The Samsung Galaxy A34 was one of the top-selling smartphones in 2023. It gets many basics right and appeals to most customers for the value it brings. It has one of the best, if not the best, camera performance in this price range. It also brings decent performance thanks to the MediaTek Dimensity 1080 SOC.
However, there were some prominent places where we could spot cost cuts. For instance, the phone has thick bezels and a waterdrop-style notch. The phone only has an 8MP ultra-wide camera and ships with USB C 2.0. While none of these are inherently cons if the phone is discounted, these are significant omissions for the full selling price.
One selling point for the A34 is Samsung’s software support commitment. The A34 will get four full years of major Android updates. This is more than any phone at 350$. While there’s a lot to love about the A34, including excellent primary camera performance, IP rating, and more, we expect some improvements to the upcoming iteration.
Samsung Galaxy A35: 3 things we want to see
1: Better pricing
The price of the Galaxy A34 is currently around 365$ in the USA and even higher in other countries. This isn’t aggressive, and you’re not getting great hardware for the price. Despite this, the A34 sold remarkably well in 2023. If Samsung reduces the cost to about 350$, it will be below phones like the Pixel 7A and compete well.
2: Work on the secondary cameras and design
The secondary camera is an 8MP ultra wide-angle camera, which misses out on resolution and details. If the sensor gets a bump in resolution or sensor size, we will finally see much better shots from the ultra-wide camera.
It’s unrealistic to expect a telephoto camera at this price point, but even a small 2X less will tremendously help with portraits.
Finally, the design of the A34 is rather unappealing with its thick bezels and U-shape display cutout. We have several competing phones with much better displays and regular center punch-hole screens, so Samsung shouldn’t stick to this design to save costs anymore.
3: Performance
Finally, the A34 uses the Dimensity 1080 SOC. For the asking price of around 365$, this is a decent performer for daily tasks but is somewhat underwhelming when looking at the competition. The Exynos 1380 on the A54 fares better at peak performance despite not being an ideal performer either. We expect Samsung to take performance more seriously with the A35.
Samsung Galaxy A35 Expected Price
The Galaxy A34 is priced at £349 in the UK and €390 in Europe for the 6GB/128GB model. Based on this, it’s reasonable to expect the upcoming Galaxy A35 will be similarly priced at approximately £349 in the UK and €390 in Europe for the base 6GB/128GB configuration.
Samsung Galaxy A35 Expected Release Date
- The Galaxy A34 is expected to be released on March 15, 2024.
Not much is currently known about the Galaxy A35. The A34 was released on March 15, 2023, so we expect a similar launch date for the Galaxy A35 in 2024. We’re still several months away from the launch, so there aren’t any concrete leaks.
We mentioned three things above, and if they don’t sound too important to you, then there’s not much to gain if you’re waiting for the Galaxy A35. You may purchase an A34 right now, and it will get four years of major Android updates. This makes it a very reliable long-term choice.
