Customers waking up in India now have another couple of devices to pick from if they’re interested in a new Android-based smartphone as Samsung have launched the Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5 devices for Rs. 20,500 ($325, £210) and Rs. 25,500 ($400, £265), respectively. Both the A3 and the A5 are going on sale next week to offer Indian consumers with a slightly different take on the Samsung Galaxy experience. And by slightly different, I don’t mean how the device performs but how it looks and feels because both of these devices use thin, unibody metal chassis. The Galaxy A3 is 6.9mm thick (thin?) and the A5 is even thinner, at 6.7mm.
Under the chassis, these devices are not high end devices. The A3 is arguably an upper low-range device and the A5 sits firmly in the mid-range. The Galaxy A3 is based around a quad core 1.2 GHz processor and a 4.5-inch, 960 by 540 pixel Super AMOLED screen. It has 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and a microSD card. The main camera is 8MP and the front facing unit is 5MP. Power is provided by a 1,900mAh battery. The Galaxy A5 is something of a step up, being based around the new 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor (it’s also a quad core 1.2GHz unit), but being paired up with 2GB of RAM and a 5.0-inch, 720p resolution HD Super AMOLED screen. It too comes with 16GB of internal storage and a MicroSD card slot, but the rear camera has been boosted to 13MP (it has the same 5MP front facing unit). The A5 uses a slightly larger battery at 2,300mAh. Both devices are available in a range of colors, including white, black and gold, and both run Android 4.4.4 KitKat under Samsung’s TouchWiz interface.
These are both inoffensive devices and will likely sell on a mix of what they look and feel like to hold, rather than mind blowing specification. The A3 offers customers a raw hardware specification that only just pokes its head up over the Android One specification list (it has a better camera on paper and a MicroSD card, but it’s also significantly more expensive). In use, I’d expect the A5 to feel very fluid, helped by a modern processor and plenty of memory. But Samsung need to get them in the hands of customers if they’re to start selling in any number, as whilst they’re inoffensive they’re also forgettable once you think away from the metal, slim design.