Samsung Galaxy A series goes on sale ahead of schedule

by Ben Reid

Jan 12, 2017, 6:04 PM

The 2017 Galaxy A3, A5 and A7 are already on sale in Russia

Samsung kicked off this year's smartphone announcements by introducing the Galaxy A3 (2017), Galaxy A5 (2017) and Galaxy A7 (2017) earlier this month. Disappointingly, the new A series doesn't appear as though it'll reach the United States any time soon, so Stateside fans of the waterproof trio will have to explore other routes to ownership. Slated reach several Asian markets by the end of this month, Sammy also noted that Europe-based consumers would have to wait until February. Ahead of schedule, though, the A series models are already on sale in Russia through several outlets, suggesting that other confirmed sales locations could also receive the handsets sooner than anticipated.

Fans of powerful Samsung devices will surely be waiting on the Galaxy S8, which probably won't rear its head for a couple of months yet. Still the 2017 editions of the A3, A5 and A7 offer much besides their water-and-dust-repelling exteriors, with the larger A7 touting a 5.7-inch full-HD display. Both the A5 and A7, with their Exynos 7880 processors and 3 gigs of RAM each, are a cut above the A3 with its Exynos 7870 and 2 GB RAM combo. Nevertheless, they're all equipped with fingerprint sensors and expandable storage, with support for microSD cards of up to 256 GB in size.

In Russia, the A3 (2017) costs 22,990 rubles ($387) while the A5 (2017) retails at 27,990 rubles ($471). The A7 (2017), meanwhile, is priced at 32990 rubles, which translates to around $555 at the current exchange. While not overly expensive, those looking at the A7 may instead turn to some of last year's flagships -- many of which are more powerful and unlike the Marshmallow-filled A series, offer the more contemporary Android 7 Nougat.

At this time, the devices are up for pre-order in the United Kingdom but not yet on sale. We'll keep you posted with any further release happenings, so stay tuned!