Samsung announced their new smartphone lineup at the CES event in Las Vegas a few days ago, but now,they have added another member to that lineup.Say hello to the Galaxy A7. Samsung has been known to make their devices out of high quality plastic, but they too have now started making the transition to metal. The A7 is a full metal-clad device and though the overall design may look a bit repetitive, the device is a beauty. Phones made of metal are always a pleasure to use and the A7 is no exception. It is true, however, that if the phone has no specs to back up its superior build, people can abandon it faster than they bought it. Is the A7 a complete package ?
Lets Find out –
- Connectivity – This area is covered , with the A7 featuring 2G, 3G and 4G connectivity, and there will also , most likely be a dual sim variant of this device. So connectivity, check.
- Display – Samsung has always kept their side bezels to a low, thus giving their devices a good screen to body ratio. The A7 too, is no different. The device features a 5.5 inch 1080p Full HD Super AMOLED display, with a pixel density of 401 ppi. The ppi is strong and we can expect some really punchy colours out of the display. The text should be crisp even after zoom. Samsung has given us some of the best smartphone displays till date, and this display will surely carry that legacy forward.
- Performance – The A7 features the Snapdragon 615 chipset, which is the best chipset in the mid range segment. The chipset features a Quad Core 1.5 GHz Cortex A-53 processor and a Quad core 1.0 GHz Cortex A-53 processor. The Chipset will give the users a really fluid and snappy experience with next to zero lag and frame stuttering. The Gamers have also been catered to with the inclusion of the Adreno 405 GPU, one of the best in the market as of today. Overall, we see a very strong performance package, catering to both, the normal users and the performance enthusiasts.
- Memory – People today need to multi-task in all avenues of life, and as far as multi tasking on their smartphone is concerned, the A7 takes care os that two. The 2GB RAM will keep even the most critical user happy. We will also get 16 GB of internal memory, with the choice to expand the memory via SD card upto 64 GB. Yet again, we say Samsung deliver a sublime performance, and give to us, a memory package worth the money.
- Camera – Samsung is known to have one of the best camera sensors in the market , and all their phones can boast of a stellar camera performance. The A7 is no different. We get a 12 MP rear camera with Autofocus, and an led flash as well. The Camera can record videos at 1080p @ 30fps. The front camera features a 5 MP sensor, which , if you look up Samsung’s standards, will deliver some of the best “Selfies” in the market.
- OS – The A7 will boot Android 4.4.4 KitKat out of box, with an upgrade to 5.0 Lollipop imminent. This was actually a surprise to me as I was expecting the new Samsung lineup to boot 5.0 Lollipop, to give that extra incentive to their new and existing customers who are tired of waiting for their OTA updates.
- Battery – THe A7 will feature a non-removable 2600 mAh battery. I feel they could have fit in a better battery , maybe a 3000 mAh battery would have been a better choice, but looks like they are relying on the fact that the 2600 mAh battery pack, in itself will be able to sustain a day of usage, and will do even better when the device upgrades to Lollipop, which supposedly has a few power management tweak and fixes.
All in all , the A7 can proudly boast its Galaxy title, and stand up to the fiercest of competitors. A few questions maybe asked about the chipset, as Samsung could have easily fit this new device with any 800 series flagship level chipset. Well, if I may take the liberty to comment on that, I would say , that the only reason Samsung didn’t fit a better chipset is because they want to have a clear line drawn between their Flagship ‘S’ series and the other power mid range phones. The A7 , thus has been placed under the Higher mid Range segment , with Samsung also adding that, they will have a aggressive pricing campaign for this device. Samsung has been quite a roll lately with back to back successfull launches in their Mid Range and flagship segments, with Note 4 and Note Edge , clearly the best in the Phablet segment. Exactly how the A7 will do in the market, will be clear once the phone hits the shelves. Until then, all we can do is wait and watch.