A revised rendition does not seem to be worth the asking price of 30k.
Default reaction at almost all tech announcement goes such that when a smartphone is launched, they always generate the most amount of hype. On top of that, if you think that saving the best for the last is a thing, then the Samsung Galaxy A5 and A7 were surely taken by Samsung as its highlight from Forum 2016.
I, however, found a different story. Amidst the 98-inch 8K SUHD Quantum Dot television, the smart AddWash washing machine and the massive 620-litre refrigerator, the Galaxy A5 and A7 were definitely the paler entrants in the massive exhibition area at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. The Samsung Galaxy A5 sports a 5.2-inch Full HD SAMOLED display, powered by the Exynos 7580 octa-core processor clocked at 1.6GHz and 2GB of RAM. It has a 2900mAh battery pack, and the primary camera has a 13-megapixel CMOS sensor made by Samsung, with an f/1.9 aperture lens. It is not yet clear as to the exact make of the camera sensor, but that it is not BRITECELL is quite evident from the initial image samples that we shot with it. The rest of its making is fairly regular – including the typical Samsung design (the build quality is great, though).
All of this combined, makes the Samsung Galaxy A5 a relatively regular device in the present day market of smartphones vying to make themselves exceptional. The display is bright and vibrant, but has that extra hint of saturation, which you may or may not like (I did, and it is not a jarring excess to hinder your experience). It fits reasonably well in hand, and the metal unibody construction looks quite good (the rose gold finish, particularly). Samsung’s TouchWiz UI has never really appealed to me, although it gets the job done fine. The UI felt like a slight disconnect with a device that otherwise looked and felt quite premium – a toyish disconnect of the soul from the body. I played Dead Trigger 2 on it, and for the 10-ish minutes that I played for, there were no aberrations in it. Graphics renditions, however, lacked the cutting edge, although the bright and vibrant display somewhat made up for it.
(Left to right: First three images clicked with the Galaxy A7 and the last two clicked with the Galaxy A5)
The camera is good – clear image, slightly warmer than the source, and easy to operate. 13MP images are shot at 4:3 aspect ratio, and the highest resolution for a 16:9 image is 9.6 megapixels. Shutter response is decent, although it is not as fluid at continuous shooting. Audio performance from speakers on the A5 is actually the only thing that left me dissatisfied, and the speakers sounded only good enough for loud ringtones (which, incidentally, is really loud). On headphones, it seemed decent, and to be honest, I did not really spend a lot of time with it to analyse it well.
Samsung Galaxy A5
The story is very similar with the Samsung Galaxy A7, and the only notable point of difference here is the larger, 5.5-inch display. The experience is very similar, although the larger display made the experience much better. This seems like a smartphone that is ideal for watching videos (the screen looks really good), and the 3GB of RAM removes the slight lag time from the camera’s shutter response, on continuous shooting. The battery pack here is larger, at 3300mAh, and should easily see you through the entire day’s usage. Despite the large size, the back has a slight texture that makes it easy to fit on the palm. The Samsung Galaxy A7 gets its ergonomics and aesthetics right, and imaging and general performance is also quite standard.
That, however, is my point. Both the devices seem only alright, and the story ends there. The Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) is priced at Rs. 29,400, and the Galaxy A7 (2016) is priced at Rs. 33,400. The price is steep, undoubtedly, and as of now, I am left without conviction on why should I spend nearly Rs. 30,000 (give or take a few extra bucks), on either of these two. Your eyeballs, thus, should divert to the massive 5-in-1 smart refrigerator that’s taller than me (I’m 5’ 10”), or the washing machine that reminds you to add the stray sock while it is about to rinse the clothes inside, or the enormous 98-inch 8K SUHD Quantum Dot television.
Samsung Galaxy A7
Follow Us
Souvik Das
The one that switches between BMWs and Harbour Line Second Class. View Full Profile
