Samsung is launching a trio of cheaper new devices that will start from just £299.
Samsung’s latest Galaxy S25 range are some of the best phones money can buy, but they aren’t exactly cheap. Prices start from at least £799 and things can rise to over £1,200 if you opt for the ultimate Ultra model. If that simply sounds way too much for your bank account to handle, there is better news on the horizon.
Samsung has just confirmed that it’s launching a trio of budget call makers which get surprisingly good features at a far lower cost. They are called the Galaxy A56, Galaxy A36 and Galaxy A26 and come with intelligent upgrades, including smart Circle to Search, which finds things on the web just by circling an image, and they can retouch your phtos thanks to Object Eraser (which removes unwanted photo bombers) and a new mode called ‘best face’. This option – which is available on the Galaxy A56 – takes a series of shots of your friends and switches the faces automatically so no one blinks or looks unhappy in the final image.
The latest Galaxy A36 and Galaxy A56 both get expansive 6.7-inch OLED screens, fast charging, 256GB of storage and stereo speakers. They also have a triple-lens camera that includes a wide-angle lens, night mode, and decent video recording.
There’s no telephoto zoom on either, but Samsung says it has improved the quality of the 12MP selfie shooter on the A56 to include HDR.
The phones adopt Samsung’s “key island” design, with the matte sides slimmed in slightly around the protruding volume and power buttons on the right edge. You can opt for the A36 in black, white, lime or lavender, and the A56 in graphite, light grey, olive or pink hues.
For those daily digital tasks, the A36 has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 3, whilst the A56 uses Samsung’s own Exynos 1580 chipset, which supplies a little bit of extra oomph.
Perhaps best of all, both the A36 and A56 come with six years of Android and security updates, meaning they’ll be fully up-to-date and secure with free software upgrades until 2031.
The Galaxy A56 and A36 will go on sale in the UK on March 19, with customers who buy from Samsung and participating retailers being able to claim a ‘Premium Pack’ worth £138.98 that includes a free Galaxy Fit 3 smartwatch, 45W charger and a silicone case.
Samsung also announced a Galaxy A26, an even cheaper phone that will cost £299.
“The new Galaxy A series marks an important step in our mission of AI for all, by opening Galaxy’s incredible mobile AI experiences to even more people around the world,” said TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile eXperience (MX) Business at Samsung Electronics. “With these awesome new features and capabilities, we are excited to unlock limitless creativity on the Galaxy A series while ensuring a safe, reliable and fun mobile experience.”