Samsung Galaxy A36 5G vs Galaxy A03

Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.7-inch Samsung Galaxy A36 5G (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 ) that was released on March 2, 2025, against the Samsung Galaxy A03, which is powered by Unisoc T606 and came out 3 years and 4 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

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Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
  • Waterproof body (IP67 classification)
  • 2.9x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (844K versus 291K)
  • Delivers 194% higher peak brightness (1224 against 417 nits)
  • Has 3x more RAM: 6GB versus 2GB
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Modern USB Type-C port
  • Shows 16% longer battery life (24:52 vs 21:21 hours)
  • 43% higher pixel density (385 vs 270 PPI)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.4)
  • Optical image stabilization
  • Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 15W)
  • More recent OS version: Android 16 versus 13
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Snapdragon 6 Gen 3
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A03
  • Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1024GB
  • Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy A36 5G and Galaxy A03 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.
DeviceFacts Score
Final comparison evaluation
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Value for money (Beta)

Should I update?
No 97% Yes
Yes, this is a clear and meaningful upgrade.
Updating from Samsung Galaxy A03 to Samsung Galaxy A36 5G is a clear step forward, and the improvements should be easy to notice.
Main improvements: display, camera, and performance.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type Super AMOLED PLS TFT
Size 6.7 inches 6.5 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2340 pixels 720 x 1600 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 20:9
PPI 385 ppi 270 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) No
Max rated brightness 1200 nits 400 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1900 nits -
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ No
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus Plus Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 86.5% 81.9%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
-
Display tests
RGB color space 99.9% 96%
PWM 120 Hz Not detected
Response time 1 ms 45 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity 1641:1
Screen space comparison
Galaxy A36 5G
6.7″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 17.1 in2
Galaxy A03
6.5″ (20:9 ratio) = 15.8 in2
~8% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
1224 nits
417 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 162.9 mm (6.41 inches) 164.2 mm (6.46 inches)
Width 78.2 mm (3.08 inches) 75.9 mm (2.99 inches)
Thickness 7.4 mm (0.29 inches) 9.1 mm (0.36 inches)
Weight 195 g (6.88 oz) 196 g (6.91 oz)
Waterproof IP67 No
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber -
Rear material Glass Plastic
Frame material Plastic Plastic
Colors White, Black, Green, Purple Black, Blue, Red
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display No
Repairability Good (3.19/5) -
Drop resistance Good (C) · 90 drops -
Screen-to-body ratio
86.5%
81.9%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Samsung Galaxy A36 5G and Samsung Galaxy A03
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 Unisoc T606
Max clock 2400 MHz 1600 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 1.6 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 1.6 GHz: Cortex-A75
L3 cache - 1 MB
Manufacturing Samsung TSMC
Lithography process 4 nanometers 12 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon No
GPU
Graphics Adreno 710 Mali G57 MP1
GPU shading units 256 32
GPU clock 1010 MHz 650 MHz
FLOPS ~517.1 GFLOPS ~41.6 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Samsung Galaxy A36 5G and Samsung Galaxy A03
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
1004
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
2919
1199
Compute Score (GPU)
Compute Score (GPU) 3506 -
Single-core score 1004 370
Multi-core score 2919 1199
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
844447
291706
CPU 311567 136204
GPU 134619 15043
Memory 162720 67286
UX 235541 73173
Total score 844447 291706
Samples [66 tests] [3 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Stability 98% -
Graphics test 2 FPS -
Graphics score 315 -
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
13090
7149
Web score 14144 6677
Video editing 7296 3936
Photo editing 24677 14202
Data manipulation 10326 5677
Writing score 14497 8365

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-10-12 (Jhzinnn)AnTuTu 12934820
📘 2026-10-04 -> Arcticmonkeys98AnTuTu 12953956
📘 2026-10-02 (A36XQHYPER)AnTuTu 12938148
📘 2026-09-30 (kazew_)AnTuTu 121005038
📘 2026-09-27 (Abdulgani)AnTuTu 12991604
Samsung Galaxy A03
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-19 (Muniviiro)AnTuTu 12367769
📘 2025-11-19 -> UsererAnTuTu 11291706
📘 2025-11-17 (niokn)AnTuTu 11303324
📘 2025-10-08 (KIN)AnTuTu 11291379
📘 2024-07-30 (enmitysl)Geekbench 6 CPU370 / 1199

Memory

RAM
RAM size 6 GB 2 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory clock 2133 MHz -
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 32 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 eMMC 5.1
Memory card No MicroSD
Memory card max size - Up to 1024 GB

Software

Operating system Android 15 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13)
ROM One UI 8.5 One UI Core 5.1
OS size 22.6 GB 13.5 GB
OS updates 6 years 2 years
Security updates 6 years 4 years

Battery

Capacity 5000 mAh 5000 mAh
Max charge power 45 W 15 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No No
Reverse charging No No
Bypass charging No -
Fast charging Yes (60% in 30 min) Yes (20% in 40 min)
Full charging time 1:14 hr 3:35 hr
Battery cycles 2000 cycles -
Battery life tests
Web browsing 10:13 hr 09:11 hr
Watching video 16:02 hr 11:46 hr
Gaming 04:55 hr 05:23 hr
Standby 115 hr 103 hr
General battery life
24:52 hr
21:21 hr

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 48 megapixels
Image resolution 8192 x 6144 8000 x 6000
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Optical Digital
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 30FPS No
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 30FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (720p) No
Angle of widest lens 123° -
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Ultrawide: 8 MP
3) Macro: 5 MP
1) Standard: 48 MP
2) Depth: 2 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- Bokeh mode
Standard lens
Image resolution 50 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.8
Sensor Sony IMX882 -
Sensor size 1/1.96" (≈ 0.51 inch) -
Pixel size 0.8 micron 0.8 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Optical Digital
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 8 MP -
Aperture f/2.2 -
Sensor GalaxyCore GC08A3 -
Sensor size 1/4.0" (≈ 0.25 inch) -
Pixel size 1.12 micron -
Stabilization Digital -
Macro lens
Image resolution 5 MP -
Aperture f/2.4 -
Sensor GalaxyCore GC05A3 -
Stabilization Digital -

Selfie camera

Megapixels 12 megapixels 5 megapixels
Image resolution 3184 x 2388 2560 x 1960
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Sensor GalaxyCore GC12A2 CMOS
Autofocus No No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 b/g/n/ac)
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
Bluetooth features LE LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C Micro USB
USB version 2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
DisplayPort No -
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS
NFC* Yes No
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 2 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* Yes No
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* - 4
5G support Yes No

Sound

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

Other

Category Mid-range Budget
Announced March 2025 November 2021
Release date March 2025 January 2022
Launch price (MSRP) $399 $140
Successor - Samsung Galaxy A37 5G - Samsung Galaxy A07 4G
SAR (head) 0.53 W/kg -
SAR (body) 1.29 W/kg -
Sensors - Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Proximity sensor
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
Bundled charger Not included Yes, 8 W
*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.

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Total votes: 3

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