Samsung Galaxy A26 vs. Galaxy A36

The brand new Galaxy A sequence is right here and if you’re seeking to improve your older price range system, particularly if it is a Samsung, the Samsung Galaxy A26 and the Samsung Galaxy A36 are each very smart choices. If, for no matter cause, you would like to stay with Samsung’s ecosystem, then these two telephones ought to undoubtedly be in your record.

The distinction in MSRP between the 2 is about €80 within the EU, however in actuality, third-party shops have already slashed the value and it is extra like €40-50. Within the UK, it is a totally different state of affairs as Samsung seemingly has significantly better management over the retail pricing there and the present worth distinction between the 2 is a whopping £100. It is about the identical state of affairs within the US the place the distinction is $100.

In any case, selecting between the 2 siblings is a sound dilemma, so let’s attempt to clear up it.

Desk of Contents:

For starters, you possibly can compare the complete specs sheets or immediately proceed with our editor’s evaluation within the following textual content.

Measurement comparability

Though each units supply the identical display diagonal, the Galaxy A36 is significantly extra compact. Certain, it is barely wider, nevertheless it’s shorter and thinner than the A26 by a wise quantity. Additionally they weigh roughly the identical. The primary cause is probably going the bezels. The Galaxy A26 has significantly thicker bezels.

Relating to construct high quality, design, and ingress safety, the 2 telephones are an identical. You get IP67 water and mud safety both manner, and Gorilla Glass Victus+ sheets shield the back and front, whereas the body is plastic on each telephones.

Show comparability

At first look, the Galaxy A26 and A36 function an identical shows. That is, a minimum of, what the specs counsel. Identical diagonal, identical decision, identical refresh fee, identical HDR assist (solely in YouTube). Apart from the visible traits, after all. The A36 has a punch-hole selfie digicam and far thinner bezels, whereas the A26 adopts a dated teardrop-style notch with thick bezels throughout.

In line with our checks, the Galaxy A36’s show is considerably brighter. It peaked round 1,200 nits, whereas the A26 did not even get to 800 nits. The Galaxy A36 is the clear winner on this class, offering a way more comfy outside viewing expertise.

Battery life

Trying solely on the Energetic Use Rating, the Galaxy A36 comes out on prime, however the distinction will not be as clear-cut. Relying in your utilization patterns, you could even get comparable general battery endurance from the 2 units. In case your major use case is internet looking and social media, the A36 will present for much longer runtimes. If gaming is your favourite pastime, then the Galaxy A26 will supply higher battery life.

Charging velocity

Neither telephone is especially quick on the subject of charging, however the Galaxy A36 is unquestionably the quicker of the 2. It now helps 45W quick charging, in comparison with the 25W cap on the Galaxy A26. This enables the system to cost considerably quicker within the first half-hour of the charging cycle, nevertheless it’s solely about 12 minutes quicker to the end line.

In any case, if quick charging is a precedence function, undoubtedly go for the Galaxy A36 (plus a appropriate quick charger and cable).

Speaker take a look at

The Galaxy A36 leads in each loudness and general speaker high quality. And it is no shock. The A36 has a set of hybrid stereo audio system, whereas Samsung determined to downgrade the A26’s speaker setup to only one bottom-facing loudspeaker.

Regardless of the marginally distorted vocals and highs at larger volumes, the A36’s sound high quality is fairly good for its class. It supplies deeper, warmer-sounding tracks with extra outstanding bass than the A26.

Efficiency

Reminiscence configurations are very comparable, each begin from 128GB and go as much as 256GB storage, however the A26 begins from simply 4GB of RAM, whereas the A36 will get 6GB by default. This will not sound like an enormous deal, however the additional RAM on the A36 might turn out to be useful in the long term. Having extra RAM may be seen as future-proofing.

This yr, the Galaxy A26 is getting the Exynos 1380 SoC that powered the Galaxy A35 the yr earlier than, whereas the A36 now sports activities an upgraded Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chip. However general efficiency is not all that totally different. The benchmark outcomes reveal the entire image.

