Samsung Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36 Review: Polished Looks, Modest Upgrades
The Galaxy A series is one of Samsung’s most popular and best-selling smartphone lineups, known for delivering premium design and features at a more affordable price than the flagship Galaxy S series. For 2025, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36 with minor upgrades over the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35. The new A series phones feature a slightly refreshed design as well. However, are the minor upgrades and subtle redesigns enough to take on the competition? Read on to find out.
I’ll start with the pricing. The Galaxy A56 was initially priced at Rs. 41,999 for the base variant with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage at launch. Meanwhile, the Galaxy A36 had a starting price tag of Rs. 32,999 (8GB + 128GB). For our review, Samsung provided us with the Awesome Olive variant of the Galaxy A56. As for the Galaxy A36, we’re checking out the Awesome Lavender option.
Samsung Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36 Design: Premium
- Dimensions – 162.2×77.5×7.4mm (A56), 162.9×78.2×7.4mm (A36)
- Weight – 198g (A56), 195g (A36)
- Colours – Awesome Graphite, Awesome Light Grey and Awesome Olive (A56), Awesome Black, Awesome Lavender and Awesome White (A36)
- IP rating – IP67 (Both)
As mentioned earlier, the Galaxy A series is known for offering a premium design at a more accessible price point, often borrowing features from Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S lineup. For instance, both the Galaxy A56 and A36 come with a glass back protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+, while the A56 also features an aluminium frame with a brushed finish. The more budget-friendly A36 opts for a matte plastic frame. Both handsets feature a flat frame, display, and rear panel.
Both phones feature a glass sandwich design
Design-wise, the two phones look nearly identical from the front and back. Both sport a pill-shaped camera module that appears to be floating and houses three cameras. An LED flash is positioned outside, right next to the module. This new camera module design marks a subtle shift from what we saw on the Galaxy A55 and A35, which featured three separate camera rings.
The right side frame on both phones features a protruding section that houses the Power and Volume buttons. You’ll find the USB Type-C port, SIM tray (supporting dual nano SIM cards), two microphones, and a loudspeaker at the bottom. The top part of the phone features two more microphones.
The right frame features a bump, which houses the volume and power button
On the front, the bezels are slimmer than those of last year’s models, although the chin remains slightly thicker than the rest of the bezels. You’ll find a hole-punch cutout at the top centre for the selfie camera. Both phones also offer an IP67 rating.
The phones feature a hybrid stereo speaker setup
Overall, both phones look and feel premium and minimalist. The in-hand feel is also quite good, with the flat frame offering good grip. I wouldn’t call them one-handed phones, though, even if you’ve got large hands.
Samsung Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36 Display: Brighter and bigger
- Screen size and type – 6.7-inch full-HD+ Super AMOLED (Both)
- Refresh rate – 120Hz (Both)
- Glass protection – Gorilla Glass Victus+ (Both)
Just like last year, both the Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36 share the same screen size. However, this year, the screens are slightly larger and brighter. Both phones offer a screen resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. You can choose between Adaptive and Standard refresh rate in display settings. The A56 offers HDR10+ support, while the A36 doesn’t.
Both phones sport a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate
In terms of brightness, the displays on both phones are rated to offer a peak of 1,900 nits. In real-world usage, the panel on both the Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36 performs excellently indoors and works well outdoors as well. Watching content on both phones is a pleasant experience, but it’s even more enjoyable on the Galaxy A56, as it offers HDR10+ support.
The phones feature an in-display optical fingerprint sensor that worked well during the review. However, the placement could’ve been better.
Samsung Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36 Software: AI is here
- OS – Android 15
- UI – One UI 7
The Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36 offer the Android 15-based One UI 7 out of the box and one of the longest software support cycles among mid-range phones. Samsung promises 6 years of Android OS updates and security patches, which is excellent.
