Samsung’s selfie-oriented Galaxy A-series phones come with stellar looks and in three sizes
The latest update to Samsung’s midrange Galaxy A-series phones for 2016 comes in four different sizes though only three of them will be coming to Malaysia. For the Malaysian market, Samsung has released the Galaxy A3 which has a 4.7-inch HD display, the A5 which has a 5.2-inch 1080P display and the A7 which has a 5.5-inch 1080P display. We did, however, manage to get a look at the Galaxy A9 which had a recent release in Hong Kong.
The 2016 Galaxy A-series phones all have a similar premium metal and glass chassis that takes a page off their higher end S6 and Note 5 phones from last year and notably come with fingerprint readers and dual SIM card slots along with a dedicated microSD card slot while the A3 sports just a a SIM card slot and microSD card combo tray where you can swap one SIM card for a microSD card and lacks a fingerprint reader.
From left: The Galaxy A3, A5 and A7 all have a metal casing with a glass finished backplate
This dual SIM slot is denoted by a Duos emblem on the back of the A5 and A7’s phone casing. Holding up the three phones and you get a beautiful sense of heft and build quality with the curved 2.5D glass on the front display, mirrored back and colour matched trim giving them quite a sense of class. Gone are the plasticky polycarbonate backplates of yore. Even the Galaxy A3 looks and feels suitably premium belying its RM1299 price tag.
The side buttons and SIM card trays are similarly mounted on all of the Galaxy A-series phones
The Galaxy A series phones all have a 3.5mm audio jack and the A5 and A7 have fast charging capabilities.
The left side of the Galaxy A-series phones has a volume rocker with similar placement across all three models and curved 2.5D glass on the display
Rather than going for a Megapixel war, Samsung has instead settled on better optics and OIS to keep in the fight, which was what the S6 and Note 5 series offered last year. The A5 and A7 come with a rear 13-MP camera with an F/1.9 lens and optical image stabilisation. The smaller A3 has a similar setup as the A5 and A7 but lacks OIS for the rear camera. All three phones have a front-facing 5-MP camera with an F/1.9 lens.
The Galaxy A3, A5 and A7 all have a rear 13-MP camera with an F/1.9 aperture. The A5 and A7 boast of OIS though the A3 lacks it.
The A5 and A7 run Android Lollipop 5.1 on a Snapdragon 1.6GHz Octacore processor while the A3 has a 1.5GHz quadcore processor that also runs Lollipop 5.1. All three variants have 16GB of storage though the A7 has 3GB RAM, the A5 has 2GB RAM and the A3 has 1.5GB RAM. The A7 has a 3,300mAh battery while the A5 has a 2,900mAh battery, with both offering fast charging tech. The A3 has a smaller 2,300mAh battery and lacks fast charging tech.
The Galaxy A-series phones retail for RM1,899 for the A7, RM1,599 for the A5 and RM1,299 for the A3 inclusive of GST in your choice of black, gold, white and pink gold. For a limited time only, you’ll get a free 32GB microSD card to complement your phone whenever you purchase any A-series phone.
Malaysia’s Mobile Division Product Manager, Go Benn Lee (middle) showcasing the new Galaxy A series phones