Head to head
Samsung Galaxy A36vsNothing Phone (3a)
The short answer
Choose the Galaxy A36 for battery lifespan. Choose the Nothing Phone (3a) for peak brightness. The Nothing Phone (3a) is £70 cheaper at UK RRP (£329 against £399). The Galaxy A36 gets security updates for longer: until March 2031, against March 2031 for the Nothing Phone (3a).
- Released
- 2025-03-28endoflife.date, retrieved 2026-08-20
- Price
- £399Samsung Newsroom UK — Galaxy A56 5G, A36 5G and A26 5G, retrieved 2026-08-20
- Security updates until
- 2031-03-28endoflife.date — Samsung mobile, retrieved 2026-08-20
- Released
- 2025-03-11GSMArena — Nothing Phone (3a) specifications, retrieved 2026-08-20
- Price
- £329Nothing UK store — Phone (3a), retrieved 2026-08-20
- Security updates until
- 2031-03-11Nothing UK — Phone (3a), retrieved 2026-08-20
1 win for Galaxy A361 win for Nothing Phone (3a)2 gaps borderline3 differences you won’t notice£70 apart at RRP
Verdict: Galaxy A36 ahead on 1 row, Nothing Phone (3a) on 1 row
On the makers’ published figures, the Galaxy A36 wins on battery lifespan (2,000 cycles against 1,400 cycles); the Phone (3a) wins on peak brightness (3,000 nits against 1,200 nits). 2 gaps are borderline, differences most people would not notice: RAM (12 GB against 8 GB) for the Phone (3a) and battery per charge (43.93 h against 41.47 h) for the Phone (3a). The differences in weight, display size and fast charging are below the thresholds you would notice. Both state the same refresh rate, storage (base) and battery capacity. The other 35 rows have no threshold or no direction to judge by, so nobody wins them.
True to scale
Outlines from each maker’s published dimensions, drawn to scale. Corner rounding is our drawing convention, not a measurement.
Specifications
A win is marked only where the figures can be ranked and the gap is one you could notice. A row the site has no threshold for says whether the two differ, and that it is not ranking them. = marks the same figure on both, ≠ not ranked a difference with no ranking. Every figure carries its source.
Body
Nothing UK — Phone (3a) claims 208 g · GSMArena — Nothing Phone (3a) specifications reports 201 g
You won’t notice this difference.
Display
Samsung Newsroom UK — Galaxy A56 5G, A36 5G and A26 5G claims 1200 nits · GSMArena — Samsung Galaxy A36 specifications reports 1900 nits
Phone (3a) is ahead here, by a gap you’d notice.
Platform
Memory
Camera
Battery
Connectivity
Benchmarks
6 attributes neither phone has a sourced figure for
HDR peak brightness · OS versions supported · Google Mobile Services · Wireless charging · 3DMark Wild Life Extreme · DXOMARK camera score. Rows appear as sources are cited — a gap in our data, not a statement about either phone.
Questions
Is the Galaxy A36 better than the Nothing Phone (3a)?
On the figures, neither is better overall: the Galaxy A36 wins on battery lifespan, 2,000 cycles against 1,400 cycles (both EU energy label); the Nothing Phone (3a) wins on peak brightness, 3,000 nits (Nothing UK) against 1,200 nits (Samsung Newsroom UK). Every other row is borderline, too close to notice, or not ranked.
Which has the better battery?
The Nothing Phone (3a) is ahead, narrowly: battery per charge, 43.93 h against 41.47 h (both EU energy label), a borderline gap most people would not notice. Both state 5,000 mAh for battery capacity (Samsung Newsroom UK and Nothing UK).
Which is lighter?
The Galaxy A36 is lighter on paper, but not by a gap you’d notice: weight, 195 g (Samsung Newsroom UK) against 208 g (Nothing UK).
Which has the brighter screen?
The Nothing Phone (3a), by a gap you’d notice: peak brightness, 3,000 nits (Nothing UK) against 1,200 nits (Samsung Newsroom UK).
Which gets updates for longer?
The Galaxy A36 gets security updates for longer: until March 2031, against March 2031 for the Nothing Phone (3a). Sources: dates from endoflife.date and Nothing UK.
Which is cheaper?
The Nothing Phone (3a) is £70 cheaper at UK RRP (£329 against £399). Prices from Galaxy A36: Samsung Newsroom UK; Nothing Phone (3a): Nothing UK store.
Other comparisons
The pairs a buyer of either phone would also weigh. Any two phones in the catalogue can be compared from the chooser.