That’s it, Samsung has introduced all its smartphones for the year 2023. It’s been a busy first quarter with the Galaxy S, and now it’s up to the cheaper Galaxy A to prove themselves. Galaxy A34 follows the design line and includes some interesting changes Compared to the 2022 version Larger, technically better AMOLED display, the elimination of the Exynos in-house processor in favor of a solution from Mediatek. We had some complaints about the A33 last year, we’ll see if Samsung fixes this version and knows how the brand will meet consumer expectations.
Price and availability
Slightly dated display, but accurate
Although it is not immersive with its wide edges and a drop of water befitting a 2019 smartphone, the Galaxy A34 5G has not said the last word in this screen section. We have 6.6 inch AMOLED panel It has a Full HD+ resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels. That’s a nice 0.2-inch magnification over the Galaxy A33. In addition, plate offers A non-adaptive refresh that can be calibrated at 60 Hz or 120 Hz. If autonomy wears off, lingering at 60 Hz can be interesting on long days.
This It’s nice to offer 120 Hz. This is also a significant improvement because the Galaxy A34’s predecessor was limited to 90 Hz. Still, at an equivalent price, we’re seeing lower, more impressive displays. This is the case of the Poco X5 Pro, which for its part offers slightly higher pixel density, but also adaptive refreshment at an additional cost, or even the Magic 5 Lite, in addition to the 120-screen Hz OLED. thin and curved borders.
On the colorimetric side, two different calibrations will be available. In Vivid mode, which is configured by default, the whites are a bit blue and the brightness is very accurate. The display remains readable and pleasant even in direct sunlight. In natural mode, we get a little closer to pure white, more neutral. Conversely, the brightness drops a little and the result is much less convincing.
screen fun to use. Whether for watching videos or for easier surfing on the web and through the interface. The touch screen provides a responsive, efficient and satisfying service.
An interface that is still efficient
Samsung delivers Galaxy A34 5G equipped Android 13 and in-house OneUI 5.1 interface. The latter brings many new features such as different color tones for selfies, one-handed photo zoom features, shared photo albums, and the ability to customize the lock screen. Beyond certain new features in this release, we no longer offer one of the overlays, OneUI. If not veneer, it’s the most convincing on the market.
Navigation is fluid, parameters are organized in a consistent manner. But beyond manufacturer apps offered by Samsung, there are lots of third party apps pre-installed. Netflix, Spotify, Tiktok, Disney+ and even Nexdoor as well as a host of Microsoft solutions. Fortunately, there are no useless games, just a few popular apps. Nothing substantial enough to tarnish the experience, but still somewhat painful.
An important point to consider before buying, unlike the Galaxy S and Z here the system benefits from major updates only for 3 years and 4 years coverage. Samsung has yet to align the longevity of the Galaxy A series with its high-end devices that have the right to use it for another year.
Good power, nothing more
Galaxy A34 5G is equipped with a Mediatek SOC signature. Equipping other smartphones in the market like the Redmi Note 12 Pro is the Dimensity 1080. The latter consists of 8 cores. Two 2.6 GHz Cortex-A78 and 6 2 GHz Cortex-A55 cores. The Dimensity 1080 is complete with a Mali-G68 MC4 GPU that takes care of the display and graphics part. On the RAM side, it’s only 6GB. All competitors of the Galaxy A34 5G offer 8GB of RAM, with the exception of the Honor Magic 5 Lite, which offers 6GB of RAM but also offers 5GB of virtual memory. It remains to be seen what the benchmarks say.
In GeekBench 6, Galaxy A34 5G easily outperforms Redmi Note 12 Pro It is equipped with the same processor in addition to two GB of additional RAM, with a score of 1038 in a single core and 2457 in a multi-core. As a reminder, the Redmi Note 12 Pro reached 761 and 2229 points, respectively. It differs with OpenCL score It rises to 2391 against 2662 on Redmi.
Samsung’s baby on Antutu passed Redmi With 474923 points against 426003.
In use, despite slightly lower scores on Geekbench6’s OpenCL workbench,The A34 5G is doing pretty well. The heating remains under control and the phone responds well in most cases. Except for Genshin Impact, which shows some slowdowns from time to time, the games run without too much trouble. However, the most demanding games will be limited quickly. Genshin Impact for example worked fine, yes, but with poor graphics quality. Same for Asphalt 9, which automatically adjusts itself to poor graphics quality.
