Samsung’s A Series, as we all know, is the company’s offering at the altar of the price-conscious consumer. One of its latest devices, the Samsung Galaxy A34, alongside the higher-end Galaxy A54, are the latest in this line-up, aimed at wooing the common consumer.

Design 

The Samsung Galaxy A34 is designed with a slim form factor. Despite a plastic finish on the sides and rear panel, the device feels good to hold. The rear panel feels a bit unsteady at times, as if it might come off. One thing that the A34 gets right is its design, which is similar to the more premium Samsung Galaxy S23 line-up, and has an appealing design language overall.

The A34 has a 6.6 Inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display that supports up to 120Hz refresh rate. The 120 Hz display was buttery smooth while navigating through the app drawer and playing Subway Surfers. The AMOLED display delivers punchy colours and was good for catching up on some Premiere Pro tutorials on YouTube and The Night Agent on Netflix. 

Watch: Unboxing Samsung Galaxy A54 + Galaxy A34

Camera 

The Galaxy A34 features a 48.0 MP main camera + 8.0 MP ultra-wide + 5.0 MP macro camera. Photos from the camera are good, not great. Photos shot during the day retained a decent amount of detail, while night time shots are just about average in terms of exposure and colour retention. The macro-camera has a fixed focus and it is often difficult to find that sweet spot for detailed close-ups, which is the case with most phones in this price range. 

Performance

The Samsung Galaxy A34 manages to get through day-to-day usage without a hiccup. The phone features the Mediatek Dimensity 1080 chipset seen in the likes of the realme 10 Pro+. The phone renders 40-60 fps consistently in Call of Duty Mobile and 120 fps on games such as Shadow Fight 4. The phone does get hot after a sustained gaming session of 30-40 minutes at the rear.

The unit I reviewed was the 8 GB RAM with 128 GB storage version, running Samsung’s One UI 5.1 (Android 13). It ran smoothly without too much Samsung bloatware. In synthetic benchmarks such as AnTuTu, it does get a low score of 4,24,094, but this could be due to an average cooling system unlike the gaming phones launched with the same processor.

Featuring a 5,000 mAh battery, the Galaxy A34 was able to get through more than a day with mails, video calls and YouTube videos. One thing that is missing is the charger brick, in line with the trend with most smartphones these days. Using a 25W charger, I was able to charge the phone from 0-100 per cent in under 2 hours.

Verdict

While other phones in this price range might have scored better on synthetic benchmarks and might offer a smoother gaming experience, what the Samsung Galaxy A34 brings together is a bright AMOLED 120 Hz display, a semi-premium finish and decent day-to-day usage. 

Price: ₹30,999 (8 GB + 128 GB)

₹32,999 (8 GB + 256 GB)

Pros: Bright AMOLED screen, 120 Hz refresh rate, decent performance for the price

Cons: Gets warm during gaming