Evan Blass / Substack
Samsung works in mysterious ways. It once made a belt, sorry, Welt, that had a hidden micro-USB port. The chaebol is also a contractor for the Korean military and makes tanks even for overseas clients. It shows off cool robots that never make it to the market. And as perplexing as that sounds, Samsung can also make its budget phones look better than its uber-expensive flagships.
Even Blass has just leaked 360-degree product renders of the brand’s upcoming Galaxy A36 smartphone. The phone will reportedly come in some beautiful shades, apart from the usual black and white affair. Of particular interest are the lime yellow and purple trims, which have a beautiful iridescent finish to them.
Notably, if the Galaxy A35 is anything to go by, its successor will likely retain the IP67-level dust and water resistance, as well. Samsung has used these colors before, so there’s not too much of a surprise there. But there are a few more subtle changes that are yet to appear even on its flagship phones.
Evan Blass / SubstackFirst, there’s a slight hump on the right edge for the power and volume rocker. It’s not substantial enough to land some design awards for Samsung, but still worth standing out at a time when Samsung is essentially recycling the same fundamental design for years across its entire slab phone lineup.
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Over at the back, we have a fresh look for the rear camera array. There are no contrasting or floating camera lenses here. What we get is an all-black pill-shaped vertical hump, breaking the monotony of what looks like a glossy rear shell. The Galaxy A36 lifts the same fundamental design from the upcoming Galaxy A56, and for good reasons.
They both offer a breath of fresh air, and don’t lose themselves in a crowd of Samsung devices that all look identical unless you squint hard. And it seems you won’t have to wait too long for the budget phone to hit the shelves. Carrying the model number SM-A366B, the phone was recently spotted on Geekbench with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 SoC.
Evan Blass / SubstackThat’s neither the fastest, nor the latest entry in Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Gen 6 series processors, but it makes some sense considering the Galaxy A36 might get listed around the $400 price bracket. However, some rumors claim a newer silicon in the same lineup, or even a beefier Snapdragon Gen 7 series portfolio.
We might also get support for 45W charging, which is yet another surprise as it matches the charging pace of Samsung’s $1,300 Galaxy S25 Ultra. The rest of the package might include a 120Hz OLED screen and a 50-megapixel main sensor leading the imaging department.
The Galaxy A36 was already a well-rounded package, and if the latest leak is anything to go by, Samsung just might deliver a value-first surprise later this year. Is this a teaser of the some fresh aesthetic makeover in the Galaxy S series? I won’t hold my breath for that.
Nadeem is a tech journalist who started reading about cool smartphone tech out of curiosity and soon started writing…
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