[rwp-review id=”0″]
Somewhere in between the Galaxy S5 and S6 Samsung rebooted its entire portfolio of low-end smartphones. First, there was the Galaxy Alpha, what seemed like Samsung’s attempt at showing the world that it could create an all metal smartphone that looks as good as an iPhone if they wanted. It turned out to simply be an Alpha model for the upcoming Galaxy A range, which comprises of three brand new models: A3, A5 and A7, with 4.5″, 5″ and 5.5″ displays respectively.
That said, the differences between the 3 are more than just display sizes. All three differ in multiple specs including processor type and power, camera and display resolution and capabilities, among others.
We had the chance to look at the best and largest of the three, the A7. Here’s how it fairs.
Build
The smartphone has an all metal body surrounding it with a shiny chrome finish on the edges. The back isn’t removable which means the battery isn’t changeable. The device we reviewed had dual-SIM capacity, accepting one main nano and a second micro SIM’s. Both SIM cards can be added into one drawer that’s pulled out using a pin. Right next to it you’ll find another drawer for the Micro SD card which takes up to 64GB of additional storage (the A7 comes with 16GB built in storage).
On the back, you’ll find the 13MP shooter visibly protruding from the body, flagged by the flash on one side and the speaker on the other. The design looks neat and uniform and quite pleasant on the eye.
While the back is made from metal, it maintains a certain healthy level of grip. The feel could be easily confused with plastic yet it definitely has that extra quality kick to it.
The front houses the 5MP camera, 5.5″ Super AMOLED display protected by guerrilla Glass 4 and the home button (no fingerprint sensor here).
As far as mass and dimensions go, the A7 is quite light and thin, weighing a mere 141g and measuring 6.3mm only in thickness. This alone is a massive plus for this phone.
Overall, the looks and feels nice. While it’s entirely made from metal, it doesn’t feel slippery in the hands and grips quite well. One drawback we found though was that the shiny chrome edges scratch easily (check image below, small scratch next to the antenna strip), so you might want to invest in a protector if you don’t want your smartphone to look used and abused quickly.
Display
There’s two things Samsung is very passionate about and proud of. Displays is one of them. It’s clear that while Samsung is launching a mid-range series with the A3, 5 and 7, they’re not willing to compromise on their stunning displays.
The A7 comes with a 5.5″ Super AMOLED 1920×1080 display which is beautiful to use and look at. Colors are vivid and vibrant and brightness is adequate no matter the situation.
This phone’s display is one of its strongest points and definitely complements the metal build and overall quality in a very good way.
Battery
The Galaxy A7 has a non-removable 2,600 mAh that, according to Samsung, lasts up to 10 hours with LTE. We found that to be more or less true, depending on usage. For social media heavy users who continuously check their Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, they may find that all that screen time eats away at the battery, and eventually something has to give.
The phone gave us a solid 8-9 hours with heavy usage and about 12 hours with low usage. There is a silver lining though, the A7 comes with the Ultra Power Saving mode that was introduced with the Galaxy S5. This alone gives it an extra few hours of usage when turned on and ensures you don’t run out of juice in critical times while maintaining basic functionality till you make it home or to the closest charging point.
Performance & Software
The Galaxy A7 comes with Android 4.4.4 KitKat with a Qualcomm Snapdragon Quad-core 1.5 GHz processor and 2GB RAM. The Android is overlaid with Samsung’s heavily customized TouchWiz UI that many have learned to love or love to hate.
TouchWiz has seen a few subtle changes and improvements over the past 2 years as it went into a flatter more organized layout. The good thing about the A7 is that it’s not jam-packed with so many wanted and unwanted features its flagship cousin has. Which makes the software lighter, concurrently running processes less and therefore, in theory, smoother performance.
Ironically, that wasn’t the case. While the phone performed very well in most times, there was an occasional lag and stuttering here and there. Moreover, the camera launch time and switching between camera and gallery was very slow. More on this in the camera section.
Overall, and aside from occasional lagging here and there induced by a few widgets and running apps, the phone’s performance was admirable and smooth.
Camera
Earlier in the review I mentioned that Samsung prides itself with 2 things. The first was the display, and the second is the camera.
While Samsung has sacrificed a few software features and hardware specs here and there to make this phone a budget phone, it’s clear that it wasn’t willing to sacrifice its camera. Perhaps this is built on research showing that the display and camera are two of the most highly regarded aspects of a smartphone people look at.
The A7 comes with a 13MP main camera that shoots really good shots. It also shoots full HD videos at 1080p and 30fps. No slow motion available on this one. The front camera isn’t bad at all either with 5MP resolution and 1080p video as well for that high quality Hangout or Skype video calls you always get on.
The camera experience is another strong feature of this one and is only marred by the slow to launch and slow to switch speeds. That particular experience was quite annoying as it means you might miss some key moments. Perhaps a future software update would fix it.
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy A7 is a formidable smartphone for a device that costs AED 1,799 ($488). It has a large Super AMOLED full HD display, full metal body, 13MP high quality shooter and a very light and thin design. All very favorable attributes for any buyer.
Minor performance and software issues slightly ruin the experience though with occasional lags and very slow switching between camera and gallery. TouchWiz remains to be a divisive territory among the masses.
One thing’s for sure though, Samsung seems to have struck a very well-tuned chord with its A series. Whether it is to counter the onslaught of budget phones by Chinese manufacturers or to re-establish its presence among the mid-range smartphone arena, the A series, with the A7 as their flagship, have carved themselves a good space in the mix relying on good looks and build, great features and cameras and making use of the brand’s highly recognizable market reach and prowess.
