The budget series of Samsung, Galaxy A series, is back in 2025, and it sports a slightly different look with slightly different enhancements.
Notably, there are now changes to the likes of 45W charging speed and 12GB RAM performance. Ultimately, the Galaxy A36 is notably designed for budget-conscious, tech-savvy, and practical users, offering a blend of performance, design and longevity.
Here comes the big question: At RM1,499 for the 12GB RAM variant, it's considered a midrange phone, and for this price with the latest standard tech specifications, the Samsung Galaxy A36 seems like a great deal. Is it? Here's our review on what to know.
Editor
Jodee Tan chevron_right
Table of Contents
Screen & Design
The Galaxy A36 is designed with a 6.7-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED screen that's able to support 120Hz refresh rate and peak brightness of 1,900 nits. At that level of brightness, you can expect vibrant visuals under direct sunlight.
Galaxy A36 is also IP67-rated for dust and water resistance, offering protection against everyday elements. In terms of built, the Galaxy A36 has a glass front and back made of made of Gorilla Glass Victus+ together with a seemingly high-quality plastic frame, though different from the higher spec Galaxy A56 with a titanium frame. The entire phone itself is 195g in weight, just slightly lighter than the Galaxy A56 which is at 198g.
While the current set up of the Galaxy A36 may provide some good level of protection, it does not guarantee a very high protection against big drops. Nevertheless, the Galaxy A36 is a beautiful piece of gadget in our eyes.
Compared to the Samsung Galaxy A35 from 2024, the most prominent physical feature on the Galaxy A36 for 2025 is its apparent camera notch. Other than that, the rest of the body looks the same. Even the colourways are similar. Our Galaxy A36 "Awesome Lavendar" has an iridiscent finish on its back which looks like the Galaxy A35's Awesome Lilac.
Operation & Battery
You will get the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 on the Galaxy A36, which is a mid-range chipset that is best for handling everyday use, video viewing and social media. According to online benchmarks, this chipset scores very well for battery performance and not so much for gaming. Thus it's great for those who are looking for daily casual use out of the phone, and if they only do light gaming.
The Galaxy A36 is available in 2 variants: 6GB RAM and 128GB storage or 12GB and 256GB storage; varying across different colourways.
Our unit comes with the higher specs of 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. For us, 6GB RAM might render you more obvious lags if you are a heavier user, whereas the 12GB one is sufficient for day-to-day tanking apps in the background.
For reference, mid-level demanding games such as Asphalt 8 and MMO games did well on our 12GB RAM unit, with not much violent temperature peaks and drops. Graphically, do expect a little sluggishness in the input delay.
As for the 256GB memory, this feels pretty limiting as you won't get anymore SD card storage support. So beware if you have intentions to install apps that take up a lot of space.
On the bright side, we're happy to see a 45W charging speed now in the Galaxy A series models. Previously offered only in the Galaxy S series, the fast charge allows the phone to go from 0% to 100% in just 68 minutes. Speaking of which, the Galaxy A36 comes with 5,000mAh battery, which is about 29 hours worth of video viewing.
Camera
Generously, you'll get a triple camera set up on the Galaxy A36, consisting of a 50MP wide lens, 8MP ultrawide lens and a 5MP macro lens for the rear camera. Whereas the front camera is a single 12mp wide camera. For video, the Galaxy A36 is capable of 4k video shots, with up to 60fps shoots (for rear only). The rear camera gets gyro-EIS for video stability whereas the front camera only gets a 10-bit wide HDR videro shoot.
Like many of Samsung's latest phones, you'll be able to enjoy the signature imaging on the Galaxy A36, and remasters of images via AI suggestions to improve and edit your images. Alas, the signature Galaxy AI features for videos aren't available.
UI & OS
The Galaxy A36 will come with Android 15, as well as enjoy up to 6 major Android upgrades, which means 5 - 6 years of software support. Like other Samsung phones, the Galaxy A36 comes with One UI 7. As expected, this is a clean UI that comes clean with hardly any excess apps beside Samsung native ones.
Galaxy A36 also comes with several sensors (under display optical fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro and compass), a Virtual Proximity Sensing (for call detection etc) and very basic AI perks too for imaging edits and Circle to Search.
What We Liked
Colour & Design
Unlike the Galaxy S25 series which looks almost like its predecessors, the Galaxy A36 and its series siblings has a little difference over their predecessors which is mainly the camera bump, of which we feel is only a protective layer to the camera lenses. Otherwise, there's nothing much that separates them.
But aside from that, we can still appreciate the finishing materials and colourways used in the Galaxy A36. Despire its plastic frame, the Galaxy A36 still feels premium to the touch, and definitely eyecatching.
Lightweight
For its size, we're also glad to have a big lightweight phone that's actually comfortable hold. At a glance, the size looks good with an ample, bright screen to enjoy (of which is also actually slightly brighter than its predecessors according to benchmarks.
AI & Software
Galaxy A36 is not filled with AI features. However, they do come with basic AI capabilities which most people of the targeted demographic for this phone would appreciate. Camera editing and Circle to Search is heaps helpful enough.
Battery
The slight boost in battery capacity and 45W charging was also a big welcome to a phone of this financial category. Although many phones now come with big battery upgrades, we're happy to see that Samsung is following suite rather than reserving the upgrades for the higher-end flagships.
Camera
The biggest reason for anyone to get the Galaxy A36 would be the camera. While details aren't the sharpest for a Samsung phone, imaging results are quite above average especially for a phone of this category and price range.
What We Disliked
Lack of SD card support
The biggest fall that the Galaxy A series has taken this 2025 is the loss of SD card support, which the predecessor Galaxy A26 series has.
While it might not be a big deal for a phone of this price, it's a high possibility that the targeted demographic of the Galaxy A36 would try to keep the phone with them for as long as possible. The hassle of transferring data between computer and phone can also be unappealing for many.
6GB RAM?
The lowest spec variant you can get for the Galaxy A36 is at 6GB RAM, and goes for RM1,299. In this day of age, anything below 6GB RAM feels underwhelming and shouldn'y be placed in a mid-range phone category. If you are wondering, it's better to just go straight for the 12GB variant with an additional RM200.
Who is this for?
At RM1,499 for the 12GB +258GB variant, the Galaxy A36 is an alright choice. It's not the cheapest, but it is the safest choice if you account for its software support of 6 years and brand value. Its camera imaging results are also one of the better ones among others in the competition.
All in all, users who want a simple phone for regular multimedia use minus heavy gaming (casual games like MMOs are alright), the Samsung Galaxy A36 still stands out as a decent smartphone to pick up.
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