Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016 edition) display and CPU performance benchmark test results: mid-range to the bone

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The 5.5-inch Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016 edition), aka Galaxy A7 6 as Samsung has labelled it on the box, is a very stylish and extremely well constructed phone: it features a sturdy metal frame and a beautiful glass back, all coming together in an exquisite design that you usually expect to see in more expensive phones.

If it was all roses, though, the Galaxy A7 (2016) could have threatened Samsung very best: the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy Note 5, so where are the compromises? Yesterday, we showed you that the Galaxy A7 (2016) and its smaller, 5.2-inch cousing, the Galaxy A5 (2016) - both of which share the same camera - have good performance, but are noticeably behind when compared against higher-end phones like the iPhone 6s.

Today, we take a look at the benchmarks to understand the Galaxy A7 (2016) better. First, let's take a look at the CPU and GPU performance benchmark tests and their results on the new A7.

While in daily use, our initial impressions are that the phone performs well (with no major stutters), it is the more demanding tasks that benchmarks measure. 

And there, the Galaxy A7 (2016) ranks sub-par. 

Benchmarking the Snapdragon 615-power Galaxy A7 (2016)


Our model uses the Snapdragon 615 (MSM 8939) octa-core system chip with four Cortex A53 cores running at up to 1.5GHz and four more, battery-savvy A53s clocked to run at up to 1.2GHz. The chip is made on the 28nm manufacturing node (top-end phones like the Galaxy S6 have their chips made on more power efficient nodes, like the 16nm FinFET). There is 3GB of RAM on board, 16GB of internal storage and a hybrid dual SIM card slot (supporting either two nano SIM slots or a nano SIM and microSD card slot).

Keep in mind that in some markets, the phone is said to ship with the Samsung Exynos 7580 octa-core system chip and performance might differ slightly (but not by much).

CPU performance is below that of even the $200 honor 5X and it falls behind mid-range phones like the OnePlus X and HTC One A9.

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AnTuTuHigher is better
Samsung Galaxy A7(2016)34395.33
Samsung Galaxy A5(2016)35638.33
Samsung Galaxy Note567207
LG V1046905.33
HTC One A940632
Motorola Moto X Pure Edition(2015)51822
Apple iPhone 6s59075
LG G450330
Honor 5X35183
OnePlus X40173
Sony Xperia Z551012.33
Motorola DROID Turbo 252201
Geekbench 3 single-coreHigher is better
Samsung Galaxy A7(2016)676.3
Samsung Galaxy A5(2016)684.33
Samsung Galaxy Note51431
LG V10870
HTC One A9738
Motorola Moto X Pure Edition(2015)650
Apple iPhone 6s2539
LG G41112
Honor 5X696
OnePlus X910.33
Sony Xperia Z51318.6
Motorola DROID Turbo 21043
Geekbench 3 multi-coreHigher is better
Samsung Galaxy A7(2016)3013
Samsung Galaxy A5(2016)3023
Samsung Galaxy Note54717
LG V103361.33
HTC One A93063
Motorola Moto X Pure Edition(2015)2075
Apple iPhone 6s4421
LG G43559
Honor 5X3028
OnePlus X2415.33
Sony Xperia Z54167.3
Motorola DROID Turbo 24194
Vellamo MetalHigher is better
Samsung Galaxy A7(2016)1094.66
Samsung Galaxy A5(2016)1115
Samsung Galaxy Note52532
LG V102216
HTC One A91078
Motorola Moto X Pure Edition(2015)2657
LG G42369
Honor 5X1108
OnePlus X1542
Sony Xperia Z51667.33
Motorola DROID Turbo 22124
Vellamo BrowserHigher is better
Samsung Galaxy A7(2016)1982
Samsung Galaxy A5(2016)1944
Samsung Galaxy Note55476
LG V103571.33
HTC One A92331
Motorola Moto X Pure Edition(2015)4424
LG G43948
Honor 5X2327
OnePlus X2661
Sony Xperia Z54301.66
Motorola DROID Turbo 23714
SunspiderLower is better
Samsung Galaxy A7(2016)1941.6
Samsung Galaxy A5(2016)1961.86
Samsung Galaxy Note5677.7
LG V101047.16
HTC One A91712
Motorola Moto X Pure Edition(2015)1529.1
Apple iPhone 6s217.7
LG G4730.2
Honor 5X1171.7
OnePlus X1285.5
Sony Xperia Z5675.3
Motorola DROID Turbo 2867.2
GFXBench T-Rex HD on-screenHigher is better
Samsung Galaxy A7(2016)14
Samsung Galaxy A5(2016)14
Samsung Galaxy Note537
LG V1025
HTC One A916
Motorola Moto X Pure Edition(2015)24
Apple iPhone 6s59.1
LG G425
Honor 5X15
OnePlus X23
Sony Xperia Z553
Motorola DROID Turbo 216
GFXBench Manhattan 3.1 on-screenHigher is better
Samsung Galaxy A7(2016)5.76
Samsung Galaxy A5(2016)5.6
Samsung Galaxy Note515
LG V105.7
HTC One A96.6
Motorola Moto X Pure Edition(2015)9.3
Apple iPhone 6s56.1
LG G49.4
Honor 5X6
OnePlus X10
Sony Xperia Z518.3
Motorola DROID Turbo 240
Basemark OS IIHigher is better
Samsung Galaxy A7(2016)827.66
Samsung Galaxy A5(2016)763.33
Samsung Galaxy Note51765
LG V101148.33
HTC One A9957
Motorola Moto X Pure Edition(2015)1214
Apple iPhone 6s2139
LG G41549
OnePlus X1185.66
Sony Xperia Z51575
Motorola DROID Turbo 21426

In graphics tests, the Galaxy A7 (2016) uses its Adreno 405 GPU. The results are again rather mediocre and if you are playing more intense games, the phone might drop some frames and might not be perfect for gamers.

Galaxy A7 (2016)'s Super AMOLED put to the test


After testing the system chip, it's time to take a look at the quality of the display.

We have a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED display on the Galaxy A7 (2016) with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels. This is sufficiently sharp for everyone, but pixel maniacs and it's hard to notice any pixelization.

All Samsung phones with AMOLED screens have different color modes that you can change from Settings -> Display -> Screen mode. The default Adaptive mode is very saturated and changes depending on the content, then you have AMOLED Cinema and AMOLED Photo that also are traditionally more saturated than the Internet's de facto accepted sRGB color standard.

Put simply, if you want to see colors the way photographs and video creators have tried to capture them, your display has to be calibrated to that sRGB standard. For the Galaxy A7 (2016) the 'Basic' screen mode is closest to that. And it's overall a good looking screen when you use that mode. Brighntess is enough for most occasions (but you might have some trouble reading the screen in direct sunlight) and at night it can drop to just 1 nit, which is easy on the eyes. Typically for AMOLED, blacks are real, pitch black which creates nice contrast to displayed images.

Take a look at our full display measurements for the Galaxy A7 (2016) right below.



Finally, stay tuned for our full Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016) review coming up next week. There, we will give you our final conclusion about the phone and how good it really is.

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