Excellent autonomy
Galaxy A34 5G Equipped with a 5000mAh battery, A standard found in almost most smartphones today. Here is the “ultra-fast” charging point or induction charging. Wired max 25 W on Samsung!
Samsung highlights the Galaxy A34 to use for 2 days without being charged. The least we can say is, really, the device has some in its belly. A 30-minute session of Genshin Impact reduces battery life by 6% to 8%. Typically, we see a 10% reduction instead for an equivalent playback time at 120Hz and equivalent brightness. So here is a pleasant surprise. In our tests on Work 3.0 from PCMARK, it managed to withstand almost 13 hours of continuous office use. Therefore, compared to a more standard use, it is equivalent to one and a half or even two days of use for a normal user.
On the charging side, it takes 15 minutes to go from 6% to 22%, 30 minutes to go from 6% to 35%, and About two hours for a full charge from 0% to 100%. Slow… very slow, even very slow. At this point, we would really like a fast (really fast) charge to reach Samsung, which is left behind.
A specialized audio track
Galaxy A34 5G, which does not offer a 3.5 mm mini jack socket on the audio side, is equipped with two speakers. which provides quality stereo sound. Powerful, generally balanced, the sound delivered is remarkable and has a tendency to bring out the highs. It’s a good spot for those who like to watch TV shows and movies, as this balancing will benefit the intelligibility of the sounds, and it’s more of a contrast for those who like to balance the bass to use it more. You can rely on Bluetooth 5.3 to connect an external device.
Regarding communication, the result is clear and audible at both the listening speaker and microphone level. In fairly noisy areas, some background noise manages to pass. however, most of them are canceled by the noise reduction microphone.
An accurate but perfectable piece of photography
Samsung equips the Galaxy A34 5G triple rear photo module :
- 48-megapixel optically stabilized wide-angle main sensor with f/1.8 aperture
- 8 megapixel ultra wide angle opening at f / 2.2
- 5-megapixel macro sensor with f/2.4 aperture
a piece of photography therefore it does not change compared to last year. The setup was exactly the same.
Main sensor, by day, convincing results Colors are bright without being too saturated, and the transcription of the scene is accurate in terms of both brightness and contrast. Precision and detail are present, and the sharpness provided by the optical stabilization is very satisfying. We notice a slight loss of sharpness at the edges of the image.
Galaxy A34 5G is capable of up to 10x digital zoom. In fact, beyond X4 or even X5 magnification, the results are much worse. But it’s already a comfortable beach for a little photo fun.
Basis, sensor combines 4 pixels into one for 12 megapixel shots. From the photo mode settings, it is possible to activate the 48-megapixel mode here, which offers sharper and more precise shots, as well as offering a result as consistent as in the 12-megapixel mode. However, the latter will collect less light since it is smaller. This will usually result in images that are slightly darker. This is not much of a concern, as it can be easily fixed by applying some standard edits to the resulting photo.
The ultra-wide angle offers true colorimetric accuracy with the main sensor, as well as It also offers good shots. They are certainly less clear due to their lower configuration, not necessarily negligible. Quite logically, with this type of lens, and even more so in the mid-range, images will have some distortion and chromatic aberration at the edges. There is nothing bad.
To stay macro sensor that offers very sensitive but dull shots. Colors lose their vibrancy and shots become darker. However, the latter is so regularly excluded by users, its relevance may therefore be questioned after the first tests are done.
Forget the macro sensor in low light and avoid the ultra wide angle sensor, try to prefer the main sensor Who is the only person who stands out a bit in a situation like this? Indeed, the shots are blurry, noisy, the colors flow, in short, the result is truly disappointing. The main 48 MP sensor manages to more faithfully reproduce the scene. Still not perfect. Even with the latter, the loss of precision is significant.
The latest sensor to equip this phone 13-megapixel f/2.2 aperture selfie sensor. It does not bring any innovation compared to its predecessor. In classic or portrait mode, the latter offers random very successful shots. The software clipping is excellent, the precision is there, and the post-processing doesn’t spoil the issue. Besides the beauty mode, there’s also a “fun” mode with a bunch of filters if you wish.
On the video side, Galaxy A34 5G can shoot up to 4k at 30 frames per secondAt 480 frames per second at 720p, also in time-lapse or slow motion.
Samsung finally presents this is a true piece of photography on the Galaxy A34, but nothing more. The device pales in comparison to the Poco X5 Pro and its 108 MP main sensor (signed by Samsung). The Korean brand has accustomed us to excellence in photography that is not copied here, and it’s a shame.
