WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:05.680 When I chose the 16 Plus for my 30-day iPhone challenge, people were like, "Oh, 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 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 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:19.039 daily driver and I still can't really tell the difference. So, here is the 00:00:16.400 --> 00:00:23.519 next natural progression. Why am I even bothering with flagship or mid-tier 00:00:21.439 --> 00:00:28.039 phones when I could pick up a budget device like this new Samsung A36 for 00:00:27.119 --> 00:00:33.040 just $400? What am I actually giving up by 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 00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:44.480 gave up a box. Samsung didn't drop one off with our sample phone, but other 00:00:41.760 --> 00:00:50.360 than that, it feels pretty good. We've got what? Plastic frame. 00:00:48.440 --> 00:00:57.199 Wa! Shut up. That is really convincing. Okay, so 00:00:54.399 --> 00:01:01.280 it's got a metal feeling frame. It uses Corning Gorilla Glass on the back, 00:00:59.120 --> 00:01:06.159 Victus glass on the front. So, these are fairly premium materials. It's got a 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:11.200 triple camera setup with a 50 megapixel main shooter, an 8 megapixel ultrawide, 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:14.159 and a 5 megapixel macro. And the selfie 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:17.600 camera is 12 megapixels. And like, what is there to not like about it? Okay, 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 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:26.000 this on more phones, like, you know, more expensive ones. It's got a little 00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:29.520 raised bump on the side so that you can landmark a little bit more easily. Dude, 00:01:28.080 --> 00:01:33.520 I've accidentally called the police twice on my Pixel 9a because I was 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 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:42.640 911. That was one of my problems. What else we got? Okay, noise cancelling 00:01:40.799 --> 00:01:46.640 microphone up there on the top. Whole lot of nothing over here on the side. 00:01:44.479 --> 00:01:50.799 Um, I actually strongly disagree with Lisa's concern about the down and lock 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:54.240 for screenshot. I actually find this to be awesome cuz there's nothing else to 00:01:52.320 --> 00:01:58.640 accidentally mash on the other side. Uh down at the bottom, we've got our 00:01:55.840 --> 00:02:04.560 speaker, USBC, and let's find out what's inside here. Precision screwdriver. 00:02:01.079 --> 00:02:06.479 ltstore.com. And boop. I was kind of 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:10.319 hoping for micro SD expansion cuz I know a lot of the more budgetoriented phones 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:16.640 have that. Unfortunately, no. Just a single SIM tray. Well, that's a downer. 00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:18.879 Also, that USB port, only USB 2. Though, 00:02:16.640 --> 00:02:23.120 it does support 45watt quick charging, which is good because the phone doesn't 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:27.840 support wireless charging of any sort. That's right, my friends. There are some 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:33.840 downsides. And a big one is, of course, the processor. It uses a Snapdragon 6 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 00:02:36.200 --> 00:02:41.760 from half to a third of the gaming 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:46.879 performance that you would get out of a couple generation old flagship. As for 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:50.239 non-gaming, it's more like half of the performance of a couple year old 00:02:48.480 --> 00:02:54.239 flagship. What that actually means for daily use, I got to be honest with you, 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 00:02:55.840 --> 00:03:02.000 I was dragging over the news feed, but 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 00:03:03.760 --> 00:03:09.920 sponsor. Thanks to Corsair for sponsoring this video. Their platform 4 00:03:07.760 --> 00:03:13.760 elevate height adjustable desk is far from generic thanks to an aesthetically 00:03:11.920 --> 00:03:18.319 pleasing design and a host of included extras and features. It comes with a 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:22.319 monitor arm, inesk USB power, and the cherry on top, a modular T-ch rail 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:26.800 system that's compatible with hundreds of attachments and accessories. What? 00:03:24.720 --> 00:03:30.879 Upgrade your gaming or work from home setup today with the Platform 4 Elevate 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:33.840 desk using our link in the description. Let's take a closer look at the screen 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:39.120 because you guys probably already noticed even on camera how smooth this 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 00:03:42.959 --> 00:03:51.760 with variable refresh rate support. That is huge for both battery life and for 00:03:48.319 --> 00:03:54.000 the general responsive feelingness of 00:03:51.760 --> 00:03:59.840 the device. It is worth noting though that our battery life results were okay, 00:03:57.200 --> 00:04:05.920 but not super impressive. about on par with our two generational flagship, the 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:08.799 S23, but not on par with a newer, more 00:04:05.920 --> 00:04:13.519 power sippy, budgetoriented device. What also isn't on par with budgeetori 00:04:11.040 --> 00:04:18.079 oriented devices, was the brightness of this display. While it didn't impress us 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:24.000 that much in SDR, especially with auto brightness disabled, in HDR, we managed 