Samsung A35 review: How to compromise effectively

Summary

• Samsung Galaxy A35 offers a long-lasting battery and vibrant OLED display, but struggles with slow performance and heating issues.
• Priced at $400, Galaxy A35 competes with mid-range phones but falls short in performance compared to more affordable options.
• If you value battery life and display quality over performance, Galaxy A35 might be a suitable choice, otherwise consider other budget options.

Samsung’s budget A-series has always offered great value for money while packing in some premium features we don’t see on phones for twice the price. The Samsung Galaxy A35 improves on many of our gripes about last year’s Galaxy A25, but the price increase puts it among dangerous competition.

In my testing of the Galaxy A35, I found it more than sufficient for all my everyday tasks. Its impressive display was ideal for watching media, while the massive battery meant I never got caught low on charge in the middle of the day. However, this comes at the cost of sluggish performance across the board and some frustrating heating issues.

Price, availability, and specs

The Samsung Galaxy A35 is available for $400 in the US through Amazon, Best Buy, and Samsung. This is a $100 increase over last year’s A25 model; while we’ve seen similar price increases on flagship Samsung and Google phones, this bump in price is a lot harder to swallow for a budget phone.

It’s available in one size, 128GB, and in two colors: navy and lilac. There’s one storage option (128GB) and one RAM option (6GB).

Network support is patchy. There’s no mmWave support, and while mid-band coverage for n77 and n41 is present, there’s no low-band n2 and n71 support. However, it covers most of the major 4G bands. So, while 5G support is patchy, you shouldn’t have trouble connecting over 4G.

What’s good about the Samsung Galaxy A35?

An impressive display that’ll last you all day

A 6.6-inch 120Hz Super AMOLED display sounds excellent on paper and is just as good in reality. The peak 1,000 nits brightness helps visibility in direct sunlight, and the OLED panel keeps colors vibrant while offering plenty of variation for blacks.

Last year’s Galaxy A25 boasted a similar screen but was let down by huge bezels. Samsung has reduced the size of the bottom bezel while removing the bezel around the pinhole camera, which makes the top bezel feel smaller, even if the difference in screen real estate is minuscule. The overall look is almost identical to the Galaxy A54, from which this phone draws plenty of inspiration.

The rest of the phone is a solid chunk of metal and glass. I received the “Awesome Lilac” version of the Galaxy A35 to review, and while the back did an average job of hiding fingerprints, it did an excellent job of reflecting rainbows.

Beyond the oddly prismatic glass back, the other notable feature is the raised hump on which the volume and power buttons sit. This addition doesn’t change much regarding the phone’s silhouette, but I found that it served as an excellent thumb rest when holding the phone. It’s a big phone, too, so this small addition did wonders for comfort. That said, I recommend slapping a case on the Galaxy A35 as soon as possible; it’s the slippiest phone I’ve used in a while.

The Galaxy A35 ships with Android 14 wrapped in Samsung’s One UI 6.1 skin. You’ve got all the usual Samsung toys to play with here, with the notable exception of Galaxy AI, which powers features like Browsing Assist and Circle to Search. However, it does include Samsung Knox Vault, a first for A-series phones.

What stood out for me during testing was battery life. At the end of a day when I used the phone for watching media, texting, browsing Instagram, and some gaming, the battery usually hovered around the 30% mark. While the phone has a relatively weak 25W charging speed, it took 30 minutes to bring it to 50%, 65 minutes to 90%, and 90 minutes to 100%. Coupled with the long-lasting battery, I only needed to charge the phone during my morning shower; I didn’t need to leave it overnight.

The Galaxy A35’s cameras are almost impressive in terms of how average they are. While photos never stood out in the way shots from Pixel phones do, they were more than sufficient for daily photography. The only catch is that results vary heavily on lighting, so you’ll need to put more thought into your shots than with other phones.

What’s bad about the Samsung Galaxy A35?

Sluggish performance coupled with overheating issues

Snappy performance isn’t to be expected from budget phones, but the $400 price means the Samsung Galaxy A35 is starting to compete with powerful mid-range phones that you can find for less. This makes the slow performance especially notable, and the constant heating issues I encountered were frustrating.

The Galaxy A35’s display has a 120Hz refresh rate, but all the fast scrolling through my home screen doesn’t make up for the lag that continually frustrated me during testing. Whether during setup, opening apps, or taking photos, waiting a few seconds for actions to complete got frustrating very quickly. The Exynos 1380 processor just can’t provide a smooth experience, and it makes me wonder why Samsung bothered putting a 120Hz refresh rate on the device.

The shift from buttery smooth animations when scrolling through apps to janky animations during photography was jarring. That being said, it rarely got worse than mildly frustrating, so if you’re willing to put up with slow loading and animations, you won’t have an issue here.

Overheating became an issue very fast. The phone ran lightweight puzzle games like Railbound with only slight temperature increases, but holding the phone during a session of Pocket City 2 became uncomfortable after just 15 minutes. I also noticed overheating while streaming music or videos over data, but never enough as running demanding games on the phone.

Samsung’s bloatware is expected, but it’s still incredibly annoying. Rooting out preinstalled apps like Temu and TikTok is a common experience for Samsung phones, but it’s still frustrating. It can adversely affect battery life if you don’t uninstall them immediately.

Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy A35?

Where are you willing to compromise?

The Samsung Galaxy A35 is similar to last year’s Galaxy A25, but that phone was $100 cheaper. Phones like the Pixel 7a, which offers better hardware and software across the board, go on sale for as low as $350, and you only need to spend $100 more to get the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2-powered OnePlus 12R.

However, impressive battery life, an OLED display, and good cameras mean the phone can perform adequately in all areas. If you use your phone for a little bit of everything, it’s a good choice. However, power users wanting to save money are best sticking with a Pixel phone or Galaxy S series on sale.