SAMSUNG Galaxy A35 5G A Series Cell Phone, 128GB Unlocked Android Smartphone, AMOLED Display, Advanced Triple Camera System, Expandable Storage, Rugged Design, US Version, 2024, Awesome Navy

I've had my Samsung Galaxy A35 for just over one month. I looked at a lot of reviews before pulling the trigger and I shopped a few brands. 1st - 4 Android upgrades (1/yr) and 5 years of security patches CAN'T BE BEAT at this price point. 2nd - IP67 dust/water resistant (up to 1m for 30 min). Great screen (Super AMOLED, 120Hz, 1000 nits) and the adaptive brightness works super well (High Brightness Mode). Solid build with Victus Glass front and rear on a plastic frame. 5000 mAh battery and 25W charging give longevity and fast top ups. The 5nm Exynos 1380 chipset has 4x2.4 GHz & 4x2.0 GHz processors along with 6GB RAM, 128GB internal storage and micro SDXC slot. Plenty of power and storage under the hood for all except maybe the hardcore power users and game junkies. A fantastic all-around phone for most users. Fingerprint reader under the screen works great providing accurate and fast access to the device. Stereo speakers have plenty of volume and a pleasing tone for streaming videos. Audiophiles will want quality ear buds regardless of the speakers. The sound is well tuned for normal use. Calls are clear and trouble free. I don't really do selfies; the front camera is 13MP of acceptable. Not horrible, not wow. Let's talk triple rear cameras. 50 MP, f/1.8, (wide) with PDAF (phase detection auto focus) and OIS (optical image stabilization - way better then electronic image stabilization) + 8 MP, f/2.2 (ultrawide) + 5 MP, f/2.4, (macro). Like their displays, Samsung also makes their own camera sensors and know what they are about in both departments. In my experience, the biggest limiter on phone cameras is the controlling software. Here Samsung gives you acceptable level software. No brand name glass (like Zeiss or Leica) for the lenses. The cameras are solidly utilitarian and get the job done with enough power to give you some creative wiggle room. Those who know how can tweak their pictures by learning the strengths and weaknesses and going to post processing when needed. Unfortunately, there is no RAW support, or you could make even better progress in post. There are also several shooting modes that users might utilize to adapt to the composition of a particular image capture. The main camera operates in a 12.5MP mode by default. I went into settings > settings to keep > camera mode (switch on) so that it remembers I want the 50MP mode and saves it when I open the camera app again. There is no zoom in 50MP mode, but I'd rather crop in on more pixels than use less pixels getting degraded by digital zoom in most use case scenarios. The picture of the steering wheel detail was taken with the 5MP f/2.4 macro lens, auto settings, no post process. The two cloudscapes were captured with the main camera in 50MP mode, auto settings, no post process. You only achieve 50MP when shooting in full aspect ratio. I prefer 16:9 so those images are 37.5MP. The picture of the moon was taken in Pro mode (12.5MP) with 10x zoom, ISO 40 and -2.0ev. The picture of the $1 coin was captured with the main camera at 50MP. I used a 10x macro lens clipped in front of the main camera and did post processing in Snapseed. The picture of the moth was captured with the main camera at 12.5MP and 2x zoom. Post processed in Snapseed. All-in-all: solid value for money and a phone you likely won't upgrade from anytime soon. It has all you need to make it a faithful companion for years. Quick Update: I was out taking Milkyway photos the other night with my mirrorless camera. I did add one image to this review, taken with the A35. The photo of the trees after sunset was during the Blue Hour (low light) with the main camera in 50MP mode, auto settings, lightly edited in Snapseed. The capture was at 1/9th of a second and demonstrates the effectiveness of the Optical Image Stabilization. I was also using the Stellarium app with live view and can attest to the accuracy and responsiveness of the compass sensor on the Galaxy A35. I just keep finding more reasons to love this phone!

