Samsung Galaxy A36 5G vs A16 5G
63
out of 100
VS
47
out of 100
Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.7-inch Samsung Galaxy A36 5G (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 ) that was released on March 2, 2025, against the Samsung Galaxy A16 5G, which is powered by Exynos 1330 and came out 5 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
- 47% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (844K versus 576K)
- Shows 22% longer battery life (24:52 vs 20:24 hours)
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Delivers 48% higher peak brightness (1222 against 823 nits)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.4)
- Optical image stabilization
- Waterproof body (IP67 classification)
- Ability to record video in 4K resolution
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
- Stereo speakers
- Has 50% more RAM: 6GB versus 4GB
- Slow-motion recording at 240FPS
- Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 25W)
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A16 5G
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1536GB
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Super AMOLED | Super AMOLED |
| Size | 6.7 inches | 6.7 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 1080 x 2340 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 385 ppi | 385 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 90 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (60-120 Hz) | No |
| Max rated brightness | 1200 nits | 800 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1900 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | No |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus Plus | Tempered glass |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 86.5% | 86% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 99.9% | 99.1% |
| PWM | 120 Hz | 360 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 3 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 162.9 mm (6.41 inches) | 164.4 mm (6.47 inches) |
| Width | 78.2 mm (3.08 inches) | 77.9 mm (3.07 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.4 mm (0.29 inches) | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 195 g (6.88 oz) | 200 g (7.05 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP67 | IP54 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Plastic | Plastic |
| Colors | White, Black, Green, Purple | White, Gray, Blue, Green |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-button |
| Repairability | Good (3.19/5) | Good (3.2/5) |
| Drop resistance | Good (C) · 90 drops | Very good (B) · 180 drops |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 | Samsung Exynos 1330 |
| Max clock | 2400 MHz | 2400 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (4 + 4) | 8 (2 + 6) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 4 cores at 2.4 GHz: Cortex-A78 |
- 6 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 2 cores at 2.4 GHz: Cortex-A78 |
| Manufacturing | Samsung | Samsung |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Yes |
| Graphics | Adreno 710 | Mali-G68 MP2 |
| GPU shading units | 256 | 64 |
| GPU clock | 1010 MHz | 949 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~517.1 GFLOPS | ~121.5 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 3506 | 1284 |
| Single-core score | 1004 | 960 |
| Multi-core score | 2919 | 1826 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 311567 | 244407 |
| GPU | 134619 | 42598 |
| Memory | 162720 | 110301 |
| UX | 235541 | 178943 |
| Total score | 844447 | 576249 |
| Samples | [66 tests] | [2 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 98% | 98% |
| Graphics test | 2 FPS | 1 FPS |
| Graphics score | 315 | 139 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 14144 | 13054 |
| Video editing | 7296 | 6777 |
| Photo editing | 24677 | 21291 |
| Data manipulation | 10326 | 9362 |
| Writing score | 14497 | 15837 |
Recent User Tests
Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-10-02 (A36XQHYPER) | AnTuTu 12 | 938148 |
| 📘 2026-09-30 (kazew_) | AnTuTu 12 | 1005038 |
| 📘 2026-09-27 (Abdulgani) | AnTuTu 12 | 991604 |
| 📘 2026-09-27 (Abdulgani) | AnTuTu 12 | 991604 |
| 📘 2026-09-26 (Omar_Syriangamerr) | Geekbench 7 GPU | 1342 |
Samsung Galaxy A16 5G
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-08-15 (Julian Ludwig) | Geekbench 6 GPU | 1286 |
| 📘 2026-08-15 (Julian Ludwig) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 960 / 1826 |
| 📘 2025-12-10 (Nait) | AnTuTu 11 | 576249 |
| 📘 2025-11-14 (Nait) | AnTuTu 11 | 491818 |
Memory
| RAM size | 6 GB | 4 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2133 MHz | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 2.2 |
| Memory card | No | MicroSD |
| Memory card max size | - | Up to 1536 GB |
Software
| Operating system | Android 15 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) | Android 14 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) |
| ROM | One UI 8.5 | One UI 8.5 |
| OS size | 22.6 GB | 26 GB |
| OS updates | 6 years | 2 years |
| Security updates | 6 years | 3 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 5000 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Max charge power | 45 W | 25 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | No |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Bypass charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (60% in 30 min) | Yes (47% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:14 hr | 1:21 hr |
| Battery cycles | 2000 cycles | 1200 cycles |
| Web browsing | 10:13 hr | 08:05 hr |
| Watching video | 16:02 hr | 11:26 hr |
| Gaming | 04:55 hr | 06:26 hr |
| Standby | 115 hr | 100 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 50 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8192 x 6144 | 8160 x 6120 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Digital |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 30FPS | No |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (720p) | 120 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 123° | - |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Ultrawide: 8 MP 3) Macro: 5 MP |
1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Ultrawide: 5 MP 3) Macro: 2 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.8 |
| Sensor | Sony IMX882 | Samsung ISOCELL S5KJN1 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.96" (≈ 0.51 inch) | 1/2.76" (≈ 0.36 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.8 micron | 0.64 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Optical | Digital |
| Image resolution | 8 MP | 5 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Sensor | GalaxyCore GC08A3 | SmartSens SC501 |
| Sensor size | 1/4.0" (≈ 0.25 inch) | 1/5" (≈ 0.2 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Image resolution | 5 MP | 2 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | f/2.4 |
| Sensor | GalaxyCore GC05A3 | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | No |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | - | 55 |
| Preview | - | 52 |
| Zoom | - | 49 |
| Samples | - | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy A16 5G from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 13 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3184 x 2388 | 4160 x 3120 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.0 |
| Focal length | - | 26 mm |
| Sensor | GalaxyCore GC12A2 | GalaxyCore GC13A0 |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.1" (≈ 0.32 inch) |
| Pixel size | - | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | No | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | No |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.4 | 5.3 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 2 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | No | No |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Depends on the region |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | Yes | No |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Mono |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Mid-range | Budget |
| Announced | March 2025 | October 2024 |
| Release date | March 2025 | October 2024 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $399 | $199 |
| Successor | - Samsung Galaxy A37 5G | - Samsung Galaxy A17 5G |
| SAR (head) | 0.53 W/kg | 0.38 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.29 W/kg | 0.94 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | Not included | Not included |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy A36 5G is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 36