Samsung Galaxy A51 vs A36 5G
38
out of 100
VS
63
out of 100
Here we compared two mid-range smartphones: the 6.5-inch Samsung Galaxy A51 (with Exynos 9 Octa 9611) that was released on December 12, 2019, against the Samsung Galaxy A36 5G, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 and came out 5 years and 4 months after. 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 A51
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 512GB
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- Weighs 23 grams less
- Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
- Waterproof body (IP67 classification)
- 2.4x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (844K versus 352K)
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Delivers 94% higher peak brightness (1222 against 630 nits)
- Shows 39% longer battery life (24:52 vs 17:53 hours)
- Comes with 1000 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 4000 mAh
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.4)
- Optical image stabilization
- Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 15W)
- More recent OS version: Android 16 versus 13
- More energy-efficient CPU – Snapdragon 6 Gen 3
- The phone is 5 years and 4 months newer
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
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 | 6.5 inches | 6.7 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | 1080 x 2340 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 405 ppi | 385 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | Yes (60-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 400 nits | 1200 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | - | 1900 nits |
| HDR support | No | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | Gorilla Glass Victus Plus |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 87.5% | 86.5% |
| Display features | - Always-On Display | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 98.8% | 99.9% |
| PWM | 242 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Response time | 25 ms | 1 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Screen space comparison
Galaxy A36 5G
6.7″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 17.1 in2
Galaxy A51
6.5″ (20:9 ratio) = 15.8 in2
~8% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 158.5 mm (6.24 inches) | 162.9 mm (6.41 inches) |
| Width | 73.6 mm (2.9 inches) | 78.2 mm (3.08 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) | 7.4 mm (0.29 inches) |
| Weight | 172 g (6.07 oz) | 195 g (6.88 oz) |
| Waterproof | No | IP67 |
| Advanced cooling | - | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Plastic | Glass |
| Frame material | Plastic | Plastic |
| Colors | White, Black | White, Black, Green, Purple |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
| Repairability | - | Good (3.19/5) |
| Drop resistance | - | Good (C) · 90 drops |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 9611 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 |
| Max clock | 2300 MHz | 2400 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (4 + 4) | 8 (4 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.7 GHz: Cortex-A53 - 4 cores at 2.3 GHz: Cortex-A73 |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 4 cores at 2.4 GHz: Cortex-A78 |
| Manufacturing | Samsung | Samsung |
| Lithography process | 10 nanometers | 4 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Yes | Hexagon |
| Graphics | Mali-G72 MP3 | Adreno 710 |
| GPU shading units | 36 | 256 |
| GPU clock | 850 MHz | 1010 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~61.2 GFLOPS | ~517.1 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 745 | 3506 |
| Single-core score | 372 | 1004 |
| Multi-core score | 1204 | 2919 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 135389 | 311567 |
| GPU | 30103 | 134619 |
| Memory | 90583 | 162720 |
| UX | 96624 | 235541 |
| Total score | 352699 | 844447 |
| Samples | [10 tests] | [66 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | - | 98% |
| Graphics test | - | 2 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 315 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | - | 14144 |
| Video editing | - | 7296 |
| Photo editing | - | 24677 |
| Data manipulation | - | 10326 |
| Writing score | - | 14497 |
Recent User Tests
Samsung Galaxy A51
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-08-30 (Aginves) | AnTuTu 11 | 357049 |
| 📘 2026-08-28 (ROBIZ) | AnTuTu 11 | 331364 |
| 📘 2026-07-15 (Somya Lohiya) | AnTuTu 11 | 298360 |
| 📘 2026-06-20 (14burgos) | AnTuTu 11 | 393276 |
| 📘 2026-06-15 (Robiz) | AnTuTu 11 | 302904 |
Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-10-04 -> Arcticmonkeys98 | AnTuTu 12 | 953956 |
| 📘 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 |
Memory
| RAM size | 4 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 1866 MHz | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 64 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 2.0 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | MicroSD | No |
| Memory card max size | Up to 512 GB | - |
Software
| Operating system | Android 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | Android 15 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) |
| ROM | One UI 5.1 | One UI 8.5 |
| OS size | 23 GB | 22.6 GB |
| OS updates | 2 years | 6 years |
| Security updates | 4 years | 6 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 4000 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Max charge power | 15 W | 45 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | No |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Bypass charging | - | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (40% in 35 min) | Yes (60% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:50 hr | 1:14 hr |
| Battery cycles | - | 2000 cycles |
| Web browsing | 07:15 hr | 10:13 hr |
| Watching video | 11:25 hr | 16:02 hr |
| Gaming | 04:49 hr | 04:55 hr |
| Standby | 81 hr | 115 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 48 megapixels | 50 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8000 x 6000 | 8192 x 6144 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Digital | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | 240 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 123° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 48 MP 2) Ultrawide: 12 MP 3) Macro: 5 MP 4) Depth: 5 MP |
1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Ultrawide: 8 MP 3) Macro: 5 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Image resolution | 48 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | - |
| Sensor | Sony IMX582 | Sony IMX882 |
| Sensor size | 1/2" (≈ 0.5 inch) | 1/1.96" (≈ 0.51 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.8 micron | 0.8 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Optical |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 8 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | - |
| Sensor | - | GalaxyCore GC08A3 |
| Sensor size | - | 1/4.0" (≈ 0.25 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Image resolution | 5 MP | 5 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | 40 mm | - |
| Sensor | - | GalaxyCore GC05A3 |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 32 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 6560 x 4928 | 3184 x 2388 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | - |
| Sensor | Samsung S5KGD1 | GalaxyCore GC12A2 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.8" (≈ 0.36 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 0.8 micron | - |
| Autofocus | No | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 b/g/n/ac) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5 | 5.4 |
| Bluetooth features | PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP | 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 |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 12 | - |
| 5G support | No | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Mono | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | Yes | No |
| FM radio | Yes | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Mid-range | Mid-range |
| Announced | December 2019 | March 2025 |
| Release date | December 2019 | March 2025 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $399 | $399 |
| Successor | - Samsung Galaxy A57 5G | - Samsung Galaxy A37 5G |
| SAR (head) | 0.596 W/kg | 0.53 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.45 W/kg | 1.29 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | - | 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: 28