Samsung Galaxy M34 5G Review: 6,000mAh-powered gift that keeps on giving

Samsung Galaxy M34 5G Review: Samsung has added one more device to its popular M Series - Galaxy M34 5G. The smartphone is available in three colours – midnight blue, prism silver and waterfall blue - and two RAM and storage variants - 6GB + 128GB and 8GB + 128GB. They were priced at Rs 16,999 and Rs 18,999 respectively at the time of launch. On paper, this smartphone looks feature-loaded as it comes with an AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 6,000mAh battery and a triple camera setup. But do these features help Samsung Galaxy M34 stand out from other smartphones available in this highly-competitive segment? Find out in our full review.

Samsung Galaxy M34 5G Review: Design

Samsung Galaxy M34 5G is another smartphone launched by the South Korean tech major that resembles its flagship Galaxy S23 in terms of camera setup at the back. Here we are using the device in midnight blue colour and 6GB + 128GB variant. The back of the device attracts smudges and fingerprints quite easily but luckily cleaning it is effortless too. The back panel and the body frame are made of plastic. However, the best thing about the device is that it comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack.

On the right side of the device is the power button, which also doubles up as a fingerprint sensor, which is quick and accurate. Also, this smartphone does feel a little heavy, because of its 6,000mAh battery, but not that thick. Slightly curved edges and frame make it easy to hold in hand even for an extended time.

Samsung Galaxy M34 5G Review: Display

Samsung Galaxy M34 comes with a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED FHD+ display which supports a 120Hz refresh rate. While it lacks HDR support, the good thing is that it does support Widevine L1 - which is essential for enjoying HD content. The display is protected by Gorilla Glass 5 and offers a good viewing angle.

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Thanks to vibrant colours and wide viewing angles offered by the display, one will enjoy content consumption on this device. Although the speaker is loud, it doesn’t provide the same experience as stereo speakers. The display offers a peak brightness of 1000 nits which makes the device suitable for even outdoor usage. But the waterdrop notch design for the front camera and the thick bezel at the chin is a bit of a letdown.

Samsung Galaxy M34 5G Review: Performance and software

Samsung Galaxy M34 is powered by Exynos 1290 SoC based on the 5nm process. This is a capable chip and is already available on several Samsung devices. The device which we are reviewing comes with 6GB of LPDDR4X RAM (with an additional 6GB of virtual RAM) and 128 GB of storage. The smartphone comes with a dedicated microSD card slot and lets you expand the storage up to 1TB.

In real-life usage, the device is quite capable of handling day-to-day tasks. There won't be any noticeable lag and the 120Hz of refresh rate simply enhances it. The performance of the device was smooth even when we played games like Asphalt 9, but the phone did get warm while doing so.

The Samsung Galaxy M34 boots on OneUI 5.1 skin based on Android 13. It offers a lot of customisation but does come with many pre-installed apps. Also, the company promises four years of Android updates and three years of security updates.

Samsung Galaxy M34 5G Review: Battery and charging

This is one of the strongest points of the Samsung Galaxy M34. The device packs a massive 6,000mAh battery and offers good backup. If you are going to use the device only for regular usage, it will easily last over two days. With gaming, this will definitely come down.

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But it doesn't come with a charging brick and supports just 25W of fast charging. Considering the competition, the company should think of improving a bit on this front. It took around 100 minutes to fully charge the device using a 45W charger.

Samsung Galaxy M34 5G Review: Camera

Samsung Galaxy M34 comes with a triple camera setup. The primary camera is 50MP with optical image stabilisation (OIS). It is accompanied by an 8MP ultrawide and a 2MP macro sensor. While the macro camera is of little use, the primary camera does click good and detailed images in proper lighting conditions. The ultrawide sensor also clicks decent images but they tend to lose details on the corners.

The smartphone comes with nightography feature, something available generally in flagship smartphones, but even that doesn't make low-light photos perfect. For selfies, it has a 13MP camera at the front and it too clicks decent images in proper lighting conditions. In low light, the images do have noise.

Samsung Galaxy M34 5G Review: Verdict

Samsung Galaxy M34 manages to do several things right, making it one of the best options for those looking for smartphones in the sub-Rs 20,000 segment. It has a good display, a huge battery and a decent camera. But then Galaxy M34 has its share of issues as well - like no charging brick in the box and only 25W fast charging. Had the company addressed these things, it would have certainly become the titan of smartphones for under Rs 20,000.