Samsung Galaxy A36 5G A Series, 128GB Unlocked Android Smartphone, AMOLED Display, Rugged Design, 5G Connectivity, Affordable Performance, US Version, 2025, US 1 Yr Warranty, Awesome Black

I'm far from a phone enthusiast. My phones have all been relatively mid range Moto G phones over the years and I've been reasonably happy with them. My Moto G Stylus (2022) was working fine after almost three years, but was done with security updates and started exhibiting some quirky behaviors like extremely long restarts, a finicky fingerprint reader, and a bit of slow down overall. Given that electronics are about to skyrocket in price, I figured rather than waiting until it was completely unusable, I'd be proactive in getting a new phone until (hopefully) all this instability calms down. My wife's Moto G Power from 2020 was in rough shape, so I looked at the new mid range Moto G line and was somewhat unimpressed, especially at the continued lack of longer support. When I stumbled upon the A36 for the same price as the Moto G Stylus 5G from the previous year, I figured I'd give it a shot. With a decent SOC, camera, etc. and six years of OS and security updates from Samsung being promised, it seemed like it was time to move away from Moto. We both have Samsung tablets we've been happy with, so I wasn't concerned about One UI being much different from the more vanilla Android the Moto phones have. She loved her A36 so much right out of the box, I figured I'd get one too. Once I had (painlessly) moved everything over from my old phone using the transfer app, I was equally happy. The fast charging is awesome. The battery hasn't even dipped below 50% for my average day, and I now get 5G with my carrier, which has some speed perks with it. This thing also syncs up much quicker with our wireless Android Auto. I use an adapter with my Honda--ironically the Moto one--and my wife's newer Subaru has wireless natively, but was hit or miss and ran so slow with her old Moto, but no more! She opted for the purple color, which is nice, and I just went for black because I'm boring. They're nice looking phones. The sound is loud and clear and I have no complaints, though I have probably heard better. In general, this is a solid mid-range phone that will hopefully last me the full six years it has for support. I've already recommended it to my my brother who still uses a flip phone but can't stand how terrible it is since he had to switch with the 3G shutdown. For those that don't need latest and greatest, this is a solid pick.

It’s a solid everyday phone with smooth performance and a clean user experience. Apps run well, the display looks good, and battery life easily lasts through the day with normal use. Overall, it feels reliable and well-balanced for the price. Great choice for anyone who wants a dependable phone without paying flagship prices.

Bought this phone as a backup for a recent trip. Didn't want to risk my main phone getting stolen or confiscated because reasons. I'll just cover the main points that some people might care about.. Camera: Since I was bringing an actual camera, I didn't care too much about the camera performance in the Galaxy A36. I had low expectations from such a budget phone. However, the camera performed surprisingly well. It does struggle during indoor low light situations. But pictures taken at night surrounded by city lights looked great. The reason is that the camera does a lot of internal processing and adjusts the brightness/contrast/etc for you. On the flagship Galaxy phones, you can actually control the amount of auto post processing or turn it off. But on the A36, it applies the maximum processing and you can't change it. Video performance is very good. However, you're limited in changing some settings. Maximum resolution is 4K but you're stuck at 30 FPS and can't be changed to a higher or lower frame rate. Also you can't use the wide lens. So if you're taking video, you may need take a few steps back to get the entire scene. Processor: Despite the lower CPU and RAM specs, it performed well. I mostly used Google Maps to help me get around town and it did not stutter. Also used IG and Lightroom for image editing without any issues. I don't game at all on my phones, but I would not recommend gaming on this due to the lower specs. Probably livestreaming is not a great idea either. Screen: Screen is bright and clear. I don't watch movies on my phone, so I can't comment on that. But it's fine for web surfing and social media. I did notice some lag or sensitivity issues though. If you're a fast typer on the screen, this might be an issue for you. Glitches: Only glitch I've experienced was with the orientation sensor. When I launch the camera and rotate the phone to landscape, the camera is stuck in portrait. I have to tap or shake the phone few times and then it finally rotates. Same thing when using maps/navigation. The dashboard on my rental car tilts forward. So the phone screen "flipped" the app upside down. When I picked the phone up to get the right orientation, it took a full minute. Maybe I got a dud unit. Talk: I didn't use this phone at all for voice calls. So I can't comment on the sound quality. Build Quality: It's plastic. I wish more phones were made of plastic. Glass back phones look pretty but they also add weight and fragility. The A36 is very light and easy to hold. Overall: Not a bad phone for the price range. Probably not fair to compare it to the main Galaxy S phones, but if I had to do it again, I'd probably get a used Galaxy S23. Since this is just a backup phone for me, I'll likely hold on to it.

Got it at a nice price during Prime days, which made the investment (for me) possible. Great screen and camera, nice and stable operation. I don't play games on it, so haven't stressed its capabilities. Very happy with extended software support, so plan to use it for a number of years. HOWEVER, I really wish it had more than 6GB RAM (an 8GB model is supposed to be released later this year in the US, to match the rest of the world). Still, I wish it had 12GB+, which would give me more confidence in its long-term viability. I would NOT consider the international version if you're in the US. After looking up the frequencies the international model can access and those that T-Mobile operates on, there seems to be no overlap. Specifically look up the frequencies for other carriers. I really wanted an A56, but no US model was available. This A36 seems to be a good compromise, with a lot of A56 capabilities.

Best phone for the money. Well satisfied.

Hands down one of the best phones I ever owned. Replaced my aging IPhone 11. Brought this device like new it came here still sealed. It was easy to switch from iPhone to android. This phone is fast and gorgeous looking. I love it so much I'm comtinplating on a selling my iPad Air M2 13 inch for a galaxy tablet due android and Samsung getting me freedom and customization. NOTE: to recive messages on android and not have them be stuck on imessage. After switching devices on you carrier. before inserting the sim card into the new phone deactivate your phone number and email from apple in the FaceTime and Imessage settings of the Iphone. All Apps - FaceTime. All Apps - Imessage. Click your phone number and email it'll ask if you want to remove them from Imessage and will no longer be used for Imessage but you're still receive SMS Messages. Hit yes then turn off imessage and facetime by toggling the green switch. Turn off the iphone. Once the Sim is in the android phone restart it to get service then register the android device in Google messages. This is IMPORTANT hit the notification that says finish setting up your android device and you are off to the races. Samsung Switch made it easy to transfer my data from my old phone.

This has been a decent phone for me. Lots of features and goes pretty fast after almost a year now. Im not super educated on good phone brands so I can't be sure if it was totally worth it but I'd probably buy it again.

An android so very reliable. Out of the box easy to set up and transfer info from old phone