Samsung Galaxy A55 vs Samsung Galaxy A35

Samsung’s strong position in the mid-range market is mainly defined by the Galaxy A3x and A5x series, so it’s natural for people to want to know which one suits their needs.

This year’s Galaxy A55 and A35 both bring good upgrades compared to their predecessors. Despite the considerable price gap, the Galaxy A55 and A35 are more similar than you might think. The Galaxy A35 is almost identical to the A55’s predecessor, the A54. Speaking of which, we have another article on the subject.

Table of contents:

But before we dive in, let’s compare the spec sheets and then feel free to check out our editor’s assessment in the text below.

size comparison

The Galaxy A55 and A35 are nearly identical in size, which is expected considering they share a screen diagonal. The difference is within a few millimeters, so essentially the two phones feel the same.

Consider the design as well. Both share the same design language, with flat side bezels, a flat back, and a prominent camera lens.

They are also IP67 certified for water and dust resistance.

What sets them apart is that Samsung has used higher-grade materials on the Galaxy A55. It has Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection on the front and Gorilla Glass on the back with aluminum sides, while the Galaxy A35 has a plastic frame and a regular glass back. The front is still decorated with Gorilla Glass Victus+, giving you more peace of mind.

show contrast

Both phones feature two identical displays – 6.6 inches in size, with a 1080p+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate – and they both boost brightness to about 1,000 nits, even on sunny days. This is also enough for comfortable use outdoors.

However, the more expensive Galaxy A55 also offers HDR10+ video certification, allowing you to watch Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and YouTube videos in HDR format, as long as the content meets HDR standards, of course.

We think the Galaxy A35 will also get HDR10+ support, but Samsung may choose to significantly segregate features in this department.

Battery Life

When it comes to battery life, though, we have a clear winner. Galaxy A55 achieved by Active usage score was 13 minutes and 27 secondsclosely followed by the Galaxy A35 12:26 hours.

Both devices share the same 5,000 mAh battery, run the same software, and have the same display, so the greater efficiency is likely due to the new Exynos 1480 chipset inside the Galaxy A55. The A35 uses the older Exynos 1380 from last year’s Galaxy A54.

Taking a closer look at the results for each category, we found something worth mentioning. For example, the Galaxy A35 lasted longer in our gaming scenarios, and it came close to the A55’s web browsing/social network runtimes. Still, the Galaxy A55 tops the list with a clear lead over its cheaper sibling, thanks to its longer 4G talk time and video playback time.

charging speed

Both Galaxy A55 and A35 support the same charging feature – PD 3.0 charging via PPS at 25W. Neither comes with a charger in the retail package, so you’ll have to buy one separately from Samsung or use a third-party charger that supports 25W charging via Power Delivery. Either way, neither phone’s charging speeds are impressive.

Interestingly, the Galaxy A55 completes a full charging cycle from 0% to 100% in approximately 23 minutes fasterbut at the 15-minute and 30-minute marks, the A35 is almost as fast as the A55.

Speaker test

Both midrange speakers have the same speaker configuration – a hybrid setup with one on the bottom and the other also doubling as the earpiece.

In terms of loudness, the two are very close. Galaxy A55 gets ‘very good’ rating -25.7 LUFSwhich is only slightly larger than the “good” loudness score -26.1 LUFS. In fact, there is no noticeable difference.

But the tuning is completely different. The Galaxy A55’s sound is fuller thanks to more prominent bass, while the A35’s vocals have a little more pop. Still, we’d go with the A55’s speakers, which are not only better than the A35’s, but also generally good.

Performance

This year’s Galaxy A55 comes with the newer and more promising Exynos 1480, based on Samsung’s 4nm EUV manufacturing process, while the Galaxy A35 uses the predecessor Exynos 1380.

One of the biggest upgrades brought to the new Exynos 1480 is the new GPU. It is Xclipse 530 co-developed with AMD. Notably, this is the first mid-range GPU based on the RDNA 2 architecture, which replaces the older Mali-G68 MP5 GPU in the Exynos 1380.

The memory configurations are very similar, but the Galaxy A55 has 8GB of RAM at its base, while the A35 comes with 6GB of RAM by default. The top versions reach 12GB/256GB and 8GB/256GB respectively.

In the pure CPU benchmark test, the Exynos 1480 shows a performance improvement of approximately 14%, while the comprehensive test shows a significant 20% performance improvement. In GPU-intensive workloads, the gap is even wider, with the Galaxy A55 outperforming the Galaxy A35 by nearly 40% (according to 3DMark Wild Life).

Last but not least, the Galaxy A55 can handle heavy and prolonged workloads better than the A35. One might think that a more powerful SoC would cause thermal issues, but the A55 was rock solid in our CPU and GPU stress tests, showing no signs of thermal throttling. The Galaxy A35, on the other hand, suffers a slight drop in performance – still less than the older A54 with the same chipset.

Camera comparison

The Galaxy A35 and A55 have similar camera setups. Their main cameras are both 50MP with an aperture of f/1.8. Nonetheless, both cameras feature OIS and have solid video stabilization. However, the Galaxy A55 has a larger 1/1.56-inch, 1.0μm sensor compared to the A35’s 1/1.96-inch sensor.

The A55 also features a higher-resolution 12MP ultrawide camera compared to the 8MP unit on the A35. Unfortunately, neither has autofocus.

The third camera on the back of both models is a 5MP fixed-focus macro shooter.

On the front, the A55 once again sports a higher-resolution camera (32MP). A35 chose 13MP. Neither has autofocus, but both can shoot 4K selfie videos.

Picture quality

Both devices offer similar image quality during daylight hours. Aside from some corner softness observed on our Galaxy A55 device, both phones shot nearly identical stills in terms of handling, color, and more. Interestingly, the Galaxy A35 takes better 2x photos as they are sharper and more detailed, even if there is slightly more noise.

Galaxy A55: 0.5x • 1x • 2x

Galaxy A35: 0.5x • 1x • 2x

To our surprise, the ultra-wide-angle camera also offers similar quality. However, the A55 has slightly better contrast and a wider field of view.

We came to pretty much the same conclusion when it came to night photography. The A55 and A35’s main cameras are nearly identical in terms of processing, sharpness, detail, contrast, and dynamic range, but the A55’s 2x photos are slightly better. The 2x sample of the A35 looks bland. The A55’s ultra-wide angle also has better processing power.

Video quality

In a direct video recording comparison, the A55 is the clear winner. Not only does it capture more vivid, clearer video with the main camera, but the ultrawide shooter also supports 4K video, which looks much better than Full HD video captured by the A35’s ultrawide snapper.

Galaxy A55: 0.5x • 1x • 2x

Galaxy A35: 0.5x • 1x • 2x

Galaxy A55 Video: 0.5x • 1x

Galaxy A35 Video: 0.5x • 1x

judgment

Samsung’s new Galaxy A55 and A35 seem to have more similarities than differences, which makes it hard to justify the A55’s higher price in most cases. Currently, the two products are priced around €100 apart (INR 10,000 in India), and in most cases it depends on what you want.

If you’re looking for extra horsepower (better CPU and GPU performance), better video recording capabilities, longer battery life, and better-sounding stereo speakers, go for the Galaxy A55.

However, one could argue that the Galaxy A35 gets you very close to what you want without spending a lot of money. Especially if you’re not particularly interested in video recording.