High-end handsets north of the £1,000 mark are all well and good, but most of us have to make do with something more affordable. Well Samsung has just the thing: three new Galaxy A smartphones that offer a lot of bang for very little buck.
The range comprises the Galaxy A56 5G (£499), Galaxy A36 5G (£399) and Galaxy A26 5G (£299). They all offer 5G, artificial intelligence (AI) and big, bright screens.
As you would expect, given their different prices, there is some variation between the handsets. But given that they are all a step up from their predecessors, and all are more affordable than the £599 iPhone 16e, they all look worth considering for anyone on a budget.
Let’s see what they can do.
Samsung Galaxy A56 5G: the new A series flagship
The flagship phone of the mid-range family offers a large, 6.7-inch screen. That’s massive for this price, and significantly bigger than the iPhone 16e’s 6.1-incher. Its slimmer bezels also allow the screen to be 0.1 inches larger than its predecessor’s.
Like the iPhone 16e, the screen uses OLED technology for more depth and greater realism in the colours. The 1,200 nits peak brightness also matches the iPhone 16e’s, so what’s on the screen should still be visible even in direct sunlight.
Inside is a 5,000mAh battery, which is the size usually seen on higher-end phones. It should provide all-day battery life, though exactly how long it lasts depends on what you’re using the phone for. It should charge up quickly too, thanks to the 45W charging support.
It’s powered by the Samsung Exynos 1580 processor, and has the most impressive camera arrangement of the new mid-rangers: a 50-megapixel wide camera, 12-megapixel ultrawide and 5-megapixel macro. The 12-megapixel selfie camera has a Low Noise mode to improve the clarity and sharpness of low-light snaps.
It also has a unique photography mode that none of the other Galaxy A handsets have: Best Face. In group photos, this can take the best expression for multiple people from multiple different shots and combine them in one photo. It’s not completely new – Google’s Pixel phones have a very similar feature – but it could definitely come in useful.
The Galaxy A56 5G will cost £499 for the 256GB model. That’s £100 less than the 128GB iPhone 16e, and £200 less than the 16e with the same amount of storage.
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Samsung Galaxy A36 5G: a step down in name alone
The A36 is the middle child in Samsung’s new Galaxy A series. Slimmer and lighter than last year’s A35, it has the same 5,000mAh battery as the A56 and the same 45W charging. Samsung says this will juice up the battery to almost 70 per cent in just 30 minutes.
It has the same 6.7-inch AMOLED screen as the A56, with the same 1,200 nits peak brightness.
Also like the A56, it has artificial intelligence smarts, including Circle to Search. This neat feature lets you draw a circle around text in order to search for it using the Google search engine – no copying and pasting required. You can even use it to search for songs using a long press of the home button.
So far, it sounds very similar to the A56. So what’s different?
While it has the same 7.4mm thickness as its pricier stablemate, the A36 is a little lighter – 195g, compared to the A56’s 198g. The A36 has a less powerful ultrawide camera and a lesser processor. It’s slightly taller and wider than the A56 and comes in a different choice of colours.
The Samsung Galaxy A36 will cost £399 for the 256GB model.
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Samsung Galaxy A26: a brilliant-looking budget blower
Again, the A26 has the same screen as the other two handsets in the range, and the same 50-megapixel wide-angle camera. But while it has the same 8-megapixel ultrawide camera, the macro sensor has been reduced to 2 megapixels.
The A26 is a little thicker than its two stablemates, though still slimmer than its predecessor. It also has a plastic frame, making it feel a bit cheaper than the other two A range phones, though the glass back stops it feeling too cheap.
Compromises? Aside from the camera and build, which we’ve already mentioned, this phone doesn’t lack too many of its stablemates’ features. The processor is less powerful, it lacks the 45W fast charging and only comes in three colours. But it still packs AI and the same 5,000mAh battery. And it comes with the same six years of software and security updates as the other handsets.
The Samsung Galaxy A26 5G will cost £299 for the 256GB model. All three phones go on sale on Wednesday 19th March.
Early verdict: an A rating for the Galaxy A range
We haven’t reviewed the new Galaxy A phones yet, so can’t comment definitively on how they perform. But from the specs, they certainly look impressive.
The A56 is £100 cheaper than the iPhone 16e, and has more storage. If you want the same capacity iPhone 16e, it will cost you £200 more. Given that the A56’s screen is the same size and goes just as bright, that looks like a good deal.
And if you want to spend even less, the A36 and A26 look like decent options. The A36 is very similar indeed to the A56, the only notable differences being the camera and the processor. The A26 takes another step down in these areas, but for £299, beggars can’t be choosers.
Of course, it all comes down to how these phones perform, which we won’t be able to tell you until we’ve reviewed them. But Android fans who want a taste of the Samsung Galaxy S25 at a fraction of the price would do well to consider the new Galaxy A range.