I have had an A32 5G for the last 2 1/2 years, and I like it, it still works great, but there are no more Android updates on it (only went from Android 11 to 13),and now I only get quarterly security updates. So when I saw the A35 5g on sale for $75 less than usual, and I actually HAD the $, I jumped on it. This came with Android 14 and will get 4 years of Android updates and 5 years of security updates. The phone was released almost a year ago, but still cool for me. The AMOLED display is really beautiful, and looks better than the A32, has a higher resolution (2340 x 1080px vs. 1600 x 720px,120Hz vs 90Hz) and it gets brighter. I turned down the Hz to save some battery. I'm very happy with the cameras so far. It has a higher resolution macro cam (5mp vs. 2mp), which I actually use. I like that it has 6GB of RAM (vs. 4 on the A32), double the internal storage, my beloved microSD slot, eSIM capability (tho I'm still just using my physical SIM) and the under-screen fingerprint reader works great (the A32 had it in the power button. Worked fine, but this is really easy, and has no problem with the tempered glass screen protector I bought). I haven't even tried quick charging yet,so when I charge it at the end of the day, it seems slow, but not an issue so far. I'd rather be patient and save some battery life than quick-charge it all the time, since I like to keep my phones for a long time. There's no 3.5mm headphone jack like the A32 had, but I use bluetooth anyways, so that won't be an issue for me, personally. So, only a week in, but so far it seems like a really nice upgrade from my last phone. I'm not a gamer at ALL, so I don't need a really speedy processor and tons of RAM like the Galaxy S phones, and I have only bought mid-range phones for years to use on MVNOs, so I'm thrifty, but this phone looks great (Corning Gorilla Glass Victus front & back), and I've really enjoyed using it so far! It's really nice for the money. Oh, and I generally HATE listening to anything thru my phone's speakers, but this really isn't too bad, and even has some bass to it!

Just received this yesterday and got my AT&T prepaid wireless card put in and used the Samsung Smartswitch app to transfer my world from a well-used A32. Of course I have to put in passwords on my apps again, at least those that aren't enabled through Google, but smooth sailing so far. I know the drill with transferring to a new phone. Seamless transfer of apps, contacts, files. Big screen I love. It has a big screen like the A32. (I have lousy vision so I deliberately seek out large-screen phones.) Display quality is excellent, a detectable upgrade from the A32 (which was already good). A lot more storage and I'm loving that. And more RAM than the A32, although I could always use more than I get, of course, even with 6 GB. But it's a plus for sure. My negs: The A35 uses a different cord and charging block than the A32. So I had to immediately go and buy a 30 W ultrafast charging block and it was $31.99 at AT&T, my prepaid provider, and while I was there I got them to swap in the SIM card, which I had planned to do myself, at home...but as long as I had to buy phone stuff anyway...why not let the nice helpful lady do it. I'm not upset with my cell service provider, not their fault, I didn't buy through them, but my new unlocked Samsung A35 comes with a cord and NO usable charging block! If I knew I needed one I would have ordered it at the same time as the phone, which I waited 12 days for... (Which leads me to, if the phone is in stock, as I was assured at time of purchase, why does it take 11 days to get it? It was delayed twice from the original delivery date, which was already 8 days out from the purchase date.) So I was really annoyed I had to run out and BUY another thing the same day I finally received the phone just to finish charging it (came as 52% charged, the usual thing, but I wanted to get a full charge before I started transferring and downloading stuff). Luckily I noticed early in the afternoon I had no way to charge it, rather than find out at 1:00 AM, when I nightly put my phone on charge! TELL US in the sell copy that a user may need a charger (for a "c to c" cable type) so we can plan, OK? I figured when it comes with JUST a cord I can use one of my three Samsung fast charge adapters or even my laptop, but NO, that just won't work. Even my boyfriend's Galaxy S9-plus works with the adapters I had. Also, even with an official ultra-fast charger, it doesn't charge any more quickly than the A32 did. So I guess it is equivalent that way, even if it has a better battery; that is, it may be better technologically but it ain't faster to charge timewise, which I DID expect for my money outlay. Don't know about the camera, haven't used it yet. In sum, good phone, a very good value for mid-range, up-to-date phone tech. I've used other Samsungs, including high-end models, and other brands. But DO make sure you have an up-to-date charging block handy when you buy it.