Apart from the usual One UI 7 features, the new Galaxy A56 and A36 also get a few AI features. There’s plenty to try out, but it’s definitely not as long a list as what you would find on the Galaxy S series phones. Apart from Google Gemini and Circle to Search, you get AI Select, which lets you grab text from photos, create a clipping or a GIF from an image, or even design a wallpaper from an image that’s on the screen.
The Galaxy A56 and A36 offer a couple of AI features
You’ll also find an AI Object eraser in Samsung’s Gallery app that does a decent job at removing objects and distractions from images. The Galaxy A56 also has a Favourite face feature in Motion Photos that helps you find the best faces in group photos. Another useful feature is the Read Aloud option found in Samsung Browser, and is available on both phones.
Overall, the software experience on the Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36 is similar primarily and good. There are plenty of customisation options, it’s easy to navigate around the UI, and not too many pre-installed apps. You will, however, find the Glance lockscreen on both phones, but that can also be disabled in the Settings, if you didn’t do it during the initial Setup process.
Samsung Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36 Performance: Good enough for daily use
- Processor – Exynos 1580 (A56), Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 (A36)
- RAM – Up to 12GB RAM (Both)
- Storage – Up to 256GB storage (Both)
Samsung has provided improved chipsets on both the Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36. However, the latter now features a Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC, rather than an Exynos. The Galaxy A56 performed significantly better than the A36 in synthetic benchmarks. Both phones also performed better than their predecessors.
| Benchmark | Samsung Galaxy A56 5G | Samsung Galaxy A36 5G |
|---|---|---|
| AnTuTu v10 | 8,91,530 | 6,28,956 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 | 14,006 | 13,056 |
| Geekbench 6 Single | 1,367 | 1,011 |
| Geekbench 6 Multi | 3,883 | 2,945 |
| GFXB T-rex | 115fps | 109fps |
| GFXB Manhattan 3.1 | 71fps | 51fps |
| GFXB Car Chase | 40fps | 29fps |
| 3DM Slingshot Extreme OpenGL | NA | 5,170 |
| 3DM Slingshot | Maxed Out | 6,641 |
| 3DM Wild Life | 5,084 | 3,412 |
| 3DM Wild Life Unlimited | 5,272 | 3,489 |
In terms of real-world usage, I found both the Galaxy A56 and the A36 to be good enough for performing most tasks. The phones also did quite well during our usual gaming tests, where I played BGMI and Asphalt. Both handsets also didn’t get too hot during the gaming sessions or while charging.
The Galaxy A56 features a larger vapour chamber compared to last year’s model
Overall, the Galaxy A56 and A36 offer good performance for multitasking, gaming, and other usage scenarios.
The phones feature a hybrid stereo speaker setup, and audio performance is quite good. The audio output from both the A56 and A36 is loud enough, with some bass, and exhibits zero distortion even at full volume.
Both phones offer good loudspeakers and microphones
Microphone and earphone quality were also good on both phones. I also didn’t encounter any call drops during the review.
Samsung Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36 Cameras: Does the job
- Main rear – 50-megapixel with OIS (Both)
- Ultrawide – 12-megapixel (A56), 8-megapixel (A36)
- Macro – 5-megapixel (Both)
- Selfie – 12-megapixel (Both)
The camera systems on the Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36 are identical when it comes to the number of sensors and type. You get a main, an ultrawide, and a dedicated macro sensor. However, the main cameras on the A56 and A36, although a 50-megapixel unit, use different sensors. The ultrawide is also different on both phones, but the macro sensor is the same. Samsung has updated the selfie camera on both phones, now featuring a 12-megapixel unit. Again, the front sensors are different on the handsets.
The phones come with a redesigned rear camera module housing three sensors
The camera app is easy to use and offers the photo, video, and a few other modes at the bottom, below the shutter button. Some toggles are available at the top, and you’ll find the camera zoom toggles above the shutter button. There’s a More option that offers additional modes such as Pro and Night.
The Galaxy A56 takes good, detailed images in daylight conditions with slightly oversaturated colours. However, the exposure and highlights are something that needs some tuning. In low-light conditions, the main camera performed decently, but images tend to be soft with lower details and washed-out colours.
