Samsung Galaxy M34 Smartphone Review – The Samsung Galaxy M34 was launched globally in July 2023. Samsung is a big player in the Indian smartphone market and their M series of smartphones are quite popular in India, so the launch of the Samsung Galaxy M34 is not surprising here. However, the smartphone has been launched globally. The device arrives with a decent display, optimum performance, and a much more appealing set of features.
The new Samsung Galaxy M34 comes with support for 5G connectivity and features a design that is very similar to the Samsung Galaxy A34. In fact, the design of the smartphone closely resembles all Samsung smartphones that launched in 2023. On paper, the device seems worth the value you are going to pay but that doesn’t justify the real value of the smartphone. Let’s find out whether the device is worth buying with the full review of the Samsung Galaxy M34 smartphone.
Table of Contents
Samsung Galaxy M34 Smartphone Review
Highlights
- The Samsung Galaxy M34 features a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display with a 120Hz high refresh rate.
- The chipset inside the phone is the Samsung Exynos 1280 SoC capable of reaching up to a 2×2.4GHz clocking speed.
- The phone arrives with the latest Android 13 OS out-of-the-box with the OneUI 5.1 user interface for more customization options.
- The main triple camera has a 50MP sensor, while the selfie camera has a 13MP sensor.
- The phone has a Li-Po 6000mAh battery and supports 25W wired fast charging.
Design and Display
Samsung decided not to make too many changes to the Samsung Galaxy M34. The only change you are likely to notice is the new camera arrangement on the back, which is more in line with what we saw on the new S23 series, so it’s not bad. The design of the Samsung Galaxy M34 is modern and acceptable. The body, including the rear panel and side frame, is made of polycarbonate, which means plastic.
But it is durable, rigid, and feels perfectly fine in hand. Aside from this, the device has a bit thick chin and mounts a notch at the top center. The Samsung Galaxy M34 comes in Midnight Blue, Prism Silver, and Waterfall Blue color options. When it comes to the display, the phone features a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display with Full HD+ resolution and 120Hz high refresh rate for a smooth user experience.
It also has support for up to 1000 nits peak brightness, so outdoor visibility won’t be an issue. The display is also protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5, but sadly there’s no water or dust resistance support. Overall, the display department is satisfactory as per the pricing of the smartphone.
Memory and Internal
The Samsung Galaxy M34 is powered by Samsung’s own 5nm Exynos 1280 chipset, which is comparable to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 778G chipset. The chipset can reach up to a 2×2.4GHz clocking speed, so it has plenty of power to run all your favorite apps. The chipset comes with an octa-core CPU configuration and also has support for 5G connectivity. The small size of the chipset makes it quite efficient and therefore is an optimum choice for a midrange smartphone.
The GPU featured in the chipset is the Mali-G68 GPU, which is a decent GPU and can handle games like PUBGm, CODm, and even Genshin Impact at normal graphic settings. When it comes to the software side of things, the phone runs on the latest Android 13 OS with OneUI 5.1 user interface, which provides plenty of customization support and is also accompanied by a clean stock experience.
For memory and storage, the Samsung Galaxy M34 is available for purchase with 6GB to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. But if you still run out of storage, there’s support for microSDXC cards as well. However, if you decide to use a microSDXC card, then you won’t be able to use the second sim slot as it is a hybrid card slot. All in all, the device doesn’t disappoint in terms of performance and user experience.
Camera
The Samsung Galaxy M34 has a triple-camera setup, with a 50MP sensor as the main camera, an 8MP sensor as the ultra-wide camera, and a 2MP depth sensor. The main rear camera produces exceptional pictures with a high dynamic range, great detail levels, and perfect white balance. The 8MP ultra-wide camera is also quite capable, but the detail levels don’t match that of the main camera, so the pictures may appear a bit on the soft side. There’s portrait mode as well and the camera manages to capture some decent portrait shots.
These pictures tend to have perfect edges around the subject and the subject itself looks quite natural. The selfie camera is a 13MP sensor that can take some quality selfies, thanks to the level of optimizations put in by Samsung.
When it comes to video recording, the rear camera can shoot up to 4K videos@30FPS, but the selfie camera maxes out at 1080p@30FPS. The main rear camera also has support for OIS, while on the other side, the gyro-EIS support is missing on the device. The camera setup is satisfactory on the Galaxy M34 but support for gyro-EIS is expected on a device in this price segment.
Battery and Others
The new Samsung Galaxy M34 has a massive Li-Po 6000mAh battery which can easily last up to 2 – 3 days with lighter usage. Even if you use a lot of cameras to click pictures along with video streaming, the smartphone should still last 2 days. But if you play a lot of games, then the battery inside the smartphone may not last a full day.
Thanks to the large-capacity battery and power-efficient components inside, the smartphone can provide some mind-boggling battery backup. But if you do eventually run out of battery, there’s nothing to worry about as the smartphone supports 25W wired fast charging but you need to buy a charger separately.
Apart from that, the smartphone has support for dual-band Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.3, a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, NFC, and a USB Type-C port for charging. Aside from this, there is support for a 3mm audio jack as well. The smartphone is available in India at $230 (Rs 18,999 in India) for the base variant.
Samsung Galaxy M34 Pros and Cons
Samsung Galaxy M34 Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the Samsung Galaxy M34 smartphone.
| Specifications | Samsung Galaxy M34 |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G |
| Announced | July 2023 |
| SIM | Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 6.37 x 3.04 x 0.35 inches |
| Weight | 208 g (approx.) |
| Size | 6.5 inches |
| Display | Super AMOLED 120Hz 1000 nits brightness 19.5:9 ratio ~396 PPI density |
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels |
| OS | Android 13, One UI 5.1 |
| Chipset | 5nm – Exynos 1280 |
| CPU | Octa-core 2×2.4 GHz Cortex-A78 6×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 |
| GPU | Mali-G68 |
| Card slot | Yes (shared SIM slot) |
| RAM | 6GB, 8GB |
| Internal | 128GB, 256GB UFS 2.2 |
| Camera | 50 MP (wide), PDAF, OIS 8 MP (120Ëšultrawide) 2 MP (macro) LED flash, panorama, HDR Max – 4K@30fps |
| Selfie | 13 MP (wide) Max – 1080p@30fps |
| Loudspeaker | Yes (stereo speakers) |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct |
| Bluetooth | 5.3, A2DP, LE |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS |
| NFC | Yes |
| Infrared port | No |
| Radio | No |
| USB | USB Type-C 2.0, OTG |
| Sensors | Under display fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, compass, barometer |
| Battery | Li-Po 6000 mAh 25W wired |
| Colors | Midnight Blue, Prism Silver, Waterfall Blue |
| Expected Price | $230 (Rs 18,999 in India) approx. |
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy M34 seems to have all the necessary hardware inside the smartphone, including a better display, optimum processor, decent camera, and epic battery life. On top of that, Samsung promises four years of Android updates, which adds tremendous value to the smartphone. If you are someone who prioritizes budget 5G smartphone with huge battery then the Samsung Galaxy M34 is the smartphone to buy.
But if you are a heavy gamer and play a lot of games on your smartphone, or maybe you need water resistance then you might want to look for an alternative option. If you are looking for an alternative option, you can configure the Xiaomi Redmi Note 12R smartphone that comes with better specifications and the same price range.
In terms of pricing, the Samsung Galaxy M34 has a decent price tag and it is justifiable considering the specs it is offering. Sure there’s no telephoto camera, but the main camera is more than capable of taking some great daylight shots. Apart from this, everything about this device feels satisfactory. If you feel this device fulfills your requirements then go for it, however, the final decision is up to you.
