Forget the $599 iPhone 16E: Samsung’s New Galaxy A Phones Are Truly Affordable

Samsung has debuted its newest midrange telephones, the Galaxy A36 and A26, which have bigger shows, extra highly effective processors and, inevitably, new AI options. The telephones value $400 and $300, respectively, and go on sale in late March.

The corporate additionally unveiled the Galaxy A56 telephone, priced at $500, which shall be out there later this yr. The A56 has a much bigger show than final yr’s Galaxy A55, new AI capabilities and digital camera enhancements, Samsung says. 

Arriving on the heels of the $599 iPhone 16E, Apple’s concept of an reasonably priced telephone that is removed from low-cost, all three new Samsung Galaxy A telephones appear to show a phone-maker can nonetheless make a tool that is really reasonably priced and flexes new options like Android 15 and One UI 7. All of the telephones are constructed to final, with six years of OS and safety updates, Samsung’s Knox Vault for machine safety and privateness, and an IP67 score for mud and water resistance. 

Samsung’s announcement comes simply forward of Cell World Congress in Barcelona. This is all the pieces to know in regards to the Galaxy A36, A26 and A56. 

Samsung Galaxy A36: $400

At 8.2mm thick and 196 grams, the Galaxy A36 5G is thinner and lighter than final yr’s A35 5G, which was 7.4mm thick and weighed 209 grams. Like final yr, the telephone packs a 5,000 mAh battery, however now options 45-watt tremendous quick charging, which Samsung says can cost the telephone almost 70% in half-hour. (CNET will check this as soon as we try the units ourselves, so keep tuned.)

Thinner bezels bump the show to six.7 inches, in comparison with the A35’s 6.6 inches. The A36 includes a 120Hz refresh price, and an elevated peak brightness of 1,900 nits, ideally making it simpler to see the display even when you’re in a brightly lit surroundings. Each the back and front function Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus Plus, which Samsung says improves sturdiness. The corporate says they’re all “FHD+” decision, which normally means 2,220×1,080 pixels.

Cameras get an improve, too, with assist for HDR video recording on the 50-megapixel primary digital camera. Like final yr’s telephone, the A36 additionally options an 8-megapixel ultrawide and 5-megapixel macro digital camera. The entrance digital camera goes from 13 to 12 megapixels, however helps 10-bit HDR video recording. It is value noting that extra megapixels would not mechanically imply a greater digital camera.

HDR assist can assist photographs and movies have a wider dynamic vary (the distinction between the brightest components of a picture and the darkest components) and look extra detailed and colourful. For nighttime photographs, Samsung says bigger pixels serve up sharper, extra vibrant photographs with minimal noise, even in extraordinarily low gentle — bigger pixels can collect extra gentle and have much less picture noise. Keep tuned to CNET’s checks to see how the digital camera performs.   

You may discover AI options on the A36 like Google’s Circle to Search, which may now additionally translate on-screen textual content and establish music. Samsung debuted these new capabilities on its flagship Galaxy S25 lineup in January. AI-powered picture modifying instruments embrace an enhanced Object Eraser that now lets you choose a number of objects to be eliminated, and a Filter function that permits you to create a customized filter based mostly on any picture. For instance, if in case you have a shot of a sundown and also you just like the tone of the picture, you possibly can apply that filter to different images, too. Edit Suggestion will use AI to research a picture and serve up suggestions to enhance it, like eradicating shadows or reflections. 

The A36 is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 processor, versus the Exynos 1380 featured on the Galaxy A35. It comes with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Samsung says there’s additionally a bigger cooling system to raised dissipate warmth and optimize for gameplay and streaming. 

The Galaxy A36 shall be out there on March 26 in black and lavender. An unique lime model can also be out there by Finest Purchase. 

Learn extra: Finest Android Cellphone for 2025

Samsung Galaxy A26: $300

The (even cheaper) Galaxy S26 can also be thinner than its predecessor, measuring at 7.7mm in comparison with the Galaxy A25’s 8.3mm. It additionally will get a much bigger FHD+ show, because of diminished bezels, matching the A36’s 6.5 inches. It shares a 120Hz refresh price. 

Whereas final yr’s A25 featured a glass entrance and plastic again, the A26 steps issues up with Gorilla Glass Victus Plus on each the back and front, identical to the A36. The body stays plastic. Like final yr’s mannequin, the A26 includes a 50-megapixel wide-angle digital camera, 8-megapixel ultrawide digital camera and 2-megapixel macro digital camera, in addition to a 13-megapixel selfie digital camera. 

Regardless of the cheaper price, you will nonetheless get AI options like Photograph Edit Suggestion and Object Eraser, in addition to Circle to Search. The A26 runs the Exynos 1380 chipset, and comes with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It additionally has expandable reminiscence as much as 2TB, and packs a 5,000 mAh battery. 

The A26 will turn into out there March 28, and is barely out there in black. 

Learn extra: These Are the Finest Digicam Telephones for 2025

Samsung Galaxy A56: $500

To finish the trio, the Galaxy A56 has a 6.7-inch show and a 5,000 mAh battery, which, just like the A36, helps 45-watt charging. The A56 is powered by the Exynos 1580 chipset and likewise has a bigger vapor chamber that will help you play video games and watch movies for longer.

The A56 has a 50-megapixel huge digital camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide digital camera and a 5-megapixel macro digital camera. The selfie digital camera has a 12-megapixel sensor in comparison with the Galaxy A55’s 32-megapixel front-facing digital camera, which took both 12- or 8-megapixel photographs after pixel binning. The selfie digital camera additionally will get 10-bit HDR assist, and a Low Noise Mode helps to take sharper low-light images, Samsung says. 

A function solely out there on the A56 known as Finest Face, which can assist you nail a gaggle picture by selecting one of the best expressions on as much as 5 folks after which combining them into one picture. That is related — in title and in execution — to Google’s Finest Take function on the Pixel collection. The A56 additionally will get an enhanced Object Eraser and Filter capabilities. 

Samsung hasn’t but shared coloration choices for the A56, and has solely stated it’s going to be out there later this yr.