If you’re looking to get one of the new Galaxy A series phones, the comparison between the more expensive Samsung Galaxy A56 and the cheaper Samsung Galaxy A36 is inevitable.
At the time of writing, the Galaxy A56 starts at around €479 (we expect a $500 US price), while you can get a Galaxy A36 starting at around €379/$399. The price difference we are looking at is a nice round 100 bucks, which is quite a bit in this price bracket.
So how much better is the Samsung Galaxy A56 to deserve its price premium? Let’s look into it.
Table of Contents:
For starters, you can compare the complete specs sheets or directly continue with our editor’s assessment in the following text.
Size comparison
The two phones are practically identical in size. Both are built around a 6.7-inch display and have the same footprint. The weight isn’t noticeably different, either.
Overall, you have to look for really subtle design differences to tell the two apart, like the slightly different rear camera island design, for example.
While both phones are well-made and feel solid, there is one notable difference in the bill of materials. The Galaxy A56 has an aluminum middle frame, whereas the A36 has to settle for a plastic one.
The frame on the A56 also has an extra nice brushed metal finish. On the other hand, the Galaxy A36 comes in a few arguably livelier color options.
Other than that, both phones have a pair of Gorilla Glass Victus+ sheets covering their backs and fronts.
They both have an IP67 ingress protection rating for surviving up to 30 minutes in a 1m deep fresh water.
Neither phone has a microSD card slot, in stark contrast to last year’s models. You can only find a microSD slot in the Galaxy A26 this year.
The rest of the controls are very similar across the pair, like an under-display optical fingerprint reader and a stereo speaker setup.
Connectivity is quite similar between the two phones, too. Both get SA/NSA Sub-6 5G connectivity on both of their physical Nano-SIM slots, plus up to two eSIM cards.
Local connectivity is handled by dual-band Wi-Fi 6 on both phones. Both also get NFC, but not in every market.
In case you were wondering, there is no 3.5mm audio jack or FM radio receiver on either one.
One small difference is that the A56 gets Bluetooth 5.3 while the A36 interestingly gets Bluetooth 5.4.
Both phones are equipped with Samsung’s virtual proximity sensors.
Display comparison
We are fairly certain that the two phones use identical display panels. Both measure 6.7 inches in diagonal and have a 1080×2340 pixel resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate.
In our standardized testing we got very similar maximum brightness figures of around 1200 nits.
Both phones have enough brightness to be comfortable outdoors in the sun.
Battery life
Both phones have a 5,000 mAh battery on board. We have already established that they effectively use the same display as well. It only makes sense that the two would have very similar battery endurance figures, which is also true.
However, certain differences in the individual tests are worth pointing out. The Galaxy A56 seems to last longer in calls and while streaming video. At the same time, the A36 gets a whole hour extra of gaming. These differences most likely come down to the specifics of the different chipsets used in the two phones.
Charging speed
Both phones advertise Samsung’s 45W PD-based fast charging. They have different charging curves, but the result is identical – you get a full charge in around an hour and fifteen minutes.
That’s pretty standard for a modern Samsung phone. It won’t be winning any charging speed awards in the grand scheme of things, but it still has a decent charging rate. Hopefully, this slightly slower charging translates into less battery stress and better longevity.
Speaker test
Both phones feature a hybrid stereo speaker setup – one full-fledged speaker at the bottom and one doubles as an earpiece at the top.
The two phones are remarkably similar in the loudspeaker department. In our standardized testing, they both managed exactly the same -26.2 LUFS of loudness, earning them a GOOD score in our ranking.
Tuning is very similar between the two models as well. The sound stage is nice and wide, with deeper and warmer sound with very little distortion at higher volumes.
Performance
Performance is one area in which the two phones differ. The Galaxy A56 is equipped with one of Samsung’s own Exynos 1580 chips, while the Galaxy A36 has a Qualcomm chipset – the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3.
While both chips are made on a 4nm node and are quite modern, the Exynos uses newer ARM CPU cores in a more modern 1+3+4 configuration.
The Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 inside the Galaxy A36 has older Cortex units in a 4+4 config.
The onboard GPU inside the A56 is an Xclipse 540, while the A36 gets an Adreno 710.
The Galaxy A56 scores 33% better in CPU tests and 46% better in GPU tests compared to the A36 so it’s quite a difference.
The memory configurations of the two phones are pretty different, particularly the base ones. While the A56 gets 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM in its base tier, the A36 starts off with 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM.
You can get the A36 with 8GB of RAM and even 12GB of RAM in some regions, but it will cost more.
One thing definitely worth noting is that the Galaxy A56 uses faster UFS 3.1 storage, while the Galaxy A36 is stuck with slightly slower UFS 2.2 chips. The difference between the two in practice can be small in certain scenarios, but it is still worth pointing out.
Benchmark performance
If you are after performance, then the Galaxy A56 puts out better numbers than the A36. Unless you prefer the Snapdragon chip for some specific niche reason, like emulator compatibility, then the Exynos is the way to go for raw power.
