Samsung Galaxy A34 Smartphone Review – The Samsung Galaxy A34 was launched globally in March 2023. It is the company’s best mid-ranger for this year and it is not going to empty out your wallet. It’s meant for people who don’t want to pay high prices for flagships but don’t want a crappy performance either. The Galaxy A34 smartphone promises to be exactly meeting the expectations of the user.
The smartphone comes with 5G connectivity, a decent bright display, a big battery, and many more appealing features. Well, there are more things to talk about and we will look more and provide you with a detailed review of the Samsung Galaxy A34 smartphone.
Table of Contents
Samsung Galaxy A34 Smartphone Review
Highlights
- The Samsung Galaxy A34 features a 6.6-inch Super AMOLED display with Full HD+ resolution and 120Hz high refresh rate.
- The chipset inside the phone is the MediaTek Dimensity 1080 5G SoC capable of reaching up to a 2×2.6GHz clocking speed.
- The phone arrives with the latest Android 13OS out-of-the-box with OneUI 5.1 interface for more customization options.
- The main rear camera has a 48MP sensor, while the selfie camera has a 13MP sensor.
- The phone has a Li-Po 5000 mAh battery and supports 25W wired fast charging.
Design and Display
Samsung decided to go with the same design philosophy for all their phones in this generation. This is why almost all of their new phones have similar design and looks like the Galaxy S23 series. But that’s a good thing as the S23 design is among the most beautiful and refined designs of all time. While the Galaxy A34 also has the same design, it is without the premium back that the S23 design provides. The back and frame of the smartphone are made out of entirely plastic. We were hoping for a premium glass back this time around, but that’s not the case.
In terms of dimensions, the device has an 8.2mm thick body and weighs around 199 grams. The phone comes in Lime, Graphite, Violet, and Silver color options. When it comes to the display, the phone features a 6.6-inch Super AMOLED display with Full HD+ resolution, 1000 nitsHBM brightness, and 120Hzhigh refresh rate for a smooth user experience. The display is simply gorgeous, which we have come to expect from Samsung. The display is also protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and carries an IP67 water and dust resistance coating.
Memory and Internal
The Samsung Galaxy A34 is powered by the 6nmMediatekDimensity 1080 5G chipset, which is a slight upgrade over the Exynos 1280 that was found in its previous iteration, that is, the Galaxy A33 5G. The improvement can be seen in the benchmark numbers, but not so much in the real-life value. There’s hardly any difference in usage when compared to the chipset in the Galaxy A33 5G. That’s not to say that the processor is bad in any way. It has plenty of power, but we were hoping for more of an improvement.
The processor comes with an octa-core CPU configuration, which can reach up to a 2×2.6GHz clocking speed. Like the Galaxy A33 5G, the Galaxy A34 supports 5G as well. The GPU featured in the smartphone is Mali-G68 MC4, which is actually a capable GPU and can easily handle games like PUBGm, CODm, and even Genshin Impact. The chipset has enough computational and graphical performance to keep all your daily apps running fast and smoothly. When it comes to the software side of things, the phone runs on the latest Android 13OS with OneUI 5.1 interface.
The smartphone comes in 3 memory and storage configurations, such as 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage,8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, and 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. But if you still run out of storage, there’s support for microSD as well.
Camera
The phone has a triple-camera setup, with a 48MP sensor as the main camera, an 8MP ultra-wide camera, and a 5MP macrolens. The main rear camera is exceptionally good for the price and takes some great pictures with a wide dynamic range, superior white balance, excellent saturated colors, and stunning details. The pictures are really good and come close to the levels of many flagship devices. Even the portrait mode manages to capture the pictures perfectly and the edges of the subject look quite natural.
The selfie camera is a 13MP sensor that can take decent selfies with quality that is good enough to post on social media without needing to edit them. When it comes to video recording, both the rear camera and the selfie camera maxe out at 4K@30FPS. However, the smartphone has support for OIS, which should make the video footage much more stable. But only the main rear camera has support for OIS.
Battery and Others
The new Samsung Galaxy A34 smartphone has a Li-Po5000mAh battery which can easily last up to 2 – 3 days with light to moderate usage. Even with heavy usage, the battery inside the smartphone should still last one full day. This is due to the use of a large-capacity battery and a power-efficient chipset. When you do run out of battery, you will be glad to know that the smartphone supports 25W wired fast charging.
However, a charger is not included in the box of the Galaxy A34 smartphone. On top of that, the phone doesn’t have support for wireless charging as well. That’s a double negative for us. Apart from that, the smartphone has support for dual-band Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.3, an under-display fingerprint sensor, and a USB Type-C port for charging. The Samsung Galaxy A34 smartphone can be availed at $239 (Rs 27,499 in India) approx. for the base variant.
Samsung Galaxy A34 Pros and Cons
Samsung Galaxy A34 Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the Samsung Galaxy A34 smartphone.
| Specifications | Samsung Galaxy A34 |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G |
| Announced | March 2023 |
| SIM | Hybrid Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 6.35 x 3.07 x 0.32 inches |
| Weight | 199 g |
| Size | 6.6 inches |
| Display | Super AMOLED 120Hz 1000 nits brightness 19.5:9 ratio ~390 PPI density |
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 IP67 dust/water resistant |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels |
| OS | Android 13, One UI 5.1 |
| Chipset | 6nm – Mediatek MT6877V Dimensity 1080 |
| CPU | Octa-core 2×2.6 GHz Cortex-A78 6×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 |
| GPU | Mali-G68 MC4 |
| Card slot | microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot) |
| RAM | 6GB, 8GB |
| Internal | 128GB, 256GB |
| Camera | 48 MP (wide), PDAF, OIS 8 MP (123˚ultrawide) 5 MP (macro) LED flash, panorama, HDR Max – 4K@30fps |
| Selfie | 13 MP (wide) Max – 4K@30fps |
| Loudspeaker | Yes (stereo speakers) |
| 3.5mm jack | No |
| 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 (market/region dependent) |
| Infrared port | No |
| Radio | No |
| USB | USB Type-C 2.0, OTG |
| Sensors | Under display fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, compass Virtual proximity sensing |
| Battery | Li-Po 5000 mAh 25W wired |
| Colors | Lime, Graphite, Violet, Silver |
| Expected Price | $239 (Rs 27,499 in India) approx |
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy A34 smartphone has all the decent specs, such as a good display, great processor, excellent camera, and exceptional battery and that would be enough for many people. But, a budget enthusiast will quickly find gaps that are just too large to ignore. The lack of any charger in the box, lack of wireless charging, lack of premium material, and the lack of Wi-Fi 6 in 2023 will be a disappointment for many users. The smartphone is decent on its own, but the moment you start comparing the benefits of this smartphone start to fade away.
It can’t even be called a decent upgrade over its predecessor, the Galaxy A33 5G. But if you are a Samsung fan and get this phone at a discount price, we can recommend it to users who are looking to upgrade. Anyway, the device is good to go with and provides value for your money. Also, other smartphones in the same price bracket offer more value than the Samsung Galaxy A34. If you are looking for an alternative option, you can check the Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Turbo smartphone. It has a better processor and is less expensive than other models. However, the final decision depends on your needs and preferences.
