Are you looking for a mid-range Android smartphone with 5G connectivity? One with a pleasant design, a beautiful display, a good camera, and a large battery? Then you might want to consider the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G. Launched in March 2024, this reasonably-priced 5G smartphone has more than just a few tricks up its sleeve. In this review, I’ll share my personal experience using it, look at its specs and design, and I’ll also show you how it fares in benchmarks. So, if you’d like to know more about the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G, read on:

Samsung Galaxy A34 5G: Who is it good for?

The Samsung Galaxy A34 5G is the Android smartphone you should get if:

• You need an affordable phone with good performance
• You want a beautiful smartphone
• You’re looking for a phone with great battery life and fast charging

Pros and cons

Here’s what I like about the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G:

• Large Super AMOLED screen and high 120 Hz refresh rate
• Great performance in daily use
• Excellent cameras for a mid-range Android device
• Well-built and rated IP67 for protection against water and dust
• Large 5000 mAh battery and support for fast charging
• Good for casual gaming
• Android 13, clean user interface, and no bloatware
• Will receive up to four OS updates and up to five years of security updates
• Reasonable price

There are a few downsides as well:

• No depth or telephoto camera
• No charger bundled in the package
• No option for an adaptive refresh rate

Verdict

Samsung Galaxy A34 5G proves to be an excellent mid-range Android smartphone with a lot to offer. I like its design and beautiful large screen, as well as its cameras and battery life. It can handle any daily activity without any struggle, and its price point is just right. This device is not the best choice you can make if you want high-end gaming, but it’s OK for casual games, and you can even play more demanding titles if you’re OK with lowering the graphics quality. Overall, the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G is a smartphone you should take into account if what you want is an Android device that simply does its job and doesn’t cost a fortune.

Unboxing the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G

The Samsung Galaxy A34 5G arrives in a relatively slim box made of white cardboard. Its top side features a large illustration of the smartphone, together with its name and brand. More details about the device are found on the bottom side of the box, where you can also see its serial and IMEI numbers.

The box of the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G

Inside the box, there’s the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G smartphone, a USB cable with Type-C connectors on both ends, a SIM tray ejection tool, and a series of documents (user manual, warranty details, safety information).

Unboxing the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G

Unboxing the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G smartphone is straightforward; all you get are the bare essentials. Unfortunately, while the box does contain a USB cable, Samsung doesn’t include a charger.

Design and build quality

Measuring 161.3 mm (6.35 in) by 78.1 mm (3.07 in) by 8.2 mm (0.32 in) and weighing 199 grams (7.02 oz), the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G is a large 6.6-inch smartphone. It’s larger than the previous model of the series (the Samsung Galaxy A33 5G), but the screen’s 19.5:9 aspect ratio helps keep the phone’s width to a usable size. Still, if you have short fingers, holding and using the phone with only one hand might be complicated. But there are also many benefits to having a large screen, like a better experience while watching videos or when reading articles.

Samsung Galaxy A34 5G is a large phone with a 6.6" screen

Featuring a simple and minimalistic design, the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G looks like it’s targeting younger audiences. The names chosen by the company for the available body colors are “fashionable” and quite clearly address the ones in the springtime of life: Awesome Lime, Awesome Silver, Awesome Violet, and Awesome Graphite.

Color options for the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G

The model I received in testing was the Awesome Violet version. Though the back of the smartphone might give a slight impression of glass, it’s actually not. It’s plastic, and so is the phone’s frame. The grip is good, and the plastic material looks pretty tough, but it’s also a magnet for fingerprints and smudges. Getting a protective case for the phone may be a good idea.

The back of the smartphone is made of plastic

The large 6.6-inch display makes up for almost the entire front of the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G. Between the frame and the actual display, there are a few millimeters of dark unlit borders. The selfie camera sits inside a waterdrop notch in the top center. To cover and protect the display, Samsung used Gorilla Glass 5, which is something worth appreciating in a smartphone in this price range. And on top of everything else, the smartphone also holds an IP67 certification for dust and water resistance (it can withstand being submerged up to 1 meter for 30 minutes).

Gorilla Glass 5 protects the screen

The bottom edge of the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G is home to the USB 2.0 Type-C port, a speaker, and the main microphone. There’s no 3.5 mm audio jack in sight, in case you were wondering.

The charging port is a USB 2.0 Type-C

On the left, the smartphone’s edge is just that: a completely blank, slightly curved, clean edge.

Left side of the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G

The top edge is home to the secondary microphone and the nano-SIM/microSD card tray.

Top side of the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G

Both the power button and the volume rocker are positioned on the right edge of the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G.

