1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:05,680 When I chose the 16 Plus for my 30-day iPhone challenge, people were like, "Oh, 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:09,440 you should have gone with the Pro." But then I was like, "This didn't matter at 3 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:14,080 all." Then I took it one step further and I went with the Pixel 9a for my new 4 00:00:11,679 --> 00:00:19,039 daily driver and I still can't really tell the difference. So, here is the 5 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:23,519 next natural progression. Why am I even bothering with flagship or mid-tier 6 00:00:21,439 --> 00:00:28,039 phones when I could pick up a budget device like this new Samsung A36 for 7 00:00:27,119 --> 00:00:33,040 just $400? What am I actually giving up by 8 00:00:31,519 --> 00:00:40,239 going with this thing? Because I can tell you from my first impression, not much. I mean, I guess I 9 00:00:38,399 --> 00:00:44,480 gave up a box. Samsung didn't drop one off with our sample phone, but other 10 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:50,360 than that, it feels pretty good. We've got what? Plastic frame. 11 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:57,199 Wa! Shut up. That is really convincing. Okay, so 12 00:00:54,399 --> 00:01:01,280 it's got a metal feeling frame. It uses Corning Gorilla Glass on the back, 13 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:06,159 Victus glass on the front. So, these are fairly premium materials. It's got a 14 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:11,200 triple camera setup with a 50 megapixel main shooter, an 8 megapixel ultrawide, 15 00:01:08,159 --> 00:01:14,159 and a 5 megapixel macro. And the selfie 16 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:17,600 camera is 12 megapixels. And like, what is there to not like about it? Okay, 17 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:21,840 over on the right, we got a lock button that Oh man, I'd actually like to see 18 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:26,000 this on more phones, like, you know, more expensive ones. It's got a little 19 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:29,520 raised bump on the side so that you can landmark a little bit more easily. Dude, 20 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:33,520 I've accidentally called the police twice on my Pixel 9a because I was 21 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:38,640 trying to turn up the volume during a call and I had the like five taps for 22 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:42,640 911. That was one of my problems. What else we got? Okay, noise cancelling 23 00:01:40,799 --> 00:01:46,640 microphone up there on the top. Whole lot of nothing over here on the side. 24 00:01:44,479 --> 00:01:50,799 Um, I actually strongly disagree with Lisa's concern about the down and lock 25 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:54,240 for screenshot. I actually find this to be awesome cuz there's nothing else to 26 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:58,640 accidentally mash on the other side. Uh down at the bottom, we've got our 27 00:01:55,840 --> 00:02:04,560 speaker, USBC, and let's find out what's inside here. Precision screwdriver. 28 00:02:01,079 --> 00:02:06,479 ltstore.com. And boop. I was kind of 29 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:10,319 hoping for micro SD expansion cuz I know a lot of the more budgetoriented phones 30 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:16,640 have that. Unfortunately, no. Just a single SIM tray. Well, that's a downer. 31 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:18,879 Also, that USB port, only USB 2. Though, 32 00:02:16,640 --> 00:02:23,120 it does support 45watt quick charging, which is good because the phone doesn't 33 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:27,840 support wireless charging of any sort. That's right, my friends. There are some 34 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:33,840 downsides. And a big one is, of course, the processor. It uses a Snapdragon 6 35 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:40,000 Gen 3. What the hell is that? I have no idea. But in a nutshell, it has anywhere 36 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:41,760 from half to a third of the gaming 37 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:46,879 performance that you would get out of a couple generation old flagship. As for 38 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:50,239 non-gaming, it's more like half of the performance of a couple year old 39 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:54,239 flagship. What that actually means for daily use, I got to be honest with you, 40 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:59,879 it seems like probably not that much. Like I did get a little bit of lag when 41 00:02:55,840 --> 00:03:02,000 I was dragging over the news feed, but 42 00:02:59,879 --> 00:03:05,360 like I don't know, man. I don't know what to tell you other than about our 43 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:09,920 sponsor. Thanks to Corsair for sponsoring this video. Their platform 4 44 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:13,760 elevate height adjustable desk is far from generic thanks to an aesthetically 45 00:03:11,920 --> 00:03:18,319 pleasing design and a host of included extras and features. It comes with a 46 00:03:15,599 --> 00:03:22,319 monitor arm, inesk USB power, and the cherry on top, a modular T-ch rail 47 00:03:20,879 --> 00:03:26,800 system that's compatible with hundreds of attachments and accessories. What? 48 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:30,879 Upgrade your gaming or work from home setup today with the Platform 4 Elevate 49 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:33,840 desk using our link in the description. Let's take a closer look at the screen 50 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:39,120 because you guys probably already noticed even on camera how smooth this 51 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:45,519 thing looks. That's because this 6.7 in 1080p class display is running at 120 Hz 52 00:03:42,959 --> 00:03:51,760 with variable refresh rate support. That is huge for both battery life and for 53 00:03:48,319 --> 00:03:54,000 the general responsive feelingness of 54 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:59,840 the device. It is worth noting though that our battery life results were okay, 55 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:05,920 but not super impressive. about on par with our two generational flagship, the 56 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:08,799 S23, but not on par with a newer, more 57 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:13,519 power sippy, budgetoriented device. What also isn't on par with budgeetori 58 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:18,079 oriented devices, was the brightness of this display. While it didn't impress us 59 00:04:15,439 --> 00:04:24,000 that much in SDR, especially with auto brightness disabled, in HDR, we managed 60 00:04:20,639 --> 00:04:26,479 to not only meet Samsung's claimed 1900 61 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:31,919 