Samsung Galaxy M36 review: Well-rounded mid-range phone

It has a premium build quality, a decent display, support six years of Android OS updates and offers one-day battery life under normal usage.

Samsung's Galaxy M series is one of the best-selling phone variants in the mid-range segment in India. Besides reliable hardware, they get longer software support compared to the rival brands.

The latest Galaxy M36 series phone comes with a new design, a bigger screen, support for more generative Artificial Intelligence (gen AI) features over the predecessor, with prices starting at Rs 17,499 in India. Here are my thoughts on the new Android phone.

Design, build quality and display

As noted earlier, the Galaxy M36 features a refreshing design with a new camera deco compared to the predecessor, which has a triple camera island design.

The M36 sports an elongated capsule with two capsule enclosures, one having two sensors and the other having a single camera. And, an LED Flash on the side.

It comes with a glass-like finish. And, the rest of the rear panel is minimalistic in design, having just the 'Samsung' engraving at the base.

This review unit is orange haze. It looks lovely in the sunlight and is also the best among other colour models. The company also offers the device in velvet black and serene green variants.

Samsung Galaxy M36 (left) and Galaxy M35 (right).

It features a power button and a volume rocker on the right side. The former also houses a fingerprint sensor, which works smoothly without any issues.

There is a hybrid dual-SIM tray on the left side. The consumer has to choose between the second SIM and a microSD for extra storage.

Samsung Galaxy M36.

At the base, it houses a type-C USB port, a microphone and a loudspeaker. At the top, it features a lone microphone.

On the front, it sports a 6.7-inch (1080 x 2340 pixels) FHD+ Super AMOLED Infinity-U Display with 120Hz refresh rate.

Samsung Galaxy M36.

It is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ shield, very rare to see in a mid-range phone under the Rs 20,000 price bracket. It can survive daily wear and tear, such as scratches from metal objects like pens or keys, or coins, when the device is kept in a confined space of a pants pocket or backpack.

The display is really good for multimedia consumption, reading long-form articles or ebooks. There is also an option to reduce the blue light emission at night. Users can schedule to activate it at a particular time slot at night.

Performance

The device comes with an Exynos 1380 octa-core processor with Mali-G68 MP5 GPU, 6GB / 8GB RAM, and 128GB / 256GB internal storage options.

In terms of day-to-day usage, such as switching between multiple apps, browsing the internet, and operating the camera, the device performs smoothly without any pressing issues to complain about. It also supports several battle royale genre games.

Samsung Galaxy M36.

Further, the device is one of the very few devices in its category to support generative AI (gen AI)-powered features and photography tools such as Object Eraser, AI Depth Map, AI Stereo, AI Select, Image Clipper and more.

It is also the first Galaxy M series phone to support Circle to Search and Gemini Line.

The device runs Android 15-based Samsung One UI 7. It has a familiar user interface and also comes with several third-party apps, but thanks to the big base storage of 128GB, users do not have to worry about a lack of space for installing their favourite apps.

Samsung promises to offer six years of Android OS and Software security updates up to 2031. This good will gesture by Samsung is sure to help in building strong loyalty among Galaxy M series patrons.

Samsung Galaxy M36.

The device houses a 5,000mAh battery, 1,000mAh less capacity than the predecessor.

However, the Galaxy M36 manages to deliver a full day of battery life under normal usage. It supports a 25W charger. It takes around 70-80 minutes to reach from zero to the 100 per cent mark.

Samsung Galaxy M36's camera sample.

Photography

Samsung's Galaxy M36 sports a triple-camera module-- main 50MP (with f/1.8 aperture, OIS: Optical Image Stabilisation) with 8MP(f/2.2) ultra-wide angle camera and a 2MP (f/2.4) macro sensor with LED flash.

Samsung Galaxy M36's camera sample in close-up range.

It takes pretty good photos in natural sunlight conditions. The colours of the flowers, particularly those with Red, Green and Blue, look more vibrant than they appear to our eyes. They look good in the photo frame.

Samsung Galaxy M36's camera sample.

Even in the portrait mode, the Galaxy M36 excels with a nice bokeh effect in the background. Importantly, it takes sharp and clear photos of the subject, in this case, our pet dog.

Samsung Galaxy M36's camera sample with portrait mode on.

At night, there is noise in photos, but the picture quality is on par with the rival brands in the sub-Rs 20,000 price range.

Samsung Galaxy M36's camera sample.

It can capture good ultra-wide-angle photos of any large landscape like this agricultural field with good details. It also supports digital zoom up to 10X.

Samsung Galaxy M36's camera sample.

Samsung Galaxy M36's camera sample with 10X Zoom.

It also supports several gen AI-powered photography tools such as object eraser, AI Depth Map, Image Clipper and other Editing features.

Samsung Galaxy M36's camera sample.

On the front, it houses a 13MP camera with an f/2.2 aperture. It takes pretty nice selfies in the natural light outdoors. Indoors, too, it captures decent pictures with less noise.

Samsung Galaxy M36's camera sample.

The 50MP primary camera on the back and 13MP snapper on the front can record 4K videos at 30 frames per second. The video quality is decent.

Samsung Galaxy M36's camera sample.

Final thoughts

Samsung's Galaxy M36 is a well-rounded mid-range phone. It has a premium build quality, support six years of Android OS updates and offers one-day battery life under normal usage.

Samsung Galaxy M36.

The device comes in three configurations-- 6GB RAM + 128GB storage, 8GB RAM + 128GB storage and 8GB RAM + 256GB storage-- for Rs 17,499, Rs 18,999 and Rs 20,999, respectively.

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