SAMSUNG GALAXY A34 REVIEW

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Samsung has recently released their latest mid-range smartphone, the Galaxy A34, which follows the footsteps of the popular A33 from last year. With the A33 setting a high bar for mid-range devices, many are curious to see if Samsung has managed to improve on the already successful formula with the A34. In this Galaxy A34 review, we will take a closer look at this device and explore its features, performance, and overall value. Check out the latest price of the Galaxy A34 here.

Design Built And Display

The Samsung Galaxy A33 was a popular mid-range phone, but does its successor, the A34, bring any significant improvements to the table? In terms of design and build, the A34 is quite similar to the A33 5G, but there are some notable differences.

The phone comes with an under-display optical fingerprint allowing you to unlock your phone in dark or low-light areas. And it boasts a larger and wider display with a faster refresh rate, and it is equipped with a new MediaTek chipset. As a result of the larger screen, the phone itself is slightly bigger and has a plastic build with a glossy finish on the back panel.

The curved matte frame is also made of plastic, and each camera has its own separate bump. Furthermore, the A34 has an IP67 rating for water and dust resistance, which is standard for Samsung’s A series phones.

The A34 boasts a 6.6-inch AMOLED display with a 1080p resolution, Gorilla Glass 5 protection, and an impressive 120Hz refresh rate. The aspect ratio has been slightly modified to 19.5:9, which feels more comfortable to use than the 20:9 on last year’s model.

Samsung has made notable improvements to the display’s maximum brightness, measuring a maximum of 480 nits with a manual slider and over a thousand nits in auto mode when exposed to bright sunlight.

The 120Hz refresh rate is a significant upgrade from the previous model’s 90Hz, resulting in a much smoother experience when swiping around. While the display does not support HDR, it looks sharp and contrasty, with excellent color accuracy overall.

Storage And Audio

The Galaxy A34 comes equipped with a pair of stereo speakers that offer decent loudness and sound quality. While the mids could be improved, the highs are great and there’s even some bass. Additionally, the phone comes with either 128 or 256GB of onboard storage, which can be expanded through a microSD card.

System Interface And Chipsets

The Galaxy A34 runs on Samsung’s latest One UI 5.1 interface on top of Android 13. This version includes optimizations behind the scenes and shares the same interface as flagship models, albeit with a few missing features. For a detailed breakdown of One UI 5’s features, check out this review here>NEW INTERFACE ONE UI 5.0 REVIEW

Yes, we can’t finish this Galaxy A34 review without mentioning this: This time, Instead of using Samsung’s own Exynos chips, the Galaxy A34 comes with a MediaTek Dimensity 1080 chipset, which is a decent mid-range option built on a 6-nanometer process. In benchmark tests, the Galaxy A34 performs well, with scores that are not too far behind those of the more expensive Galaxy A54 with its Exynos 1380 chipset. In practical use, the A34 has enough power for casual gaming and runs smoothly with no problems when it comes to day-to-day tasks.

Galaxy A34 Review Cameras

The camera setup on the Galaxy A34 is similar to that of the a33 5G, with a 48-megapixel main camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera, and a 5-megapixel macro camera. However, the A34 does not have a depth sensor.

Selfie CAM:

The 13-megapixel front-facing camera captures excellent selfies on the Galaxy A34, producing images with plenty of details and natural-looking skin tones. The contrast is well-balanced, and the dynamic range is impressive.

Daylight Conditions:

The Galaxy A34’s main camera has a 48-megapixel sensor, but due to pixel binning, the photos are output at 12 megapixels. In daylight, the photos have good saturation, contrast, and dynamic range, although they are not very sharp when viewed up close.

Despite the absence of a dedicated depth sensor, portrait shots have decent subject separation, and the colors and textures on the subject look nice. The 8-megapixel ultrawide camera captures detailed shots with saturated colors and contrast, and close-ups from the macro camera have good detail, high contrast, and vibrant colors. In low-light conditions, performance may not be as good.

Low-light conditions:

The main camera of the A34 captures photos with good detail and pleasing colors, and the dynamic range is decent with some shadow detail and well-managed light sources. There is also a night mode available that cleans up some of the noise, but the shadows can appear darker in this mode.

However, the ultrawide camera struggles significantly in low-light situations, producing soft and noisy images. Unfortunately, the night mode doesn’t improve the performance of the ultrawide camera, which is disappointing.

VIDEO QUALITY: In terms of daylight video quality, the Galaxy A34 offers video recording with its main camera up to 4K resolution at 30fps, producing clips with great detail and wide dynamic range. The colors are vivid and the contrast is set a bit high.

The ultra-wide camera is limited to 1080p resolution and produces videos with decent detail, but the dynamic range is limited, and the colors and contrast may appear overdone. Electronic stabilization is available for all cameras, but only in 1080p resolution, and it works pretty well.

However, the low-light video quality is not as impressive. 4K videos captured in low-light conditions with the main camera are just okay, with good detail but dark and noisy footage and limited dynamic range.

Battery:

The battery capacity of 5,000 milliamp-hours is the same as last year. But the battery life on the A34 is outstanding, with an overall endurance rating of 133 hours. It supports 25-watt charging, but the charger doesn’t come in the box with an official Samsung adapter. We were able to charge from 0 to 51 percent in just half an hour.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS: At the end of this Galaxy A34 review we should mention that this is a solid mid-range device, with a large 120Hz AMOLED display, impressive battery life, and a decent chipset. The camera performance is also quite good, although it’s not a massive improvement over the previous model.

Overall, it’s a well-rounded device that’s definitely worth considering if you’re in the market for a mid-range smartphone. If you’re looking for alternatives to the Galaxy A34, you might want to check out the Moto Edge 30, Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro, or the Pixel 6A. Check out the latest price of the Galaxy A34 here.

Daven Klarsen
Daven Klarsen is a technology writer and researcher. He's also an avid sports fan, especially when it comes to the LAL. When not working, you can usually find him tweaking his Android devices or watching soccer news.

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