Samsung Galaxy S10 vs A36 5G

Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.1-inch Samsung Galaxy S10 (with Exynos 9 Octa 9820) that was released on February 20, 2019, against the Samsung Galaxy A36 5G, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 and came out 6 years and 1 month 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
Memory

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S10
  • The rear camera has a 2x optical zoom
  • 43% higher pixel density (551 vs 385 PPI)
  • Handles Qi/PMA wireless charging up to 9W
  • Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 512GB
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
  • Better grip in hands – the body is 7.8 mm narrower
  • Reverse charging feature
  • Weighs 38 grams less
  • Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Comes with 1600 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 3400 mAh
  • Has a 0.6 inch larger screen size
  • Delivers 50% higher peak brightness (1227 against 818 nits)
  • Shows 9% longer battery life (24:52 vs 22:50 hours)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.4)
  • Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 15W)
  • More recent OS version: Android 16 versus 12
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Snapdragon 6 Gen 3
  • The phone is 6 years and 1 month newer
  • 13% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (844K versus 747K)
  • Ready for eSIM technology

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S10 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
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

Should I update?
No 52% Yes
Maybe, but mainly if you specifically want better display.
This is a situational upgrade. It makes the most sense if better display matters to you.
Main improvements: display, battery life, and performance.
Be aware: the newer phone is weaker in connectivity.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED Super AMOLED
Size 6.1 inches 6.7 inches
Resolution 1440 x 3040 pixels 1080 x 2340 pixels
Aspect ratio 19:9 19.5:9
PPI 551 ppi 385 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No Yes (60-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness 1215 nits 1200 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR - 1900 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 6 Gorilla Glass Victus Plus
Screen-to-body ratio 88% 86.5%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 98.1% 99.9%
PWM 240 Hz 120 Hz
Response time 4.8 ms 1 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Screen space comparison
Galaxy A36 5G
6.7″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 17.1 in2
Galaxy S10
6.1″ (19:9 ratio) = 14.4 in2
~18% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
818 nits
1227 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 149.9 mm (5.9 inches) 162.9 mm (6.41 inches)
Width 70.4 mm (2.77 inches) 78.2 mm (3.08 inches)
Thickness 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) 7.4 mm (0.29 inches)
Weight 157 g (5.54 oz) 195 g (6.88 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP67
Advanced cooling - Vapor chamber
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Plastic
Colors White, Black, Blue, Green 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
88%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Samsung Galaxy S10 and Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
SoC
Chipset Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 9820 Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 3
Max clock 2730 MHz 2400 MHz
CPU cores 8 (2 + 2 + 4) 8 (4 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.95 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 2.31 GHz: Cortex-A75
- 2 cores at 2.73 GHz: Mongoose M4
- 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) Yes Hexagon
GPU
Graphics Mali G76 MP12 Adreno 710
GPU shading units 288 256
GPU clock 702 MHz 1010 MHz
FLOPS ~404.4 GFLOPS ~517.1 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Samsung Galaxy S10 and Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
1004
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
2961
Compute Score (GPU)
Galaxy S10 +38%
4837
Compute Score (GPU) 4837 3506
Single-core score 986 1004
Multi-core score 2961 2919
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
747257
844447
CPU 303198 311567
GPU 133774 134619
Memory 148749 162720
UX 161536 235541
Total score 747257 844447
Samples [16 tests] [66 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Galaxy S10 +17%
367
Stability 81% 98%
Graphics test 3 FPS 2 FPS
Graphics score 367 315
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability 82% 97%
Graphics test 5 FPS -
Graphics score 949 -
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
9014
13090
Web score 7433 14144
Video editing 5772 7296
Photo editing 18351 24677
Data manipulation 7663 10326
Writing score 10349 14497

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Samsung Galaxy S10
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-06 (Nythoxx)AnTuTu777426
📘 2026-08-13 (ODIN_MODE)GeekBench CPU1065 / 2623
📘 2026-07-11 -> Sergo67AnTuTu613741
📘 2026-04-10 (Dio)AnTuTu756403
📘 2026-04-01 (LowbudgetNontecktoker)AnTuTu752759
Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-07-17 (loapeasontsa)AnTuTu832796
📘 2026-07-12 (Wan)AnTuTu834318
📘 2026-07-05 (Ням ням)AnTuTu862730
📘 2026-06-30 (Danyeall)AnTuTu873714
📘 2026-06-27 (kaio renan santos eleito 2026)AnTuTu891094

Memory

RAM
RAM size 6 GB 6 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory clock 2133 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 2.1 UFS 3.1
Memory card MicroSD No
Memory card max size Up to 512 GB -

Software

Operating system Android 9.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 12) Android 15 (Can be upgraded to Android 16)
ROM One UI 4.0 One UI 8.5
OS size 9.5 GB 22.6 GB
OS updates 2 years 6 years
Security updates 4 years 6 years

Battery

Capacity 3400 mAh 5000 mAh
Max charge power 15 W 45 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes, Qi/PMA (9 W) No
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Bypass charging - No
Fast charging Yes, Samsung Adaptive Fast Charge (50% in 30 min) Yes (60% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:35 hr 1:14 hr
Battery cycles - 2000 cycles
Battery life tests
Web browsing 13:03 hr 10:13 hr
Watching video 14:48 hr 16:02 hr
Gaming 05:16 hr 04:55 hr
Standby 73 hr 115 hr
General battery life
22:50 hr
24:52 hr

Main camera

Matrix 12 megapixels 50 megapixels
Image resolution 4000 x 3000 8192 x 6144
Zoom Optical, 2x Digital
Flash Dual LED LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 30FPS
1080p video recording Up to 240FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 960 FPS (720p) 240 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 123° 123°
Lenses 1) Standard: 12 MP
2) Telephoto: 12 MP
3) Ultrawide: 16 MP
1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Ultrawide: 8 MP
3) Macro: 5 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
Standard lens
Image resolution 12 MP 50 MP
Aperture f/1.5 - 2.4 f/1.8
Focal length 26 mm -
Sensor Samsung SAK2L4 Sony IMX882
Sensor size 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) 1/1.96" (≈ 0.51 inch)
Pixel size 1.4 micron 0.8 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution 12 MP -
Aperture f/1.5 -
Focal length 52 mm -
Sensor Samsung S5K3M3 -
Sensor size 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) -
Pixel size 1 micron -
Stabilization Optical -
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 16 MP 8 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 12 mm -
Sensor - GalaxyCore GC08A3
Sensor size 1/3.1" (≈ 0.32 inch) 1/4.0" (≈ 0.25 inch)
Pixel size - 1.12 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital
Macro lens
Image resolution - 5 MP
Aperture - f/2.4
Sensor - GalaxyCore GC05A3
Stabilization - Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score

Selfie camera

Megapixels 10 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4320 x 2432 3184 x 2388
Aperture f/1.9 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm -
Sensor Samsung S5K3J1 GalaxyCore GC12A2
Sensor size 1/2.65" (≈ 0.38 inch) -
Pixel size 1.22 micron -
Autofocus Phase autofocus No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ax) Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- 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, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.1 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* 20 -
5G support No Yes

Sound

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

Other

Category Flagship Mid-range
Announced February 2019 March 2025
Release date March 2019 March 2025
Launch price (MSRP) $900 $399
Successor - Samsung Galaxy S25 FE - Samsung Galaxy A37 5G
SAR (head) 0.48 W/kg 0.53 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.59 W/kg 1.29 W/kg
Sensors - Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- 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?
22 (64.7%)
12 (35.3%)
Total votes: 34

User opinions

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