Samsung is setting a benchmark for support on mid-range and affordable smartphones-New A-Series (A16 and above) will get 6 OS updates. This generation promotes performance, speeds up charging, brings camera improvement and more. We have covered the Galaxy A56 in a separate article, here we will focus on its brothers, A36 and A26.
Samsung Galaxy A36
The Samsung Galaxy A36 switchs things and features a Snapdragon 6 General 3 after using a mixture of dimensions and exinos chips for the last few generations. The base memory configuration is 6/128GB (although some areas will get 8/128GB) and an upgrade option for 8/256GB.
While 6 General 3 is not a performance animal, Samsung is giving it the best tool to shine by giving it a large vapor room (+15%) which is now the same size to one inside the Galaxy S24+.
Samsung integrated the screen size of the A56, A36 and A26 – all three features 6.7 “Super AMOLED screen with 1080p+ resolution. This is 0.1 “growth at A35, by the way. The display is also bright, reaches 1,200 notes in high gloss mode and keeps the peak on 1,900 notes.
The front and back of the phone are preserved with gorilla glass Victus+, while the frame is made of polycarbonate. Like last year, the phone has been rated for dust and water resistance. All colors are selected in Samsung, but one of which (black forest) has a rainbow effect.
Samsung Galaxy A36 Color: Black • Lime • White • Lavender
The rear camera has a new form with a single camera island (instead of three individual lenses), but it is mostly the same hardware. This includes 50MP main (f/1.8 lens with OIS), 8MP ultra-wide (f/2.2) and 5MP macro (f/2.4).
There are two upgrade in the camera system this year. First, the selfie camera has a new, large 12MP sensor. Second, the video is available on both rear and front cameras (10-bit up to 4K @ 30fps). A quick comparison with the A56 suggests that the pricier model has a large sensor (now with 1.0 Ellm pixels), a 12MP UW CAM and a low noise mode on the selfie camera.
Samsung placed the battery capacity of the Galaxy A36 at 5,000mAh. However, it improved the charging speed from 25W to 45W. This means that you get up to 66% charge of 30 minutes and a full fee takes 68 minutes. Once completed, the battery should last up to 29 hours video playback.
The A36 launches the latest one with Android 15 with a UI 7. It will feature 6 OS updates (above 4 on A35) and security patch (above 5) for 6 years. Samsung is loaded into some AI features such as finding a handi circle, a simple way of making object eraser and your own image filter for image editing (by choosing an example image to copy its style).
Samsung Galaxy A36
The price of Samsung Galaxy A36 is the same as its predecessor – the 128GB base model is $ 400/€ 380, while the 256GB upgrade is € 450/£ 400 (different markets are getting separate storage options).
One important thing is that the Galaxy A56 will be available in the US, unlike its predecessor. So while looking at A36, something has to be considered. See our A56 articles for details on glasses and prices.
Samsung Galaxy A26
In some ways, the Samsung Galaxy A26 is a reado of A35 since last year, but at a lower price. And it is not far from A36, although keeping in mind the tag of low price.
A26 is powered by Exynos 1380, which was used for A35 last year. While talking about the new A36, Samsung highlighted a performance improvement – Snapdragon 6 General 3 has 8% faster than the CPU Exinos 1380. There may be a difference in efficiency (we have to test it) and A22 did not find a large vapor room.
Samsung Galaxy A26
The status of memory is the same, the base model has 6/8GB RAM (dependent on the area) and 128GB storage and has an 8/256GB upgrade. Note that the A26 also has a microSD slot, which is not available at a high level of the A-Series phone. And you will get the same software support – 6 OS updates and 6 years of safety patches (above 4 and 5 respectively).
As mentioned above, all three A-phones from today have 6.7 “OLED displays with 1080p+ resolution (above 6.5”). This is not the same screen, though. The A26 has a notch for its selfie camera (instead of punch hole) and the fingerprint reader is placed on the side instead of the display.
Talking about a selfie camera, this model uses the old 13MP unit, so there is no video HDR for this. It also applies to rear cameras, including 50MP main (OIS), 8MP ultra-wide and 2MP macro.
Samsung upgraded the body on this model. This dropped it from 8.3 mm to 7.7 mm, although the weight rose from 197G to 200G. And this year the new IP67 rating is – the same level of dust and water protection which is A36 and A56.
Samsung Galaxy A26 Color
The other two of the battery have the same capacity of 5,000mAh, but this cheaper model recalls on the charging upgrade and still supports only 25W.
The cost of € 370/£ 300/$ 300 for the Samsung Galaxy A26 base 128GB model is € 300 and 256GB upgrade. More storage versions will be available in more markets.