Benchmark efficiency

As you possibly can see, the distinction in uncooked efficiency is not massive. The A36’s Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 provides 5% efficiency enhance over the Exynos 1380 in mixed and pure CPU eventualities. The GPU take a look at reveals a extra noticeable efficiency acquire with a 15% leap, in accordance with 3DMark’s Wild Life Excessive benchmark state of affairs.

Digital camera comparability

The 2 handsets share comparable digicam {hardware}, however the Galaxy A36 has a small benefit. The primary 50MP sensor is greater, the devoted macro shooter is 5MP as a substitute of 2MP and the 12MP selfie digicam can document 4K movies. The A26’s 13MP front-facing digicam is capped at 1080p@30fps.

As for the ultrawide, it is an identical throughout each units.

Picture high quality

Evaluating the 2 predominant cameras facet by facet reveals minor variations. You’d should look actually carefully to see that the A36 has a bonus over the A26 by way of sharpness, fantastic element and possibly dynamic vary. The A36 produces stills with barely wider dynamic vary and extra pure shadows.

Important digicam: Galaxy A26 • Galaxy A36 • Galaxy A26 • Galaxy A36

Important digicam: Galaxy A26 • Galaxy A36 • Galaxy A26 • Galaxy A36

There’s even much less noticeable distinction at evening, however the A36 achieves nicer distinction and livelier colours.

The larger predominant sensor on the Galaxy A36 has a transparent superiority over the A26’s 50MP shooter in 2x zoom mode. The A36 produces sharper and extra detailed photographs.

2x crop zoom: Galaxy A26 • Galaxy A36 • Galaxy A26 • Galaxy A36

2x crop zoom: Galaxy A26 • Galaxy A36 • Galaxy A26 • Galaxy A36

Relating to the ultrawide, the 2 units supply very totally different renditions, and we just like the A26’s higher. Not solely is the A26’s ultrawide pictures sharper, they’re additionally with extra correct colours. The A36’s ultrawide tends to have a hotter coloration temperature, turning grass and foliage into yellowish muddy spots.

Ultrawide digicam: Galaxy A26 • Galaxy A36 • Galaxy A26 • Galaxy A36

Ultrawide digicam: Galaxy A26 • Galaxy A36 • Galaxy A26 • Galaxy A36

The A36’s ultrawide at evening provides higher colours however manner too vivid shadows.

Video high quality

Beneath we have now a number of framegrabs from the movies taken by the 2 telephones at every focal size, so it is simpler to check to 1 one other.

To our shock, the Galaxy A26’s predominant digicam delivers higher dynamic vary. The A36’s footage has barely higher definition however darker shadows.

The Galaxy A26’s ultrawide digicam additionally has higher dynamic vary, and this time, the footage is even barely sharper and extra detailed.

Video screengrabs: A26 FHD 0.6x • A36 FHD 0.6x • A26 4K 1x • A36 4K 1x • A26 4K 1x • A36 4K 1x

We could not discover a noticeable distinction within the low-light footage, besides that the A26 captures higher colours and its publicity metering is healthier at avoiding clipping the highlights. Do needless to say the Galaxy A36 provides stabilization in 4K decision, whereas the Galaxy A26’s EIS capabilities are capped at 1080p.

Verdict

As you possibly can see, the Galaxy A36 beats the A26 in nearly all departments. It has a brighter show, higher audio system, longer battery life, barely quicker charging, a quicker chipset, a under-display fingerprint reader, and even eSIM assist.

The 2 telephones commerce blows within the digicam division, and the Galaxy A26 provides a microSD slot.

The A36 is objectively the higher telephone of the 2 and we would fortunately suggest getting it over the A26. And with a distinction as little as €40-50 within the EU, it makes all of the sense. Nevertheless, within the US and the UK, there’s a a lot greater worth hole, so in case your buy determination is strongly price-sensitive or when you completely have to have a microSD slot, you is perhaps higher off with the Galaxy A25 as it’s going to offer you a lot of the identical person expertise whereas saving you some money.