Samsung Galaxy A7 vs A5 vs A3 (2016): specs comparison

posted by Victor H. / Dec 02, 2015, 9:49 AM

Samsung Galaxy A7 vs A5 vs A3 (2016): specs comparison

The new, 2016 edition of the Samsung's mainstream Galaxy A series has just made its official debut: the new phones are the 5.5" Galaxy A7 (2016), the 5.2" Galaxy A5 (2016), and the 4.7" Galaxy A3 (2016).

This represents an interesting change over last year's A series and their screen sizes, as well as resolutions. Here is how Samsung has changed the display sizes:

Galaxy A7 (2016 vs 2015): 5.5" Super AMOLED displays with 1080 x 1920-pixel resolutions on both
Galaxy A5 (2016 vs 2015): 5.2" vs 5.0" Super AMOLED displays with 1080 x 1920-pixel resolution on the 2016 model and 720 x 1280-pixel resolution on the 2015 model
Galaxy A3 (2016 vs 2015): 4.7" vs 4.5" Super AMOLED displays with 720 x 1280-pixel resolution on the 2016 model and 540 x 960-pixel resolution on the 2015 model

This is quite a significant change for the more affordable Galaxy A5 and A3 models that brings them up to date, as keeping last year's resolutions would have definitely been a critical flaw in today's market.

The other major change is that now all three new phones come with 13-megapixel rear-facing cameras and 5-megapixel selfie cameras, both wide-aperture, f/1.9 lenses. We do suspect that there will be differences in the actual image quality, but it would be interesting to see whether that's in fact true and to what extent.

The other two key areas to look for are processors: the system chips inside the new, 2016 Galaxy A series have been updated, and battery sizes vary between models, so that the A7 has the larger battery (and possibly, the best battery life of the trio). For the rest of the specs and all the details, take a look at the chart below.

Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016) vs Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) vs Samsung Galaxy A3 (2016)

Display

Display size

5.5 inches

5.2 inches

4.7 inches

Resolution

1080 x 1920 pixels

720 x 1280 pixels

Pixel density

401 ppi

424 ppi

312 ppi

Technology

Super AMOLED

Screen-to-body ratio

74.27 %

72.39 %

69.30 %

Colors

16 777 216

Camera

Rear

Yes

Main camera

13 megapixels

Hardware Features

Optical image stabilization, Autofocus, CMOS image sensor

Autofocus

Specifications

Aperture size: F1.9; Focal length: 28 mm

Aperture size: F1.9

Flash

LED

Software Features

Touch to focus, Face detection, Voice activation, Self-timer, Geo tagging, Exposure compensation, ISO control, White balance presets, Burst mode, HDR, Panorama, Night mode, Effects

Touch to focus, Face detection, Self-timer, Digital zoom, Geo tagging, Exposure compensation, ISO control, White balance presets, HDR, Panorama

Touch to focus, Self-timer, Geo tagging, Exposure compensation, ISO control, White balance presets, Effects

Video recording

1920x1080 (Full HD) (30 fps)

Features

Video calling, Video sharing

Video calling

Video calling, Video sharing

Front

5 megapixels

Video capture

1920x1080 (Full HD)

Design

Dimensions

5.96 x 2.92 x 0.29 inches (151.5 x 74.1 x 7.3 mm)

5.70 x 2.80 x 0.29 inches (144.8 x 71 x 7.3 mm)

5.30 x 2.57 x 0.29 inches (134.5 x 65.2 x 7.3 mm)

Weight

5.96 oz (169 g)

5.47 oz (155 g)

4.66 oz (132 g)

Materials

Back: Glass; Frame: Metal

Biometrics

Fingerprint (touch)

Features

Touch sensitive control keys

Hardware & Performance

System chip

Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 8939

Samsung Exynos 7 Quad 7578

Processor

Octa-core, 1600 MHz, ARM Cortex-A53, 64-bit, 28 nm

Quad-core, 1500 MHz, ARM Cortex-A53, 64-bit

GPU

Adreno 405

Mali-T720 MP2

RAM

3 GB

2 GB

1.5 GB LPDDR3

Storage expansion

Slot Type

microSDXC, microSDHC, microSD

OS

Android (5.1 Lollipop)

Android (7.0 Nougat, 5.1 Lollipop)

Battery

Capacity

3300 mAh

2900 mAh

2300 mAh

Talk time (3G)

17.00 hours

16.00 hours

14.00 hours

Internet use

3G

14 hours

LTE

14 hours

Wi-Fi

17 hours

Music playback

78.00 hours

75.00 hours

58.00 hours

Video playback

15.00 hours

14.00 hours

Cellular

LTE (FDD)

