Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36 got a premium phone downgrade

Samsung's new Galaxy A phones for 2025 are full of interesting upgrades, from build quality improvements and a refreshed camera design to better hardware and extended software support. However, two out of three models also borrowed one significant downgrade from Samsung's premium phones.

You read that right. Low-cost and mid-range Galaxy phones have had one technical advantage over premium devices until now. They had expandable storage. Not anymore.

The Galaxy A36 and the Galaxy A56 are the first in their respective lines to ditch the microSD card slot.

Buy cheap if you want expandable storage

Samsung has been removing expandable storage from Galaxy phones for the past few years, starting with the most expensive models. Now, it looks like the microSD curse of the premium phones has reached the mid-range series.

On the bright side, the low-cost Galaxy A26 still has expandable storage and even supports microSD cards with capacities of up to 2TB instead of 1TB. But for the pricier Galaxy A 2025 phones, what you see is what you get.

The Galaxy A36 and Galaxy A56 will be available with two storage options, i.e., 128GB and 256GB. Anyone who needs more storage will have to rely on cloud-based solutions or USB external drives for media file backups.

Mihai Matei - Senior Editor

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First Samsung device: SGH-A800

Mihai is a blogger and column writer at SamMobile. His first Samsung phone was an A800 which took a lot of beating, and a part of him still misses the novelty of the clamshell design. In his free time, he enjoys watching shows, documentaries, and stand-up comedy; listening to music, taking walks, and occasionally playing old(er) video games.

Phone Galaxy A26 Galaxy A36 Galaxy A56