Samsung Galaxy A34 5G Review *Premium Smartphone*

Galaxy A Series is treated as a Premium category smartphone and yet the recently launched Galaxy A34 5G has a waterdrop notch along with lots of flaws for the price it comes.

So before we start the Galaxy A34 5G review, let me share with you the prices.

Samsung Galaxy A34 5G Price

8GB Ram + 128GB Storage	₹30,999 £349 $349
8GB Ram + 256GB Storage	₹32,999 £399 $399

The Galaxy A34 5G price in India starts at Rs 30,999 while it comes in Lime, Graphite, Violet, and White color options and it will go for sale via Amazon IN from 28th March 2023 at noon.

Samsung Galaxy A34 5G Review

No, the Galaxy A34 5G is not worth buying, now, it does have an IP67 rating, 4 years of OS updates, and even the Samsung Logo but still, it doesn’t justify the Rs 30,999 price tag. For this price, you can get a much better Nothing Phone 1, however, if you’re a fan of Samsung then this could be a good option to consider.

I have said many times that Samsung’s Galaxy A series devices are highly overpriced. So if you’re buying an A series device then don’t think about the price-to-performance ratio, just buy it as Samsung Device.

Related: 5 Best Smartphones Under Rs 30000

Also, if you’re okay with spending a bit of extra money then do check out the Galaxy A54 5G which is launched alongside Galaxy A34 5G.

Overall, Galaxy A34 5G should have been priced at Rs 24,999 but that didn’t happen, so if you plan to buy this device then keep in mind, you will be paying a premium.

Samsung Galaxy A34 5G Pros and Cons

PROS	CONS
Decent Cameras	Overpriced
4 Years of OS Updates	Too Old Waterdrop Notch
IP67 rating	Not the Best option for Gaming
Stereo Speakers with Dolby Atmos	Frame Drops Here and There due to Low-End Processor
Good Battery Life	Plastic Build
11 5G Bands	Videos have Shakiness
	OIS is there but doesn’t work the best
	No 3.5mm Audio Jack
	No Charger in the Box
	Slower 25W Charging Support

Display

The Galaxy A34 5G has a 6.40-inches 120Hz sAMOLED display with a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels and 390 PPI density. Samsung has also added an optical in-display fingerprint sensor along with Wide-Vine L1 Support.

Now, the screen brightness is good too. So you won’t face any sort of problems while using the device outdoors.

The only problem is that WaterDrop Notch, yes, this is a 2023 smartphone, and yet, Samsung decided to use the waterdrop notch which is not acceptable at all.

Also, the Galaxy A34 5G has a few extra bezels all around the device, and because of this, the device doesn’t give a premium feel from the front but it does look premium from the rear as it resembles the Galaxy S23 5G’s design.

Do note, the phone has a plastic frame and plastic back, so that design looks great till you hold the device.

Related: Best Smartphones Under Rs 25,000

In short, the build quality could have been better. I mean, look at the Nothing Phone 1 (Review), this is a 30k device and yet, it has solid build quality.

Overall, the Galaxy A34 5G has good display quality but the same can’t be said for the build as it has a plastic back & frames while that waterdrop notch doesn’t look good from any angle.

Performance

I shared one fun fact when I was reviewing the RealMe 10 Pro Plus 5G about the Dimensity 1080, the fun fact was

“Both Dimensity 920 and 1080 SoC is almost the same and provide the same performance, so you won’t notice a difference in real life. In short, it’s a minor upgrade.”

Also, the Dimensity 1080 is not even close to the Snapdragon 778G.

So, you got an idea about the performance of Galaxy A34 5G. Still, if you wanted to buy this device for gaming then don’t, also, if you’re a heavy user who loves to use multiple apps at the same time then kindly stay away from the Galaxy A34 5G.

Now, Mediatek Dimensity 1080 is a bad SoC but it’s not powerful. For example, if you use a 120Hz screen and scroll through apps for 30 minutes then you will see frames drop or the screen freeze for microseconds.

This will add up when you use this device for a year or two, so keep that in mind.

The moral of the story is, the Mediatek Dimensity 1080 doesn’t worth the 31k price tag.

Games like COD Mobile, PUBG New State, or even BGMI Mobile will run at low/Medium Graphics. Also, after playing these games for 30 or 60 minutes, the gameplay won’t be as smooth as it was before.

Talking about software,

Here, Samsung has provided a full OneUI 5.1 which has all the features that you will find on Galaxy S Series Smartphones.

On top of that, Samsung has promised 4 years of OS updates and 5 years of security updates which is huge because other brands like Motorola or even RealMe are providing only 2 years of OS updates.

By the way, when a new version of Android will come, that will be heavy, so I just hope that Samsung optimizes the OneUI better for the chipsets like MediaTek Dimensity 1080.

Related: Best Smartphones Under Rs 50,000

Now, just like Galaxy A54 5G, Samsung has added the same 5G Bands in Galaxy A34 5G too. The Device has all the necessary 5G bands including N1, N3, N5, N7, N8, N28, N66 N40, N41, N77, and N78. So whenever 5G comes to your city, you will be able to take advantage of that 5G connectivity without any problems.

Overall, the Galaxy A34 5G is not made for heavy users, it’s a good option for those who just like to take/receive calls and use a little bit of social media here and there.

