Galaxy A34 review

The Galaxy A34 comes with an absolutely amazing display, especially for its price. It is arguably the phone's most significant upgrade over the previous generation, finally going to a resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels, but also increasing the maximum refresh rate to 120Hz. But wait, there's more!

Samsung has implemented its Vision Booster technology, which makes the A34 capable of reaching 1,000 nits of peak brightness, which is an achievement expected from much more expensive phones and literally unmatched in the mid-range segment.

Vision Booster, according to Samsung, also helps maintain a higher level of color accuracy across the brightness curve. Or in other words, the colors remain accurate throughout the different levels of brightness. Unfortunately, our tests gave us results that were not exactly perfect.

Despite that, I had the phone in its "Natural" color setting during my time with it and the colors looked alright to me. It's worth noting, though, that the A34's display does not support HDR10+, unlike some of its competitors. Even with its cons, I still enjoyed staring at the A34's screen, especially with its almost identical bezels.

It was mostly smooth sailing when it came to the Galaxy A34's performance. Absolutely no issues while navigating the UI or browsing the web. The phone seems to handle mobile gaming quite well too. I started off with a bit of VampireSurvivors and it had zero issues there. Then I went to some more demanding titles like Apex Legends and Riot's Wild Rift.

Admittedly, the Mediatek Dimensity 1080 chipset the A34 comes with had a bit of trouble with the more intensive games, which resulted in some frame drops with Apex Legends and an overall lower refresh rate with Wild Rift. Both games were running plenty well enough to have an enjoyable time though (and take two big wins in both games... hehe). Plus, you can always adjust the graphics to get your desired outcome.

Also, it undoubtedly helps that the entry-level Galaxy A34 5G comes with 6GB of RAM, which you can increase to 8GB if you are okay with paying a bit more.

The Galaxy A34 5G comes, as it is standard for most of Samsung's phones these days, a 5000mAh battery. Coupled with its power-efficient chipset, it is needless to say that his big boy can easily go for two straight days with regular use. In fact, it can go for more if you use your phone somewhat sparingly.

The dual speakers on the Galaxy A34 get very loud and mostly hold up a really good level of audio quality throughout the different volume levels. You can definitely have a good time watching something on that big bold display while listening to it via the phone's speakers.

Something that was very pleasantly surprising was the phone's haptic feedback, which was good enough for me not to feel the need to turn it off. It was strong and precise.

The OnePlus Nord 2T is probably the closest we have to a direct competitor here. It costs just 30 euros more than the Galaxy A34 5Gt. OnePlus' "flagship killer" comes with the more powerful MediaTek Dimensity 1300 chipset inside as well as more RAM with the entry-level model (8GB), and the option to increase it to 12GB.

The battery size here is smaller, maxing out at 4,500mAh, but the OnePlus Nord 2T comes with a charger in the box that can juice it up much faster at 80W.

If you tend to shoot more with the main camera and neglect the rest on your phone, then the OnePlus might be more up your alley as it comes with an arguably better 50MP main camera. That said, its other shooters — including the selfie camera — are not as good as those on the A34.

The Galaxy A34 5G also has a much better display as it comes with a 120Hz refresh rate and higher peak brightness compared to the OnePlus. Probably the biggest advantage the Samsung mid-ranger has, however, is its 4 years of major Android OS updates and 5 years of security patches. The Nord 2T has only a ratio of two/three respectively.

The first phone from the company Nothing is a better mid-ranger compared to the Galaxy A34 5G in almost every way. It has two rather than three cameras, but both deliver significantly higher-quality images and video. It also comes with the much more capable Snapdragon 778G Plus chipset from Qualcomm, which will get you better performance while gaming.

The pros go even further if we take into account the faster 33W wired charging, but also the 15W wireless and 5W reverse-wireless charging. Keep in mind, though, that the Nothing Phone (1) is about 70 euros or 50 British pounds sterling.

Not to mention that, if you value longevity, the Galaxy A34 5G is still better as it is newer and comes with longer software support.

The Pixel 7a might not be out yet, but Google is expected to announce it very soon at its next Google I/O event in May. As long as the price remains the same as the Pixel 6a when it launched, (459 euros) then it will probably be the strongest competition the Galaxy A34 — or even the Galaxy A54 — will have to face.

The Galaxy A34 5G is a meaningful upgrade over its predecessor that cuts unnecessary parts and improves in just the right areas to transform into a well-rounded phone for its price range. Its strongest characteristics are without a doubt the amazingly long battery life and the long software support, which is not standard for the mid-range market. In other words, if you are searching for a phone that would not break the bank and nevertheless last you for 3 or 4 years, this is a great option.

That being said, there are other potential options out there, like the OnePlus Nord 2T and the upcoming Pixel 7a that cost just a little more but offer so much more in all other aspects that make up a good phone. In the end, it boils down to your budget ceiling and how much longevity matters to you when deciding whether to buy or not the Galaxy A34.