Samsung unveils Galaxy A series phones in Australia starting at $499

Tech giant Samsung expects to ship more than a million units of its A series phones to Australia this year which will start at under $500. See what else you can buy as well.

Mark Furler

@furlernator

5 min read

March 3, 2025 - 6:53AM

Best Face, which is available in the Samsung Galaxy A56, makes it easier to capture the perfect group shot by selecting and combining the best expressions or features for up to five people from a motion photo.

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Samsung expects to ship more than a million units of its A series phones to Australia this year which will start at under $500.

The tech giant says it is cementing its leadership in the value market, selling three times the number of units of its nearest competitor.

The A series unveiling comes after Apple announced its new ‘budget’ offering which starts at $999, replacing the less expensive but SE series, which had fewer features.

Nathan Rigger, Head of Product for Mobile at Samsung Electronics Australia, said Samsung offered phones ranging from $300 to $3000 for the Z Fold.

He said its flagship product, the Galaxy S25 series, was already selling well, would total about 55 to 60 per cent of its market with the more modestly priced phones pulling in the rest.

Rigger said the three new models of the A series offered improved design, performance and some AI features which Samsung is calling ‘Awesome Intelligence’ rather than Galaxy AI.

But he said the AI would not run as quickly or be as accurate on cheaper models, while users would notice a difference between photos and videos shot on the A series in comparison with the S25 series, which had better cameras.

They are expected to be a popular choice for parents buying their children their first phone.

The A56 series will start from $699, which is $50 cheaper than the $749 price tag in 2021.

The A35 will start at $549 and the A26 at $499.

Samsung Galaxy A36 comes in 'Awesome Lavender' and will sell for just under $550.

Rigger said the top two models were thinner and lighter than the previous series and would run One UI 7 out of the box with six years of OS and security upgrades for all three models.

Users are unlikely to be happy about the decision to remove the microSD card slot from the phones, but Rigger said it was in response to consumer trends.

But he said a 256 gig storage variant for the Galaxy A56 would be offered to compensate for the removal of the slot.

The phones will offer a 6.7 inch display which is slightly larger due to reduced bezels.

They will also feature a generous 5000 mAh battery with 45 watt charging on the A56 model offering a full charge in just over an hour or to 50 per cent in 30 minutes.

In the cameras, better image signal processor technology would improve background and object identification while there have been improvements to noise reduction and night photography.

The main camera on the Samsung Galaxy A56 5G phone will be a 50 megapixel shooter, which is similar to the camera offered on the S20 or S21.

The front camera is 12 MB camera which is a lower resolution but with a bigger sensor.

Samsung says the 10-bit HDR front lens recording on Galaxy A56 5G and Galaxy A36 5G promises ‘bright and crisp selfies’.

Rigger said the cameras offered better shutter speed for faster continuous shooting with less lag, though users with shaking hands can still expect blur.

The Samsung Galaxy A36 5G phone offers a triple camera system.

SAMSUNG GALAXY A SERIES AI

Artificial intelligence features will include circle to search and AI select which identifies key information on a page and suggests things like searching an address or saving an image to the gallery.

Best face features will also be available in photos which allows users to select the best in a series of photos for facial expressions.

Corning Gorilla Glass Victus is applied to the front and rear of Galaxy A56 5G, Galaxy A36 5G and Galaxy A26 5G but not the camera glass.

The A56 will offer a more premium brushed metal feel while the A36 is more of a plastic frame on the back.

“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.”

Samsung says Google’s enhanced Circle to Search would make it easier than ever to search and discover from the phone’s screen.

With the latest upgrades, the search feature is faster and more contextual, now recognising phone numbers, email and URLs on the screen and helping users perform actions with a single tap.

The update also introduces Song Search, which can identify music playing nearby, on the device, or even from a user’s own voice when they hum or sing.

It says the powerful triple-camera system featuring a 50MP main lens on all devices.

Galaxy A56 5G features a 12MP ultra-wide lens, while the new Galaxy A series devices empower creativity in new and exciting ways through intelligent visual editing.

“The Galaxy A56 5G also brings enhancements to Nightography, with Low Noise Mode making its way to the 12MP selfie camera and additional wide camera support to capture stunning content in lowlight settings.”

Galaxy A56 5G, Galaxy A36 5G and Galaxy A26 5G all offer Object Eraser, allowing users to remove unwanted distractions from photos.

The Samsung Galaxy A56 5G phone will feature a better display, design, improved UI and some AI features.

Filters enables custom filter creation by extracting colours and styles from existing photos.

Galaxy A56 5G and Galaxy A36 5G both feature a 6.7-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display with brightness levels reaching up to 1200 nits, the same as that offered on the budget iPhone 16e model.

New stereo speakers further enhance the experience with rich, balanced sound.

Galaxy A56 5G is powered by the Exynos 1580 chip set and Galaxy A36 5G features the Snapdragon® 6 Gen 3 Mobile Platform.

A larger vapour chamber in both devices helps sustain performance, ensuring smooth gameplay, video playback, and multitasking.

For the first time, Galaxy A26 5G features an IP67 dust and water resistance rating offering up to 1 metre of freshwater exposure up to 30 minutes matching the rating on Galaxy A36 5G and Galaxy A56 5G.

The premium Galaxy line-up from Samsung: Galaxy Z Flip6, Fold6, Galaxy Watch Ultra, BudsPro 3.

Samsung Knox Vault will help protect users’ privacy and data in the Galaxy A series, while there are enhancements in Auto Blocker and Theft Detection.

Samsung will also launch the Galaxy A56 5G Enterprise Edition, offering business-ready mobile experiences to cutting-edge enterprises of any size.

Enterprise customers benefit from seven years of security and One UI updates, three years of warranty, and a two-year product lifecycle guarantee.