Samsung launched the Galaxy M36 5G smartphone recently as the successor to the Galaxy M35 5G. This retains the camera and SoC from the predecessor, but brings back the notch to the AMOLED screen and has reduced the price. Is this a good phone under the Rs. 20,000 segment? Let us dive into the review to find out.
| Box Contents |
| Camera |
| Battery Life |
| Conclusion |
Box Contents
- Samsung Galaxy M36 5G 6GB RAM, 128GB storage version in Orange Haze colour
- USB Type-C to C Cable
- SIM ejector tool
- Quick Start Guide and Warranty information
Display, Hardware and Design
The Galaxy M35 5G comes with a 6.7-inch Full HD+ Infinity-U Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1080×2340 pixels at about 384PPI. The display looks bright, thanks to 1000 nits peak brightness, It offers good color reproduction and the sunlight legibility is good as well. Since it has an AMOLED panel, it offers true blacks. The screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection that you don’t see in the phones in the price range.
It has a 120Hz refresh rate screen that offers a fluid user experience with smoother animations, scrolling and gaming. Similar to the other Samsung phones, there is an Eye comfort shield that limit blue light emitted by the screen. There is also dark mode, which looks great on the AMOLED screen. You can choose from Vivid or Natural screen modes based on your preference, or set the white balance manually. The phone doesn’t have DC dimming or low brightness anti-flicker mode that is present in some AMOLED screen phones in the price range. I didn’t notice any screen flicker issues in low brightness on the phone. It doesn’t have notification LED, but there is Always on display.
On the top, there is an 13-megapixel camera in the notch, which replaces the punch-hole in the older model. The earpiece is present on the top edge, but it doesn’t double up as a secondary speaker. There is a small chin below the screen.
Coming to the button placements, the power button that houses the fingerprint scanner and the volume rockers are present on the right side. The hybrid dual SIM slot is present on the left. The primary microphone, USB Type-C port and the loudspeaker grill are on the bottom. The secondary microphone is on the top.
The sides have a plastic frame with a matte finish, so it doesn’t attract fingerprints easily, and the grip is also good since the phone has a sharp frame.
On the back, there is a triple camera module inside the camera deco, along with a flash next to it. The phone is just 7.7mm thick, making it 1.4mm thinner than the M35, and is also 25 grams lighter at 197 grams. This is mainly due to reduction of battery capacity from 6000mAh to 5000mAh.
The phone has a plastic back with a matte finish that doesn’t attract fingerprints or smudges, but it is prone to scratches with day-to-day use, so it is recommended to use a case, which is not included in the box.
In addition to the Orange colour variant that we have, the phone also comes in Velvet Black and Serene Green colours. The phone doesn’t have IP ratings.
Camera
- 50MP rear camera with f/1.8 aperture, OIS
- 8MP ultra-wide angle camera with f/2.2 aperture
- 2MP macro sensor with f/2.4 aperture
- 13MP front camera with f/2.2 aperture
You can choose 50MP option from the aspect ratio settings on the top. It also has scene optimizer, Pro mode, Pro video, Night, Macro, Panorama, Food, Super Slow-mo, Slow motion, Hyperlapse and single take. There is also a wide-angle option for the front camera.
Coming to the image quality, daylight shots are good, and the camera captures a good amount of detail, creates well exposed photos with good dynamic range and detailing, and dynamic range can further be improved enabling HDR mode from the settings, which automatically turns on HDR when needed. Even though the phone has a 50-megapixel sensor, the final output has 12-megapixel resolution. Autofocus speeds are fast and accurate. Ultra-wide shots from the 8MP camera is decent.
Macro shots from the main camera is good, but the dedicated macro camera mode is not useful. Portrait shots are good, thanks to Samsung’s algorithm in detecting the edges. Low-light performance is decent, but you can’t expect much, it can be improved further with Night mode that offers more details, but you need to keep your hand steady, since it takes two to three seconds to process.
The 13-megapixel front camera is decent in most cases. Software blur has good edge detection in portrait shots.
Check out some camera samples.
It can record videos at maximum 4K resolution at 30 fps from both front and main rear camera. The rear camera can also shoot 1080p 60fps videos, but the stabilization works only in 30fps when it’s enabled in the settings. The ultra-wide camera has 1080p 30 fps recording. The normal stabilization works with both ultra-wide and main camera, but only the main camera has OIS. There is a separate Super steady mode which uses the ultra-wide camera to capture the video in 1080p 30fps.
You can switch between normal and ultra-wide cameras when video recording is in progress in 1080p, and also switch between the front and rear cameras when recording a video in 4K. It can shoot slow motion at 720p at 480fps and there is also super slow motion. Video quality is good.
Software, UI and Apps
Coming to the software, the phone runs on Android 15 with July 2025 update. On the top of Android 15, it has the latest Samsung One UI 7, which brings several new features. Similar to the other latest Samsung devices, the company has confirmed 6 OS updates and 6 years of security updates for the M36 5G.
