The Samsung Galaxy M series has long been known for its focus on battery life and value in the competitive mid-range segment. Last year’s Galaxy M35 was one of the nicer options to consider in this segment and hence, when Samsung released the Galaxy M36 5G with a couple of downgrades, it left many puzzled. Samsung still promises that this phone balances performance, features, and affordability. But does it hit the sweet spot for today’s demanding smartphone users?
To find out, I have been using the Galaxy M36 5G for a couple of days. Let’s take a comprehensive look at whether this Samsung affordable midrange phone is worth buying over its rivals in this price category.
Design and Display
The Galaxy M36 5G adopts a clean, modern and stylish design from its more expensive Samsung Galaxy A counterparts. The metallic finish on the polycarbonate side frame and the back of the device makes the phone feel quite premium. The unique triple rear camera ornamentation feels fresh for a phone in this category – no bulky hump, unlike its Chinese rivals. In the orange colourway, this Galaxy M36 5G feels contemporary without being overly flashy. The comfortable in-hand feel and the matte finish to resist fingerprints work in the phone’s favour.
Sadly, Samsung couldn’t replicate the same for the front fascia. While the M36 5G features a vibrant Super AMOLED panel, which allows for deep blacks, excellent contrast, and punchy colours, the dated teardrop-shaped selfie camera housing along with the thick bottom bezel, take away from the desirability. The older Galaxy M35 used to have a more modern-looking display layout and we wonder what led Samsung to settle for an older display design. The 6.7-inch display offers a good viewing experience, though and with a refresh rate of 120Hz, it keeps animations smooth. The Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection ensures that your display glass will fare much better in the event of an accidental drop.
Performance
Under the hood, the Galaxy M36 5G continues to be powered by the same Exynos 1380 chipset that ran the show for its predecessor. The Exynos 1380 isn’t a performance powerhouse as more modern Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 or a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 chipset by any means. Hence, this chipset struggles while running high-end video games. However, you can count on Samsung’s OS optimisation to keep things smooth as far as general web browsing, texting, social media and light multitasking are concerned.
Samsung’s One UI 7 interface based on Android 15 offers a refined and premium OS experience, especially with its pretty UI elements and clever menu designs. It is one of the most refined Android experiences you can enjoy in a phone costing less than Rs 20,000. The only annoyance was the inability to turn off the Glance lockscreen ad thing – I understand the economy-centric decisions but it doesn’t hurt much to let the user turn off lockscreen ads, right Samsung?
A standout feature here is the presence of expandable storage via microSD card – a rarity even in affordable smartphones these days. The loudspeakers produce ample volume at higher levels and the stereo effect makes watching videos and social media content enjoyable. Network connectivity on Jio’s 4G and 5G networks has been trouble-free throughout my usage.
Camera
A triple rear camera system is a standard affair these days and Samsung doesn’t differ in its opinion. The 50MP main camera is accompanied by an 8MP ultrawide shooter and a 2MP macro sensor. For a phone of its price bracket, the Galaxy M36 does a good job with still photography. Photos in well-lit conditions hold decent details and good colour accuracy. Even in low light conditions, the camera continues to perform nicely, keeping photos sharp and detailed without blowing HDR and colour saturation.
The ultrawide and macro cameras are best reserved for usage in daylight conditions. The 13MP front camera does a good job with generic selfie duties. It can even record 4K videos at 30 fps. Samsung’s camera software often includes various modes and AI enhancements to make the photography experience more fun.
Battery life and charging
A 5,000 mAh battery is pretty much a standard affair in most phones these days and Samsung’s reliance on this cell ends up being generic. The Galaxy M phones earned a reputation for outlandish battery capacities and it is sad to see the modern iterations miss out on that front. In my usage patterns, the Galaxy M36 5G easily managed an entire day, sparing close to 30 per cent for overnight. The idle battery drain is noticeable and most of you would need to recharge the battery in the morning to get through the next day. The 25W wired charging solution is slow and takes forever to do a full top-up. An equivalent Xiaomi or OnePlus phone excels here with much faster wired charging modes. Also, Samsung doesn’t offer a charger in the box.
For charging, it supports 15W or 25W fast charging. While not the fastest charging speeds available in the market, it’s sufficient to top up the large battery within a reasonable timeframe.
Verdict
While most of Samsung’s rivals rely on higher-end specifications to justify their value-for-money tag, Samsung continues to focus on a healthy user experience for its Galaxy M series devices. If you look beyond the Galaxy M36 5G as a collection of numbers and data, this is a solid phone to rock everyday. The everyday general user experience is polished to an extent that none of its rivals can match. One UI 7 is pleasant to use and Samsung’s ecosystem of apps as well as standout features, make it a lot more useful. The camera performance is commendable in this segment and I also adore the stylish design as well as the durable build quality. Making a polycarbonate-unibody phone feel this good is a tricky thing in phones of this price segment (barring the ‘vegan leather’ finish).
Of course, there are other aspects that Samsung could have done better – a bigger battery, a more modern ‘bezel-less’ display panel, a faster charging solution and a faster processor. However, a starting price of Rs 18,999 starts to explain the compromises.
In a nutshell, the Samsung Galaxy M36 5G is a phone that we’d recommend if you value a refined and civil user experience over outright specifications.