While Samsung’s mid-range Galaxy A series phones may not offer the cutting-edge specs of their flagship cousins, they continue to deliver an impressive value proposition. With premium designs, bright, vivid displays, and capable camera systems, these affordable Android handsets stand out from the crowd.
Building on that winning formula, Samsung has now officially unveiled its latest 2024 Galaxy A series contenders – the Samsung Galaxy A35 and A55.
Today’s launch follows the earlier release of the entry-level A05, A05S, A15, and A25 models that kicked off Samsung’s refreshed mid-range lineup for the year.
The Galaxy A55 and A35 aren’t total surprises, as leaks and even some premature online listings have previewed their designs and specs over the past few weeks. However, Samsung’s mid-rangers for 2024 still pack some compelling upgrades beyond their exterior tweaks, including one key new security enhancement.
Samsung Galaxy A55 5G
True to the leaks, the Galaxy A55 borrows the signature “Key Island” design cue from its more affordable A-series siblings like the A25 and A15. There’s a protruding bump along the right side that neatly houses the volume and power buttons.
The A55 also gets a build quality upgrade, becoming Samsung’s first mid-ranger to rock a premium metal frame.
Display
While last year’s A54 sported a 6.5-inch display, the new A55 ups the ante with a larger 6.6-inch FHD+ AMOLED panel. It boasts an impressive 1,000 nits of peak brightness and is fortified with Gorilla Glass Victus+ for extra protection against drops and scratches.
Samsung’s latest mid-range screen should deliver a brilliant, ultra-vivid viewing experience.
Performance and Storage
Powering this bigger, brighter display is Samsung’s new Exynos 1480 processor, which promises some serious performance gains over its predecessors. We’re talking up to 15% faster CPU speeds thanks to a quartet of Cortex-A78 cores clocked at 2.75GHz, and four Cortex-A55 cores hitting 2GHz.
Perhaps more excitingly, graphics get a huge 32% boost from the Xclipse 530 GPU based on AMD’s latest RDNA 2 architecture.
Out of the box, even the base A55 model gets a generous 8GB RAM allotment, while step-up versions pack 12GB alongside 256GB of storage. There’s also a microSD card slot to expand storage for your photos, videos, and media libraries.
Cameras and Software
Like its predecessor, the A55 keeps the same triple rear camera setup, which consists of a 50MP primary camera backed up by a 12MP ultrawide and a 5MP macro camera.
However, Samsung is promising improved low-light photography using AI processing, plus the ability to capture 12-bit HDR video.
Software-wise, the Galaxy A55 launches with Android 14 topped with Samsung’s One UI 6.1 skin – the same modern software experience found on the company’s latest Galaxy S24 flagships.
Samsung Galaxy A35 5G
The Samsung Galaxy A35 shares a similar design language as its bigger A55 sibling, including the signature “Key Island” side button layout.
It also packs the same generous 6.6-inch FHD+ AMOLED display running at a buttery smooth 120Hz refresh rate for silky scrolling and animations.
Under the hood, the A35 utilizes last year’s Exynos 1380 chip, which powered the Galaxy A54. It’s not the latest silicon, but it’s still a capable mid-range performer. The base A35 model comes equipped with 6GB of RAM, though storage configurations up to 256GB can be had with 8GB if you need extra multitasking headroom.
Knox Vault: A First For The Galaxy A-Series
One major upgrade both the A55 and A35 share is support for Samsung’s new Knox Vault security. This hardware-isolated environment, a first for the Galaxy A-series, provides an ultra-secure encrypted space to protect your most sensitive data, like passwords, PINs, and payment info from malware and hackers.
While the A55 and A35 run Samsung’s latest One UI 6.1 software based on Android 14 out of the box, they won’t quite match the flagship Galaxy S24’s generous 5-year software commitment. Samsung is promising 4 major Android OS upgrades and 5 years of security patches, on par with previous A-series devices.
Pricing and Availability
The Galaxy A55 offers two storage options: the base model, starting at €479 (KES 72,691), comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, while the higher-end variant, priced at €529 (KES 80,279), offers 256GB of storage.
On the other hand, the Galaxy A35 provides three configurations. The entry-level model, starting at £339 (KES 51,445), includes 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The 8GB/128GB model is priced at €379 (KES 57,516), and the top-tier 8GB/256GB model is available for €449 (KES 68,139).
Although the exact launch dates for the A55 and A35 in Kenya are uncertain, we can expect them to arrive soon. Stay tuned for updates on their local release.