Bands 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20

LTE (TDD)

Bands 40

UMTS

850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz

GSM

850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz

Data

LTE-A Cat 6 (300/50 Mbit/s), HSPA

LTE-A Cat 6 (300/50 Mbit/s), HSPA, HSUPA

LTE Cat 4 (150/50 Mbit/s), HSPA, HSUPA

Multimedia

Screen mirroring

Wireless screen share

Wireless screen share, MHL

Wireless screen share

Options

22 Comments

1. fonelover

Posts: 255; Member since: Mar 19, 2015

Awesome phones

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 9:54 AM 3

3. abdoualgeria

Posts: 928; Member since: Jul 27, 2015

awesome prices

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 10:01 AM 0

10. QWERTYphone

Posts: 654; Member since: Sep 22, 2014

No removable battery = FAIL

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 12:02 PM 0

22. medtxa

Posts: 1655; Member since: Jun 02, 2014

thin, compact, big battery and everything else are good except it's heavier.

posted on Dec 03, 2015, 12:56 AM 0

2. Tommikke

Posts: 69; Member since: Nov 21, 2015

Yes they're. I will get A5 soon ;)

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 9:59 AM 0

4. osanilevich

Posts: 287; Member since: Sep 29, 2009

they're almost the same, really. A3 is obviously the budget version and A5/7 come down to screen size/battery size

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 10:02 AM 0

6. Tommikke

A5 - Bigger & better screen (1920×1080, 5.2") - Much faster prosecessor (Exynos 7, 1.6 GHz, Octacore) - Better camera (OIS & F1.9) - Fingerprint scanner - Much larger battery (2900 mAh vs 2300 mAh)

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 10:20 AM 4

5. SYSTEM_LORD

Posts: 1168; Member since: Oct 05, 2015

A5 looks like the best deal

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 10:11 AM 4

12. NFSHesham

Posts: 297; Member since: Feb 04, 2014

No one of them is ... Crappy GPU is on board .. Mali-T720 MP2 The old Snapdragon 615 with Adreno 405 is a better performer than this heap of processing power and no graphics bull

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 12:03 PM 1

16. FrankUnderwood2

Posts: 243; Member since: Oct 01, 2015

yeah it would have been only if the internal storage was 32 GB.

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 3:29 PM 0

7. zeeBomb

Posts: 2318; Member since: Aug 14, 2014

A5 the whole package. Gimme it to Canada asap

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 10:22 AM 0

8. ryq24

Posts: 874; Member since: Oct 17, 2011

Does the A5 and A7 have tap to wake feature?

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 11:45 AM 0

9. Ajlal3

Posts: 23; Member since: Aug 03, 2012

LOL another one of samsungs lagdroids. Poor specs and overpriced. Apple is the best

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 12:00 PM 0

11. QWERTYphone

The only thing that Apple is "best" at is raping it's stupid customers.

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 12:02 PM 6

13. NFSHesham

First they are not flagships , they are not meant to compete with iPhones .. They are "Mid range" .. Secondly the old A Series didn't lag how come the more powerful series will do ?

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 12:05 PM 1

14. shinywindow unregistered

Hi troll, your mom is overpriced. Bahhhhhhhhh!!

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 12:21 PM 1

17. apakalo1

Posts: 67; Member since: Nov 19, 2015

Shinywindow. I think you are confused in life right? Why insult one's family just because of a gadget? Or because you worship Apple and the other worships Samsung? You guys should be ashamed of yourselves. WooooooooooooooooShameeeeeeeeeeee

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 3:30 PM 0

19. leftheodo

Posts: 108; Member since: Oct 21, 2011

"poor specs and overpriced". Isn't that the definition of Apple?

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 5:07 PM 1

21. PapaSmurf

Posts: 10457; Member since: May 14, 2012

But continues to destroy 99% of phones in terms of speed. Whoops.

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 10:37 PM 2

15. Ajlal3

Shinywindow please dont comment on one's family

posted on Dec 02, 2015, 2:18 PM 0

18. apakalo1

GUY, MARK MY WORDS OF PREDICTION : ...Galaxy S7: 5.2" Screen, 4GB RAM, SD Card support, 20mp, 1/2" sensor size, f/1.8 Aperture, 3000mah battery. ...Galaxy S7 EDGE: 5.7" screen, 4GB RAM, SD Card support, 20mp Camera, 1/2" BRITECELL Sensor, f/1.8 Aperture, 3500mah battery.