The Samsung Galaxy M36 5G launched a while back in India with a starting price of Rs 17,499 and Samsung has made some interesting, or rather we should say, questionable choices with it, where some of its specifications have been downgraded over its predecessor. However, the brand also reduced the price of the phone by Rs 2,500 compared to the Galaxy M35 5G. Do these changes make sense and are they worth the new lowered price tag? We’ll help you make a decision through our Samsung Galaxy M36 5G review.
Design & Display
The design has definitely been upgraded over the Galaxy M35 5G. The Galaxy M36 5G, in this new Orange Haze shade, looks gorgeous. The camera module has been redesigned to include this new pill shape along with an outlining which further elevates the look of the module.
The back panel is polycarbonate and attracts a lot of fingerprints but Orange Haze is definitely the colour to opt for with the Galaxy M36 5G if you are aiming to get a device with a unique look. The frame is plastic but again, the device doesn’t feel cheap by any means.
It is also not too heavy but because it is on the bigger side, you can forget using it with one hand. The buttons feel tactile and the fingerprint sensor on the right-hand side works without any issues. It’s fast and accurate in detecting the fingerprint, so no issues in that department.
Speaking of downgrades, the first one is the switch from stereo speakers on the M35 5G to a single bottom-mounted speaker on the Galaxy Samsung M36 5G. Despite the fact that the speaker sounds decent on the M36 5G, it still won’t match the experience of stereo speakers. The single speaker in the Samsung Galaxy M36 5G is loud enough and has clarity as well as good instrument separation as well.
The regular vibration motor does its job as it should and rattles when it has to, but that’s where you feel that this is a budget device.
Speaking of the display, it has the same protection as last year’s Galaxy M35 5G, and that’s the Gorilla Glass Victus+. It is a 6.6-inch Full-HD+ sAMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, an Infinity-U notch, and 1080 x 2340 pixels resolution.
The downgrade? It’s the Infinity-U notch which has replaced the punch-hole notch we saw in the Galaxy M35 5G. As much as it looks beautiful from the back, this notch makes the Samsung Galaxy M36 5G look dated from the front. However, the panel itself is quite bright and shows super vibrant colours. Viewing angles are excellent and so is the sharpness. Aside from the notch, I don’t have any complaints from this display. It’s one of the best you can get at this price point in terms of quality.
Software & Performance
The Samsung Galaxy M36 5G has the same chip as its predecessor, and that’s the Exynos 1380, paired with up to 8GB RAM and up to 256GB of storage. This is not the best Exynos chip for performance and that shows even in daily use. I could face micro stutters and slowdowns during normal use like when using Instagram or Telegram which are some of the most basic apps, or when switching through apps.
While the device doesn’t heat up easily which is a major plus point, the performance of the handset can let you down sometimes. Aside from that, when it works, the animations feel and look smooth, thanks to One UI 7.
The only major upgrade here we see is the extended software support where you’ll get 6 generations of OS updates compared to 4 on the Galaxy M35 5G. However, with the performance I have seen, I doubt how well the device would hold up for 6 years if you plan to keep it for that long.
The device also got the May 2025 security patch a week ago but considering it’s July, I expected at least the June patch to arrive.
You can do casual gaming on the device without any major lag. However, titles like Call of Duty and BGMI could push the device to its limits where it could struggle to keep up.
However, software is where no phone in this price range can even touch the Galaxy M36 5G. Let alone the extended software support, you also get some AI features like object eraser, Google’s Gemini, all of which work quite decently. The software is polished and is also very stable without any bugs. Yes, there’s some amount of preloaded apps like Microsoft’s apps, Truecaller, Glance lockscreen, Meta App installer, PhonePe, etc., but all of this can fortunately be uninstalled.
The separated quick settings and notifications shade is also present which was introduced in One UI 7, along with Auto Blocker, various motions and gestures like double tap to wake or sleep, video effects, game mode, Virtual RAM extension through RAM Plus, and much more. You can set wallpaper-based colours, change icons, enable EDGE panels, apply themes, and a lot more, in terms of customisation.
Then there’s also the Now Bar that can show you the currently playing media, match scores of your favorite team, Samsung health notifications, and more. Again, if you are looking for a stable experience that’s feature packed, you can’t go wrong with One UI 7.
Coming to the downside, I didn’t find the option for Always-on display which is a bummer considering other phones at this price point do offer it.
Connectivity performance, including that of 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and NFC, remained optimal.
Battery & Charging
The Samsung Galaxy M36 5G packs a 5000mAh battery with 25W fast wired charging. Again, we see a notable downgrade here over the Galaxy M35 5G, as it packed a 6000mAh battery. The battery backup of the Galaxy M36 5G is still decent as it can get you through a day easily.
It got me around 6 hours of screen-on time and sometimes slightly more with moderate use, which included scrolling through Instagram, browsing Chrome, chatting on WhatsApp and Telegram, listening to music, casual gaming for about half an hour, and watching YouTube. The battery stats are good, but could’ve been better considering what I have seen on other devices and on the Galaxy M35 5G itself. If go out pushing it to its boundaries with demanding tasks, you may have to top it up mid-day.
Charging times are decent but again not the best. It took the device around 1 hour 15 minutes to charge from 0 to 100%. I have definitely witnessed faster charging speeds from the competition.
Cameras
The Samsung Galaxy M36 5G gets a triple camera setup on the back, same as the M35 5G, including a 50MP primary sensor with f/1.8 aperture, LED flash and OIS, an 8MP ultra-wide angle lens with f/2.2 aperture, and a 2MP Macro lens with f/2.4 aperture. The phone gets a 13MP f/2.2 snapper on the front for selfies.
The camera genuinely surprised me, delivering photos that looked like they were taken on a device from a higher price segment.
Outdoor shots have a sufficient amount of details and camera captures quite detailed photos, too. There’s ample sharpness in the shots and the dynamic range is on point as well. The shutter lag is evident sometimes but that’s not a major issue.
Colour shift in ultra-wide angle shots is minimal so that’s good news. However, don’t expect a lot of detailing in such shots if you go Pixel peeping. They are softer than the shots from the main sensor and also lack proper edge distortion correction due to which the shots get overly stretched and lack further details at the edges.
Portrait photos are no disappointment at all. You get high sharpness, good exposure control, fast auto-focus, and great colours. However, edge detection could be a hit or miss due to which the blur effect could overlap the subject at times.
Selfies from the front-facing camera are good in terms of colours and dynamic range. The skin tones can look slightly warmer than natural under certain circumstances but despite that, the shot looks decent with a good amount of detailing on offer.
Shots under artificial lighting retain a vibrant colour tone and high amount of detailing. The shutter speed can be a bit slow at times but the shots come out super impressive. The device also can auto focus at good speed under such lighting. The sharpness is on point and so is the overall quality of the photos. Macro shots from the tertiary sensor, however, aren’t the most useful and lack detailing.
Low-light shots are surprisingly solid as well. The level of detail is excellent, and there’s virtually no noise—something that’s often noticeable in photos from devices in this price range.
Turning on Night mode boosts the exposure just enough to brighten the scene and deliver a clearer image, as expected. Even in near-total darkness, noise levels remain impressively low. That said, keeping your hands steady is crucial—my shot ended up slightly blurred despite good overall clarity, simply because of a minor shake.
