Samsung Galaxy A36 5G / Apple iPhone 12

Samsung Galaxy A36 5G: Galaxy A36 5G, international SM-A366B; 6/128, 8/128, 8/256 and 12/256 GB options vary by market. The US SM-A366U, Latin American SM-A366E and the Galaxy A56/A26 are separate models.

Apple iPhone 12: iPhone 12; 64, 128 and 256 GB. Apple’s UK spec page lists model A2403; bands depend on the model number. The iPhone 12 mini, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max are separate models.

SpecificationSamsung Galaxy A36 5GApple iPhone 12
Release year20252020
Display6.7-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED; up to 120 Hz; Vision Booster; 1200 nits (High Brightness Mode)

Vision Booster adjusts colour and contrast in strong light to improve readability. Because of the rounded corners, the visible area measures 6.5 inches.

Samsung		6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED; 2532 × 1170 at 460 ppi; HDR display, True Tone, Wide colour (P3), Haptic Touch

The display is 60 Hz; Apple does not list ProMotion for this model. Because of the rounded corners the rectangle measures 6.06 inches and the actual viewable area is slightly less. True Tone adjusts white balance to ambient light.

Apple
ProcessorQualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 3; larger vapor chamber

The vapor chamber spreads processor heat over a larger area, delaying performance drops during long gaming or video sessions.

Samsung		—
Memory and storage6/128, 8/128, 8/256 or 12/256 GB (market-dependent)

No microSD slot is listed for this model; storage cannot be expanded later.

Samsung		—
Rear cameras50 MP main (ƒ/1.8, AF, OIS); 8 MP ultra-wide (ƒ/2.2); 5 MP macro (ƒ/2.4)

OIS counters hand shake for sharper low-light photos. There is no telephoto camera; zoom is digital.

Samsung		Dual 12MP: Main (ƒ/1.6, OIS, seven-element lens, 100% Focus Pixels) and Ultra Wide (ƒ/2.4, 120°); 2x optical zoom out, digital zoom up to 5x

There is no telephoto camera; 2x optical zoom out means switching to the ultrawide. Night mode and Deep Fusion merge several frames in low light to reduce noise. Smart HDR 3 and Portrait mode with six Portrait Lighting effects are supported.

Apple
Front camera12 MP (ƒ/2.2); 10-bit HDR video recording Samsung—
Battery and charging5000 mAh (typical), 4905 mAh (rated); 45 W wired charging (Super Fast Charging 2.0)

The typical value is the average capacity in IEC 61960 tests; the rated value is the guaranteed minimum.

Samsung		Up to 17 hours video, 11 hours streamed, 65 hours audio; built-in rechargeable lithium-ion; up to 50% in 30 minutes with a 20W or higher adapter; MagSafe up to 15W, Qi up to 7.5W

No power adapter is included; the box contains only a USB-C to Lightning cable and documentation. MagSafe uses a magnet array on the back to align chargers and accessories.

Apple
DurabilityIP67; Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ front and back

IP67 describes a lab test of up to 30 minutes in 1 metre of fresh water; Samsung does not advise beach or pool use.

Samsung		IP68 (maximum depth of 6 metres up to 30 minutes, IEC 60529) Apple
SoftwareAndroid 15, One UI 7; six Android/One UI upgrades and six years of security updates Samsung—
SecuritySamsung Knox, Knox Vault

Knox Vault keeps sensitive data such as passwords and PINs in a protected hardware area separate from the main processor.

Samsung		—
AudioStereo speakers Samsung—
Size and weight162.9 × 78.2 × 7.4 mm; 195 g Samsung146.7 × 71.5 × 7.4 mm; 162 g Apple
ColoursAwesome Lavender, Awesome Black, Awesome White, Awesome Lime SamsungBlack, White, (PRODUCT)RED, Green, Blue, Purple Apple
Brightness and contrast—625 nits max brightness (typical); 1,200 nits max brightness (HDR); 2,000,000:1 contrast

1,200 nits applies only to HDR video and photos; the normal interface tops out at 625 nits. The 2,000-nit outdoor mode of newer iPhones is not on this model.

Apple
Design and materials—Ceramic Shield front, glass back and aluminium design; fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating Apple
Chip—A14 Bionic chip; 6-core CPU with 2 performance and 4 efficiency cores, 4-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine

The Neural Engine speeds up photo processing such as Deep Fusion and Night mode and other on-device machine-learning tasks.

Apple
Storage—64 GB, 128 GB or 256 GB

There is no memory card slot; formatted capacity is lower.

Apple
Video—HDR video with Dolby Vision up to 4K at 30 fps; 4K at 24/25/30/60 fps; 1080p slo-mo at 120/240 fps; cinematic stabilisation; HEVC and H.264

Dolby Vision recording is limited to 30 fps at 4K; 4K at 60 fps does not use Dolby Vision HDR. 8 MP stills can be taken while recording 4K.

Apple
Front camera and Face ID—12MP TrueDepth (ƒ/2.2); Dolby Vision HDR up to 4K at 30 fps; Face ID Apple
Wireless—5G (sub-6 GHz) with 4x4 MIMO; Gigabit LTE; Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) with 2x2 MIMO; Bluetooth 5.0; Ultra Wideband chip; NFC with reader mode

The UK page lists model A2403; bands depend on the model number and this page has no mmWave. Express Cards with Power Reserve keep some transit cards usable for a few hours after the battery runs out.

Apple
Port—Lightning connector

It is not USB-C. Wired video out through the Lightning Digital AV Adapter is limited to 1080p; AirPlay to Apple TV mirrors up to 4K HDR.

Apple
SIM—Dual SIM (nano-SIM and eSIM)

eSIM use depends on carrier support.

Apple
Operating conditions—Ambient temperature 0–35 °C; relative humidity 5–95% non-condensing; tested up to 3,000 m altitude Apple
Service programme—Free service programme for receiver (earpiece) no-sound issues; iPhone 12 and 12 Pro made between October 2020 and April 2021

Apple says a very small percentage of devices may have a failing component in the receiver module, so no sound is heard on calls. The programme covered units for 3 years after first retail sale and does not extend the warranty; other damage such as a cracked screen may need fixing first. The iPhone 12 mini and 12 Pro Max are not included.

Apple