Ready to buy the Galaxy A55, but wondering if the cheaper Galaxy A35’s camera is just as good? We’ve answered the question in our extensive test.
The Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 are close enough in style, software, and price that you may be questioning which model is the right one to buy; we certainly did in our reviews.
We eventually settled on the cheaper Galaxy A35 being a great purchase as it had some interesting and unexpected advantages over the more expensive Galaxy A55, despite slightly slower performance. But what happens when the camera is most important to you? We decided to find out.Galaxy camera spec comparison
The Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 use the same 50-megapixel main camera, so on the surface, they should both take basically the same quality photos under normal circumstances. They also share the same optical image stabilization, phase detection autofocus (PDAF), and f/1.8 aperture. Also, both phones have a 5MP macro camera alongside the main camera, but there are differences when you get to the wide-angle camera.
The Galaxy A55 has a 12MP wide-angle camera, while the Galaxy A35 has an 8MP wide-angle camera. We’re not fans of 8MP wide-angle cameras, as they usually obscure detail in a mess of pixels and smoothing. Although 12MP looks better on paper, will it be enough to make the Galaxy A55’s camera system worth the extra money?
The other camera hardware difference is the selfie camera. The Galaxy A55’s 32MP camera also sounds much better on paper than the A35’s 13MP selfie camera, but how it handles those extra pixels will dictate if it’s actually better when you use it. The processor is the other important component that may affect the cameras, with the Galaxy A35 using the Exynos 1380 chip (previously seen in the Samsung Galaxy A54) and the Galaxy A55 using the all-new Exynos 1480 chip.
All the photos have been taken on a variety of different days, with the cameras set to auto. The images have been resized for easier online viewing but were compared on a color-calibrated monitor before this. Let’s see which low-cost Samsung Galaxy phone is the one camera fans should buy.Main camera
The cameras may be very similar to each other, but there are differences between the photos, and it’s important to see them, as it may well influence your decision on which phone to buy. The first photo is a simple image of coffee and cake. The Galaxy A55’s shot has more accurate focus and more natural white balance, but there’s more noise than in the Galaxy A35’s photo. Color dynamics are similar, but this isn’t always the case, as we’ll see next. However, neither are bad photos, and most people will likely be happy with either.
Our next photo is an extreme example of a key difference between the two cameras, as the Galaxy A55 doesn’t always show the most natural colors compared to the Galaxy A35, which may come as a surprise to many. The differences are sometimes more subtle than the example I used here, but I often preferred the A35’s overall tone in the photos I took. However, the A55’s photos are unquestionably more detailed and often sharper too, with more accurate focus, just as we saw in the first image.
Next, these aspects all come together in a single image. The sky in the Galaxy A55’s photo doesn’t have the same punch as the A35’s photo, and the contrast affects the green of the trees and grass. But the A55’s photo has much more detail. Zoom in, and the branding on the car tire is sharper than the same area in the A35’s photo, as is the gravel on the ground.
