Over a year since it announced the 2016 edition of its premium mid-range smartphones in the Galaxy A series, Samsung has gone ahead to release an update to them.
The 2017 Galaxy A lineup now incorporates several features that were the preserve of Samsung’s top-of-the-line Galaxy S series like the ability to make payments with Samsung Pay, the company’s mobile payments platform, IP68 water and dust resistance, a curved glass back, USB Type-C and an Always On display.
Samsung Cloud, a feature that lets users store content for free in the cloud (up to 15GB) which was introduced in the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7, is also making its way to Samsung’s latest mid-range smartphones.
Specifications of the 3 devices, the Galaxy A3, A5 and A7, are as follows:
| Galaxy A3 | Galaxy A5 | Galaxy A7 | |
| Dimension | 135.4 x 66.2 x 7.9mm | 146.1 x 71.4 x 7.9mm | 156.8 x 77.6 x 7.9mm |
| Display | 4.7-inch HD Super AMOLED | 5.2-inch Full HD Super AMOLED | 5.7-inch Full HD Super AMOLED |
| Processor | (Yet) Unnamed processor clocked at 1.6GHz | (Yet) Unnamed processor clocked at 1.9GHz | Same |
| Memory | 2GB RAM + 16GB Storage Micro SD slot (up to 256GB) | 3GB RAM + 32GB Storage Micro SD slot (up to 256GB) | Same |
| Camera | Rear : 13MP (F1.9), Front : 8MP (F1.9) | Rear : 16MP (F1.9), Front : 16MP (F1.9) | Same |
| Operating System | Android 6.0.1 (Marshmallow) | Same | Same |
| Battery | 2,350mAh | 3,000mAh, Fast Charging | 3,600mAh, Fast Charging |
| Network | LTE (Cat 6 supported) | Same | Same |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth v 4.2, USB Type-C, NFC | Same | Same |
| Others | Fingerprint scanner, IP68 | Same | Same |
The Galaxy A3, A5 and A7 2017 models come in Black Sky, Gold Sand, Blue Mist and Peach Cloud colours.
The three devices are available in Russia this month while the rest of the world will get them as time goes by according to a statement from Samsung announcing them.