The buttons are found on the right side

The Samsung Galaxy A34 5G features three main cameras on its backside. They’re aligned vertically in a straight line, and their rings are identical in shape and size. While not protruding significantly, due to the phone’s perfectly level back, the smartphone wobbles when you place it on any flat surface.

The main cameras on the back of the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G

I like the lively colors, overall simplicity, and minimalistic design of the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G, and I believe many will do too. Despite being made mainly of plastic materials, the phone appears to be quite solid. The high-quality Gorilla Glass 5 and IP 67 rating also confirm this statement.

Hardware specifications

The Samsung Galaxy A34 5G is powered by a mid-range MediaTek MT6877V Dimensity 1080 chipset. Built on a 6-nanometer manufacturing process, this SoC (System on a Chip) includes an octa-core processor (two Cortex-A78 cores running at 2.6 GHz and six Cortex-A55 cores running at 2.0 GHz) and a Mali-G68 MC4 GPU (graphics processing unit).

The phone uses a MediaTek MT6877V Dimensity 1080 chipset

In terms of storage and memory, the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G smartphone is available in three different configurations:

• 128 GB internal storage space and 6 GB of RAM,
• 128 GB internal storage space and 8 GB of RAM,
• 256 GB internal storage space and 8 GB of RAM.

The sample used for this review was the more affordable version, equipped with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. Out of the full 128 GB internal memory, roughly 100 GB were free to use after updating the system and essential built-in apps.

Details about the storage and RAM

The good news is that the Samsung Galaxy S34 5G also allows you to add a micro SD card to increase storage capacity. Both the single SIM and dual SIM versions of the phone support SD cards. However, you should know that the dual SIM models use a hybrid approach. That means that should you choose to insert a micro SD card, you won’t be able to add a secondary nano SIM.

Samsung Galaxy A34 5G comes with expandable storage

The 6.6-inch screen of the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G relies on a Super AMOLED panel with a maximum brightness of 1000 nits (candela per square meter) and a resolution of 1080 by 2340 pixels. Its aspect ratio is 19.5:9, and the ppi density is high, about 390 pixels per inch. On top of that, the display also supports a high refresh rate of 120 Hz. However, one thing I’ve noticed while using this smartphone is that you have to choose on your own whether to use the high 120 Hz refresh rate or the standard 60 Hz. The Samsung Galaxy A34 5G doesn’t offer an adaptive refresh rate option. The screen always uses the value you select, so you have to decide for yourself whether you’d like a smoother display experience (120 Hz) or a longer battery life (60 Hz).

Refresh rate can be set to 120 Hz or 60 Hz

In terms of cameras, the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G offers a triple-camera setup on its rear and a single selfie camera on its front:

• The primary wide camera has a 48-megapixel sensor, an aperture of f/1.8, and support for phase-detection autofocus (PDAF) and OIS (Optical Image Stabilization).
• The second ultrawide camera is based on an 8-megapixel sensor with an f/2.4 aperture.
• The third is a macro camera with a 5-megapixel sensor and an f/2.4 aperture.
• On the front, there’s a 13 MP selfie camera with an aperture of f/2.2.

Both the front and back cameras support HDR and panorama modes. They can also record video in up to 4K at 30 fps. The rear one also supports 60 fps recording but only in 1080p. On the back, the smartphone also includes an LED flash.

The main camera system of the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G

Connectivity-wise, the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G offers support for Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) on the 2.4 and 5 GHz frequencies. Depending on your region, there’s also NFC. And there are other sensors, too, like an optical fingerprint reader (under the display), an accelerometer, a (virtual) proximity sensor, a compass, and a gyroscope.

The fingerprint sensor is under the display

Supplying the electrical energy of the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G is the job of a high-capacity 5000 mAh non-removable Li-Po accumulator. This generous battery should allow you to use the smartphone for at least a full day before having to charge it. While the phone is compatible with 25W fast charging, there’s no charger bundled with it, so you’ll have to buy one on your own.

The Samsung Galaxy A34 5G has a large 5000 mAh battery

If you’d like to get into detail about all the features and technical specifications, check out Samsung Galaxy A34 5G’s official webpage.

Looking over the spec sheet, the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G looks like a mid-range Android device with a couple of features that make it stand out from the crowd. For instance, the large screen with its 120 Hz refresh rate, the big battery, and the good camera setup can set it apart from the competition.

On the next page of this review, let’s see how good the user experience offered by the smartphone is, check the real-life quality of the photographs and videos it takes, browse through its built-in apps, and finally, see how it performs in benchmarks.