Unlike the AI features in the flagship S series phones, the M36 5G only gets has generative wallpapers. The Device maintenance option lets you manage your device’s battery life, storage, RAM usage, and security all in one place. Out of 128GB (UFS 2.2) storage in our unit, 104GB is free. Out of 6GB LPDDR4x RAM, about 5.4GB is usable and 2.2GB is free when default apps are running in the background. There is also a RAM Plus feature, which uses the internal memory of the phone to expand the RAM by an extra 6GB, in addition to the existing 6GB of RAM. This is enabled automatically, but it can be disabled.
Apart from the usual set of utility apps and Google Apps, the smartphone comes with Netflix, Truecaller, Snapchat, PhonePe, DailyHunt, Spotify and Microsoft apps such as Microsoft 365, OneDrive, Outlook and LinkedIn. You get the option to install apps when you are setting up the phone, which you can choose not to. It also has Samsung Wallet via NFC. The phone doesn’t have ads, but shows notifications of new Samsung products occasionally.
Fingerprint sensor and Face unlock
Even though the phone an AMOLED screen, it still has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner. You can add up to 3 fingerprints, and adding fingerprint is easy. It has support for Face recognition, which doesn’t work well if the lighting is poor in the room, if you are hats, or use heavy makeup. Both these are protected by Knox security.
Music Player and Multimedia
YouTube Music is the default music player. It has equalizer, Dolby Atmos, UHQ upscaler, and Adapt that can be enabled from the settings. All these improve the audio when listening through earphones, and Dolby Atmos also works with speakers. It doesn’t have FM Radio support. That said, audio through earphones is good. Loudspeaker output from the stereo speakers is decent since the bottom speaker is dominant.
The phone comes with Widevine L1 support out-of-the-box so that you can enjoy HD content on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar and other streaming apps. There is also HDR playback support for YouTube, but it doesn’t work with Netflix.
Dual SIM and Connectivity
It has support for 5G SA and NSA with support for N1, N3, N5, N7, N8, N20, N28, N38, N40, N41, N66, N77 and N78 Network Bands in India. Other connectivity options include, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz), Bluetooth v5.3 and GPS with GLONASS. It has support for USB OTG and NFC that works with supported payment apps. It has 4G connectivity and has Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) and Wi-Fi Calling or Vo-Wi-Fi support for Reliance Jio, Airtel and more, and also has support for LTE-A or Carrier Aggregation.
The Galaxy M36 5G’s head SAR is at 0.455/Kg which is less than the M35 5G, and is well under the limit in India which is 1.6 W/kg (over 1 g).
Performance and Benchmarks
The Galaxy M36 5G is powered by the tried and tested Exynos 1380 5nm SoC, same as the predecessor. This has 4 x 2.4GHz Cortex-A78 Performance CPUs and 4 x 2GHz Cortex-A55 Efficiency CPUs. I didn’t face any performance issues with normal use, but this might not be the best for gaming. Samsung says that the phone has vapor chamber cooling that you rarely see in a phone in the price range.
In 3D Mark wild life stress test, it scored 97.1% which is good, and the temperature shot up from 31 to 39 degrees. That said, check out some synthetic benchmark scores below.
Battery life
The Galaxy M36 5G has a 5000mAh battery compared to 6000mAh in the M35. I got about 3.5 hours of screen on time mostly on Wi-Fi and occasionally on 5G with 1 day of use in 120Hz refresh rate. The SoT is slightly less than the M35. It should last for a day easily, for average use and less than that for heavy use.
Samsung doesn’t offer a charger in the box, and the phone supports 25W charging, the same as older models. With the official 25W PPS fast charger, it takes about 1 and half hours to reach 100%, and 0 to 50% took about 45 minutes.
Conclusion
To conclude, the Samsung Galaxy M36 5G presents a compelling, albeit compromised, package for its sub-Rs. 20,000 price point. Its strengths are significant: the 120Hz Super AMOLED display protected by Gorilla Glass Victus+ is a standout feature in this segment, and the 50MP OIS-enabled camera delivers reliable performance for photos and 4K videos. However, its most significant advantage is the unparalleled software promise of 6 OS and security updates, offering longevity that competitors simply cannot match.
However there are trade-offs such as Infinity-U notch that feels like a regression from its predecessor, and the reduction to a 5000mAh battery, while making the phone slimmer, results in slightly less screen-on time.
Ultimately, the Galaxy M36 5G is not for the user seeking the absolute best performance or the fastest charging speeds. Instead, it is an excellent and sensible choice for those who prioritize a premium viewing experience, a dependable camera, and, most importantly, long-term software support and security in a well-rounded device from a trusted brand.
Pricing and availability
The Samsung Galaxy M36 5G is priced at Rs. 17,499 for the 6GB + 128GB model, Rs. 18,999 for the 8GB + 128GB model and the top-end 8GB + 256GB model is priced Rs. 20,999.
It is available from Amazon.in, Samsung India online store, and select retail stores.
Pros
- 120Hz AMOLED display is good
- Good camera in daylight, OIS
- Smooth performance
- Promise of 6 OS updates and 6 years of security updates
Cons
- Infinity-U display
- Battery life could be better
- No stereo speakers