Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus vs A36 5G
71
out of 100
VS
63
out of 100
Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.6-inch Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus (with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy) that was released on February 1, 2023, against the Samsung Galaxy A36 5G, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 and came out 2 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
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus
- The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
- 2.1x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1744K versus 844K)
- Shows 7% longer battery life (26:32 vs 24:52 hours)
- Handles wireless charging up to 10W
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
- Faster storage type - UFS 4.0 versus UFS 3.1
- 2.1x faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 2064 and 1004 points
- Reverse charging feature
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.4)
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- The phone is 2 years and 1 month newer
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 | Dynamic AMOLED | Super AMOLED |
| Size | 6.6 inches | 6.7 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 1080 x 2340 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 393 ppi | 385 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (24-120 Hz) | Yes (60-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 1200 nits | 1200 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1750 nits | 1900 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus 2 | Gorilla Glass Victus Plus |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 89% | 86.5% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 97.4% | 99.9% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 1 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 157.8 mm (6.21 inches) | 162.9 mm (6.41 inches) |
| Width | 76.2 mm (3 inches) | 78.2 mm (3.08 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.6 mm (0.3 inches) | 7.4 mm (0.29 inches) |
| Weight | 195 g (6.88 oz) | 195 g (6.88 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP67 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Plastic |
| Colors | White, Black, Gray, Green, Purple, Yellow | 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
Performance
| Chipset | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy | Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 |
| Max clock | 3360 MHz | 2400 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) | 8 (4 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 3 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510 - 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A710 - 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A715 - 1 core at 3.2 GHz: Cortex-X3 |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 4 cores at 2.4 GHz: Cortex-A78 |
| L3 cache | 8 MB | - |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | Samsung |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 4 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Hexagon |
| Graphics | Adreno 740 | Adreno 710 |
| GPU shading units | 1536 | 256 |
| GPU clock | 680 MHz | 1010 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~2089 GFLOPS | ~517.1 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 8934 | 3506 |
| Single-core score | 2064 | 1004 |
| Multi-core score | 5334 | 2919 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 581203 | 311567 |
| GPU | 446806 | 134619 |
| Memory | 272465 | 162720 |
| UX | 443849 | 235541 |
| Total score | 1744323 | 844447 |
| Samples | [23 tests] | [66 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 79% | 98% |
| Graphics test | 8 FPS | 2 FPS |
| Graphics score | 1068 | 315 |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Stability | 78% | - |
| Graphics test | 20 FPS | - |
| Section 1 | 23 FPS | - |
| Section 2 | 20 FPS | - |
| Section 3 | 18 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 5364 | - |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | 66% | 97% |
| Graphics test | 22 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 3712 | - |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 14728 | 14144 |
| Video editing | 7866 | 7296 |
| Photo editing | 33422 | 24677 |
| Data manipulation | 12880 | 10326 |
| Writing score | 18951 | 14497 |
Recent User Tests
Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-10-07 (Azure) | AnTuTu 12 | 1945847 |
| 📘 2026-10-04 (Gordon) | AnTuTu 12 | 1994946 |
| 📘 2026-10-02 (Gordon) | AnTuTu 12 | 1966748 |
| 📘 2026-09-26 (Moha_X) | AnTuTu 12 | 1931558 |
| 📘 2026-09-26 (Bo) | AnTuTu 12 | 1822126 |
Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-10-12 (Jhzinnn) | AnTuTu 12 | 934820 |
| 📘 2026-10-04 -> Arcticmonkeys98 | AnTuTu 12 | 953956 |
| 📘 2026-10-02 (A36XQHYPER) | AnTuTu 12 | 938148 |
| 📘 2026-09-30 (kazew_) | AnTuTu 12 | 1005038 |
| 📘 2026-09-27 (Abdulgani) | AnTuTu 12 | 991604 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | - | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 2 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 4.0 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 13 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) | Android 15 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) |
| ROM | One UI 8.0 | One UI 8.5 |
| OS size | 42.5 GB | 22.6 GB |
| OS updates | 4 years | 6 years |
| Security updates | 5 years | 6 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 4700 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Max charge power | 45 W | 45 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (10 W) | No |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | No |
| Bypass charging | - | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (57% in 30 min) | Yes (60% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:05 hr | 1:14 hr |
| Battery cycles | - | 2000 cycles |
| Web browsing | 10:37 hr | 10:13 hr |
| Watching video | 15:54 hr | 16:02 hr |
| Gaming | 06:37 hr | 04:55 hr |
| Standby | 128 hr | 115 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (#119th place)
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 50 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8160 x 6120 | 8192 x 6144 |
| Zoom | Optical, 3x | Digital |
| Flash | LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 30FPS | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 120FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 123° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Telephoto: 10 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 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 |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | 23 mm | - |
| Sensor | Samsung S5KGN3 | Sony IMX882 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.57" (≈ 0.64 inch) | 1/1.96" (≈ 0.51 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 0.8 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 10 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | - |
| Focal length | 70 mm | - |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K3K1 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/3.94" (≈ 0.25 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Optical | - |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 8 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | - |
| Sensor | Sony IMX564 | GalaxyCore GC08A3 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) | 1/4.0" (≈ 0.25 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.4 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| 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
| Bokeh | 70 | - |
| Preview | 72 | - |
| Zoom | 126 | - |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus from DxOMark | - |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 3184 x 2388 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | - |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K3LU | GalaxyCore GC12A2 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.24" (≈ 0.31 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 1.12 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 6E (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 MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.3 | 5.4 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | Yes, DP 1.2 | No |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 20 | - |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Mid-range |
| Announced | February 2023 | March 2025 |
| Release date | February 2023 | March 2025 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $999 | $399 |
| Successor | - Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus | - Samsung Galaxy A37 5G |
| SAR (head) | 0.57 W/kg | 0.53 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.4 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 | 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 S23 Plus is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 7