Samsung Galaxy M34 5G review: A feature-packed mid-range smartphone

This smartphone features a 6.6-inch Super AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 50MP triple rear camera with OIS, up to 8GB RAM, 128GB storage, 5G connectivity, and a 6,000mAh battery with 25W charging support. Let us delve deeper into the review and find out more about the device and its performance.

Design

The Samsung Galaxy M34 5G comes with a sleek and familiar design with plastic back featuring three circular camera lenses. At the rear, the device comes with glossy back which actually gives a glass-like feel. With the 6,000mAh battery, the device does feel slightly heavy in hand.  

You can find the USB-C type port, a 3.5mm headphone jack and mono speaker supporting Dolby Atmos at the bottom. At the right hand side, the smartphone gets volume buttons doubling as the power button and at the left hand side, it gets a hybrid nano sim card tray.

Thick bezels, teardrop notch and broader chin define the display. It is time that Samsung should up its design game. With color options like Midnight Blue, Prism Silver, and Waterfall Blue, users can choose a variant that suits their style. 

Display

The device features a 6.6-inch Super AMOLED display, a 120Hz refresh rate with smooth scrolling, immersive visual experience and loud sound. The Full HD+ resolution, Widevine L1 support and Gorilla Glass 5 protection does offer vibrant colours, HD content streaming, and protection from scratches, respectively. Interestingly, the 1000 nits of brightness provides great visibility even in harsh sunlight.

Performance and Software

Under the hood, the Samsung Galaxy M34 5G is powered by the 5nm Exynos 1280 SoC, coupled with up to 8GB of RAM. The device runs on the latest Android 13-based One UI 5. Upon usage, it was noted that the device performed well in day to day operations, the scrolling and toggling between multiple apps was smooth. We played BGMI on the device for more than an hour on a regular basis from medium to high settings. The device did not face any lagging or frame-drops. However, it did turn warm a few times.

It is noteworthy that the Samsung Galaxy M34 5G gets bloatwares and the company’s pre-installed apps. Overall, the device offers decent performance.

Camera

The camera system of the Samsung Galaxy M34 5G impresses with its primary camera sensor. The triple rear camera setup is led by a 50-megapixel primary camera with optical image stabilization (OIS), delivering clear and steady shots. It also features an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens, along with a 2-megapixel macro shooter. 

On the front, a 13-megapixel camera ensures sharp and vibrant selfies. In good lighting or during the day, the main camera takes detailed photos with vibrant colors and decent dynamic range. However, sometimes it overexposes the brightest areas. The 8MP ultrawide camera captures good photos with similar colors as the primary camera sensor. The macro lens, despite having a lower resolution of 2MP, manages to take usable shots with lack of details.

The budget-friendly Samsung device also includes a Nightography feature, which is usually found on higher-end models. It helps capture slightly brighter low-light pictures, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. Overall, as per the price of the smartphone, the camera gives decent pictures.

Battery

Equipped with a 6,000mAh battery, the Samsung Galaxy M34 5G delivers long battery life. It was discovered that the device lasted over 14 hours despite heavy gaming of up to two hours. Moreover, with the normal day to day usage, it lasted for almost 30 hours. However, the company could have provided a charger with the device. This is the biggest drawback of the device and it might come as a shock to the customers. 

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy M34 offers a lot of great features for its price. It comes with smooth scrolling, bright display, long-lasting battery, and decent camera. Under the ₹20,000 segment, it is a value for money device. If you are fine with a slightly heavy device in your pocket, no charger in the box and some pre-installed third party apps, then you can definitely go for Samsung Galaxy M34 5G.

Updated: 19 Jul 2023, 12:04 PM IST