Samsung Galaxy A35 First Impressions – Awesome Blue Thunder

Appearing alongside the new Galaxy A55, the Galaxy A35 is a more affordable variant that notably also features Samsung Knox Vault for enhanced security in day to day use and to ensure critical data remains inviolate. 

After its global reveal, the phone has now officially arrived in Malaysia and we managed to get our hands on one for field testing. After taking it for a quick whirl around the block, here’s our Samsung Galaxy A35 first impressions about that latest budget behemoth

Samsung Galaxy A35 first Impressions – What’s new?

The successor to last year’s Galaxy A34, the new Galaxy A35 culls aesthetic cues from the design language of the flagship Galaxy S24 series with a flat backplate and front display, rounded corners as well as chrome rings protecting each of the three vertically aligned cameras. The Galaxy A35 also features a robust IP67 dust and water resistance rating for the chassis and ups the ante with a more ergonomic design and a neater looking punch hole for the selfie camera. 

The Samsung Galaxy A35 (right) bears aesthetic similarities to its pricier sibling the Galaxy A55 (left) but have slightly different hardware and camera setups.

Up front, you get a 6.6-inch 120Hz AMOLED display that is akin to the one used in the slightly pricier Galaxy A55 down to screen resolution and the inaugural  use of tough Gorilla Glass Victus+ to protect it from nicks, drops and scratches. The selfie camera however is a bit more modest with a 13MP sensor that has an F/2.2 aperture for video calls and mugshots. At the bottom quadrant  of the display you get a fingerprint reader for biometrics.

The base of the phone hosts a grille for one of the two speakers on the phone as well as a USB-C port that supports 25W wired charging; the same as on the earlier Galaxy A34.  One interesting thing to note is that the Galaxy A35 employs plastic for the sides unlike the more premium Galaxy A55 that uses metal though it doesn’t affect tactility or functionality.

The left side of our Galaxy A35 first look sample is otherwise unremarkable but the right hosts the aforementioned power button and volume rocker in a ‘Key Island’ design that is slightly raised from the chassis for better ergonomics. Up top, the phone has a SIM card slot that also supports a microSD card tray to expand the onboard 256GB memory with cards up to 1TB in size.

The Samsung Galaxy A35 (top) and the Galaxy A55 (bottom) both feature a Key Island design that raises the power button and volume rocker higher for better ergonomics.

When flipped to the rear, the Galaxy A35 is an otherwise flat slab with a Awesome Iceblue finish paved over with glass, a vertically aligned triple camera array in the corner as well as an LED flash. The light blue finish repels fingerprints nicely which is a boon though it looks rather plain unlike the scintillating Awesome Lilac finish.

Closer inspection reveals a camera setup that has been slightly improved over the older Galaxy A34 with a sharper 50MP F/1.8 main camera with OIS, an 8MP F/2.2 ultra wide angle camera and a 5MP F/2.4 macro camera.

As first impressions go, our Samsung Galaxy A35 in Awesome IceBlue looks suitably stylish with an even heft and good build quality. While it lacks the metal frame used in the higher end Galaxy A55, the Galaxy A35 still benefits from a slab of Gorilla Glass Victus+ protecting the front display with the sides using more cost effective polycarbonate.

Powering the phone is the proven Exynos 1380 processor which also sees service on the Galaxy Tab S9 FE series tablets and last year’s Galaxy A54. Paired with this is 8GB RAM along with up to 8GB of RAM Plus assigned off the onboard 256GB expandable storage which you can upgrade via a microSD card.

Running under the hood is the latest Android 14 with OneUI 6.1 and unlike much of the competition, the Galaxy A35 has an impressive 4 years of OS updates which means it will stay updated all the way to Android 18 and 5 years of security updates. 

Of greater importance is its inclusion of Samsung Knox Vault that creates a secure execution environment that protects critical data from tampering along with the inclusion of Auto Blocker which scans apps and also prevents malware from installing itself to the phone. 

In Malaysia, the Galaxy A35 is priced at RM1,399 and is available nationwide with early bird buyers getting a 2 year Samsung Care+ package worth RM459 if you purchase it before 30th April 2024.

As budget phones go, the Galaxy A35 has a lot going for it with IP67 dust and water resistance, stereo speakers, a main camera with OIS, a huge battery with 25W fast charging and the inclusion of Samsung Knox Vault. Through our initial field tests, it has proven to be nippy, responsive and the cameras perform well too though we’ll have to put it through its paces to draw a final conclusion. In the meantime, stay tuned for our full review!

To purchase, check out the official Samsung Galaxy A35 at https://www.samsung.com/my/smartphones/galaxy-a/galaxy-a35-5g-awesome-lilac-256gb-sm-a356elvgxme/#specs