Deals: Galaxy A36 gets its first discount, Galaxy Tab S10 FE slates go up against iPad Airs (2025)
The tech market in the US is gripped with uncertainty as tariffs on key manufacturing hubs threaten to increase prices of electronics. That hasn’t happened yet – in fact, we found some new models with fresh discounts.
The Samsung Galaxy A36 became available a couple of weeks ago, but as late as last week it was still trading at its MSRP of $400. Now it’s down to $340, which is a more palatable price.
The A36 offers a long update window – 6 OS updates – and comes with the newly revamped One UI 7 out of the box. It has a 6.7” 1080p+ display, a 5,000mAh battery (now with 45W charging), a plastic frame with GG Victus+ on the front and back and an IP67 rating. The phone is powered by the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3, storage is not expandable. The A36 has a 50MP OIS main camera and an 8MP ultra-wide, plus a 12MP selfie camera with 4K video recording on either side.
CMF is teasing an upcoming Pro model, but for now we only have the CMF Phone 1, which has a modest discount. Note that this is the 8/256GB version and, unlike the Samsung, there is a microSD slot available. The Dimensity 7300 is comparable to the Snapdragon in terms of performance, the 6.67” 120Hz OLED display is also similar – but with no tough glass. The battery is 5,000mAh with 33W charging. The CMF Phone will only get 2 OS updates, though, and it launched with Android 14.
Samsung unveiled new FE tablets and they are now available. Both are powered by the new Exynos 1580, which is also on the Galaxy A56 (coming soon to the US), and they have 90Hz IPS LCDs.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE has a 10.9” 1440p+ display and an 8,000mAh battery with 45W charging. This generation is thinner and lighter than the Tab S9 FE (6.0mm, 497g vs. 6.5mm, 523g).
The Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ is larger than before with a 13.1” 1800p+ panel, while the battery remains at 10,090mAh (same as the Tab S9 FE+). This generation drops the ultra-wide camera, but has an updated 13MP main camera on the back. Note that both tablets come with an S Pen in the retail package and have expandable storage.
The Apple iPad Air 11 (2025), the newly released version with an Apple M3 chipset, is only $50 more than the Tab S10 FE. Its 11” IPS LCD runs at only 60Hz, but FE’s 90Hz is only a step above. The iPad supports multitasking on an external monitor (Stage Manager), but the Galaxy tablet does not (it has DeX but only a USB 2.0 port).
The Apple iPad Air 13 (2025) is pricier than its similarly-sized Galaxy S10 FE+ opponent. Like the 11” model, it is powered by the Apple M3, which has proven quite performant in Macs – the only downside here is that iPadOS is much more limited than macOS.
Apple also updated the vanilla iPad but chose an A16 chipset – it’s faster than the A14 found inside the 2022 iPad, but limited performance and RAM means no Apple Intelligence. Samsung has Galaxy AI on its Tab S10 FE duo, the iPad Airs also have AI.
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