Galaxy A56, A36, and A26: A Class of Budget-Friendly Phones in the Water: From Android to Galaxy Sense and Best Face

It’s budget phone season and it’s time to hear from SAMSUNG about its new crop of affordable phones. Kicking off a wave of upcoming mobile news at Mobile World Congress (MWC), the annual tech tradeshow held in Barcelona, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy A36 5G and Galaxy A26 5G—sequels to last year’s Galaxy A35 and A25.

At $499, the Galaxy A56 is the most expensive of the bunch and will launch in the US “later this year.” The A36 and A26 will be in stores at Best Buy on March 26th and March 28th, respectively. The A56, A26, and A36 will be on sale in the UK on March 19th for around half a million dollars.

The highlight of this year’s Galaxy A-series is that these devices will receive 6 years of updates, a jump from the previous offering of four Android OS updates and 5 years of security updates. They’re some of the only phones in the price range that offer such comprehensive software support, so you will continue receiving new features and your phone will be more secure.

There’s a different camera module on the phones, and the phones are slimmer and lighter with a glossy finish on the back. All three devices are powered by the same strain ofGorilla Glass that was used in the flagship of the S22 series from 2022. They can be submerged in 1 meter of water for 30 minutes and still work, but they are also IP67-rated for water resistance.

Samsung is bringing even more AI to its line of budget-friendly phones. Enhancements to the S25 lineup of cameras are possible with the addition of awesome intelligence in the newGalaxy A56, A36, and A26 models.

Best Face is an artificial Intelligence tool that allows you to swap out facial expressions of five people in a motion photo if someone blinks or looks away from the camera. It’s similar to Google Pixel’s Best Take and launched with the Galaxy S25 in January.

The Same Full HD Plus Display on the A56, A35, and A55: A Comparison of Three Cellular-Like Android Devices

Besides new AI features, Samsung made some small design tweaks to each phone, as well. All three devices have the exact same 6.7-inch full HD Plus display with a maximum refresh rate up to 120Hz, as compared to the smaller 6.6-inch screen on the A55 and A35. The A56 comes with the same 12MP ultrawide sensor, 50MP main camera, and 5MP macro camera. The A55 has a 32MP sensor, but it has a 12MP selfie shooter.