Back in July, Samsung added a new smartphone to its Galaxy M series. Priced at Rs 20,000, the Samsung Galaxy M35 brings incremental updates to last year’s Galaxy M34. When we reviewed the Galaxy M34 last year, we were happy with its long-lasting battery but its waterdrop notch made it look quite dated. Samsung has replaced the notch with a punch hole cutout on the Galaxy M35 and made a few other design tweaks to elevate the device’s appearance. Under the hood, the smartphone rocks the Exynos 1380 SoC – a small upgrade compared to last year’s Exynos 1280. Interestingly, the smartphone’s biggest asset, the 6,000 mAh battery, remains unchanged. We used the device for a week to see how well the updated processor manages the battery capacity. Here is our in-depth review of the Samsung Galaxy M35.
Read Also: Laptop partners: Best ergonomic accessories for your laptop
In This Article
Samsung Galaxy M35 Review: Design and Display
Here’s what you get inside the Samsung Galaxy M35’s retail box.
- Smartphone
- USB Type-C to Type-C cable
- SIM ejector
- Quick start guide
- Regional lock guide
The first thing you’ll notice about the Galaxy M35 is that it is thick. Infact, it is thicker than its predecessor in Galaxy M34 (8.8mm v 9.1mm). The massive 6,000 mAh battery pack is the primary reason behind this. It has its benefits though, as the camera cutouts do not protrude as much as they do on other Galaxy smartphones.
Speaking of the camera cutouts, Samsung has gone for its signature triple camera setup on the Galaxy M35. The back is now made out of polycarbonate instead of plastic. The result is a smudge-resistant back panel that does not flex upon being pressed. The in-hand feel of the device is superior compared to the all-plastic M34.
The flat back panel curved gently towards the edges. The smartphone’s flat frame has a matte-like finish to it. The weight (222g) of the device is divided evenly. It does not feel top-heavy like most smartphones. Overall, it feels very pleasant to hold. The right edge of the frame houses the side key and the volume rocker. This side key doubles up as a fingerprint sensor. The primary smartphone, USB port, and speaker outlet are positioned on the bottom edge. The SIM card tray lies on the left edge while the secondary microphone finds its way to the top edge.
Samsung doesn’t do mediocre displays even on its budget offerings. The Galaxy M35 packs a stunning 6.6-inch Super AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate and 1,000 nits of brightness in HBM. The selfie camera is now housed in a punch-hole cutout instead of a waterdrop notch. The display is surrounded by uniform but slightly chunky bezels. The touch response is elite and unmatched by other smartphones in this price category. Our only minor complaint is that the display lacks the peak brightness to be perfectly legible under harsh sunlight.
The Samsung Galaxy M35 was our primary media steaming device during the review period. We watched several titles across platforms like Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+ Hotstar. The AMOLED display produced splendid images with rich colours and a lot of detail. The stereo speaker setup was the icing on the cake. The latter is a big improvement over the single speaker outlet on the Galaxy M34.
Samsung Galaxy M35 Review: Performance and Cameras
Powering the Samsung Galaxy M35 is the Exynos 1380 SoC. The smartphone is available in three RAM and storage variants – 6GB + 128GB (Rs 19,999), 8GB + 128GB (Rs 21,499), and 8GB + 256GB (Rs 24,499). On the Geekbench 6 app, the smartphone scored 1,007 points in the single-core test and 2,824 points in the multi-core test. In comparison, the Galaxy M34 scored 934 and 2,033 points.
As a daily driver, the Galaxy M35 managed routine tasks really well. We did not encounter any issues while instant messaging, video calling, social media browsing, etc. The apps take a fraction of a second longer to load, but that is the case with every sub-Rs 20,000 smartphone. However, when it comes to general fluidity and browsing experience, the Galaxy M35 towers above its rivals.
We played games like Call of Duty Mobile and Asphalts Legends Unite on the Galaxy M35 with medium to heavy graphics and had a decent time. The addition of a vapour chamber has done wonders for the smartphone’s internal heat management. The Galaxy M35 did not warm up even after 40 minutes of gaming. We did experience the odd frame drop after maxing out the in-game graphics but that isn’t a dealbreaker for a smartphone in this price range. The overall gaming experience is quite good for casual users.
Samsung Galaxy M35 runs Android 14-based OneUI 6.1 out of the box. Despite being a budget offering, the smartphone has a couple of Galaxy AI features for photo editing. You get an object eraser and an image remaster tool as a part of the native editor. Other Galaxy AI features like call translation, generative AI wallpapers, and AI photo editing are not available on this device yet. There is some bloatware on this device, but it does not push spam notifications.
Samsung has promised 4 years of major software updates and 5 years of security patches for the Galaxy M35, which is simply incredible for a smartphone in this price range. We hope that other OEMs will take note of this development and adopt it as the standard for this segment.
Samsung’s Galaxy M Series is known for its amazing battery performance and the M35 does not disappoint in this regard. On moderate usage, the smartphone lasted a day and a half with ease. If you’re more conservative with your usage, you can 2 day’s worth of juice out of the 6,000 mAh battery inside this phone. During the review period, we kept the Samsung Galaxy M35’s AOD turned on at all times and used it at a 120Hz refresh rate. The only downside of the battery performance is the 25W charging speed. It takes 90 minutes to fully charge the phone.
Galaxy M35’s camera setup remains unchanged from last year. The triple camera layout at the back comprises a 50MP primary shooter, an 8MP ultrawide lens, and a 2MP macro sensor. The 13MP front-facing camera remains unchanged as well.
The primary shooter takes good pictures in outdoor lighting conditions. The images pack a lot of details and showcase balanced colours. We would have preferred a little more contrast and dynamic range, but the overall results leave very little room for complaints. The 8MP ultrawide camera retains the balanced colours of the primary sensors but the images are a little softer. With that being said, this 8MP ultrawide lens is still one of the better-performing cameras in this segment.
In limited lighting conditions, the primary shooter does a good job of letting in a good amount of light. The smartphone brightens up the subject quite well. However, the pictures are visibly grainy even with the Night Mode turned on. The ultrawide lens struggles in limited lighting, which isn’t something out of the ordinary in this segment.
The Galaxy M35 takes well-focused portraits with rich colours. Its edge detection skills aren’t up there with the best phones in this category, but it certainly excels in applying a good natural blur to the images. The front-facing camera takes good selfies in natural and artificial lighting. It keeps the skin tone and texture correction to a minimum, which is something we like about the smartphone.
Read Also: Dyson OnTrac Headphones with customisable caps and cushions launched in India
Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy M35 meets almost all the parameters of a good budget smartphone. Its Super AMOLED display is one of the best in the category and the 6,000 mAh battery can last up to 2 days on conservative usage. The Exynos 1380 SoC is a good processor that can handle casual gaming. The M35 is one of the rare phones in its segment to come with a dedicated cooling chamber. To top it off, the camera module on this phone takes respectable pictures in different lighting conditions. Our only gripe with the M35 is that for a ‘battery’ focused smartphone its charging speed is limited to 25W. A 90-minute charge time is way behind the industry standard in 2024.
Samsung Galaxy M35: Pros
- Clean design
- Brilliant display
- Amazing battery life
Samsung Galaxy M35: Cons
- Slow charging
