Samsung just launched a $400 phone in the U.S., and it looks great

By Joe Maring Published April 18, 2024

A render of the Samsung Galaxy A35. — Digital Trends

A little over a month ago, Samsung announced two new entries in its Galaxy A family — the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35. Both phones made their way to the U.K. and Europe, but we’ve been left waiting for a U.S. release. Thankfully, that waiting has now come to an end.

As of April 18, the Galaxy A35 is now available for purchase in the U.S. from Samsung.com, Samsung’s retail stores, and at “major carriers and retailers.” Regardless of where you buy the phone, it’s available in your choice of two colors: Awesome Navy and Awesome Lilac. The starting price is a penny shy of $400, putting it well below the Galaxy S24 that launched earlier this year. Interestingly, the Galaxy A55 is not coming to the U.S. at this time.

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So, what do you get from a $400 Samsung phone in 2024? As it turns out, quite a lot, actually.

A render of the Samsung Galaxy A35. — Samsung

On the front of the Galaxy A35 is a 6.6-inch Super AMOLED panel with a Full HD+ resolution and up to a 120Hz refresh rate. Around the back is a trio of cameras — including a 50-megapixel main camera, an 8MP ultrawide camera, and a 5MP macro camera. For all of your selfie duties, you get a 13MP front camera.

What about the internal specs? There’s an Exynos 1380 chipset (the same one used in the Galaxy A54), 6GB RAM, 128GB of storage (expandable up to 1TB), and a 5,000 mAh battery with up to 25-watt wired charging. There’s also an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance, Android 14 is available out of the box, and Samsung promises four major Android updates, plus five years of security updates. For a $400 smartphone, that’s a pretty solid package.

At $400, the Galaxy A35 is a bit cheaper than some of our other favorite budget phones available today — such as the $500 OnePlus 12R and Google Pixel 7a (which will soon be replaced by the Google Pixel 8a). It’s nice to have an even cheaper option to consider, and although we still need to test the A35 for ourselves, the spec sheet sounds promising.

A render of the Samsung Galaxy A35. — Digital Trends

If you’re interested in picking up the Galaxy A35 for yourself, Samsung has a couple of promos to make the phone even more affordable. For a “limited time,” buying the Galaxy A35 will give you a 30% discount on the Galaxy Buds FE. Alternatively, you can trade in your current phone for up to a $150 credit toward your A35 purchase.

Former Section Editor, Mobile

Joe Maring has been the Section Editor of Digital Trends' Mobile team since June 2022. He leads a team of 13 writers and…

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