Samsung Galaxy M35 5G series.
Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit
On paper, Samsung's latest Galaxy M35 comes with a significant upgrade over the predecessor (M34) in terms of a new processor, improved camera and a bigger display.
Does it deliver the goods? Here are my thoughts on Samsung's latest offer.
Design, build quality and display
The new Galaxy M35 is a big phone with solid build quality. It has a glass-like sturdy polycarbonate-based enclosure on the back with a smooth textured finish.
Our review unit is light blue. Though it gets stained with sweaty fingerprints, but only visible when viewed at certain angles in the light.
It has flat mid-rails around the display with curved corners, which offers a really good grip for the fingers to hold onto the phone.
Samsung Galaxy M35 5G series.
Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit
Besides the light blue, the company also offers devices in two colours-- dark blue and grey.
On the front, it has a 6.6-inch full HD+ (1080×2340p) super AMOLED Infinity-O Display. It supports a 120Hz refresh rate to offer a smooth scrolling experience while browsing the internet for information and while playing games.
Samsung Galaxy M35 5G series.
Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit
It also offers up to 1,000 nits peak brightness. It is more than enough to read messages or consume multimedia content indoors and outdoors under a shade. But, with direct sunlight, one may face reflection issues.
The company has incorporated Corning's Gorilla Glass Victus+ shield on the display, which is sufficient to protect it against scratches from keys or coins when kept in tight spaces like a pant pocket.
Samsung Galaxy M35 5G series.
Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit
It also features hybrid dual-SIM slots (nano SIM-1 + nano SIM-2 or microSD card), and a type-C port for charging and exchanging data from the computer.
The fingerprint sensor on the power button works smoothly without any issues.
Performance
The Galaxy M35 5G is powered by a 5nm Samsung Exynos 1380 processor (2.4 GHz Cortex-A78 x 4 cores + 2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 x 4) with Mali-G68 MP5 GPU.
It is available in three configurations-- 6GB RAM + 128GB storage, 6GB RAM + 256GB storage and 8GB RAM + 256GB storage.
Samsung Galaxy M35 5G's single-core, multi-core CPU and GPU performance score on Geekbench 6.0.
Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit
The device works perfectly without any issues in terms of day to day activities such as messaging, attending calls, web browsing and consuming multimedia content on the internet, OTT platforms and operating the camera.
It also supports most of the popular battle royale genre games. Thanks to the big battery 6000mAh capacity, it can easily last a full day even with extreme usage.
Samsung Galaxy M35 5G series.
Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit
The device runs Android 14-based One UI 6.1. It comes with Google's core apps and additionally, the company preinstalls several proprietary apps and also third-party apps, which many may not use.
On the bright side, the company offers the option to delete them. Also, it offers 128GB base storage. So, there is more than enough to accomodate Samsung apps and third-party, in addition to your favourite apps to socialise with friends online.
Samsung Galaxy M35 5G series.
Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit
The device is guaranteed to get at least four years of Android OS updates (up to 2024) and additional years of security software support (up to 2029). The Galaxy M35 is expected to receive the soon-to-be released Android 15 by this year's end or early 2025.
It supports 25W charging speed. It takes close to two hours to fully charge the device.
Photography
The latest Galaxy M35 houses a triple-camera module-- main 50MP wide camera (with f/1.8 aperture, 1/1.96-inch sensor, PDAF: Phase Detection Auto Focus, OIS: Optical Image Stabilisation) with 8MP ultra-wide angle camera (f/2.2, 123-degree field-of-view, 1/4.0-inch sensor, 1.12um pixel size) and a 2MP macro camera (f/2.4) with LED flash on the back.
Samsung Galaxy M35 5G's camera sample.
Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit
During the daylight, the new Samsung mid-range phone manages to sharp pictures. The colours of the subject, particularly flowers and human faces come off vibrant-looking with good details on the frame.
Samsung Galaxy M35 5G's camera sample.
Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit
In low-light conditions, the picture quality is decent at best. Also, the autofocus kind of slows in the night. One needs a little patience and a steady hand to get a perfect photo.
Samsung Galaxy M35 5G's camera sample with night mode on.
Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit
Samsung Galaxy M35 5G's camera sample night mode on.
Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit
With portrait mode on, the device does a decent job getting edges around the subject perfectly and artfully blur the background to get that magical bokeh effect.
Samsung Galaxy M35 5G's camera sample with portrait mode on.
Samsung Galaxy M35 5G's camera sample with portrait mode on.
With close-up shots, the device manages to get the fine details pretty accurately without any pressing issues to complain about.
Samsung Galaxy M35 5G's camera sample.
Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit
On the front, it houses a 13MP front camera (f/2.2). It takes really good selfies in the natural sunlight. But when indoors or at night, the photo quality goes a level down. However, it is on par with most of the phones in its class.
Samsung Galaxy M35 5G's camera sample.
Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit
Add to that, the native camera apps come with a bevvy of superficial tools to make the human face photogenic. It can help users smooth the skin tone, erase acne scars adjust the jaw bone, and eye size, and even alter the nose too, to make it attractive, and worthy to be shared on social media platforms.
Samsung Galaxy M35 5G's camera sample.
Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit
Both the front and the back cameras of the Galaxy M35 5G can record up to 4K videos at 30 (frames per second), full HD (1080p) 60 fps (on back camera only)/30 fps (front camera). They are decent quality, on par with other phones in its class.
Samsung Galaxy M35 5G's camera sample.
Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit
Final thoughts
The new Galaxy M35 comes packed with a big battery and as promised, it is the power-packed phone to deliver long lasting battery life. It has a big display, best suited for users who consume a lot of multimedia content on OTT apps, and spend more time on social media platforms to scroll news feeds and watch reels for hours.
Samsung Galaxy M35 5G series.
Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit
The new Galaxy M35 5G comes in three colours-- light blue, dark blue and grey. It is available in three configurations-- 6GB RAM + 128GB storage, 6GB RAM + 256GB storage and 8GB RAM + 256GB storage-- for Rs 19, 999, Rs 21,499 and Rs 24,499, respectively.
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