MP ultrawide digital camera samples
Samsung Galaxy A54: 12MP ultrawide digital camera samples
In one other type of mismatch between decision and high quality, we now 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 digital camera 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 digital camera samples
Samsung Galaxy A54: 12MP selfie digital camera samples
Low-light images, each at 1x and 2x zoom, look very comparable between the A35 and A54. These are typically fairly clear, have low noise, and have loads of element. Dynamic vary is surprisingly huge, 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 big, however it’s value declaring.
Video high quality
Each the Galaxy A35 and A54 can seize video at as much as 4K decision on their man cameras. That is performed in a normal AVC/h.264 video stream at round 48 Mbps and a normal stereo AAC stream inside an MP4 container. Alternatively, you’ll be able to select to make use of HEVC/h.265 to avoid wasting house.
4K footage from the primary cameras of each telephones is comparable by way of total high quality. There may be loads of element, though we might 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 relation to 2x and ultrawide movies since it could 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 effectively. The distinction intimately and total high quality may 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 total, 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 may be very darkish and tender.
Verdict
Each the Galaxy A35 and the A54 are wonderful, well-rounded mid-range gadgets. Additionally, because it seems, they’re extremely related.
Regardless of technically belonging to the “higher-tier”, the A54 would not provide any main options that you simply will not discover on the A35. The 4K video seize on the ultrawide is good, however it’s hardly essential. The identical goes for the HDR video certification, particularly provided that the shows on each telephones have very related efficiency and most brightness. And at last, the A54 expenses 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 provide 4 years of OS updates and 5 years of safety patches, however the A54 is already a 12 months into that schedule. The Galaxy A34’s implementation of the Exynos 1380 is operating cooler with none efficiency penalty. It additionally has a bigger display screen with Gorilla Glass Victus+ whereas remaining virtually the identical dimension and weight. And at last, it is also scored higher battery runtimes within the internet looking/social media and gaming situations.
General, when selecting between the Galaxy A35 and the Galaxy A54, we might personally go for the A35 if the 2 have been priced equally. In sensible phrases, neither will disappoint, they usually provide remarkably related experiences. So, in the long run, the ultimate determination may very effectively come all the way down to which one of many two will 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 assist.
Get the Samsung Galaxy A35 for:
- The HDR10+ video certification.
- The quicker charging price.
- 4K video seize on the ultrawide digital camera.
Get the Samsung Galaxy A54 for:
