Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 Evaluate: Midrange Efficiency, Spectacular Battery Life

Samsung’s Galaxy A sequence brings a few of the firm’s premium software program options to the midrange section at a barely greater value in contrast with the Galaxy M and Galaxy F sequence. Earlier this 12 months, the corporate launched the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 smartphones in India, that are priced below Rs. 40,000 and Rs. 30,000, respectively. These gadgets are outfitted with the corporate’s Exynos chips and can obtain 4 years of OS updates — as much as Android 18. However how do they fare in opposition to equally priced telephones? I’ve spent a while with each handsets, and listed here are my ideas.

Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 value in India

The Samsung Galaxy A55 is priced at Rs. 39,999 for the 8GB+128GB RAM and storage mannequin. The cellphone can be out there in 8GB+256GB and 12GB+256GB reminiscence variants, which is able to set you again Rs. 42,999 and Rs. 45,999, respectively.

In the meantime, the worth of the Samsung Galaxy A35 begins at Rs. 30,999 for the bottom mannequin with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, whereas the cellphone can be offered in an 8GB+256GB storage variant that prices Rs. 33,999.

Samsung Galaxy A55 has a flat show, flat edges, and a flat rear panel

The Galaxy A55 is offered in Ice Blue and Navy, whereas the Galaxy A35 is offered in Ice Blue, Lilac, and Navy. Samsung despatched over the Ice Blue (Galaxy A55) and Lilac (Galaxy A35) handsets for assessment.

Each handsets are offered in a slim field that features a charging cable, a SIM ejector device, and a few documentation. Nevertheless, there is no such thing as a clear TPU cowl or charging brick, so you may have to purchase these individually.

Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 Evaluate: Design

The Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 are very comparable in look, together with the situation of the SIM tray, the USB Kind-C port, the triple rear digicam format, and the bottom-firing speaker grille. Sales space handsets even have the brand new Key Island for the quantity and energy buttons, that are additionally in the identical spot. For those who take a look at each handsets collectively, you would not have the ability to inform them aside.

Amongst Samsung’s midrange telephones, the Galaxy A sequence is thought to supply essentially the most premium-looking telephones, and the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 aren’t any exception. The rear panel bears a powerful resemblance to this 12 months’s Galaxy S24 (Evaluate) handset, which is a premium smartphone. In my expertise, each the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 have shiny rear panels that do not simply entice fingerprints.

Samsung Galaxy A55 (left) and Galaxy A35

On the entrance, these handsets are outfitted with Tremendous AMOLED screens with as much as 120Hz refresh price and Gorilla Glass Victus+ safety. The show has significantly thick bezels, and the selfie digicam is positioned in a centre-aligned gap punch cutout.

The Galaxy A55 has flat, brushed aluminium edges, whereas the Galaxy A35 additionally has flat aluminium edges with a matte end. Each telephones do not ship with a TPU case, so I used them with out a cowl all through the assessment.

Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 Evaluate: Specs and software program

Each the Samsung Galaxy A55 and the Galaxy A35 sport a 6.6-inch full-HD+ (1,080×2,408 pixels) Tremendous AMOLED show with a 120Hz refresh price and as much as 1,000 nits peak brightness. These Gorilla Glass Victus+-protected screens are flat and have barely thick bezels in contrast with different handsets in the identical value brackets.

Samsung has promised 4 OS upgrades on the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35, together with a fifth 12 months of safety updates. This implies these handsets—working on Android 14-based One UI 6—shall be supported till 2028. Even by immediately’s requirements, this is much better than some other midrange cellphone.

The handsets have a few preinstalled purposes, together with Spotify. I may uninstall them, although. The Galaxy A35 additionally downloaded Sweet Crush Saga, through the pre-installed AppCloud service, which does not appear to have an opt-out choice. Each telephones additionally commonly immediate you to allow built-in Look lock display screen options after each software program replace, and it takes a number of faucets to skip this menu.

Samsung’s One UI 6.1 interface (faucet to develop)

Nevertheless, the software program expertise is essentially clear, which is par for the course with Samsung’s One UI interface, which has matured over time because it was launched in 2018. Each these Galaxy A sequence smartphones additionally include options like Samsung Pockets, which helps you to make contactless funds and retailer paperwork securely, superior Hyperlink to Home windows integration, or Good Lock for additional customisation and theming choices.

