If the flagship Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 4 smart phones are not your cup of tea, Samsung will be announcing its new Galaxy A series in November. According to a report by Korea IT Times, the new mid-range range smart phones – Galaxy A3, Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A7 will be introduced to face off rival Xiaomi, which has claimed the number 3 smart phone spot recently.
Spec-wise, both the Galaxy A3 and the Galaxy A5 are expected to run on Qualcomm’s new 64-bit Snapdragon 410 processor while the higher end Galaxy A7 would be running on an Octa-Core Snapdragon 615 processor that’s also 64-bit enabled. In terms of screen size, Galaxy A3 is the smallest with a 4.5″ qHD (960×540) display while its mid-tier Galaxy A5 gets a 5″ screen pushing HD 720p. Meanwhile, the top of the line A7 will have a bigger 5.2″ display pushing Full HD 1080p resolution.
The new Galaxy A series would also come in an unibody form factor which means that there’s no removal back cover while the battery is non-user replaceable. To shred its plasticky image, the Galaxy A is said to be upmarket to touch with a metal-feeling frame like the Galaxy Alpha and Galaxy Note 4. However to keep the cost low, it is speculated that the frame may not be aluminium but instead uses a material that feels cold to touch.
For Samsung to take on Xiaomi, price would be a major factor here. If they want to play the high-performance at low price game, the Galaxy A has to be competitively priced which could potentially cannibalise its own mid-tier offering including the Galaxy Alpha. It is speculated that the Galaxy A series would be priced between US$350 and US$500 (about RM1,150-RM1,645), which is higher than Xiaomi or Huawei’s Honor line up.
In case you’re wondering, the Galaxy A5 would be heading to Malaysia too as its model SM-A500F has passed SIRIM certification last week.
