Samsung’s Galaxy A-series devices are among some of the best-selling midrange Android phones in the market, with the likes of the A5X and A3X range combining affordability with access to essential Android software services. With that in mind, Samsung recently expanded its A-series offerings with the launch of the new Galaxy A56, A36, and A26. The three models bring significant upgrades to the A-series line, especially in terms of design.
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As far as looks go, you can probably say that Samsung really intended its new budget-friendly phones to come with a more refined design, somewhat akin to this year’s Galaxy S25 series phones. As such, the Galaxy A56, A36 and A26 all come with glass and metal designs, with Gorilla Glass Victus+ on both the display and rear panels and aluminium sides all around the phone. Samsung has also added a bit of dust and water protection by way of an IP67 rating, a much welcome feature that rounds up the redesign.
This new and more premium-looking design wraps around a 7.6-inch Super AMOLED display, which is also available on all models. All three smartphones pack an FHD+ resolution in addition to a 120Hz refresh rate, with display brightness maxing out at 1200 nits – they’re not the brightest displays when outdoors, which is something to consider if you value such hardware specifications. It should also be mentioned that while the Galaxy A56 and A36 come with hole punch cutouts for their front cameras, the A26 still comes with a waterdrop notch, which dates its look considerably.
In terms of internal specs, Samsung has decided to shake things up a bit. For one, the Galaxy A56 comes with Samsung’s own Exynos 1580 chipset, which is accompanied by 8GB RAM and 128GB of storage. Meanwhile, the Galaxy A36 runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 with 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage (the A26 comes with similar storage and memory options), an interesting choice given that Samsung usually equipes its A-series phones with Exynos chips.
As for software, the phones ship with Android 15 layered with Samsung’s own One UI software, so you’re getting the usual setup of Google and Samsung apps running on a single device, with extra features such as One UI’s customization options and Samsung’s new Galaxy AI features as well. Google’s own AI features are likewise in the mix, so you’re getting stuff like Circle to Search and the Gemini Assistant.
For cameras, the three phones come with some key differences, except for the main camera which consists of a 50MP sensor with f/1.8 aperture. As for the other cameras, the A56 comes equipped with 12MP ultrawide and 5MP macro cameras, with an 8MP ultrawide and 5MP macro tandem for the A36, while the A26 features an 8MP ultra-wide and 2MP macro setup. For front cameras you’re getting a 12MP sensor on the Galaxy A56 and A36, although the A26 comes with a slightly-higher 13MP resolution front camera.
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As expected, the new trio is considerably more affordable versus the S25 lineup – the Galaxy A56 is priced at £499 (with an enterprise edition priced at £459), while the Galaxy A36 5G is priced at £399 for the 8GB memory and 256GB storage model, and the more budget-friendly Galaxy A26 5G is available for £299. All phones become available starting on 19th March.
