Samsung Galaxy A36 5G: Real Users Divided on Value

A36 is the biggest rip-off in A3x history. A36 is still stuck on A34 level of performance while A56 already went two steps ahead.

Pros: Superb build, dual Gorilla Glass, IP67. Bright screen, 120Hz. Adequate battery life, fast to charge. Loud stereo speakers. Good performance, sustained as well. Android 15 with plenty of AI, 6 major updates incoming. Cons: No charger in the box. Screen has no HDR video support. No more microSD card support.

Silly me for still being happy with my 5 year old A71.

My condolences to people who gonna use this somehow even in 2031. Giving A series 6 year OS support is overkill — these phones gonna be abysmal to use even in their 4th year.

I think the reviewer is expecting too much. A35 is positioned as an entry level phone regardless of its selling price. Yes, sometimes the phone has some delay but it is totally bearable.

The A36 is a great device, a balanced mid-range. Indeed, not all people need a $600 or $1000 cell phone. Enjoy your A36, it's a blast.

Higher As are fine, A56 is a720/a520. And it's good to give security updates for longer, it's just that people should be wary thinking these will still be good 6 years down the line.

I've never seen a difference this big between A30 and A50 phones. The A56 is as smooth as an S23, and I am not exaggerating with this. The A36 is just as stuttery as the A35 and A54.

I think the culprit might be the UFS 3.1 > 2.2 downgrade if online specs sheet are true about A35 to A36.

A huge con for me is no micro SD card slot.

You SHOULD get an S series if you can afford it tho. If this is what fits your budget, then fine. But if you could get at least a base S25 or something, it'd be a much better experience.

They lost me with the removal of the SD card slot. There's no point in an A series anymore.

I think people gotta pull their head out of their ass. Stop expecting so much out of so little. I'm over here using A16 just fine because I knew what I'm buying and what kind of a user I am.

Samsung does not provide good hardware upgrades anymore. A36 costs the same as phones that pack much much much faster SoCs like Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2/Gen 3/Mediatek 8xxx, hell some even pack the all time great 8 Gen 2.

It feels so funny to read all those 'A series are bad, buy S'. Like dude, if people had money they would sure buy something more expensive. But this is indeed a great device, wish you to enjoy it for a long time!

A36 is actually a very capable device. But, for the price it was launched, they should have included a Snapdragon 7 series chipset or at least a good Exynos.

The read write speed of a supposed UFS 3.1 is disastrous.

I use an A35 as a work phone provided by my company, recently tested the A36... I'm sorry but I don't feel them as mid range phones, to me they're clearly below the mid range in terms of performance.

€380 is €100 too much. You can find Edge 50 Neo under €300 and various other better options. If this phone had micro SD, headphone jack and snapdragon chip it would have been okay but as it stands right now it's a very bad deal.

I had an A35 for a year and it's great, day for day it works fantastic, camera is good enough for me and I am not a huge gamer, so don't care about that aspect, most importantly it doesn't lag.

I buy an A series every 2-3 years while i buy an S series every 6 years with superior hardware. This is a budget thing not a which is better and the A series will just never be better than the S series, even than the iphone 16e or older regular iphones with similar prices.

Sounds like a 150€ Xiaomi sold at more than twice the money. It's baffling how anyone is buying these.

Removing the SD card and headphone jack... The only real benefit is the updates but I don't want 6 years of security patches and updates on a phone with this chip. Motorola is just doing a much better job.

Happy with mine. Probably your average user... never ran out of battery in a day or it fail to do anything I wanted.

I've tested the Galaxy A36 recently, and it's actually a decent midrange phone for daily use. Samsung pushed updates that improved stability and reduced the heating issue that some users mentioned when it first came out. For social media, streaming, and light productivity, it performs fine. Battery life is solid, the AMOLED screen is great for the price, and the camera holds up well in good lighting.

I ask myself this question every day - Why did I buy it? Really. The Samsung Galaxy A36 5G can't even multitask or switch between apps smoothly. As a student, I have plenty of things to do, and my smartphone should be a high-performing one. Be it video-calling, gaming, or even watching educational videos - This disappoints me on a core level.

I have been daily driving the A36 since June 2025 and so far I have been loving it. The only (minor) gripe I might have about this device is the bezels are slightly thick for my liking but soon as I put a protective case on it that covers the bezels, it kind of evens out.

If it heats too much, you might have a faulty unit. I went through the same problem with my S21U. After a few months of use and thermal issues the screen went black. When I went to get it fixed, It turned out the problem was faulty screen. If the heat issue isn't very common with A36, then you might want to get it checked.

The A36 has a better screen but Samsung Android skin is burdensome, and the lack of memory expansion (no microSD slot) is a deal breaker.

I've been using it for two months and LOVE it!! Seriously, it's been flawless with no lag, great camera, two days of battery life with lots of use, 45 watt charging is FAST, very bright screen at 1,200 nits and 120Hz refresh rate. Excellent speakers and call quality. I bought a Pixel 9a on a whim and I prefer this A36.

Great phone for general use, but not gaming. Mine doesn't lag or overheat at all. Worth getting.

I have Samsung A36 5G, I bought my phone last week and also updated to Android 16, it's still smooth.

It is a good phone but way overpriced in India. It's still stuck at 30k and with little to no good offers. One can get the S24 FE for this price.

The A36 is better than the A56 in gaming cuz the A56 has an Exynos 1580 and the A36 has a Snapdragon 6 Gen 3.

After using Samsung Galaxy Note 8 for few years, last week I bought Samsung Galaxy A36. A week later I'm just repenting. Camera quality is very average, operational buttons are pathetically placed. Sound quality is imbalanced. Even to start it takes time. It has problems with notifications and pop ups. Please don't buy this phone.

I just got one yesterday since Costco was having a deal on it up here in Canada, and so far I'm loving it. It gives me the quality for cheap vibe my S20FE did when I had it.

It's my daily driver, and a great device.

I don't know, but I have this problem that it heats up a lot even in the most basic options, Samsung should think about making more targeted updates, now I have to keep this phone as long as it lasts, I hope that by the middle of the year the problems it has will have been solved.

I haven't updated yet, but the overheating issue is a real problem. I'm afraid my battery will melt one day.

I'm currently using the A36 Snapdragon 6 Gen 3, which is slower than the Motorola phones above. The chip performance is almost the same, but the A36 is slow. When I used Motorola phones, I didn't really feel slow, but I still feel it with the A36.

I just purchased the A36 5G to replace my busted Flip 5. It works for its intended purposes. I play a few games, works like a charm. I feel like people are just expecting too much — if you want it to work like a $1400+ phone then buy that expensive phone.

The phone gets so hot that it's difficult to use and you have to leave it to cool down.

I just got this phone because my note 10 died. I never thought a brand new phone could be shittier than a super old one, but here we are. I HATE THIS PHONE. I have to hit the touchscreen sometimes 3 or 4 times for it to work. It's stuttery, shit takes too long to load. I do no gaming or anything but internet searches and I have maybe 10 apps. It still can't keep up. DON'T BUY THIS PHONE.

No lags, maybe slight stutters sometimes but nothing to worry about, it's buttery smooth, the battery life is excellent, holds up to two days on one charge, pictures are the highlight, details are great and the colors really good especially in high amounts of light.

I will go 100 times with Galaxy A36 instead of A56. If I need something more expensive and I'm willing to spend more money I would go with Galaxy S24 FE or something like that. The A36 gets the work done for basic users like me.

I just got one, it's perfectly fine. Coming from a S23 Ultra.