Samsung has finally launched the Galaxy A5 (2016) and the Galaxy A7 (2016) has been announced for India for Rs. 29,400 and Rs. 33,400. These higher mid-range Androids smartphones will be available in Black, Gold, and White exclusively through Snapdeal from February 15, 2016. These devices have been launched during the Samsung Forum 2016, which is being conducted in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. These devices were first unveiled in the first week of December 2015 in China.
Smartphones in the refreshed Galaxy A (2016) series have metal-and-glass design and follow the same design strategy as the Galaxy S6. All of them feature Super AMOLED displays, 13-megapixel cameras with OIS, fingerprint sensors, dual-SIM card slots with 4G LTE, and larger batteries. This is an effort from Samsung to increase the adoption of its mid-range smartphones by competing with brands like OnePlus.
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) Specifications
- Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system with TouchWiz UX (upgradeable to Android 6.0 Marshmallow)
- 5.2-inch Super AMOLED display, 1920×1080 pixels, 424 ppi, Corning Gorilla Glass 4
- 13-megapixel rear camera, ƒ/1.9 aperture, OIS, LED flash, HDR, Panorama, and 1080p video recording
- 5-megapixel front camera, ƒ/2.9 aperture, 24mm lens, and 1080p video recording
- Samsung Exynos 7580, 1.6GHz octa-core processor, and Mali-T720 MP2 GPU
- 2GB RAM, 16GB internal Storage, microSD slot (upto 128GB)
- Accelerometer, ambient-light sensor, fingerprint scanner, gyro-sensor, and e-compass
- Dual-SIM (nano SIM + nano SIM) with 4G LTE/3G HSPA+/EDGE connectivity
- Dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Hotspot, Bluetooth v4.1 (with A2DP, LE, EDR, and ANT+), NFC, MicroUSB v2.0 port, and 3.5mm headphone jack
- 2,900 mAh battery with Fast Charging; 144.8 x 71.0 x 7.3mm; 155g
The Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) comes with a 5.2-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display, while the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016) sports a 5.5-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display. Both these smartphones run Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system with newer TouchWiz UX with support for third-party themes, and they will be updated to Android 6.0 Lollipop in the near future.
Both these devices are covered by Gorilla Glass 4 protection. In terms of imaging, both these smartphones come with 13-megapixel primary cameras with ƒ/1.9 aperture, optical image stabilisation, HDR, Panorama, and 1080p video recording. Front-facing cameras have a resolution of 5 megapixels, and are accompanied by 24mm wide-angle lens, ƒ/1.9 aperture, and 1080p video recording.
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016) Specifications
- Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system with TouchWiz UX (upgradeable to Android 6.0 Marshmallow)
- 5.5-inch Super AMOLED display, 1920×1080 pixels, 401 ppi, Corning Gorilla Glass 4
- Samsung Exynos 7580 processor, 1.6GHz octa-core CPU, and ARM Mali-T720 MP2 GPU
- 3GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, and microSD card (upto 128GB)
- 13-megapixel rear camera, autofocus, ƒ/1.9 aperture, OIS, LED flash, HDR, Panorama, and 1080p video recording
- 5-megapixel front camera, ƒ/1.9 aperture, 24mm lens, HDR, and 1080p video recording
- Accelerometer, ambient-light sensor, fingerprint scanner, gyro-sensor, and e-compass
- Dual-SIM (nano SIM + nano SIM) with 4G LTE/3G HSPA+/EDGE connectivity
- Dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Hotspot, Bluetooth v4.1 (with A2DP, LE, EDR, and ANT+), NFC, MicroUSB v2.0 port, and 3.5mm headphone jack
- 3,300 mAh battery with Fast Charging; 151.5 x 74.1 x 7.3mm; 172g
Processing guts include a Samsung Exynos 7580 processor with 64-bit octa-core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU and ARM Mali-T720 MP2 GPU. There's 2GB in the Galaxy A5 (2016), while the Galaxy A7 (2016) comes with 3GB RAM. Both the devices have 16GB of internal storage space, which can be expanded using a microSD card slot (upto 128GB). There's fingerprint scanner built inside the home button, which can be used to authenticate the owner of the device to unlock it.
In terms of connectivity, both these devices come with dual-SIM card slot and 4G LTE connectivity. Other than that, they also feature dual-band Wi-Fi b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth v4.1, NFC, GPS, and microUSB v2.0 port with USB OTG functionality. There's a 2,900 mAh battery inside the Galaxy A5 (2016), while the Galaxy A7 (2016) comes packed with a large 3,400 mAh battery. Both these devices are compatible with Fast Charge, so you can juice up these batteries in a very short time.
The company is bundling 30GB of data for Airtel customers, which is valid over the course of six months. Weirdly, Samsung didn't launch the Galaxy A3 (2016) and the Galaxy A9 in India. Whether or not the company has plans to launch these devices in the future is unknown yet. The Galaxy A9 comes equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor and a massive 4,000 mAh battery.
What do you think about the Galaxy A5 (2016) and the Galaxy A7 (2016)? Would you consider buying them over the devices like OnePlus 2, LG Nexus 5X, Lenovo Vibe Shot, Apple iPhone 5S, or the Motorola Moto X Style?
