Samsung is putting the Note 7-related horrors of 2016 behind them. After six months of bad press, explosion jokes and digs from snarky tech journos, the South Korean firm finally has a new handset to show off: the 2017 refresh of its award-winning Galaxy A5 smartphone.
The Galaxy A5 has more in common with Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S7 than its budget J-series lineup. Despite costing less than £400, the Galaxy A5’s clean metal frame and all-glass front almost puts some of its pricier siblings to shame. You also get to choose from four different colours – Black Sky, Gold Sand, Blue Mist or Peach Cloud – and while Blue Mist isn’t to my taste, all other colours look pretty snazzy.
The A5 comes equipped with a 5.2in, Full HD, Super AMOLED display, racking up a pixel density of 424ppi. That’s not sharp enough to use the A5 with the Gear VR according to Samsung (and thus it won’t be supported), but there’s nothing stopping you from using Google Cardboard instead.
Samsung Galaxy A5 review (2017): Camera
We’ve seen the camera protrusion at the back steadily recede with every iteration of the Galaxy A, and now it’s entirely vanished. The 2017 Galaxy A5’s camera is now completely flush with the rear panel, a change that makes the handset noticeably less unwieldy to hold.
Samsung has also introduced a pair of 16-megapixel front and rear cameras, which are a sizable improvement on the 2017 A3’s 13- and 8-megapixel sensors. While my time with the A5 was brief, I managed to take some nicely detail-rich shots of the Thames, despite the overcast Friday afternoon weather.
Samsung’s own camera software has seen a bit of an update, too. In a similar move to Huawei’s slick Camera app, specific shooting modes can be accessed via quick swipes to the left and right, rather than having to navigate through convoluted menus. It’s the almost-perfect one-handed experience – especially with the new movable virtual shutter button – so selfie enthusiasts should be grinning.
Samsung made a big effort to show off its new “food” filter during my brief time with the A5, which applies a basic depth-of-field effect and some colour tinkering. Shots did look a tad oversaturated for my liking, and I wasn’t a fan of the extreme background blur, but I’ll offer my full impressions once I get a handset in for review.
Samsung Galaxy A5 review (2017): Performance
I didn’t quite get enough time with the handset to run our usual suite of benchmarking tests, but first impressions were solid. The octa-core Exynos 7880, clocked at 1.9GHz, is a nippy performer, and the accompanying 3GB of RAM keeps things feeling reasonably snappy. It won’t be as nippy as the Galaxy S7, of course, but it’s a fair compromise for half the price.
This year’s Galaxy A5 ships with a 3,000mAh battery, while its cheaper A3 sibling runs on a slightly smaller 2,350mAh battery. Samsung claims up to 16 hours of talk time with the A5, and there’s USB Type-C fast charging, too.
In an odd move, the A5 isn’t Nougat-powered straight out of the box. While I was assured there’d be an over-the-air update in the near future, you’ll have to wait a little longer for Google’s latest version of its OS, and the revamped notifications and emoji that come with it.
Samsung Galaxy A5 review (2017): Early verdict
With Samsung’s as-yet-unreleased Galaxy S8 already grabbing headlines, the A5 is in danger of having its thunder stolen. Don’t disregard this little mid-range handset just yet, though – it could be just the ticket if you’re not fond of handing over flagship–sized sums of cash.
As ever, the OnePlus 3T still looms large in this mid-range territory, so it may be tricky to recommend the A5 over the mid-range brilliance of the 3T. Still, given what I’ve seen so far, Samsung may have done just enough to vie for OnePlus’ crown. I’ll be giving you my full verdict once I get a handset sent over for review.
