Changer Ecran Samsung Galaxy A5 2017

The new Samsung Galaxy A5 is an odd proposition. It looks like a flagship telephone, but it isn't as expensive; information technology's pricier than a mid-ranger, but has a very mid-range specification. It'due south go more attractive since mail service-launch cost cuts but it faces tough opposition in the form of the OnePlus 3T and Moto G5 Plus.

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Samsung Galaxy A5 Review: blueprint

The design hasn't changed much since the 2016 model: it has drinking glass on the front and back, and the sides are color-matched aluminium. The Gorilla Glass is 4th generation, not fifth, so don't drop it from shoulder height.

Information technology looks proficient in black, golden, pink and light blueish and looks and feels rather like an iPhone seven or Galaxy S7: premium, and not porky like some phones with 5.v-inch displays can be. This one's 5.ii inches.

Just picket the soft keys if you lot're coming from another Samsung: they're the other mode around from what you're used to, a motility that makes sense for the right-handed majority but a niggle if you're used to the former ways.

The speaker's in an odd place, at the top right instead of in the front or bottom. That means it'due south quite easy to block past accident, but it's also quite skillful for gaming as y'all don't block the speaker when you lot're belongings the telephone vertically.

As with loftier-end Samsungs, the A5 is water and grit resistant to IP68. That means you can't take information technology swimming but it'due south okay for the beach or bath.

Samsung Galaxy A5 Review: features and usability

As with other Samsungs you tin choose different colour photos that brand a very big difference to the display. Adaptive Display is like Television set'south Retail Mode and therefore a trivial OTT, just cinema and photo modes are a lot calmer. And we're e'er happy to see an Ever-On display so y'all don't demand to wake the entire screen to see key information.

The 5.two-inch display is a 1080p Super AMOLED with typically vivid colours and splendid contrast. It'southward a little flake fuzzy compared to the Galaxy S7, but in that location's not a lot in it. It's superb for gaming and movies, helped considerably by a three-core Mali-T830 GPU. The sound isn't so good, though: it's neither particularly great or particularly awful, particularly loud or particularly quiet.

The camera specs don't tell the full story. That 16MP on paper delivers poorer photos than many current 12MP models, and some of the all-time 13MP ones make it expect pretty shoddy. That's a shame because the photographic camera is very fast and free from the lag that plagues some other phones. The lack of stablisation is a real negative, though.

Samsung Milky way A5 Review: performance

You're non paying a premium for functioning here: while the octa-core Exynos 7880 chipset is newer than rivals' processors, the Galaxy A5 delivers reasonably similar performance to the older, and cheaper, Moto G4 Plus. That's because the cores of the 7880 are all Cortex-A53s of the kind y'all find in budget devices. It'due south fast for a Cortex-A53 phone, but that doesn't hateful it's fast compared to others in the same sector.

The A5 ships with Android six.0.1 with Samsung'south ain interface on superlative. It hasn't changed significantly since 2016: it'southward a little tedious compared to stock Android, and it'due south noticeably slower in everyday interactions such equally using the fingerprint scanner.

The bombardment is 3,000mAh and good for a day of typical use: we found that even a fairly busy day left around 40% of the battery by bedtime. It's a fast charge battery, reaching full accuse in just over an hr.

Samsung Galaxy A5 Review: verdict

The OnePlus 3T looms over the Milky way A5 hither: it's a similar price but performs so much better, and its photographic camera is amend too. There's a stiff element of make loyalty here: people will purchase the A5 because they want a Samsung, not necessarily because they want the best phone in this sector – so they might not consider the OnePlus, the HTC U Play or the Honor 8. It'south not a bad phone, but it could have been brilliant.