Smartphone review
Galaxy A36: When brand name isn’t enough
Samsung’s budget phone looks the part—but struggles to compete on power and features.
Top Line
The Galaxy A36 invites the classic question: is the glass half empty or half full? At first glance, its lack of AI features might make it seem like a second-tier device in Samsung’s lineup.
However, the A36 has some strong points: solid protection, support for eSIM (still rare at this price level), an excellent display, and overall, it performs its intended role well.
That said, it faces stiff competition. At the same price point, other devices offer better water and dust resistance, more storage, faster charging, or more RAM. There are also cheaper phones that match the A36’s feature set. It's unclear whether Samsung's brand name alone will be enough to convince consumers to opt for this more affordable model.
Details: Budget Samsung, Still in the Game
Samsung and Apple dominate global smartphone sales, mostly competing at the high end—Galaxy S-series vs. iPhone. But Samsung’s A-series caters to users who want more affordable options.
Samsung recently refreshed the A-series, and we tested the A36—priced at about 1,300 shekels (~$360)—to see what’s new and who it’s for.
Design and Build: Familiar and Functional
The A36 stays true to Samsung’s design language: a large flat screen, a punch-hole selfie camera, power and volume buttons on the left, and a speaker/SIM tray on the bottom.
Size-wise, it’s similar to the S25 Plus, with a 6.7-inch display and a nearly 200-gram weight—though it doesn't feel overly heavy. Unlike flagship devices, the display doesn’t fully cover the front: there's a slim black border, but it doesn’t hinder usability.
Surprisingly, it doesn’t feel like a “cheap” phone. It features Gorilla Glass Victus+ on both sides and a plastic frame that feels sturdy. It has an IP67 rating—good protection against dust and water, though not the highest available. It should survive submersion in up to one meter of fresh water for 30 minutes, but best not to push it.
Hardware: Capable, But Unexceptional
The A36 runs on Qualcomm’s 3rd-gen Snapdragon 6 processor—confusingly named, considering Snapdragon 8 is the latest flagship tier. It’s a fairly new chip, aimed at midrange devices.
The device includes 6GB RAM and 128GB of storage. That’s low for 2025, especially compared to some similarly priced or even cheaper competitors. Internationally, larger storage versions are available, but in Israel, this is the only configuration—unfortunately.
Performance is sufficient for daily tasks and even light gaming, but there are occasional lags and noticeable heat after extended play.
The screen is a highlight—bright (up to 1,900 nits), vivid, and colorful, likely tuned by Samsung for extra visual punch. It renders images and videos well, even under direct sunlight. The speakers are serviceable, but best avoided for serious audio.
A welcome surprise is eSIM support—rare in this price bracket and something we didn’t expect.
The 5,000 mAh battery easily handles a full workday and more. Charging, however, is slow. Though it supports 45W charging, it took 50 minutes to charge from 15% to 50% using a 65W charger, and nearly two hours for a full charge.
Software: Light on AI, Heavy on Interface Tweaks
The A36 ships with Android 15 and Samsung’s One UI 7—an update that caused some issues during its rollout and includes new AI features.
But don’t expect those features here. Galaxy AI exists only in name: the Samsung browser includes a shortcut for text-to-speech, but lacks the ability to summarize or translate. There’s no transcription (in any language), and limited photo-editing AI. Features like turning a photo into a sketch or generating content via prompts are missing.
What's left? A redesigned recent apps menu with a 3D carousel view, updated icons, and a modified “notification curtain.” Swipe down from the right for notifications, or from the top-left corner for a shortcut menu.
Camera: Good Enough for Most
The A36 features a 50MP main camera, an 8MP ultra-wide, and a 5MP macro. The 12MP selfie camera is solid.
Photos are decent in good lighting, though there’s some noise and blur even then. Low-light performance is acceptable but not exceptional.
There are no AI photo editing tools, but plenty of filters to tweak appearances and enhance portraits.
First published: 11:17, 12.05.25
