Samsung Announces a Trio of New 'Galaxy A' Smartphones

Samsung has unveiled its latest Galaxy A series, introducing a new trio of smartphones in the Galaxy A56 5G, Galaxy A36 5G and Galaxy A26 5G. The South Korean company is also bringing AI features to the series for the first time, launching Awesome Intelligence – an AI platform developed specifically for this family of phones – to alongside the Galaxy AI platform found in its flagship Galaxy S series.

All three phones come with Android 15 and Samsung’s new One UI 7 out of the box. They each feature a 6.7-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED Display with a refresh rate “up to 120Hz” – though it’s worth noting that the actual viewable area is slightly small at 6.5-inches, owing to the screen’s rounded corners. The phones are capable of reaching 1,200 nits of maximum brightness, but they also come with Vision Booster – a feature it launched with its Galaxy Tab S9 in 2023 – to help improve overall visibility in brighter environments. And, for increased durability, Samsung has used Gorilla Glass on both the front and back of each phone.

Samsung is touting the improvements made to the new phones’ cameras, with all three seeing upgrades and all three featuring a quad-camera set up. The trio shares the same main camera, a 50MP F1.8 camera with improved autofocus and built-in stabilization, but the similarities stop there. The A56 has a 12MP F2.2 ultra-wide camera, while the A36 and A26 have an 8MP F2.2 ultra-wide; both the A56 and A36 have a 5MP F2.4 macro camera, while the A26 has a 2MP F2.4 macro camera; and when it comes to the front-facing “selfie camera”, both the A56 and A36 have a 12MP F2.2 camera capable of recording in 4K and 10-bit HDR.

Technical specifications aside, Samsung has included many features that it hopes will add to the user experience, including Best Face, that lets you select the best facial expression for each person by taking a burst of photos and automatically creating your image for you, and Object Eraser, allowing users to delete elements within photos with ease. It has also included enhancements to low light capture with Nightography, taking advantage of the phones’ improved camera sensors to allow “stunning content in low-light settings”.

Battery life on all models has been improved and each model features a 5,000mAh battery that supports Super Fast Charge 2.0 technology. The A56 is powered by Samsung’s new Exynos 1580 chipset, while the A36 features Snapdragon’s 6 Gen 3 mobile processor. All three models comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage as standard, though this can be configured slightly different in the Enterprise editions. All models are IP67 rated, making them both dust and water resistant. For longevity and peace of mind, Samsung is promising “up to six generations of Android OS and One UI upgrades” as well as “six years of security updates” with each phone in the new Galaxy A series.

The new Samsung Galaxy A series has started to drop now, with availability differing slightly depending on your region. In terms of pricing, the A56 starts at £499 GBP / $499 USD, the A36 starts at £399 GBP / $399 USD and the A26 starts at £299 GBP / $299 USD.