Samsung’s latest inexpensive smartphone is the perfect all-rounder

Teased over the course of a few weeks, the Galaxy M34 has finally made its debut in India, and judging by its specs, this is a dream come true for many customers looking for an affordable smartphone. Of course, specs alone can’t make a smartphone good value for the buck, which is why pricing is the next thing customers are looking at before making a decision.

What makes the Galaxy M34 the perfect all-rounder is the fact that it has great specs for the price point. As an introductory offer, the cheapest version of the Galaxy M34 is priced to sell for 17,000 INR ($205) and comes with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage, while the most expensive will available for 19,000 INR ($230) and packs 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. Staring July 15, both Galaxy M34 models will be available for purchase in three different colors: Midnight Blue, Prism Silver, and Waterfall Blue.

The phone sports a large 6.5-inch Super AMOLED FHD+ display with 120Hz refresh rate and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection, something that’s rarely seen in a phone that sells for a little bit more than $200. But the good things don’t stop here! The Galaxy M34 comes with a dual camera setup that includes a 50-megapixel main module with OIS (optical image stabilization) and an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera.

Also, the Galaxy M34 features a secondary 13-megapixel selfie snapper, an upgrade over the previous model’s 5-megapixel selfie camera. In fact, the entire camera setup has been improved across the board to make it worth the upgrade if you’re currently using the Galaxy M33 as your daily driver.

Probably the only slight disappointment is the fact that Samsung hasn’t changed the chip inside, so the Galaxy M34 is equipped with the same Exynos 1280 processor that powers the Galaxy M33. It’s most likely a trade-off that Samsung was forced to make to keep the price low, so it’s compromise worth making.

On the bright side, the Galaxy M34 is powered by a much bigger 6,000 mAh battery with 25W fast charging. One of the most important things about affordable smartphones is the update schedule, something that many people overlook. Samsung announced that the Galaxy M34 will be getting four major Android OS updates and 5 years of security patches, which is the company’s best Android support.

Now, the bad news is the Galaxy M34 is unlikely to make it outside of India in the same specs configuration, but if it does, it will probably cost a lot more.