Samsung Galaxy A26 vs A36 vs A56: the camera comparison

The Samsung Galaxy A26, A36 and A56 are Samsung’’s new entry-level and mid-range smartphones, which look similar from the outside. An important buying criterion is the camera, and it differs quite clearly among the three devices. I was extremely surprised: the cheapest device is not the worst.

Technical differences between the cameras

	Galaxy A26	Galaxy A36	Galaxy A56
Main camera	50 megapixels	50 megapixels	50 megapixels
Macro	2 megapixels	5 megapixels	5 megapixels
Ultrawide	8 megapixels	8 megapixels	12 megapixels
Front camera	13 megapixels	12 megapixels, HDR	12 megapixels, HDR

Photos compared

• Main camera: In the first shot, the A26 and A56 are almost equally sharp and high in contrast. The A36 is less sharp with the pink flowers, and the color is much paler. The A56 achieves the nicest separation from the background, just ahead of the A36. In the second picture, the A26 does best, and on the A56 the blur effect is so strong that hardly any real focus remains. In my photo with the main camera, too, the A56 is ahead, closely followed by the A26. The A36 looks washed out and pale.
• Macro: With the A26 I got closest, but the quality is the worst. With 2 megapixels you don’‘t get far. Although the A36 and A56 have the same megapixels, the A56’’s result is much better: more sharpness, more contrast, better separation from the background.
• Portrait: The A56 and A36 cut out hair and shoulder best and separate cleanly from the background. The A36 again has paler colors, though.
• Ultrawide: The A36 looks best at first glance because it is the brightest, but the seat of the bench and the sky are washed out. The A26 and A56 are higher in contrast, but also very dark; the AI seems to have added too much contrast there. All three don’’t blow me away.
• Zoom: With 2x zoom, the results are similar, only on the A26 do leaves look a bit pixelated. At 10x zoom, the A56 is clearly ahead, but even there the picture is no longer really well resolved. If you want to zoom a lot, you should rather go for the Galaxy S series, the S24 or S25 Ultra.
• Low light: Here you can see in gradations which device is the cheapest and which is the most expensive. The sharpness and level of detail of the A56 surprised me positively.

Videos compared

Low-light video recordings are completely noisy on all three. That is no fun, and you should know that if you buy an A-series device.

In daylight, I recorded everything in 4K at 30 FPS. As with the photos, the A26 and A56 are surprisingly close together, while the colors of the A36 differ a lot. I like the videos from the A26 and A56 extremely well.

Selfies and front camera

• In the mirror selfie with the main camera, the A36 looks a bit blurry.
• For the front camera, the A26 has 13 megapixels, one more than the A36 and A56 with 12 megapixels, which in return can record HDR. You can see that. The A36 again looks blurrier than the A56.
• In the front camera’’s portrait mode, the A56 is clearly superior to its siblings.
• The surprise: for videos with the front camera, the A26 has the best quality of all three. It is high in contrast, has great separation from the background and is absolutely sharp. I checked it specifically and did not mix up the recordings.

Recommendation

• Best camera plus better processor and higher-quality materials: Galaxy A56.
• Save money and still get a nearly equal camera: Galaxy A26, if the processor and materials are not that important.
• Galaxy A36: In this comparison it seems left behind, and in my opinion it is not really recommended for its camera.