The Galaxy M35, as you might have guessed should you’re a long-time Samsung fan, is designed to supply among the finest specs of an A-series telephone, the A35 on this case, at a less expensive value. To sweeten the deal, the M35 boasts a 6,000 mAh battery, 1,000 mAh bigger than the A35.
As at all times, the M-series variant has a distinct and fewer premium design, and it additionally misses out on options like water and dirt resistance. However it’s significantly cheaper as properly, and on this overview, you can see out if the whole package deal is price your hard-earned money.
Design
Samsung hasn’t made any makes an attempt to make the Galaxy M35 stand out from a design standpoint or attempt to slim it down. It’s thick and heavy, even for a telephone with a 6,000 mAh battery.
The M34 had a 6,000 mAh battery as properly, but it surely was 0.3mm thinner and round 15 grams lighter. I assume the M35’s bigger vapor cooling chamber (extra on that later) and the marginally bigger show (6.6 inches vs 6.5 inches on the M34) might have one thing to do with the elevated thickness and weight.
The footprint of the telephone can be giant, largely due to the massive bezels, that are par for the course for Samsung’s mid-range telephones, even premium ones just like the Galaxy A55.
All of those shortcomings may be forgiven due to the telephone’s aggressive value, however nonetheless, it could have been good if Samsung had put in somewhat effort to make the design really feel much less cookie cutter and cumbersome.
The design’s one saving grace is the again of the telephone, which has a chequered texture that’s good to take a look at. Nevertheless, that is not one thing you’ll discover in day-to-day use, not except you may have the behavior of inserting your telephone entrance facet down when it is not in use.
Show and audio
The viewing expertise is an space the place the Galaxy M35 punches above its weight. The show on this telephone has the identical specs because the Galaxy A35. It is a 120Hz Tremendous AMOLED panel with punchy however not overly vivid colours, large viewing angles, and the identical 1000 nits of most brightness.
That is not all. The M35 has Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus+ for show safety. Once more, that is the identical glass because the A35 and even the nearly-twice-as-expensive Galaxy A55. Victus+ is nearly twice as powerful and 4 occasions extra scratch resistant than the Gorilla Glass 5 used on the Galaxy M34.
The large bezels are the one blemish on the in any other case glorious viewing expertise you get on this telephone. It additionally misses out on HDR certification, however that was to be anticipated because the A35 does not have an HDR-certified show both.
Whereas the M35 does away with the three.5mm headphone port, it has stereo audio system, an improve from a single speaker on its predecessors. The audio system sound good for the occasional YouTube video with out headphones or earbuds, although they are not as loud because the audio system on Samsung’s dearer telephones.
Digicam
The Galaxy M35 has some spectacular options for the value, however spectacular cameras will not be on the record. Daylight out of doors photos from the 50MP main shooter and the 8MP ultrawide digital camera are respectable, although the latter cannot resolve loads of element.
Lack of element is not an issue with the first digital camera, which additionally has pretty good dynamic vary in each stills and movies. Additionally it is respectable in low-light circumstances, significantly when Evening mode is activated. Evening mode is a should for the ultrawide digital camera as soon as the solar has gone down.
Take a look at some images from the first and ultrawide cameras within the gallery beneath.
For the 50MP rear digital camera, the Galaxy M35 contains loads of the taking pictures modes discovered on costlier units, akin to a Professional mode for each pictures and movies, gradual movement and tremendous gradual movement, hyperlapse, and Single Take.
Portrait mode is on the market as properly and does job of separating the background and topic. You may see a few rear digital camera portrait photographs within the gallery beneath.
There is a 2MP macro digital camera on the Galaxy M35, and whether or not it is daylight or nighttime, macro photos are borderline unusable. Years after Samsung launched macro cameras to Galaxy smartphones, they continue to be a gimmick designed to extend the whole variety of cameras on the spec sheet.
The 13MP front-facing digital camera will get the job achieved in the course of the day however struggles to maintain noise below test or resolve loads of element in low-light circumstances. Evening mode and utilizing the show as a flash may help, however not by an enormous margin.
Efficiency
The Galaxy M35 is powered by the Exynos 1380 chipset, which was launched with the Galaxy A54 final 12 months and can be used on the Galaxy A35. It was paired with 8GB of RAM on our overview unit, and general, the Galaxy M35 performs properly.
The consumer interface is usually easy and fast, and gaming efficiency is nice for the value. Because of a bigger vapor cooling chamber, one thing that has change into a pattern on each mid-range and flagship Samsung smartphones today, temperatures are stored in test and the chipset is not throttled as shortly throughout lengthy gaming periods as older units.
Some lag and stutter creeps in sometimes in each gaming and non-gaming use, however that is regular for a Galaxy smartphone that is not a flagship. And, frankly, contemplating the M35’s price ticket, I do not assume patrons can have any complaints about its efficiency.
For what it prices, the M35 is properly geared up connectivity-wise. It helps 5G, Wi-Fi 6, NFC, and Bluetooth 5.3. Name high quality was greater than acceptable, although name quantity was somewhat on the decrease facet.
Software program
The Galaxy M35 comes working Android 14 and One UI 6.1 out of the field, and it has many of the software program options discovered on Samsung’s flagship telephones. Simply do not count on any Galaxy AI options.
Whereas Samsung introduced the Google Circle to Search function to the Galaxy A35 and a few different A-series telephones, the remainder of the Galaxy AI expertise is unique to flagship units and can probably stay so for the foreseeable future.
As for software program updates, Samsung guarantees 4 main Android OS upgrades and safety updates for 5 years, which is spectacular and never one thing the competitors can match.
Take a look at our Galaxy A35 overview for extra particulars on the software program expertise that you simply get on the M35.
Battery life
The Galaxy M35 has glorious battery life, as you’ll count on from a telephone with a 6,000 mAh battery. It may final a full day even with plenty of gaming and use of 5G cell information. Over the course of the overview interval, I by no means needed to cost the telephone earlier than early afternoon on the second day.
Nevertheless, the Exynos 1380 chipset lacks the effectivity of newer mid-range Exynos chips and the most recent flagship Snapdragon processors. Samsung claims as much as two days of battery life, however the M35 does not stay as much as these claims. Or not less than it did not for me.
The M35 helps 25W charging you probably have the best charger (Samsung does not supply any charger within the field, unsurprisingly), and a full cost can take wherever from 90 to 100 minutes. Half an hour of charging takes the battery from 0 to round 45%.
Verdict
The Galaxy M35 provides nice worth. It has a wonderful show, stronger Gorilla Glass safety, good efficiency (and good cooling due to a big vapor chamber), nice battery life, and a promise of 4 main OS upgrades.
The design and digital camera high quality are nothing to write down residence about. The show bezels are too large, and battery life is just not as unbelievable correctly for a 6,000 mAh battery. However none of that may be a deal breaker for the asking value. The positives outweigh the negatives, and it’s best to give the M35 severe consideration should you’re available in the market for a brand new mid-range telephone and have a restricted price range.