After much research, trial and error, I bought this phone for several reasons: 1) Good screen size.. prefer the larger screen size than s23 or s23 fe; 2) Adequate/decent performance specs of processor, camera etc 3) Expandable storage 4) Lowest SAR (radiation) values of any modern Esim phone Ive researched.. Yes i know they say its safe non-ionizing radiation... blah blah.. they said smoking and lead paint were ok too. I use my phone A lot.. tell it to the next guy buddy lol. 5) Price was reasonable enough. Anyway, the phone has been generally amazing so far, much faster and smoother than my old one. Beautiful screen, although every once in a while some text has a barely noticeable very slight flicker on certain apps/ scripts? I shut off adaptive display something or other, which helped, but again barely noticeable and almost never happens. Generally amazing, very fast, vibrant, and smooth thanks to the quality display and fast refresh rate. I used a usb-c flash drive along with Samsung's "Smart switch" app to backup my old phone (motorola) then transfer onto the A35. Esim setup was a breeze on US mobile's warp (verizon) network - so long as you have *this model* of the A35, which is the US Version (The US Version is A356u, NOT the cheaper latin american/ international A356E.. and probably also the international A55 could have compatibility issues too.. I dont know - I believe the a55 is only available in an international version - Samsung wants you to buy thd s23 fe instead.. The US unlocked models will have the best compatibility with your carrier if u live in the US - yes they are more expensive... anyway I digress) So far this phone has been generally great. I have purchased another one to have two lines on the A35.

Coming from a Note 9 that is 5 years old I find that even though it doesn't have wireless charging and an S pen that this is a great replacement for said phone. Although I suppose upgrading from any phone that is 5 years old to one that is less than a year old would probably result in a good experience one does have to make sure to get a phone that will meet your needs. I watched multiple reviews online and read ones as well and decided that I don't really need wireless charging or an S pen for the price one has to pay to get phones with those features. Ordered a set of magnetic adapters for the cable which will make connecting and disconnecting the phone to charge much easier than having to insert it. This should help to over come the ease of wireless charging and wired charging is faster anyway even if not as convenient. The one thing that most reviews failed to mention, and perhaps it is because it has become so common on Samsung phones, is adaptive charging. This ability allows one to pick from 3 different behaviors the phone will have in relation to charging when left on the charger which is significant for over night charging. This is a feature which my old phone did not have. Based on what I researched online the worst thing you can do to shorten your battery life is leave your phone on the charger overnight if it does not have adaptive charging. When I had my note 4 I did not know this and use to leave it on the charger overnight all the time. Although with the Note 4 you could just replace the battery when it went bad by just removing it. I followed the advice of not leaving the phone on the charger overnight with my Note 9 and I guess it must have extended the life of the battery considering it has not swollen in 5 years of use. Even if it does not hold the charge as long as I would like. As far as speed I find this phone to be plenty fast for doing everyday things which is all I really want the phone for besides playing some low end games. The front finger print reader is fast enough for me, coming from a phone with the reader on the back, and has no problem unlocking my banking app as well as the password software I use. I had read that someone else couldn't use the front reader with their banking app so this was of concern for me. Have no problem using it with Mint, which uses T-Mobile towers, simply shut down phone installed sim card and SD card rebooted and was making phone calls in no time. For me this works great as a replacement for my Note 9 and should get plenty of years of use out of it.

