Samsung Galaxy A34 5G: Should You Buy This Smartphone Instead of the Nothing Phone 1?

Samsung Galaxy A34 5G was recently launched in India alongside the more premium Galaxy A54 5G. The Galaxy A34 5G is a successor to the Galaxy A33 5G, which debuted last year in India. The Samsung Galaxy A34 5G gets upgrades over its predecessor in a few key areas. It is powered by a new processor, and features a triple-camera setup and a smooth 120Hz display. The smartphone has been launched in India with two storage options. Samsung Galaxy A34 5G is also the most affordable smartphone currently in India to feature an IP67 rating.

On this week's episode of the Gadgets 360 podcast Orbital, host Siddharth Suvarna got together with resident smartphone expert Pranav Hegde— that's me — to discuss Samsung's new Galaxy A-series smartphone, the Galaxy A34 5G. We discussed the phone's pros and cons and also recommended a few alternatives.

We start off with the price of the phone. The Samsung Galaxy A34 5G has been launched in India with 8GB of RAM as standard. The 128GB variant is priced at Rs 30,999, whereas the 256GB variant is priced at Rs 32,999. We highlight the new features of the Galaxy A34 5G, such as its IP67 rating, which lets one use the device under water for about 30 minutes at a depth of up to 1 metre. The Galaxy A34 5G also resembles the rear panel design of the Galaxy S23 5G (Review), giving it a premium look.

We also discussed about the smooth 120Hz AMOLED display that offers a great viewing experience. Unfortunately, there is no HDR10+ support but you do get WideVine L1 DRM. Also, the Galaxy A34 5G features a Dimensity 1080 SoC, which is decent for gaming but in case you are into competitive gaming, we suggest considering the iQoo Neo 7 5G (Review) or the Poco F5.

During our review, we did experience a few stutters across the user interface while using the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G, which runs Android 13-based One UI 5.1 out-of-the-box. He hopes that Samsung fixes this issue soon in an upcoming update. Speaking of, the Galaxy A34 5G is promised to get four major Android updates and security patches for five years, which is the best in this segment.

We then moved to the camera performance, talking about the triple-camera setup, wherein the primary camera offers detailed images with boosted colours. The ultra-wide camera is not as good in low light, but you get good colours in general. The 5-megapixel macro sensor is reasonably good, but you need stable hands and good lighting to get the best results.

Lastly, the phone offers great battery life, details of which are mentioned in our Samsung Galaxy A34 review.

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