Samsung Galaxy A52 vs A36 5G

Here we compared two mid-range smartphones: the 6.5-inch Samsung Galaxy A52 (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G) that was released on March 17, 2021, against the Samsung Galaxy A36 5G, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 and came out 4 years after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

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Memory

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A52
  • Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1024GB
  • Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
  • 66% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (844K versus 508K)
  • Delivers 55% higher peak brightness (1237 against 797 nits)
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Shows 11% longer battery life (24:52 vs 22:27 hours)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.4)
  • More recent OS version: Android 16 versus 14
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Snapdragon 6 Gen 3
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
  • Has 50% more RAM: 6GB versus 4GB
  • The phone is 4 years newer
  • Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 25W)
  • Ready for eSIM technology

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy A52 and A36 5G crucial features
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.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
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Value for money (Beta)

Should I update?
No 91% Yes
Yes, this is a clear and meaningful upgrade.
Updating from Samsung Galaxy A52 to Samsung Galaxy A36 5G is a clear step forward, and the improvements should be easy to notice.
Main improvements: camera, display, and battery life.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

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 407 ppi 385 ppi
Refresh rate 90 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No Yes (60-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness 800 nits 1200 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR - 1900 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10 Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 5 Gorilla Glass Victus Plus
Screen-to-body ratio 85% 86.5%
Display features - Always-On Display - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 99.3% 99.9%
PWM 183 Hz 120 Hz
Response time 4.4 ms 1 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Screen space comparison
Galaxy A36 5G
6.7″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 17.1 in2
Galaxy A52
6.5″ (20:9 ratio) = 15.8 in2
~8% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
797 nits
1237 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 159.9 mm (6.3 inches) 162.9 mm (6.41 inches)
Width 75.1 mm (2.96 inches) 78.2 mm (3.08 inches)
Thickness 8.4 mm (0.33 inches) 7.4 mm (0.29 inches)
Weight 189 g (6.67 oz) 195 g (6.88 oz)
Waterproof IP67 IP67
Advanced cooling - Vapor chamber
Rear material Plastic Glass
Frame material Plastic Plastic
Colors White, Black, Blue, Pink 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
86.5%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Samsung Galaxy A52 and Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 3
Max clock 2300 MHz 2400 MHz
CPU cores 8 (2 + 6) 8 (4 + 4)
Architecture - 6 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 465 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 2 cores at 2.3 GHz: Kryo 465 Gold (Cortex-A76)
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 4 cores at 2.4 GHz: Cortex-A78
Manufacturing Samsung Samsung
Lithography process 8 nanometers 4 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon 692 Hexagon
GPU
Graphics Adreno 618 Adreno 710
GPU shading units 256 256
GPU clock 750 MHz 1010 MHz
FLOPS ~384 GFLOPS ~517.1 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Samsung Galaxy A52 and Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
1004
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
1724
2919
Compute Score (GPU)
1221
3506
Compute Score (GPU) 1221 3506
Single-core score 738 1004
Multi-core score 1724 2919
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
508360
844447
CPU 202719 311567
GPU 48709 134619
Memory 88581 162720
UX 168351 235541
Total score 508360 844447
Samples [12 tests] [66 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Stability - 98%
Graphics test - 2 FPS
Graphics score - 315
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability 98% 97%
Graphics test 1 FPS -
Graphics score 313 -
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
9187
13090
Web score 8030 14144
Video editing 6295 7296
Photo editing 18039 24677
Data manipulation 7577 10326
Writing score 9464 14497

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Samsung Galaxy A52
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-06-23 (Itsorif)AnTuTu 11501313
📘 2026-06-07 (Itsorif)AnTuTu 11497969
📘 2026-06-05 (Dovinge)AnTuTu 11509471
📘 2026-05-31 (Rozr)AnTuTu 11492323
📘 2026-03-24 (Rikosol)AnTuTu 11470138
Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-27 (Abdulgani)AnTuTu 12991604
📘 2026-09-27 (Abdulgani)AnTuTu 12991604
📘 2026-09-26 (Omar_Syriangamerr)Geekbench 7 GPU1342
📘 2026-09-26 (Omar_Syriangamerr)Geekbench 7 CPU882 / 2972
📘 2026-09-24 (Omar_Syriangamerr)AnTuTu 12910885

Memory

RAM
RAM size 4 GB 6 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory clock 2133 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 64 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 2.1 UFS 3.1
Memory card MicroSD No
Memory card max size Up to 1024 GB -

Software

Operating system Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 14) Android 15 (Can be upgraded to Android 16)
ROM One UI 6.1 One UI 8.5
OS size 25.8 GB 22.6 GB
OS updates 2 years 6 years
Security updates 4 years 6 years

Battery

Capacity 4500 mAh 5000 mAh
Max charge power 25 W 45 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No No
Reverse charging No No
Bypass charging - No
Fast charging Yes (35% in 30 min) Yes (60% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:30 hr 1:14 hr
Battery cycles - 2000 cycles
Battery life tests
Web browsing 08:10 hr 10:13 hr
Watching video 12:28 hr 16:02 hr
Gaming 04:57 hr 04:55 hr
Standby 122 hr 115 hr
General battery life
22:27 hr
24:52 hr

Main camera

Matrix 64 megapixels 50 megapixels
Image resolution 9000 x 7000 8192 x 6144
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 30FPS Up to 30FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 123° 123°
Lenses 1) Standard: 64 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
Standard lens
Image resolution 64 MP 50 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.8
Focal length 26 mm -
Sensor Sony IMX682 Sony IMX882
Sensor size 1/1.7" (≈ 0.59 inch) 1/1.96" (≈ 0.51 inch)
Pixel size 0.8 micron 0.8 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
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
Macro lens
Image resolution 5 MP 5 MP
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.4
Sensor - GalaxyCore GC05A3
Pixel size 1.12 micron -
Stabilization Digital Digital

Selfie camera

Megapixels 32 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 6528 x 4896 3184 x 2388
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm -
Sensor Sony IMX616 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
Network
Number of SIM* 2 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* No Yes
Hybrid slot Yes No
LTE Cat* 15 -
5G support No Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack Yes No
FM radio Yes No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
88.8 dB
90.5 dB

Other

Category Mid-range Mid-range
Announced March 2021 March 2025
Release date March 2021 March 2025
Launch price (MSRP) $350 $399
Successor - - Samsung Galaxy A37 5G
SAR (head) 0.35 W/kg 0.53 W/kg
SAR (body) 0.84 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

So, which phone would you choose?
14 (30.4%)
32 (69.6%)
Total votes: 46

User opinions

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