Samsung proved that they can play the premium budget game when they launched their Galaxy A series in 2014. Then in December of last year they unveiled their new 2016 Galaxy A line much to the delight of the Samsung fans on a budget as the new models featured updated specifications and what we think is a better overall design as well.
A few days ago, we saw the new Galaxy A trio hit SIRIM. Now, we’ve just received an email indicating that Samsung will be launching these new devices — the Galaxy A3, Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A7 — next week.
Samsung Malaysia has set the official unveiling of the Galaxy A line for 28 January 2016 which is next Thursday. The Galaxy A series will share the Galaxy S6’s good looks with its glass front and back panels held together by a metal frame. The edges are rounded for a better grip and feel in the hand.
The devices also get a bump, across the line, up to a 13-megapixel f/1,9 aperture rear shooter and a front-facing 5MP f/1.9 selfie camera. What separates the Galaxy A3’s camera from the other two bigger devices is the lack of OIS though we suspect people who are going for a budget device won’t mind this too much. The best part? All three devices have a Pink Gold colour option — which we hope they will bring to Malaysia as well.
Galaxy A7
Sitting at the top of the Galaxy A’s pecking order is the largest of the trio with a 5.5-inch full-HD Super AMOLED display. On the inside, the devices will be powered by an octa-core processor clocked at 1.6GHz with 3GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. Thankfully the internal storage is expandable via microSD to up to 128GB of extra internal storage. The Galaxy A7 also gets a large 3,300 mAh battery.
Galaxy A5
Next up we have the Galaxy A5 which is slightly smaller at 5.2″ but with the same full-HD (1920×1080) Super AMOLED display. Powering the device will be a 1.6GHz octa-core processor paired with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage that is also expandable via microSD up to 128GB. However, it gets a smaller 2,900 mAh battery for juice.
Galaxy A3
Rounding out the trio is the smallest sibling, the Galaxy A3. Sporting a 4.7-inch HD (1280×720) Super AMOLED display with a quad-core 1.5GHz processor running on the inside. It also packs 1.5GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage. The device will be drawing power from a 2,300 mAh battery.
The trio of devices will not launch with Android 6.0 Marshmallow though, as they’re set to come with Android 5.1 Lollipop out-of-the-box. That said, we do expect them to get Marshmallow within a reasonable amount of time. The two higher end devices — the Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A7 — also sport a fingerprint scanner.
Those are mighty specs for a budget device, but only if these devices are actually priced like a budget device. Based on the Singaporean pricing of the Galaxy A line, that doesn’t really look to be the case. In Singapore, the Galaxy A3 is going for SGD398 (around RM1,211), while the Galaxy A5 costs SGD598 (around RM1,820) and the biggest Galaxy A7 will set you back SGD698 (around RM2,125).
A pretty hefty price tag then. Then again, Singapore’s prices have generally been much higher than in Malaysia. If we’re going off last year’s Malaysian pricing, the Galaxy A3 went for RM899, Galaxy A5 was priced at RM1,199 and the Galaxy A7 had an RM1,499 price tag. But, keep in mind that these prices were before GST.
Would you consider these devices at those price ranges? Let us know in the comments section below.