nits peak brightness, but we exceeded it. So, I would expect to have a very 62 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:36,080 excellent HDR video viewing experience on this phone. Um, okay, I found another 63 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:39,840 little compromise. The haptics aren't great. That does tend to happen with 64 00:04:37,840 --> 00:04:42,720 more budgetoriented devices. Personally, I turn them off when I type anyway, so 65 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:46,000 it doesn't matter to me, but your mileage may vary. Let's see how the HDR 66 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:51,440 viewing experience holds up in the real world. Yep, that's an HDR OLED. All 67 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:53,600 right, look at those highlights. I mean, if you're not watching on an HDR 68 00:04:52,639 --> 00:04:59,680 display, you're probably going to miss out a little bit. Man, I'm looking at my notes trying to find downsides. Man, 69 00:04:56,560 --> 00:05:01,759 it's hard. Like, this great display has 70 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:05,440 a built-in fingerprint sensor. Like, remember when that was space age 71 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:09,039 technology and you could get it on, you know, weird random Chinese phones and 72 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:14,320 then it made its way to flagships? Well, now for $400. Boom. Undercreen 73 00:05:11,919 --> 00:05:17,840 fingerprint sensor. That is absolutely flipping incredible. I mean, it's not 74 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:23,520 the fastest increen fingerprint sensor, but dang it, it's there. It's also IP67 75 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:27,199 water resistant. Like, that's freaking cool. Oh, how's the camera? I wonder if 76 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:34,440 the camera's any good. Please tell me it has double take. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Double click to camera. Oh my gosh. The 77 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:38,880 preview is a little laggy. You see that? You see that? Yeah. 78 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:45,759 She's a little laggy. She's a little laggy. Okay. So, it turns out that budget phones are budget phones. Oh my 79 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:50,240 god. Look at this guy. He closed his eyes for a picture. Also, this looks 80 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:56,800 like ass. This looks like a This looks like an AI conversion to watercolor 81 00:05:52,400 --> 00:06:00,800 painting. Do you see this? That's art. 82 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:00,800 Here's Sam seeing that Wancho is 83 00:06:02,199 --> 00:06:08,240 late. Whoa, dude. The selfie camera 84 00:06:05,199 --> 00:06:10,080 looks great, dude. Dude, look at that. 85 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:14,919 They spent all the money on the selfie camera. Look at this. Look at this 86 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:20,639 sharpness. Super natural skin tones. And like this face that captures how I felt 87 00:06:19,039 --> 00:06:23,680 seeing how good this selfie camera looks. What the? It's got to be the low 88 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:27,520 light cuz there's no way the rear camera is worse. Yeah, rear camera looks good 89 00:06:25,759 --> 00:06:31,680 when there's ample light and when it's pointed at such a handsome gentleman. 90 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:34,880 That's a terrible picture. That's unfortunate. Okay, how's the video 91 00:06:33,199 --> 00:06:40,560 though? How much you want to bet this is this just chugs. Oh my god. Okay. No, 92 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:45,120 it's getting a little better for a bit there. I couldn't see Bell. It's a low 93 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:47,520 light, not a highlight. Yeah. Yeah. I want to hear these speakers. There's got 94 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:53,560 to be a compromise on the speakers. There's no way it has an amplified earpiece speaker. So, that used to be 95 00:06:49,919 --> 00:06:55,919 like a premium phone feature. Oh, 96 00:06:53,560 --> 00:07:02,120 dude. Amplified earpiece speaker. They're pretty well 97 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:08,720 balanced. Okay. So, the last 40% of the volume 98 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:12,720 slider does basically nothing other than add some distortion, but up to 40% is 99 00:07:11,199 --> 00:07:20,319 pretty good. Good clarity. No bass. Obviously, you're not going to get that. And there's no subwoofer in it, right? 100 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:23,199 But it's solid. Oh, I see the impact of 101 00:07:20,319 --> 00:07:28,080 the plastic chassis now. There's some flex to it. Bit of flex to it, but I 102 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:33,759 still think it feels pretty darn good overall. Wait, this thing also gets 6 103 00:07:30,639 --> 00:07:35,199 years of OS updates. Bluetooth 5.4, so 104 00:07:33,759 --> 00:07:41,280 you have compatibility with the latest peripherals. Wi-Fi 6 only, though, so 105 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:47,520 you won't get to take advantage of like 6 GHz Wi-Fi spectrum. And it is a 5G 106 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:51,599 phone. But can I can we like be real talk here? Have you found that just like 107 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:55,919 turning off 5G on your phone can help with 108 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:58,319 reception? Yeah, dude. Right. Like the 109 00:07:55,919 --> 00:08:03,280 coverage in my area sucks. Or at least with my carrier. Okay, I did find 110 00:08:00,319 --> 00:08:08,400 another downside. 128 gigs of storage, only 6 gigs of RAM, which on Android can 111 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:13,120 be a bit of a bigger deal than it is on iOS. And that could mean that by the end 112 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:18,639 of that 6 year of software updates period, this thing is feeling a little 113 00:08:15,199 --> 00:08:21,280 dated. But overall, I still think it is 114 00:08:18,639 --> 00:08:26,160 mind-blowing from a, you know, premium brand. How much phone you can get for 115 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:30,720 like 400 bucks these days. Just really makes me feel like the whole high-end 116 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:35,519 phone rat race has just gotten kind of pointless. And in some ways, the 117 00:08:33,919 --> 00:08:39,599 lower-end phone could even feel like a feature because this thing has like 118 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:43,440 basic AI features like, you know, circle something and remove it from an image or 119 00:08:41,279 --> 00:08:47,200 whatever. But it has almost none of the AI bloat that I feel like has honestly 120 00:08:45,680 --> 00:08:53,480 just been more annoying than anything else on the Pixel 9a lately. Subscribe 121 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:53,480 to ShortCircuit. See you later.