Galaxy A55 and A35 launched with modern design, Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection, One UI 6.1 and up to 12GB RAM

Samsung has unveiled its newest mid-range champions, the Galaxy A55 and A35. These phones boast significant upgrades over their predecessors, including a fresh, modern design, powerful processors, improved cameras, and the latest software.

Both the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 sport a sleek design refresh. The A35 adopts the long-awaited Infinity-O display, finally ditching the notch for a modern punch-hole camera cutout. The A55 goes a step further with a premium metal frame, the first for a Galaxy A series phone. Both phones feature glass on the front and back, with Gorilla Glass Victus+ protecting the A55 and A35’s display and potentially the A35’s back as well (official confirmation is pending for the A35’s back glass). This new glass offers superior scratch and drop resistance compared to previous iterations.

There’s a 6.6-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate on the Galaxy A55 alongside support for Vision Booster. Samsung says the screen brightness peaks at 1,000 nits under direct sunlight and has the ability to take things a notch higher in HDR scenes. You’ll also get better audio thanks to stereo speakers, and an under-display optical fingerprint reader. The Galaxy A35 boasts a similar 6.6-inch Super AMOLED display screen with Full HD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. You also get Vision Booster with up to 1,000 nits for peak brightness. Similar to the A55, the A35 also ships with an in-display optical fingerprint scanner, stereo speakers, and an IP67 dust and water resistance rating.

Under the hood, the Galaxy A35 packs the Exynos 1380 processor, while the Galaxy A55 boasts the even more powerful Exynos 1480 built on a 4nm process. The A55 is also the first Galaxy A series phone to offer a whopping 12GB of RAM, promising smooth multitasking and excellent gaming performance, further enhanced by the A55’s AMD-powered GPU. On the other hand, the Galaxy A35 has 6GB/8GB RAM, 128GB/256GB of internal storage, and an expandable storage slot. Both phones come with Android 14-based One UI 6.1 pre-installed and are guaranteed four major Android OS updates and five years of security updates. They are also powered by a 5,000mAh battery with 25W fast charging.

The camera department sees an upgrade as well. While specific details differ between the two models, both phones offer improved camera systems compared to their predecessors. The A55 features a 50MP main sensor with OIS, a 12MP ultrawide sensor, and a 5MP macro sensor, while the A35 features a 50MP lens with OIS, an 8MP ultrawide lens, and a 5MP macro camera on the back. The selfie shooter is a 13MP unit, unlike the A55 which has a 32MP selfie camera. Both phones can record 4K videos at 30 fps with stabilization, although the A55’s superiority sees it add features like Nightography mode and 12-bit Super HDR video recording for exceptional low-light and high dynamic range performance.

In Europe, the Galaxy A35 starts at €379 (about Kshs 57,500) for the 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant, while the A55 starts at €479 (about Kshs 72,600) for the 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant. Pricing for the 12GB RAM option of the A55 is yet to be revealed, although this model is unlikely coming to Kenya. Both phones will be available in four colors: Ice Blue, Lilac, Lime, and Navy. The release schedule varies by region, with some markets getting them as early as March 2024 and others receiving them in mid-April. The Kenyan launch remains a mystery, but you can expect these two phones to hit local stores at some point.

With their modern design, powerful specs, improved cameras, and commitment to software updates, the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 appear to be compelling options in the mid-range smartphone market. We will keep an eye and let you know when both phones become available in Kenya.