Samsung Galaxy S21 vs Samsung Galaxy A36 5G Specs Comparison

Availability

Officially announced
Jan 14, 2021	Mar 01, 2025
Prices (MSRP)
$800	$399

Design

Dimensions
5.97 x 2.80 x 0.31 inches 151.7 x 71.2 x 7.9 mm	6.41 x 3.08 x 0.29 inches (~0.34 inches with camera bump) 162.9 x 78.2 x 7.4 mm (~8.7 mm with camera bump)
Weight
6.03 oz (171.0 g)	6.88 oz (195.0 g)
Materials
Back: Plastic Frame: Aluminum	Back: Glass (Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+) Frame: Plastic
Resistance
Water, Dust; IP68	Water, Dust; IP67
Biometrics
2D Face unlock, Ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint	Optical in-screen fingerprint
Keys
Right: Volume control, Lock/Unlock key	Right: Volume control, Lock/Unlock key
Colors
Phantom pink, Violet, Gray, White	Lavender, Black, White, Lime

Display

Size
6.2-inch, 86.06% screen-to-body	6.7-inch, 86.51% screen-to-body
Type
Dynamic AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR, 1300 nits	Super AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR, 1900 nits
Resolution
2400x1080px, 20:9 ratio, 424 PPI	2340x1080px, 19.5:9 ratio, 385 PPI
Protection
Corning Gorilla Glass Victus	Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+

Hardware

System chip
Snapdragon 888 (5 nm)	Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 (4 nm)
Processor
Octa-core 1x2.84GHz Kryo 680 3x2.42GHz Kryo 680 4x1.80GHz Kryo 680	Octa-core 4x2.4GHz Cortex-A78 4x1.8G​Hz Cortex-A55
GPU
Adreno 660	Adreno 710
Memory
8GB (LPDDR5)/128GB (UFS 3.0) 8GB/256GB	6GB (LPDDR4)/128GB (UFS 2.2) 8GB/128GB 8GB/256GB 12GB/256GB
Storage expansion
not expandable	not expandable
OS
Android (13, 12, 11)	Android (15)

Battery

Type
4000 mAh, Li - Polymer	5000 mAh, Li - Ion
Charging
Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0, USB Power Delivery, Samsung Adaptive Fast Charging Qi and Powermat wireless charging, Reverse wireless charging	Fast charging
Charge speed
Wired: 25.0W Wireless: 15.0W	Wired: 45.0W

PhoneArena Battery Tests

Battery Life Estimate

4h 28min

Browsing

7h 47min

Video

7h 36min

Gaming

7h 9min

Battery Life Estimate

6h 26min

Browsing

16h 53min

Video

8h 0min

Gaming

9h 8min

Learn more on our PhoneArena Battery Test Results page

Camera

Rear
Triple camera	Triple camera
Main camera
12 MP (OIS, PDAF) Aperture size: F1.8 Focal length: 26 mm Sensor size: 1/1.76" Pixel size: 1.8 μm	50 MP (OIS, PDAF) Aperture size: F1.8 Sensor size: 1/1.96"
Second camera
12 MP (Ultra-wide, Autofocus) Aperture size: F2.2 Focal Length: 13 mm Sensor size: 1/2.55" Pixel size: 1.4 μm	8 MP (Ultra-wide) Aperture size: F2.2 Sensor size: 1/4" Pixel size: 1.12 μm
Third camera
64 MP (Telephoto, OIS, PDAF) Aperture size: F2.0 Focal Length: 29 mm Sensor size: 1/1.7" Pixel size: 0.8 μm	5 MP (Macro) Aperture size: F2.4
Flash
LED	LED
Video recording
8K UHD (24 fps), 4K UHD (60 fps), 1080p (240 fps), 720p (960 fps) OIS, HDR, Hyperlapse, Continuous autofocus, Video light, EIS	4K UHD (30 fps)
Front
10 MP (PDAF, HDR) Video capture: 4K UHD (60 fps)	12 MP Video capture: 4K UHD (30 fps)

PhoneArena Camera Tests

N/A

Overall

N/A

Photo

N/A

Video

120

Overall

126

Photo

114

Video

Learn more on our PhoneArena Camera Test Results page

Connectivity & Features

Bluetooth
5.0	5.4
WLAN
a,b,g,n,ac,Wi-Fi 6,dual-band MIMO, Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac, ax	a,b,g,n,ac,Wi-Fi 6 Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac, ax
USB
Type-C, USB 3.2	Type-C
Sensors
Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Hall (for flip covers), Barometer, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor	Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Hall (for flip covers), Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor
Hearing aid compatible
M3/T3
Location
GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BeiDou, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning	GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning
Other
NFC, ANT+	NFC

Multimedia

Headphones
No 3.5mm jack	No 3.5mm jack
Speakers
Earpiece, Multiple speakers	Earpiece, Multiple speakers
Features
32-Bit DAC, Dolby Atmos, aptX, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus
Screen mirroring
	Wireless screen share
Additional microphone(s)
	Noise cancellation

Cellular

5G Bands
n2, n5, n12, n25, n41, n66, n71, n77, n260, n261, SA, NSA, Sub-6, mmWave	n1, n3, n5, n7, n8, n20, n28, n38, n40, n41, n66, n77, n78, 5G Ready
4G (FDD) Bands
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 30, 66, 71	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 20, 25, 26, 28, 32, 66
4G (TDD) Bands
38, 39, 40, 41, 46, 48	38, 40, 41
3G Bands
1, 2, 4, 5, 8	1, 2, 4, 5, 8
Data Speed
LTE-A, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS	LTE-A, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s
Dual SIM
	Yes
SIM type
Nano SIM	Dual Nano SIM + eSIM

Regulatory Approval

FCC approval
Date approved: Dec 08, 2020 FCC ID value: A3LSMG991U
Measured SAR
Head: 0.36 W/kg Body: 1.08 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 3.96 W/kg Wireless Router: 1.09 W/kg Phablet: 2.49 W/kg

Alternative variants

with 256GB storage

Memory	256GB

With 8GB RAM

Memory	8GB

for Europe

System chip	Samsung Exynos 2100 (5 nm)
Processor	Octa-core 2900 MHz 1x2.91GHz Cortex-X1 3x2.81G​Hz Cortex-A78 4x2.2G​Hz Cortex-A55
GPU	Mali G78 MP14
Weight	5.96 oz (169.0 g)
5G Bands	SA, NSA, Sub-6
FCC approval	Date approved: Dec 18, 2020 FCC ID value: A3LSMG991B
Measured SAR	Head: 0.42 W/kg Body: 0.94 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 3.96 W/kg Wireless Router: 1.34 W/kg Phablet: 2.37 W/kg

With 8GB RAM and 256GB internal storage

Memory	8GB/256GB

With 12GB RAM and 256GB internal storage

Memory	12GB/256GB

Links

Full specifications
Samsung Galaxy S21 Specs	Samsung Galaxy A36 5G Specs
PhoneArena Review
Samsung Galaxy S21 Review	Samsung Galaxy A36 5G Review
User Reviews
Samsung Galaxy S21 User Reviews