Cameras

NOTE: Instant of adding the camera samples of Galaxy A34 5G here, I have added them on Google Drive, so do check those out and see how are the images and now, let’s discuss those images in detail.

The Galaxy A34 5G comes with 48MP primary sensor, 8MP ultra-wide lens, and 5MP macro sensor while there is a 13MP selfie shooter on the front.

The rear cameras can shoot videos at 4K@30fps & 1080p@30fps while the front camera can shoot videos at 4K@30fps & 1080p@30/60fps.

Now, the 48MP primary sensor does have the OIS + EIS support but it doesn’t work the best. First, the OIS doesn’t work in 4k.

Also, when shooting videos in 1080p, the videos do come out stable but it feels unnatural and it looks more like, the video is moving all around it.

On top of that, the videos have a bit of Shakiness, like, you see on 10k smartphones.

For example, if you’re shooting a video of the tree and if you move aside along with the smartphone then you will see a little bit of vibration in the video which feels very odd because this kind of problem is present on budget smartphones.

The front camera does shoot close to natural videos but just like any other smartphone brand, Samsung softens the videos when shooting with the front camera.

In short, if you have pimples on your face then it won’t look that bad when shooting with the front camera.

Talking about Photography,

The 48MP primary sensor takes spectacular images under good lights, and there is no issue with dynamic range, also, Samsung doesn’t even oversaturate the object.

The moral of the story is, if there is enough light then the Galaxy A34 5G will take great images.

When it comes to low lights, the sensor suffers a little bit. Samsung tries to soften the images which feel a bit unnatural, however, the images are useable but as this is a 31k device, Samsung should have worked on the low light photography.

The 8MP ultra-wide lens is solid too, it does soften the images, just like any other smaller sensor but still, it takes good images when there are good lights.

Now, I have said many times that never use smaller ultra-wide lenses at night unless and until you want to capture the movement and don’t want to post it on social media.

The 5MP macro sensor is good and it does what it suppose to do.

That 13MP selfie shooter is good too, again, it’s a pure social media-ready sensor. What I’m saying is, whenever you take selfies of yourself, you will look great and you won’t even have to edit the photos, just post them directly.

Overall, the Galaxy A34 5G has good cameras and it takes good images under good lights but Samsung needs to work on low-light photography along with videography till then, this can’t be called 31k smartphone cameras.

Audio Quality

The Galaxy A34 5G has stereo speakers which have support for Dolby Atmos. The sound quality is solid too, it’s loud and clear. Now, just like any other stereo speaker, 60% of the volume comes from the bottom speaker while the remaining comes from the top speaker.

Samsung has added the same feature which is present on the Galaxy A54 5G called “call focused”

What it does is, removes the background noise when you’re on call. This is a very handy feature, especially, when you’re in a public place.

Battery Life

Mediatek Dimensity 1080 (6 nm) is well optimized SoC by Mediatek which clearly shows in the Galaxy A34 5G.

The 5,000mAh battery will last for a day without any problems but if you’re a very heavy user then you will have to charge the device twice a day.

Again, Samsung didn’t provide a charger in the box, so you will have to use whatever charger you have at home or buy a new 25W charger from Amazon.

For reference, the Samsung Branded 25W charger will cost about 1,099.

Verdict

Samsung Galaxy A34 5G Full Specifications

Price	6GB Ram + 128GB storage: Rs 30,999 8GB Ram + 256GB storage: Rs 32,999
Available From	March 28th, 2023 at noon Via Amazon
Display	6.60-inches FHD+ Super AMOLED Panel 120Hz Screen Refresh Rate 390 PPI density 84.90% screen-to-body ratio
Resolution	1080 x 2340 pixels resolution
Dimensions	158.2 x 76.7 x 8.2 mm
Build	Glass front Plastic Frame Plastic back (Glossy) IP67 rating for water and dust resistance
OS	Android 13 – OneUI 5.10
Chipset	Chipset: Mediatek Dimensity 1080 (6 nm) GPU: Mali-G68 MC4 CPU: Octa-core (2×2.6 GHz Cortex-A78 & 6×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55)
SD-Card Slot	Hybrid Sim Slot
Rear Cameras	48MP Primary Sensor (f/1.8) – OIS 8MP Ultra-Wide (f/2.2) 5MP Macro (f/2.4) Video 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60fps
Front Camera	13MP Selfie Shooter (f/2.2) Video 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps
3.5mm Jack	No
Stereo Speakers	Yes, Dolby Atmos.
Carrier Aggregation	Yes, 4 x 4 MIMO.
Bluetooth Version	5.3 Version
FM Radio	No
NFC	Yes
5G Support	Yes, 11 5G Bands N1, N3, N5, N7, N8, N28, N66 N40, N41, N77, and N78
Sensors	Accelerometer, Fingerprint Sensor, Gyro Sensor, Geomagnetic Sensor, Hall Sensor, Light Sensor, Virtual Proximity Sensing
Fingerprint Sensor	In-Display Fingerprint Sensor
Battery	5,000mAh (non-removable) 25W Wired Charging
Colors	Lime, Graphite, Violet, and White
Weight	200 Gram
SAR Value	SAR EU 0.55 W/kg (head)     1.49 W/kg (body)

Image Credit: Tech Buffet/yt