2016 versions of the Samsung Galaxy A3, A5 and A7 officially announced with OIS and Samsung Pay

Samsung today dropped the big Galaxy A announcement on us. They’ve introduced 2nd generation models for all 3 phones in the lineup, including the Samsung Galaxy A3, Samsung Galaxy A5 and Samsung Galaxy A7. The line continues a nice tradition of using premium build materials (metal and glass) and decent mid-range performance (octa-core chipsets) for significantly less money than a flagship would command.

Samsung Galaxy A3, A5 and A7 Specs

The devices differ most in screen size, RAM and battery life, but should offer up similar experiences no matter which end of the spectrum you prefer to be on. Here’s a full breakdown of the specs on tap:

Galaxy A7 (2016)

• LTE Cat.6 * May differ by markets and mobile operators
• 5.5-inch FHD (1920×1080) Super AMOLED display
• 1.6GHz Octa Core chipset
• Android 5.1 (Lollipop)
• 13MP OIS (F1.9) rear camera, 5MP (F1.9) front camera
• MP4,M4V,3GP,3G2,WMV,ASF,AVI,FLV,MKV,WEBM
• MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MID, MIDI, XMF, MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA
• MST technology(Samsung Pay), Samsung KNOX, S-Voice, Dual SIM option, Samsung Pay launches may vary by market-readiness
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth® v 4.1, ANT+, USB 2.0, NFC (UICC, eSE)
• Accelerometer, Proximity, Geomagnetic, RGB Light, Hall Fingerprint scanner
• 3GB RAM + 16GB Storage, Micro SD slot (up to 128GB)
• 151.5 x 74.1 x 7.3mm, 172g
• 3,300mAh battery, Fast Charging

Galaxy A5 (2016)

• LTE Cat.6 * May differ by markets and mobile operators
• 5.2-inchFHD (1920×1080) Super AMOLED display
• 1.6GHz Octa Core chipset
• Android 5.1 (Lollipop)
• 13MP OIS rear camera, 5MP front camera
• MP4,M4V,3GP,3G2,WMV,ASF,AVI,FLV,MKV,WEBM
• MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MID, MIDI, XMF, MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA
• MST technology(Samsung Pay), Samsung KNOX, S-Voice, Dual SIM option Samsung Pay launches may vary by market-readiness
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth® v 4.1, ANT+, USB 2.0,
  NFC (UICC, eSE)
• Accelerometer, Proximity, Geomagnetic, RGB Light, Hall Fingerprint scanner
• 2GB RAM + 16GB Storage, Micro SD slot (up to 128GB)
• 144.8 x 71.0 x 7.3mm , 155g
• 2,900mAh battery, Fast Charging

Galaxy A3 (2016)

• LTE Cat.4 * May differ by markets and mobile operators
• 4.7-inch HD (1280×720) Super AMOLED
• 1.5 GHz Quad Core
• Android 5.1 (Lollipop)
• 13MP (F1.9), Front : 5MP (F1.9)
• MP4,M4V,3GP,3G2,WMV,ASF,AVI,FLV,MKV,WEBM
• MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MID, MIDI, XMF, MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA
• Samsung KNOX, S-Voice, Dual SIM option
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth® v 4.1, ANT+, USB 2.0, NFC (UICC)
• Accelerometer, Proximity, Geomagnetic, RGB Light, Hall
• 1.5GB RAM + 16GB Storage, Micro SD slot (up to 128GB)
• 134.5 x 65.2 x 7.3mm, 132g
• 2,300mAh battery

As you can tell, the Samsung Galaxy A3 is missing some of the more premium features such as Samsung Pay through MST, as well as fast charging and optical image stabilization. It also has just quad-core silicon as opposed to the octa-core on the other 2.

Thus, it should be the cheapest device you can get. Those who need more will want to opt for either the Galaxy A5 or Galaxy A7, whose price tags should still be affordable enough to consider.

Availability

Samsung says these things are headed to China first and foremost, though its arrival in other markets around the global will happen soon afterward. Unfortunately we still don’t have a clear idea of how much they’ll cost, but We’d say it’s safe to assume that the top-end model can be had for less than $400.

[via Samsung]