Google Pixel 7a vs. Galaxy A35: Surprisingly, the Galaxy A5x series has lost ground to Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy A35, their mid-range product for the US market scheduled for release in last 2024. In the past, they were the company’s toughest critics of non-flagship phones.
The Google Pixel 7a is another gadget in the mid-range market that is quite difficult to overlook. The majority of the hardware and software characteristics that made the Pixel 7 flagship lineup so popular are present in the smartest mid-range. You are going to have an amazing experience if you combine this with a fantastic and reasonably priced price tag.
Google Pixel 7a vs. Galaxy A35 5G differences:
Quality of design and display
You should not hold your breath because the designs of these two devices will not amaze you.
But it is much better for the Google mid-range. Its frame is made of aluminum, whereas the Galaxy A35’s is made of plastic. The Pixel 7a’s gently curved side frame makes it feel considerably better in the hand than the Samsung device’s largely flat design.
Also, each of these phones has a distinctive design element that sets them apart. The power and volume buttons are located in the new key island hump on the right side of the frame of the Samsung phone. Samsung is now implementing this design element over their whole mid-range range.
In contrast, the Pixel 7a features a distinct rear camera strip that Google refers it as a 3D metal visor. This has been a distinct Pixel design feature since the Pixel 6 lineup, and we think Google will improve this feature further going forward
IP67 water and dust resistance is another feature shared by the Pixel 7a and Galaxy A35. The colors of the Pixel 7a are Coral, Sea, Snow, and Charcoal. The Galaxy A35 5G, on the other hand, is available in the colors Awesome Iceblue, Awesome Lilac, and Awesome Navy.
The Galaxy A35 is clearly the larger device in terms of size, while the Pixel 7a is quite comparable in terms of weight. The Samsung phone, which is essentially comparable to the company’s current top Galaxy S24 Plus, has greater screen real estate.
In terms of display, the Pixel 7a has a 6.1-inch OLED screen, while the Galaxy A35 5G has a 6.6-inch Super AMOLED screen. There is a variation in smoothness but no discernible difference in screen resolution or clarity. The Samsung phone has a rather smooth refresh rate of up to 120 Hz, but Google’s phone only supports 90 Hz. HDR is supported by both screens, but peak brightness is not very high. The mid-range world has not yet accepted this function.
Software and performance
While the Google Tensor G2 that powers the Pixel 7a is the same processor that powers the flagship Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, and Pixel Fold phones, it is not exactly a flawless champion. The Tensor’s proficiency with AI and ML is its strongest suit.
Also, the performance of the Galaxy A35 5G’s Exynos 1380 chip is undoubtedly subpar. The Galaxy A54 from last year was the first device to use this technology and let us just say that we were not impressed. With obvious micro-jitter and some delay when navigating the interface, its performance was largely inconsistent. In terms of mid-range Samsung phones, this is rather typical.
Our benchmark tests show that the Google Pixel 7a and its Tensor chip run significantly better than the Galaxy A35. In terms of daily advanced performance and gaming, the Google phone is the superior device, as shown by the results of both the GeekBench 6 and 3DMark benchmarks.
RAM-wise, the Pixel 7a has 8GB of RAM, whereas the Galaxy A35 has 6GB. This indicates the potential for improved multitasking on the Google phone. Both phones have 128GB of native storage as standard. On the other hand, the Samsung mid-ranger is given a much better card because it features a microSD card slot and 256GB of storage.
Camera
In contrast to the Pixel 6a, the Pixel 7a has a new twin camera setup. Both the wide and ultra-wide cameras on the back use new excellent quality sensors, which give them the recognizable Pixel camera appearance. The Pixel 7a’s AI-enhanced camera features are a major factor in its status as one of the most capable mid-range smartphones in terms of photography.
While the Galaxy A35 has three cameras, you may mistake it for a duo camera in most situations. You see, the third camera is a macro unit, in addition to the standard wide and ultra-wide cameras. Since these cameras are typically ineffective and provide very little value, we are not big supporters of them.
Haptics and audio quality
With its high-quality audio, the Pixel 7a was an enjoyable phone to listen to. You may not enjoy music as much when listening to the Pixel 7a because the Galaxy A35’s audio is not always as clear as it could be.
The Pixel 7a can excel in haptics, for example. It provides vibrations that are accurate and precise. Samsung’s mid-range phones, which typically have gentle vibrations, have never been particularly good at these.
Charging and Battery Life
A large 5,000mAh battery is a hallmark of many flagship smartphones nowadays, and the Galaxy A35 5G has one. We are confident that the Galaxy A35 5G will have an excellent battery life and be able to outperform the Pixel 7a in this important area given the effectiveness of the Exynos 1380.
In the meantime, Google’s Pixel 7a, which has a 4,385mAh battery, shocked us with how long it lasted. The Pixel 7a beat some of its competitors, including the iPhone 14, Pixel 7, and Pixel 6a, in our own battery tests, which were carried out at 200 nits of manually adjusted display brightness.
Surprisingly, the Pixel 7a outperforms the Galaxy A35 in two of our three unique tests, which are all conducted with the display manually adjusted to 200 nits of brightness. The Pixel 7a gets 15 hours and a half in our web surfing test, which mimics a typical browsing session, while the Galaxy A35 lags by around an hour. In our test of video streaming, the Google phone emerged victorious, defeating the Galaxy. The sole silver lining for the Samsung phone is that it outperforms the Pixel 7a in our 3D gaming test. Even though the Pixel 7a’s battery life is less, you will still enjoy playing games on it more.
The Pixel 7a charges quite slowly—it takes two hours to fully charge—and only supports slower wired charging, using only 18W. is very slow. The Pixel 7a has wireless charging, but it is also very slow – just 7.5W. Meanwhile, the Galaxy A35 doesn’t have wireless charging, but it can charge faster as it has 25W wired charging support
An overview and the final choice
Not to be underestimated, the Pixel 7a is among the top mid-range phones available. it is still a very secure purchase because it has every necessary feature of a standard Pixel phone. A favorite mid-ranger of our own.
By bringing the Galaxy A35 5G instead of the Galaxy A55 5G, Samsung also implemented a big shift in their approach to device development. It is primarily semantics because the two have the same features. Samsung has a rare chance to increase its market share in the mid-range segment with the new model.