JOIN USSamsung Galaxy A34: First impression
Samsung earlier in the week unveiled the Galaxy A34 along with the Galaxy A54. And, now it is coming to India later this month on March 28.
Samsung is offering Galaxy A34 in two variants--8GB RAM + 128GB and 8GB RAM + 256GB storage-- for Rs 30,999 and Rs 33,999, respectively.
Also, the Galaxy A54 is available in two configurations-- 8GB RAM + 128GB storage and 8GB RAM + 256GB storage-- for Rs 38,999 and Rs 40,999, respectively.
There is a special launch offer by Samsung. Customers who pre-book any of the two devices between March 16 and March 27, can avail of Galaxy Buds Live for just Rs 999.
Additionally, the company is offering Rs 3000 cash back when purchased via a partner bank card. Or else, users can avail of Rs 2,500 cashback via the Samsung upgrade plan.
DH has received both the Galaxy A34 and A54 review units. I am starting with the former and here are my initial thoughts on Samsung's latest device.
Display and design
The new Galaxy A34 and even the A54 shares a lot of design elements with the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus. They come with vertically aligned islands-like circular cameras on the back. Even on the front, they feature a punch-hole camera at the top centre.
It sports a 6.6-inch full HD+ super AMOLED display with a pixel density of 390 ppi (pixels per inch), 120Hz refresh rate, and Vision Booster, a first for the A30 series to date. With a higher refresh rate, the display will be able to deliver a better viewing experience, particularly while reading news on or scrolling through social media platforms.
With Vision Booster, the display will be able to automatically adjust the brightness. This will come in handy outdoors, as the screen will be the brightest to ensure users can read e-books or watch a TV series without having to squint their eyes even under direct sunlight.
The device features a glass panel on the front. However, the frame around the edges and back is made of plastic-based material. When held in the hand, the device is very solid and you can feel the sturdiness. This review unit is silver colour variant, but in the sunlight, it reflects multiple colour patterns. It is the most visually good-looking model among the three variants. Samsung offers the device two other colours-- lime and graphite.
Also, the device comes with an IP67 rating, meaning the device can sustain fall in a waterbody up to 1 meter (around three feet) for close to 30 minutes.
And, it features an in-display fingerprint sensor. So far it has worked smoothly without any issues.
Configuration
Like the new Galaxy S23 series raised the bar for premium phones, Samsung is setting a new standard for RAM+Storage configuration for upper mid-range phones, with the new Galaxy A34. The base variant comes with 8GB RAM + 128GB and the top-end mode features 8GB RAM + 256GB storage.
And, with RAM Extension, users can expand physical memory by 8GB extra, to 16GB RAM, provided there is free space in the storage.
The device comes with a big 5,000mAh battery which is enough to keep the phone running for more than a day under normal usage. The company offers just the Type-C-to-Type-C cable with the retail box and supports just 25W charging speed and the consumer has to buy the charger separately, unless you have managed to save the older charger of the previous phone.
Galaxy A34 runs on Android 13-based One UI 5.1 and the user interface looks clean, but there are a lot of pre-loaded apps, which I would never use. Thanks to bigger storage, I don't have any issues as of now. A notable aspect of the device is that it is guaranteed to get four years of Android OS support (up to Android 17) and five years of security software support (up to the year 2028).
It is powered by a 6nm class Mediatek MT6877V Dimensity 1080 octa-core processor and it can reach a peak CPU speed of 2.26Ghz.
With this configuration, the device will be able to run smoothly be it day-to-day activities such as loading apps faster, operating the camera and other stuff. I have to check how the device performs when playing graphics-rich games and how the thermal performance is. Be sure to return for the full review coming next week.
Also, the device supports 11 5G bands and is compatible with services offered by Reliance Jio and Airtel in India.
Photography
Samsung Galaxy A34 comes with a triple-camera module--a 48MP main camera (f/1.8, autofocus, OIS) backed by 8MP (f/2.2, fixed focus) and 5MP macro sensor (f/2.4, fixed focus) with LED flash on the back.
It features a 13MP (f/2.2) fixed-focus front camera for selfies and video chatting.
Also, the device boasts an AI image enhancer, object eraser, GIF Remaster, Photo Remaster, and other value-added photography tools, we see in the premium Galaxy S23 series.
I took some sample shots in the afternoon and have to tell you, they look really good. The pictures have come good with the sun's natural light. Though the subjects (flowers) look brighter, the camera has managed to capture a good amount of details.
Also, I am very impressed with the addition of the bokeh blur effect in the background, while the focus on the subject is sharp with no smudges around the edges of the flower in the front.
However, more tests need to be done on how the device performs in the low-light, indoors, and at the night.
Initial impression
The latest Galaxy A34 series looks to be a promising mid-range phone, as it comes with several premium Galaxy S features such as Vision Booster, Photo Remaster, GIF Remaster, and RAM+Storage configuration, and yet it costs less than half the price of the base variant of the Galaxy S23. Do come back for a full review next week.
As far as the Galaxy A54 is concerned, it has the same design language as the A34 but differs in screen size, camera, and processor. It sports a 6.4-inch super AMOLED full HD+ display and comes with Exynos 1380 octa-core chipset.
It features a triple camera module-- 50MP main camera (f/1.8, autofocus, OIS: Optical Image Stabilisation) backed by 12MP (f/2.2) ultra-wide fixed-focus camera and 5MP macro sensor (f/2.4, fixed focus) with LED flash on the back. And, it also houses a 32MP front camera.
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