Samsung Galaxy A36 5G vs Nothing Phone (2a)
63
out of 100
VS
63
out of 100
Here we compared two mid-range smartphones: the 6.7-inch Samsung Galaxy A36 5G (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 ) that was released on March 2, 2025, against the Nothing Phone (2a), which is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro and came out 1 year before. 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 A36 5G
- Delivers 26% higher peak brightness (1224 against 974 nits)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.4)
- Waterproof body (IP67 classification)
- More recent OS version: Android 16 versus 15
- Slow-motion recording at 240FPS
- The phone is 1 year newer
- Faster storage type - UFS 3.1 versus UFS 2.2
- Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
- Ready for eSIM technology
Reasons to consider the Nothing Phone (2a)
- Shows 20% longer battery life (29:55 vs 24:52 hours)
- 17% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (985K versus 844K)
- Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
- 13% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1133 and 1004 points
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 DeviceFacts Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Super AMOLED | AMOLED |
| Size | 6.7 inches | 6.7 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 1080 x 2412 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 385 ppi | 394 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (60-120 Hz) | Yes (30-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 1200 nits | 700 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1900 nits | 1300 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Touch sampling rate | - | 240 Hz |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus Plus | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 86.5% | 87.8% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
| RGB color space | 99.9% | 99.3% |
| PWM | 120 Hz | 90 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 1 ms |
| Contrast | β Infinity | β Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 162.9 mm (6.41 inches) | 161.7 mm (6.37 inches) |
| Width | 78.2 mm (3.08 inches) | 76.3 mm (3 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.4 mm (0.29 inches) | 8.6 mm (0.34 inches) |
| Weight | 195 g (6.88 oz) | 190 g (6.7 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP67 | IP54 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Plastic | Plastic |
| Colors | White, Black, Green, Purple | White, Black |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
| Repairability | Good (3.19/5) | - |
| Drop resistance | Good (C) Β· 90 drops | - |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 | MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro |
| Max clock | 2400 MHz | 2800 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (4 + 4) | 8 (2 + 6) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 4 cores at 2.4 GHz: Cortex-A78 |
- 6 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510 - 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A715 |
| L3 cache | - | 4 MB |
| Manufacturing | Samsung | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 4 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | MediaTek APU 650 |
| Graphics | Adreno 710 | Mali-G610 MC4 |
| GPU shading units | 256 | 256 |
| GPU clock | 1010 MHz | 1130 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~517.1 GFLOPS | ~578.6 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 3506 | 4085 |
| Single-core score | 1004 | 1133 |
| Multi-core score | 2919 | 2581 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 311567 | 363418 |
| GPU | 134619 | 172332 |
| Memory | 162720 | 158940 |
| UX | 235541 | 290571 |
| Total score | 844447 | 985261 |
| Samples | [66 tests] | [16 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 98% | 98% |
| Graphics test | 2 FPS | 3 FPS |
| Graphics score | 315 | 449 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 14144 | - |
| Video editing | 7296 | - |
| Photo editing | 24677 | - |
| Data manipulation | 10326 | - |
| Writing score | 14497 | - |
Recent User Tests
Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| π 2026-10-12 (Jhzinnn) | AnTuTu 12 | 934820 |
| π 2026-10-04 -> Arcticmonkeys98 | AnTuTu 12 | 953956 |
| π 2026-10-02 (A36XQHYPER) | AnTuTu 12 | 938148 |
| π 2026-09-30 (kazew_) | AnTuTu 12 | 1005038 |
| π 2026-09-27 (Abdulgani) | AnTuTu 12 | 991604 |
Nothing Phone (2a)
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| π 2026-09-30 (Kaiser) | AnTuTu 12 | 1001163 |
| π 2026-09-19 (Vedurijuht2425) | AnTuTu 12 | 1045921 |
| π 2026-07-12 (note8techh) | AnTuTu 11 | 984744 |
| π 2026-05-06 (legusk) | AnTuTu 11 | 1025139 |
| π 2026-04-13 (Divyanshu Raj) | AnTuTu 11 | 1006410 |
Memory
| RAM size | 6 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2133 MHz | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 2.2 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 15 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) | Android 14 (Can be upgraded to Android 15) |
| ROM | One UI 8.5 | Nothing OS 3.0 |
| OS size | 22.6 GB | 21 GB |
| OS updates | 6 years | 3 years |
| Security updates | 6 years | 4 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 5000 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Max charge power | 45 W | 45 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | No |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Bypass charging | No | - |
| Fast charging | Yes (60% in 30 min) | Yes (59% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:14 hr | 1:03 hr |
| Battery cycles | 2000 cycles | - |
| Web browsing | 10:13 hr | 11:32 hr |
| Watching video | 16:02 hr | 18:30 hr |
| Gaming | 04:55 hr | 06:26 hr |
| Standby | 115 hr | 148 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (#47th place)
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 50 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8192 x 6144 | 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 (720p) | 120 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 123Β° | 114Β° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Ultrawide: 8 MP 3) Macro: 5 MP |
1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Ultrawide: 50 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | - | 24 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX882 | Samsung ISOCELL GN9 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.96" (β 0.51 inch) | 1/1.56" (β 0.64 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.8 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 8 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Sensor | GalaxyCore GC08A3 | Samsung S5KJN1 |
| Sensor size | 1/4.0" (β 0.25 inch) | 1/2.76" (β 0.36 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 0.64 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Image resolution | 5 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | - |
| Sensor | GalaxyCore GC05A3 | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | - |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 32 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3184 x 2388 | 6528 x 4896 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Sensor | GalaxyCore GC12A2 | Sony IMX615 |
| Sensor size | - | 1/2.74" (β 0.36 inch) |
| Pixel size | - | 0.8 micron |
| Autofocus | No | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.4 | 5.3 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | 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 | No |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | 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* | Yes | No |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | No |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Mid-range | Mid-range |
| Announced | March 2025 | March 2024 |
| Release date | March 2025 | March 2024 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $399 | $329 |
| Successor | - Samsung Galaxy A37 5G | - Nothing Phone (4a) |
| SAR (head) | 0.53 W/kg | - |
| SAR (body) | 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 | Not included |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the display, connectivity, software, design, and sound are more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy A36 5G. But if the gaming and battery life are more of a priority β go for the Nothing Phone (2a).
Cast your vote
Total votes: 40