Samsung Galaxy A55 and A35 unveiled with features ‘inspired by flagship' Galaxy S24 at half the price
Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 were announced today, with a release date scheduled for March 20 in the UK
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Samsung has announced two new mid-range smartphones, known as the Galaxy A55 5G and Galaxy A35 5G, coming to the UK on March 20, 2024.
Samsung says its latest Android handsets have several features previously only available on the flagship Galaxy S series, including new camera features “inspired by Samsung Galaxy’s flagship camera innovations” and its encrypted Knox Vault to keep your data under lock and key.
Elsewhere, the Galaxy A line-up boasts an improved display, two-day battery life, and 5G speeds.
“Our ambition is to bring the latest technologies to everyone,” said James Kitto, Vice President and Head of MX Division, Samsung UK and Ireland.
“We’re really pleased to be opening up even more possibilities on our competitively priced Galaxy A series devices, including offering Samsung Knox Vault for the first time on this line-up, meaning that users can enjoy our outstanding mobile experiences with even more confidence and security.”
Galaxy A35 5G, pictured above, has a 6.6-inch Super AMOLED screen, secure Knox Vault silicon, and a triple-camera system
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Samsung Knox Vault
Until now, this security feature was reserved for the most expensive Samsung smartphones, like the Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24 Ultra, Galaxy Z Fold 5, and Galaxy Z Flip 5. But this time around, Samsung is bringing Knox Vault to its mid-range handsets.
Knox Vault is a secure chipset that’s separate from core internals like the main system-on-a-chip and memory — making it safe from hardware and software attacks, Samsung says.
This tamper-resistant silicon vault is used to store the critical data on a device, including lock screen credentials, such as PIN codes, passwords and patterns. Samsung Knox Vault also protects device encryption keys, encrypting users’ private data stored in the device.
Since nothing is stored on the main chipset, you don’t need to worry about a dodgy app reading your passwords. Even if a pickpocket manages to steal your Galaxy smartphone, only someone with the correct lock screen password or pattern can access any data on the Knox Vault.
This hardware solution is distinct from Samsung Knox, which is also present on the Galaxy A55 5G and Galaxy A35 5G ...but has been included with Galaxy smartphones for some time now. This is an anti-virus system developed by Samsung and preinstalled on the device to protects against vulnerabilities with its clever real-time threat detection.
Galaxy A55 5G: Official Unboxing | Samsung
Cameras
Both Galaxy A55 5G and Galaxy A35 5G land with a kitted-out camera system with features like Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) to remove any blurriness from shaking hands, especially in low light. There’s also Video Digital Image Stabilisation (VDIS) to keep footage crisp even when filming on the move or trying to track fast-moving subjects.
Galaxy A55 5G borrows several features you’d usually only expect on pricier Samsung smartphones, including enhanced Nightography. This combines a long exposure and clever Artificial Intelligence (AI) to take clearer and vibrant pictures in the gloom without relying on a blinding LED flash.
This is only possible because of the inclusion of the advanced AI Image Signal Processing (ISP) in the Galaxy A55 5G, which isn’t inside the more affordable Galaxy A35 5G. This silicon is used every time you press the shutter button, with Night Portrait mode offering a bokeh-style blur behind subjects in low-light conditions, and 12-bit HDR video capture ensures the people look great in every image.
Although there's a lot of shared DNA with the top-of-the-line Galaxy S24 series, there are still key differences, including the lower-resolution 1080p HD screen on the Galaxy A line-up
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Screens And Specs
When it comes to screen size, there’s nothing separating the two models in the Galaxy A series. Both mid-range smartphones ship with a 6.6-inch Super AMOLED display, so expect vibrant colours and cavernous shades of black (and a small battery life bump when using Dark Mode). There's also a 120Hz high refresh rate to keep system animations, like scrolling, feeling responsive and buttery-smooth.
Unlike the flagship Galaxy S series, Samsung has limited the screens on the Galaxy A models to a High Definition (HD) resolution of 1080p. That means you’ll miss out on some of the crisp detail when watching 4K content on Netflix and YouTube, provided you're paying extra to unlock that resolution.
Most of the time, you’ll hardly notice the omission.
Samsung has included its Vision Booster technology, which automatically tweaks the image on-screen so that it looks its best in a wide range of light conditions.
Samsung says its efficient system-on-a-chip combined with a5,000mAh battery cell means Galaxy A55 5G and Galaxy A35 5G owners can expect two days of battery life between charges. The South Korean company is usually pretty accurate with these estimates, but we’ll need to pocket one of these handsets to verify those claims.
Galaxy A55 5G and Galaxy A35 5G are guaranteed to get the next four generations of Android operating system upgrades, Samsung has announced.
Both handsets will be supported with security updates over the next five years.
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Price And Availability
Samsung is offering Galaxy A55 5G and Galaxy A35 5G in four colour options, including Awesome Ice Blue, Awesome Lemon, Awesome Lilac and Awesome Navy. Prices start from £339 for the Galaxy A35 5G with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of built-in storage and max-out at £489 for the Galaxy A55 5G with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of built-in storage.
The full breakdown is as follows...
Samsung Galaxy A35 5G
- £339 | 8GB RAM + 128GB Storage
- £389 | 8GB RAM+ 256GB Storage
Samsung Galaxy A55 5G
- £439 | 8GB RAM + 128GB Storage
- £489 | 8GB RAM + 256GB Storage