Samsung's Galaxy A26 and A36 Are Available Now. Here Are My First Impressions

After making their debut at Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona, Samsung's Galaxy A26 and A36 phones are now available to buy in the US. The A26 starts at $300, while the A36 starts at $400. The company also unveiled the $500 A56 earlier this month, but that phone's slated to launch later this year. All three devices have larger displays, more powerful processors and, inevitably, new AI features. I got a first look at the phones during MWC, and my first impression was that they felt impressively more premium than their sticker price, thanks to their bright displays, glass backing and use of Samsung's latest One UI 7. Watch this: Galaxy A Series First Look: Three New Phones Under $500 04:46 Arriving on the heels of the $599 iPhone 16E, Apple's idea of an affordable phone that's far from cheap, all three new Samsung Galaxy A phones seem to prove a phone-maker can still make a cheap phone that's truly affordable and flexes new features like Android 15 and Google's Circle to Search ... Read full article.