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:26.479 to not only meet Samsung's claimed 1900 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:31.919 nits peak brightness, but we exceeded it. So, I would expect to have a very 00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:36.080 excellent HDR video viewing experience on this phone. Um, okay, I found another 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:39.840 little compromise. The haptics aren't great. That does tend to happen with 00:04:37.840 --> 00:04:42.720 more budgetoriented devices. Personally, I turn them off when I type anyway, so 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 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:51.440 viewing experience holds up in the real world. Yep, that's an HDR OLED. All 00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:53.600 right, look at those highlights. I mean, if you're not watching on an HDR 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, 00:04:56.560 --> 00:05:01.759 it's hard. Like, this great display has 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:05.440 a built-in fingerprint sensor. Like, remember when that was space age 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:09.039 technology and you could get it on, you know, weird random Chinese phones and 00:05:07.520 --> 00:05:14.320 then it made its way to flagships? Well, now for $400. Boom. Undercreen 00:05:11.919 --> 00:05:17.840 fingerprint sensor. That is absolutely flipping incredible. I mean, it's not 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:23.520 the fastest increen fingerprint sensor, but dang it, it's there. It's also IP67 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:27.199 water resistant. Like, that's freaking cool. Oh, how's the camera? I wonder if 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 00:05:32.960 --> 00:05:38.880 preview is a little laggy. You see that? You see that? Yeah. 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 00:05:43.400 --> 00:05:50.240 god. Look at this guy. He closed his eyes for a picture. Also, this looks 00:05:48.320 --> 00:05:56.800 like ass. This looks like a This looks like an AI conversion to watercolor 00:05:52.400 --> 00:06:00.800 painting. Do you see this? That's art. 00:05:56.800 --> 00:06:00.800 Here's Sam seeing that Wancho is 00:06:02.199 --> 00:06:08.240 late. Whoa, dude. The selfie camera 00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:10.080 looks great, dude. Dude, look at that. 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:14.919 They spent all the money on the selfie camera. Look at this. Look at this 00:06:11.960 --> 00:06:20.639 sharpness. Super natural skin tones. And like this face that captures how I felt 00:06:19.039 --> 00:06:23.680 seeing how good this selfie camera looks. What the? It's got to be the low 00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:27.520 light cuz there's no way the rear camera is worse. Yeah, rear camera looks good 00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:31.680 when there's ample light and when it's pointed at such a handsome gentleman. 00:06:29.440 --> 00:06:34.880 That's a terrible picture. That's unfortunate. Okay, how's the video 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, 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 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:47.520 light, not a highlight. Yeah. Yeah. I want to hear these speakers. There's got 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 00:06:49.919 --> 00:06:55.919 like a premium phone feature. Oh, 00:06:53.560 --> 00:07:02.120 dude. Amplified earpiece speaker. They're pretty well 00:07:02.120 --> 00:07:08.720 balanced. Okay. So, the last 40% of the volume 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:12.720 slider does basically nothing other than add some distortion, but up to 40% is 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? 00:07:15.840 --> 00:07:23.199 But it's solid. Oh, I see the impact of 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 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:33.759 still think it feels pretty darn good overall. Wait, this thing also gets 6 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:35.199 years of OS updates. Bluetooth 5.4, so 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:41.280 you have compatibility with the latest peripherals. Wi-Fi 6 only, though, so 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 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 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:55.919 turning off 5G on your phone can help with 00:07:52.680 --> 00:07:58.319 reception? Yeah, dude. Right. Like the 00:07:55.919 --> 00:08:03.280 coverage in my area sucks. Or at least with my carrier. Okay, I did find 00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:08.400 another downside. 128 gigs of storage, only 6 gigs of RAM, which on Android can 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 00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:18.639 of that 6 year of software updates period, this thing is feeling a little 00:08:15.199 --> 00:08:21.280 dated. But overall, I still think it is 00:08:18.639 --> 00:08:26.160 mind-blowing from a, you know, premium brand. How much phone you can get for 00:08:23.840 --> 00:08:30.720 like 400 bucks these days. Just really makes me feel like the whole high-end 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:35.519 phone rat race has just gotten kind of pointless. And in some ways, the 00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:39.599 lower-end phone could even feel like a feature because this thing has like 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:43.440 basic AI features like, you know, circle something and remove it from an image or 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:47.200 whatever. But it has almost none of the AI bloat that I feel like has honestly 00:08:45.680 --> 00:08:53.480 just been more annoying than anything else on the Pixel 9a lately. 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