Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 leaks point to possible upgrade and potential flaw

It looks like new Samsung Galaxy A-series phones could be on the horizon as tech tipster Evan Blass shared the allegedly official renders on X (formally Twitter) of the Samsung Galaxy A55 and Samsung Galaxy A35. 

Blass’ renders provide a clear view of both the front and back and four color options including Black, Green, Pink, and White, and have prompted some mixed reactions.

Both the Samsung Galaxy A55 and the Galaxy A35 appear to now sport the “Key Island” design that debuted last year with the Galaxy A25 and Galaxy A15 models, which gives the phones a raised edge on their sides making the power and volume keys more pronounced. The Galaxy A35 looks to have also received a welcome update to its design, as seems destined to ditch the U-shape notch on the front-facing camera in favor of a more modern punch-hole camera cutout. 

Another welcome tipped upgrade for the Galaxy A55 is what could be an aluminum frame for the Galaxy A55, which would be an improvement to the previous model’s use of plastic. However, it could just be plastic with a brushed metal effect, while it’s likely the Galaxy A35 will opt for a plastic frame just like the Galaxy A34. 

Both designs feature noticeable bezels with a larger bottom chin that aren’t uncommon for mid-range phones. But it’s worth noting that the many budget and mid-range phones like Xaomi Redmi Note 13, Honor Magic6 Lite, and OnePlus Nord 3 5G all managed to slim down their bezels. This has led to some users making fun of the new design for its thick bezel and its large “Thanos-style” chin.

While it’s not apparent from these renders, the Galaxy A55 is thought to be bigger than the Samsung Galaxy A54 according to previous leaks, which along with possible metal frame could shows the A55 could step into a more premium phone space.  

One render even shows the phones with water splashed in the background, which could point to improved or at least the same IP67 resistance rating as the Galaxy A54 and the Galaxy A34.

If Evan’s leaks are accurate, it shows that taking further steps towards a unified and clear design throughout its Galaxy S and Galaxy A models.  

Rumored specifications

The Samsung Galaxy A55 is rumored to use a 6.5-inch AMOLED screen supporting a 120Hz refresh rate and an FHD+ resolution. Meanwhile, the A35 is expected to follow the same resolution and refresh rate but with a slightly larger 6.6-inch display.

The Samsung Galaxy A55 is believed to be using the brand new Exynos 1480 chip which according to GSMarena appeared on Geekbench scoring 1,180 points for the single-core performance test and 3,536 points in the multi-core performance test. That’s a dramatic improvement over the Galaxy A54’s 1,108 points single-core and multi-core 2,797 performance.

The Samsung Galaxy A35 is thought to be equipped with the Exynos 1380, the same chip as last year’s Galaxy A54.  which should offer some performance and battery life improvements.

Both phones are believed to support up to 12GB RAM and from 128GB to 256GB of storage that can be expanded using a microSD card slot. They are also tipped to come with the same 5,000mAh batteries as before, including the same 25W fast charging. 

The OS on both phones is likely to be Samsung’s latest One UI 6, based on Android 14. Despite the release dates being unconfirmed, both models are expected to launch in March this year as the Samsung Galaxy A54, A53, and A52 all released in March of their respective years.

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