Top to bottom: Two x Daylight, One x Lowlight images from the primary rear camera [Tap to expand]
The ultrawide camera produces good images in daylight conditions, but you’ll notice less detail and an okay dynamic range. It doesn’t perform very well in low-light conditions, with images showcasing noise and blurry details. The Macro camera is also nothing great, but it can be fun when there’s plenty of light. Selfies on the A56 are quite good, with enough details and good dynamic range.
Top – Daylight; Bottom – Lowlight ultrawide shots [Tap to expand]
Moving on to video, the Galaxy A56 supports 4K 30fps recording across all cameras, except for the Macro camera. The primary rear camera performed decently well in both daytime and night videos. Daylight videos have a good amount of detail and colour reproduction with very less noise. Nighttime videos do introduce some noise, but it’s pretty usable. The ultrawide and front camera also shoot good videos in daylight conditions with good details and vivid colours. You get OIS in the primary camera, but the phone utilises EIS in 4K resolution. The stabilisation is pretty good, but you will notice jitters if you start running with the phone. You also get 360 audio recording and audio playback features.
The Galaxy A36 does a good job with its main rear camera, especially in daylight shots. The images offer plenty of detail, vibrant colours, and a wide dynamic range. However, the exposure is inconsistent. In low-light conditions, the primary camera produces decent and usable results.
Top – Daylight photo; Bottom – Lowlight photo from the main rear camera [Tap to expand]
The ultrawide camera on the phone is okayish at best, but the images are usable. It’s the same with the macro camera. Lastly, the selfie camera on the phone performs well in daylight conditions with images offering good details, but its low-light performance isn’t great.
Top – Ultrawide daylight; Bottom – Ultrawide lowlight [Tap to expand]
In terms of video performance, the A36 lets you shoot 4K 30fps videos using the main rear and the selfie camera. Video quality from the main rear camera is good with adequate details and punchy colours during daylight. Night videos are noisy and offer less detail. The stabilisation is decent on the main camera, but you’ll notice some shakes. You can shoot 1080p videos using the ultrawide camera, but the output isn’t anything great. Daylight ultrawide videos are usable, but lowlight performance is poor.
Samsung Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36 Battery: Nothing great
- Capacity – 5,000mAh (Both)
- Charging speed – 45W (Both)
Both phones feature a 5,000mAh battery, the same capacity as their predecessors. Add the brighter and slightly larger display and more powerful processors, and you get lower battery life compared to the A55 and A35.
The Galaxy A56 and A36 offer the same battery capacity as their predecessors
In the PCMark Work 3.0 battery test, the Galaxy A56 delivered a runtime of 12 hours and 13 minutes, whereas the Galaxy A36 lasted 12 hours and 2 minutes. During the review, I did get a day’s worth of life from both phones with 4-6 hours of screen-on-time depending on usage.
As for charging, both handsets support 45W fast charging, but you will need to use a 5A cable to attain this speed, as the cable provided in the box doesn’t support it. In our charging tests, the Galaxy A56 and A36 attained a full charge in about 1 hour and 20 minutes, charging from 10 percent.
Samsung Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36 Verdict
The Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36 are excellent mid-range phones, offering great software support, premium design, high-quality displays, decent cameras, and adequate performance. However, there are plenty of other phones in the same price bracket that offer better performance, battery life, and much better cameras. If you don’t care too much about performance, cameras, and battery life, but do care about software support and premium build, then you could consider the A56 or A36, depending on your budget.
However, if performance, battery life, and cameras are higher priorities, then I’d recommend the Nothing Phone 3a Pro (Review), Motorola Edge 50 Pro (Review), OnePlus Nord 5 (Review), or the Poco X7 Pro (Review) instead of the Galaxy A56. For those considering the Galaxy A36, you could again look at the Poco X7 Pro or the Nothing Phone 3a (Review).
Samsung’s Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36, while good phones, are definitely outshone by the competition, especially when you consider the pricing.