Burst performance numbers aside, we are happy to report that both phones keep their respective chipsets nice and cool under prolonged stress and maintain a large chunk of their performance. Neither phone gets uncomfortably warm to the touch, either.
Both phones come with Samsung’s promise of six major OS updates on top of the Android 15 and One UI 7, which you get out of the box.
Camera comparison
As far as a high-level comparison goes, the camera setups on the Galaxy A56 and A36 are not that different. Both phones have a 50MP main camera, an ultrawide, a 5MP macro and a 12MP selfie camera. Diggging in deeper shows us that there are some differences after all. The main 50MP camera on the Galaxy A56 is based on the Sony IMX906 sensor (1/1.56″ sensor size and 1.0µm pixel size), while the Galaxy A36 uses a lower grade Sony IMX882 sensor (1/1.95″ size and 0.8µm pixels).
While both phones have an ultrawide camera, the A56 gets a higher-resolution 12MP Sony IMX258 (1/3.06″, 1.12µm). This is in comparison to the 8MP GalaxyCore GC08A3 (1/4″, 1.12µm) the A36 has.
Not that it is essential, but the 5MP macro camera on the rear of both phones appears identical across the A56 and A36. It is based on the GalaxyCore GC05A3.
Finally, the selfie cameras appear identical on the surface, with both being 12MP in resolution. However, two different sensors are behind the scenes. The Galaxy A56 uses the Samsung S5K3LC, while the A36 employs the GalaxyCore GC12A2.
Image quality
The Galaxy A56 should capture slightly better photos than the A36 on paper. This is kind of true, but in broad daylight, you might struggle to find the actual difference in practice.
When we look at the 2x digital zoom, the A56 offers much nicer quality from up close. Its ultrwide cam appears to be much nicer too.
Samsung Galaxy A36: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 4x • 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 4x
Samsung Galaxy A56: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 4x • 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 4x
The quality advantage the A56 has is a lot more prominent in low-light conditions. The main camera on the A56 handles both shadows and highlights a lot better. Light sources, in particular, are very masterfully handled, while on the A36, they appear pretty blown out.
Samsung Galaxy A36: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 0.6x • 1x • 2x
Samsung Galaxy A56: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 0.6x • 1x • 2x
Surprisingly, the 8MP ultrawide on the A36 does not fall too badly behind the 12MP unit on the A56. The difference in detail isn’t huge, but again, the dynamic range is much better on the A56.
One overarching observation worth mentioning is that exposure seems to be very inconsistent and temperamental on the Galaxy A36, much more than the A56. Also, the A36 struggles to represent true-to-life colors at night properly and leans heavily to the side of yellow and red shades.
Despite using different sensors, the selfie cameras look pretty identical in terms of overall quality. However, if you zoom in to 100%, you will notice that the A56 selfies are more detailed and the skin looks more lifelike.
Samsung Galaxy A36: selfies
Samsung Galaxy A56: selfies
Video quality
Below we have a few framegrabs from the videos taken by the two phones at each focal length so it’s easier to compare to one another.
Both phones capture pretty great 4K videos on their main cameras, especially in good lighting conditions. The detail is there, and the noise is pretty low. The colors are nice and mostly natural. There is, however, a noticeable difference in dynamic range. It is significantly narrower on the A36, and the phone tends to favor darker exposure in most scenes.
Samsung Galaxy A36: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • low light
Samsung Galaxy A56: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • low light
The Galaxy A36 is limited to 1080p video capture on its ultrawide camera, which badly affects its overall quality and detail. All the while, the A56 can do 4K on the ultrawide, and it produces much cleaner and more detailed videos.
While the main camera on the A36 holds up surprisingly well in low-light conditions, it still captures slightly softer and noisier videos than that on the A56. Overall, the A56 has a small but noticeable edge in the camera department.
Verdict
The Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36 share much in common and, unsurprisingly, deliver an almost identical user experience. They are both well-rounded midrangers. You will get the same display and speaker setup, nearly the same battery life and charging speed, and practically identical connectivity and additional features.
Of course, the Galaxy A56 is objectively the more capable device. Its upgraded camera system stands out with better quality across the board. It also offers noticeably better performance, upwards of 30% better than what the A36 could muster. However, it also comes with a roughly 30% price premium over the A36.
Neither of these phones is a bad pick – if you value the A56’s added features, then the higher price will be well worth it. If you think a more basic feature set would do as long as the screen and battery life are up to snuff, then you could save some cash by going for the Galaxy A36 instead.
- The longer battery endurance while gaming.
- The identical user experience at a lower price.
- The livlier color options.
Get the Samsung Galaxy A36 for:
- The longer battery endurance in calls and video streaming.
- The much higher performance.
- The better camera quality across the board.
- The aluminum middle frame with a brushed finish.
Get the Samsung Galaxy A56 for:
