Flagship smartphone prices keep increasing as manufacturers cram more and more features into them. The good thing is that new tech is trickling down to budget phones, which continue to improve without seeing huge price increases. We have with us Samsung Galaxy A36 5G, which has launched alongside Galaxy A56 5G. There are some differences but, for most, Galaxy A36 will be enough for everyday usage.
Better design
At 7.4mm, the phone is slimmer than last year’s models. Instead of the triple ring design, there is a linear camera module. It’s hard to tell the Galaxy A56 apart from Galaxy A36, which weigh 198g and 195g respectively. But if you look closely at the camera module, the A56 has intended circles on all the cameras. Both devices have Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection and IP67 protection.
Galaxy A36 is built around a 6.7 inch 120Hz capable Super AMOLED display, slightly larger than the Galaxy A35 that it’s replacing in Samsung’s lineup
Brighter display, more camera action
The display is the same on the A36 and A56, coming with slim bezels. It’s a punchy 6.7-inch AMOLED FHD+ display with 120Hz refresh rate, 1,200 nits brightness and it goes up to 1,900 nits with Vision Booster. This year, we have a brighter display, up from 1,000 nits of high brightness mode.
The selfie camera is brand new. It’s a 12MP snapper. Though the resolution is lower than what we got last year, camera resolution is not everything. At f/2.2, there is a larger sensor size with larger pixels and it’s going to give you better photos and dynamic range. You can shoot 4K videos at 30fps and there is support for Video HDR. On the A56 you get an upgraded AI ISP, which reduces noise in photographs. There has been a drastic improvement in the selfie camera.
For the triple rear-facing cameras, users get a 50MP (f/1.8) primary camera with OIS, 8MP (f/2.2) ultra-wide and 5MP macro. This also supports Video HDR. What you get extra on the A56 is a 12MP ultra-wide snapper.
Portrait mode works better than a lot of budget phones in delivering a decent sense of shot depth
The cameras have been tuned well, turning in natural colours and, at night, there is a substantial difference in the noise level from the last generation. Video recording (4K) too is far better than before.
AI and performance
The Galaxy A36 comes with Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 Mobile Platform chipset (4nm), bringing a substantial improvement over last year’s chipset on the A35. The A36 could be your go-to phone if you want to stay away from Exynos 1580 that powers the A56, though we find that the latter offers a far better NPU and CPU performance than those offered by the previous generation. Also, you get 15 per cent larger vapour chambers to keep the phones cool.
For day-to-day performance, you will not experience strutters. When it comes to gaming, it’s quite good on the A36 but don’t expect this to perform like a flagship, gaming device.
Many Samsung phones tend to post-process with oversaturation of colours; the Galaxy A36 (mostly) avoids this
On the software side, there is One UI 7.0 on top of Android 15. Samsung is promising six generations of OS upgrades and security updates. It’s probably the best you are going to find at this price. More OS upgrades mean you can hold on to the phones longer and there is less e-waste but you may have to replace the battery once during those six years.
With One UI 7.0 you get all the new features, including the Now Bar, which riffs on the Dynamic Island on the iPhone. And there are some AI features that go under the name Awesome Intelligence. It’s not the same as all the AI features on flagship Galaxy S25 series phones with superior chips. There is Circle to Search that is now on many Google devices. Also present is AI Select, which lets you make GIFs from videos or even wallpapers. Then comes Object Eraser, which removes unwanted objects in photos. Another feature: Read Aloud in the Samsung Browser and as the name suggests, it will let you read aloud what’s on the screen.
Any extra AI feature on the A56? There is Auto Trim, which allows users to extract highlights using AI from video clips. Second, Best Face: Choosing the best photos from a series and replacing faces in a group with, say, closed eyes.
Make the call
Both phones come with 5,000 mAh batteries and are comparable to the one on Samsung Galaxy S25. So far we have been getting good performance, allowing us at least seven to eight hours of screen-on time. Also, the phones allow you super-fast charging at 45W, giving 60 per cent battery with 30 minutes of charging. However, you do not get a charger in the box.
The Galaxy A36 hits up to 1,200 nits of brightness and it's a bright screen that works well even in direct sunlight
What makes the A36 a winner is its software and the number of upgrades that are promised. And the cameras don’t have the usual flaws like overexposure and oversaturation, which come at this price. Overall, it’s an A+ performance from Samsung Galaxy A36 5G.
At a glance
Device: Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
Price: Upwards of ₹32,999
High notes
Decent performance
Bright display
Reliable camera
Offers six Android OS upgrades
Muffled notes
Bezel around the chin could have been slimmer
No 3.5mm headphone jack