These handsets additionally embrace Samsung’s Object Eraser function that makes use of machine studying to take away undesirable objects in images. When it comes to connectivity, each handsets provide 5G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, GPS, and a USB Kind-C port for charging, information transfers, and audio output — there is not any 3.5mm audio jack.

Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 Evaluate: Efficiency

Whereas the Galaxy is powered by a 4nm Exynos 1480 chip paired with as much as 12GB of RAM, the Galaxy A35 5G runs on a 5nm Exynos 1380 processor with 8GB of RAM. On paper, these handsets ought to provide sufficient efficiency overhead to permit them to stay quick for a number of years. They’ll additionally deal with day after day duties effectively, together with searching the online, social media apps, non-intensive video games, and capturing images and movies.

You’ll be able to play most video games on the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35, and titles corresponding to Battlegrounds Cell India (BGMI) and Asphalt 9 ran effectively with out throttling after about half-hour of gameplay. Nevertheless, you may’t run barely heavier titles like Name of Responsibility: Warzone Cell with out notable lag, and even the Galaxy A55 struggled with MiHoYo’s graphics-intensive Genshin Affect.

One UI 6 based mostly on Android 14 affords a refined software program expertise on the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35, with a few exceptions. RAM administration is great, with apps like Instagram, WhatsApp, Gmail, Outlook, X (previously Twitter), and Threads — my primarily used apps — remaining in reminiscence whereas switching throughout apps.

Samsung may positively take a leaf out of Motorola or Nothing’s e-book and make sure that its Galaxy A sequence telephones do not bug customers with prompts to allow options like Look after every software program replace — particularly after they’ve explicitly opted out as soon as. Each handsets had an replace out there after the preliminary setup course of — and Samsung has lastly added assist for system A/B updates (solely on the Galaxy A55), permitting you to get again to your cellphone a lot quicker after an replace.

Samsung Galaxy A55 (left) and Galaxy A35 shows provide respectable visibility whereas outdoor

I additionally ran artificial benchmark exams, and that is the place each the Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 fall behind a few of their opponents. The Galaxy A55 scored 1,132 and three,346 factors, respectively, within the single-core and multi-core CPU exams on Geekbench 6. However, the Galaxy A35 scored 1,013 factors within the single-core check and a couple of,805 factors within the multi-core check.

On the AnTuTu v10 benchmark check, the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 scored 678,167 and 606,767 factors, respectively. Apparently, the Galaxy A55 has a PCMark Work 3.0 rating of 13,315 which is simply barely greater than the Galaxy A35, which scored 13,176 factors.

For context, the iQoo Z9 that I just lately reviewed has a single-core rating of 1,151 factors, whereas its multi-core rating was 2,669. It additionally scored 687,545 factors on AnTuTu v10. The Dimensity 7200 chip on the iQoo handset affords higher uncooked efficiency than the Exynos chips on these handsets—the AnTuTu rating and Geekbench single-core rating of the iQoo Z9 are greater than each the Galaxy A55 and the Galaxy A35, and pricing for that cellphone begins at Rs. 19,999.

Here is how the Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 carried out on well-liked graphics benchmark exams:

Each the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 are outfitted with a 6.6-inch Tremendous AMOLED display screen with a 120Hz refresh price and as much as 1,000 nits of peak brightness. These screens are brilliant sufficient for use outdoor throughout the daytime so long as you may have auto-brightness enabled. One UI additionally affords an Additional Dim mode that may be enabled through a fast settings toggle. This mode lets the display screen get even dimmer to scale back eye pressure.

Outfitted with 5,000mAh batteries, these handsets are extremely optimised — the Galaxy A55 went on for 28 hours and 14 minutes, whereas the Galaxy A35 lasted for 26 hours and 34 minutes — on a single cost — in our HD video loop battery playback check. When it comes to real-world utilization, I did not need to cost them greater than as soon as each 30-35 hours, with reasonable utilization.

Samsung does not embrace a 25W charging brick with the Galaxy A55 or the Galaxy A35, so you may need to buy one individually. My Belkin USB PD 3.0 charging brick charged each handsets as much as 50 % in round 45 minutes, whereas charging the telephones from zero to 100% took 1 hour and 25 minutes on common. Each telephones have an IP67 ranking for mud and water resistance, which implies they need to survive unintentional drops in water, which is nice to see on midrange telephones.

Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 Evaluate: Cameras

Each the Samsung Galaxy A55 and the Galaxy A35 have a 50-megapixel major digicam with an f/1.8 aperture and a 5-megapixel macro digicam with an f/2.4 aperture. Additionally they have 12-megapixel and 8-megapixel ultra-wide angle cameras, respectively, with an f/2.2 aperture. The Galaxy A55 has a 32-megapixel front-facing digicam, whereas the Galaxy A35 has a 13-megapixel digicam on the entrance for selfies and video calls.

Samsung Galaxy A55 auto (left) and portrait modes ship photographs with vibrant, punchy colors

The Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 have the identical digicam interface because the dearer Galaxy S sequence of smartphones. This features a Professional mode that lets you fine-tune varied settings, together with white stability, focus, publicity, and so forth. You can too entry these settings when taking pictures video through a Professional Video mode, which is great. Each handsets additionally assist Samsung’s Tremendous Regular (stabilisation), Sluggish Mo, and Tremendous Sluggish Mo modes for video recording.

You’ll be able to seize detailed photographs with the first cameras on the Galaxy A55 and the Galaxy A35, and each handsets assist 2x in-sensor zoom that allows you to take higher photographs of topics which are barely additional away. These cameras work very effectively if you’re outdoor, have sufficient pure gentle, and have a tendency to ship barely punchy colors in photographs. You can too take high-quality portrait pictures on these handsets — these work finest in pure gentle.

Samsung Galaxy A35 photographs seem sharp, however zooming in reveals smoothening (faucet to develop)

The ultra-wide angle digicam on the Galaxy A55 is barely higher than the one on the Galaxy A35, however each are significantly weaker than the first digicam — particularly in low-light situations. You should utilize them to click on images of buildings or different topics which are shut by, however photographs captured with these cameras have a little bit of warping across the edges, and the color accuracy is not as dependable because the extra superior 50-megapixel major digicam.

Samsung’s digicam app takes lengthy publicity pictures by default (Night time Shot) in low gentle circumstances, though you may manually disable this with a faucet to take darker however non-blurry photographs of shifting topics. For further darkish situations, the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 include a devoted Night time Mode that delivers very brilliant photographs with some smoothening to scale back noise.

The first digicam on the Galaxy A35 (proper) delivers higher low-light images (faucet to develop)

The 5-megapixel macro digicam on the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 captured respectable photographs of topics, however provided that there was sufficient pure gentle. I additionally needed to faucet on the topic within the viewfinder and seize a couple of picture of a topic in an effort to make sure that the pictures have been in focus. Selfies captured utilizing the front-facing cameras on each telephones are clear, though there’s extra element on those captured with the Galaxy A55, which has a higher-resolution 32-megapixel digicam.

Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 seize practically equivalent macro images

Each the Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 assist video recording at 4K/ 30fps or 1080p at 30fps and 60fps. The gyroscope-enabled Tremendous Regular mode on the rear digicam affords wonderful stabilisation in most lighting circumstances. The selfie digicam on each telephones affords 4K/ 30fps and 1080p/ 30fps, however the Galaxy A55 additionally affords 1080p/ 60fps video recording from the selfie digicam.

Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 Evaluate: Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 are outfitted with respectable cameras and processors, however are these the very best midrange smartphones you should purchase immediately? The reply depends upon what you want out of your smartphone. Subjectively talking, these are handsome smartphones which are promised to obtain Android OS updates for 4 years and a further 12 months of safety updates. 

It is also good to see an IP67 ranking on these telephones, and battery efficiency is great, though Samsung has caught with assist for 25W charging and does not embrace an adapter within the field. 

However, in order for you a smartphone with uncooked efficiency, you are higher off wanting on the Nothing Telephone 2 (Evaluate), OnePlus 12R (Evaluate), or the iQoo Neo 9 Professional (Evaluate) as an alternative of the Galaxy A55. Equally, the OnePlus Nord CE 4 5G (Evaluate), Redmi Observe 13 Professional, Infinix GT 20 Professional, or the iQoo Neo 7 Professional (Evaluate) provide higher CPU efficiency at an analogous value level.

For those who’re in search of a smartphone that gives nice digicam efficiency below Rs. 40,000, Samsung’s personal Galaxy S23 FE (Evaluate) affords extra versatile cameras — together with a succesful telephoto digicam — in addition to a extra highly effective Exynos chip. You can too think about the Google Pixel 7a (Evaluate) as an alternative of the Galaxy A55. Alternate options to the Galaxy A35 embrace the Galaxy M55 (Evaluate), Vivo V30e, and Oppo Reno 11 5G.