UPDATED POST (30JUN24) For some reason, the phone is very "slippery" when placed glass-side down. I have set the phone face down on surfaces like a kitchen or restaurant table with and without cloth and plastic table cloths, my pant leg when I am sitting down, the keyboard and top of my laptop when it is turned off or closed, and other materials. When placed this way, if there is ANY slight sense of not being 100% level and flat, the phone will start to creep in the direction of the slant and make it way off of the device. This is very annoying and concerning that it may sustain damage...especially since the frame and corners are plastic. My only solution it to put it face up (yet camera side down) where is seems to create a bit more friction and not creep off of the surface. When trying to maintain privacy, I although I WANT to place it face down, I am fearful it will slide off of the surface. SOLUTION: Getting a thin silicone skin-type case for it has solved my issue. Note: Although I say "I" above, it is a combination of either me or my wife, as the phone is now hers, but I use it from time to time. ORIGINAL POST : I bought this for my wife. I have a newer Samsung S-series. This phone has everything I would want. I would gladly trade my S-series for it. What it is missing, compared to my S-Series: 1) Wireless charging If I really needed that I could get this for $10 (See end of this review for Amazon TASUMATO Wireless Charging Receiver Qi Charger Adapter link) 2) Thinness A35 is thicker (0.32" vs 0.30") 3) Maybe speed? (Not noticeable enough for me) 4) Too new for Verizon to recognize 5) Read "complaints" about speed of fingerprint reader. To me it is not significant. 6) Size A35 is taller (6.37" vs 5.76" )/wider( 3.07"vs 2.79" ) , I like the smaller S-Series because so it does not stick out of my back pocket like the A35. What is has that I wish my S-Series had 1) Micro SD Slot 2) Less that 1/2 the price. 3) Battery almost 2x as big 4) Android 14 is its first OS. Which means it will be supported longer than my S-Series (release with Android 13) with another Android O/S update. Since this is an Unlocked version, Verizon doesn't sell a similar version (even a Verizon locked version) yet, and it has only been out since Mar/APRIL 2024, I had an issue with Verizon. The only issue I had was getting a physical 5G nano SIM installed for it from the local Verizon store. I used the old Verizon 3G SIM I had (from the phone I was replacing) in this new phone until I could get to the verizon store. No issues. When the Verizon "tech" tried to scan the phone, it would not come up in his database. Thus he couldn't link it to the new SIM in an automated way (and he did not know how else to do it). He said "We usually have this issue with Unlocked phones." I think it was just because it was so new. So, he set it up via eSIM. He did some testing and found no issues. I ran it this way for a while without issue. I also got him to give me a new blank Verizon 5G SIM. (It was no good to me unless Verizon registered it anyway). I called Verizon customer support. Since I had a blank Verizon 5G SIM, they were able to void the eSIM and get my 5G physical SIM to work over the phone. So, no real "issues" with Verizon, just an inconvenience. NOTE: I did not set it up with face recognition or the fingerprint reader for security reasons. WIRELESS CHARGING RECEIVER ADAPTER from AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Charging-Receiver-Charger-Adapter/dp/B09T9192P1/ref=sr_1_7?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.XikiZ2djR8Rm8GopWoXVrA6AtYSRHayCogLn1kB5WU1S1MxZpSygtHxk2SoP8HhoTmeYF_C9UDcXTJbQfQvHkiFALl_olKSl3jH1Kr2lBa2mHnkXagvaC0d1QDHVq2ia76qe0msNIOLPW8CEfpderibezU531235JojJLrHVl0ezvGYDTYPDr9cO3-X6l09LEsoaOhkw0GzjX5EsJIKh71KnLblw7KQ1dHYPBzj199A.YtasrLm4IwzJ-ZHKuwzoNLE3v11As-gdgSzdTnxyzf4&dib_tag=se&keywords=wireless+charging+adapter&qid=1717338850&sr=8-7

This isn't a super high end phone, but it works great. The size is larger than most, display is nice, and it actually works. I bought a S22 from seller Re-Sell and that phone was nearly unusable. It dropped calls and wouldn't sent texts. It was absolute garbage. Then I bought another $600 S22 from a company called Turtlescreen. That phone wouldn't even turn on. So now I'm over $1,000 in the hole. I bought this phone in hopes of just getting a working phone. It's been OUTSTANDING so far. Worked right out of the box. It took 40 minutes to transfer my old data and it's like I haven't missed a beat. This thing has great for the price. It works way better than the S22 for half the price. I would 100 percent recommend this phone. It's a little slower than the top of the line, but it's not a big deal. Thing is great and I'm super happy with it so far.

It's a good phone but to go out and call it rugged is a flat out lie. I bent over with this in my back pocket and cracked the lens on 2 cameras. This thing is hard to hold on to and is more fragile than anything. Definitely get a case. But a good working phone