Samsung’s Galaxy A-series smartphones are the next best to its flagship Galaxy S lineup. This series is meant for those who want a premium Samsung phone without the bloated price tag. Of course, these devices come devoid of some of the bells and whistles of the uber-premium S-series but you’ll find most of the essential flagship-class features. Our review of the Samsung Galaxy A8 last August is testament to a formula that is working for Samsung.
Look and feel
As you’ve probably already gathered from Samsung’s TV commercials, the Galaxy A5’s biggest trump card is its metal-and-glass construction. To put it simply, the phone feels every bit as premium as the Galaxy S6, from which it borrows some design cues. This time, there’s curved Gorilla Glass 4 for the front and the back of the device, which makes it look and feel a lot classier than its predecessor.
The A5 launched in India ( codename A510FD) is a true dual-SIM phone, and you get a dedicated slot for a microSD card. The tray on the right houses the primary SIM and storage expansion while a separate tray on the top of the phone is for the secondary SIM.
Specifications and software
With the cosmetic refreshes also come performance upgrades. The Galaxy A5 ( 2016) sold in India features Samsung’s octa-core Exynos 7580 SoC, which we found a little puzzling because it’s the same SoC that powers the lower mid-range Galaxy J7. Some modifications have been made, as the SoC in the A5 runs at a slightly higher 1.6GHz and supports faster Category 6 LTE. Buy this phone